Hours of Work to Afford a Purchase Calculator
This shows how long you would need to work to pay for something, in hours and in weeks. Using take-home pay gives a more honest figure.
- Free
- Works offline after your first visit
- Saves on this device
- No sign-up
- Updated
How it works
Divide the price by your take-home pay per hour to get the hours. Divide those hours by the hours you work each week to get the weeks.
Use what you actually bring home, after tax and deductions. The figure is a way to think about cost, not a rule about whether to buy.
Worked example
At $18.00 an hour after tax, something priced at $600.00 takes 33.3 hours of work, or 0.8 weeks at 40 hours a week.
Questions
Why use take-home pay?
Because it is the money you can actually spend. Using gross pay makes things look cheaper than they are.
Does this tell me whether to buy?
No. It only shows how much work a price equals. The decision is yours.
Does it count the cost of working?
No. Travel, childcare and other work costs are not taken out, so the real figure may be higher.
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