Question: If your landlord showed up tomorrow saying you need to move out in 30 days, or your phone fell and scattered into 47 pieces, or NEPA finally succeeded in frying your laptop, could you handle it without borrowing money or posting “I need prayers not advice” on your story?

If you hesitated before answering, you need an emergency fund. Yesterday.

An emergency fund isn’t for vibes. It’s not for “emergencies” like a new iPhone dropping or your friend’s birthday dinner. It’s for actual life punches, the ones that come when you’re least ready. Job loss. Medical bills. Urgent travel. The kind of stuff that makes you panic at 2am.

Financial experts will tell you to save 3 to 6 months of your expenses. Some say 12 months if you really want to sleep well at night. But most of us don’t even know where to start or what number we’re aiming for.

That’s what this calculator does.

How to use it:

Step 1: Enter your total monthly expenses in the first box. Not your salary, your EXPENSES. How much do you actually spend every month to survive? Rent, food, transport, bills, everything. Be honest. Underestimating helps nobody.

Step 2: Choose how many months you want to cover. 3 months is the minimum (decent safety net). 6 months is solid (you can breathe if something goes wrong). 12 months is beast mode (you’re basically untouchable).

Click the button that matches your vibe. If you’re freelancing or your income isn’t stable, go higher. If you have a solid 9 to 5, 6 months works.

Step 3: Enter how much you’ve already saved for emergencies. If it’s zero, put zero. No shame. Most people are starting from scratch.

Step 4: Hit “Calculate My Target” and watch the magic.

What you get:

The calculator shows you exactly how much you need to save total, how much you still need to reach your goal, and breaks it down into weekly, monthly, and time-based targets. It even estimates how long it'll take if you save 20% of your monthly expenses.

Why you need this:

Building an emergency fund feels impossible when you're already struggling to make ends meet. But here's the thing, even 5,000 naira is better than zero naira. Start small. Automate it if you can (move money to savings the day salary hits before you see it). Build it slowly.

The day that emergency hits (and it will, life is life), you'll thank Past You for being smart enough to prepare. You'll handle it without begging, without stress, without posting cryptic Bible verses on your status.

That's power. That's peace. Build it.