Savings Goal Calculator
How much do I need to save each week to reach a savings goal?
Count the deposits that actually fit between now and the deadline, then divide what is still missing by that count. For a $1,000 goal by December 18, 2026, starting from nothing, that is 12 weekly deposits of $83.34 each — or $333.34 a month on the monthly schedule.
Pick an amount and a date, and see exactly what to put aside each week, every two weeks, twice a month or monthly — with the deposit counts worked out from the real calendar, not divided on a napkin. Free, nothing to install, nothing saved anywhere.
Your goal
APY is only worth filling in if the money sits in a savings account that pays interest — the rate is printed in your bank app. Leave it empty otherwise.
Your deposit plan
| How often | Deposits left | Put aside each time |
|---|---|---|
| Every week | 12 | $83.34 |
| Every two weeks | 6 | $166.67 |
| Twice a month (1st & 15th) | 6 | $166.67 |
| Monthly (the 1st) | 3 | $333.34 |
First deposit one period from today; weekly and biweekly counts drop leftover days, monthly rows count the actual 1sts and 15ths on the calendar. Amounts are rounded up to the cent — every schedule lands at your goal or a little past it, never short.
Up to 20 goals and sinking funds with monthly contributions, progress bars, on-track status and a funded-by date
See the spreadsheet → $7.99How this calculator works
It counts the deposits you can actually make between now and your date: whole weeks for the weekly and biweekly rows, and the real 1sts and 15ths on the calendar for the monthly rows — a goal set for the 3rd of the month genuinely has one more monthly deposit than one set for the 30th of the month before. Then it divides what you still need by that count. If you enter an APY, it treats each deposit as arriving at the end of its period and lets your existing savings grow over the same horizon, using the standard future-value-of-an-annuity formula, and shows how much of the goal interest covers. Interest may be taxable where you live; the calculation runs entirely in your browser and nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
Which schedule should you pick?
The one that matches your payday. The total is the same either way — weekly just cuts it into smaller, harder-to-miss pieces, and paying yourself the day money arrives beats hoping some is left at the end of the month. If your pay lands twice a month, use the twice-a-month row and move the money the same morning.
Further reading
- Savings challenges, ranked by what they actually bank by Christmas — if you’d rather follow a printed challenge than a flat amount.
- How much to save each week for Christmas — the same arithmetic applied to the most common deadline of all.
- How big should an emergency fund be? — for picking the goal amount itself.
Frequently asked questions
When is the first deposit due?
One period from today — next week for the weekly row, on the next 1st of the month for the monthly row. Days left over after the last deposit are ignored, and every amount is rounded up to the cent, so each schedule lands at your goal or slightly past it, never short.
Is it worth entering an APY?
For a short goal, barely — and the calculator is honest about it. A $1,000 goal spread over 16 weekly deposits at 4% APY needs $62.15 a week instead of $62.50: interest covers $5.65 of the whole goal. Stretch the same rate over a year and it starts to matter — $5,000 across 52 weekly deposits needs $94.32 a week, with $95.56 covered by interest. The deposits do the work; the rate helps at the margins.
Does this calculator store my numbers?
No. Everything is calculated in your browser. Nothing is sent to us, saved, or shared.
What if the amount per deposit is more than I can manage?
Change one of the three levers and watch the table update: push the date out, trim the goal, or check whether some of it is already sitting in another account and belongs in the “already saved” box. A smaller deposit you actually make every week beats a perfect plan you abandon in week three.
