How much can I spend per day? How to work it out from your salary
A simple method to know how much money you have free each day after paying fixed costs, saving, and sending money to your family.
The idea: free money, not salary
Looking at your salary is misleading: what you can really spend is what is left after everything already committed. That remainder is your free money, and spread over the days left until payday it gives you a daily figure you understand at a glance.
The calculation in four steps
You only need four numbers for the month:
- Income for the month: what actually comes in (net salary, other income).
- Fixed costs: rent, utilities, phone, insurance, instalments and subscriptions.
- What you set aside: savings and, if you support family in another country, what you send each month.
- Days left until your next payday.
The formula
Free money = income − fixed costs − savings − money sent to family. Daily spend = free money ÷ days left in the month.
Illustrative example, with round numbers that don't represent anyone in particular: if you have €600 free and 30 days to go, you can spend €20 a day. If you've overspent by mid-month, the daily figure for the remaining days drops, and you see it in time instead of finding out on the 28th.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting costs that aren't monthly (annual insurance, fees, gifts) that then hit all at once: spread them across the months.
- Not counting the money you send home as a fixed cost: if it's a priority, put it first, not whatever is left over.
- Measuring a single week: a daily rhythm only makes sense within a full month.
Doing it without a spreadsheet
Remesia does this calculation for you every day: you record income and expenses, and the “Your month” screen tells you how much is free and how much you can spend today, with the money sent to your country already deducted.