How Long Will Savings Last If Unemployed?

Losing a job turns every money question into one question: how much time do I have?

The answer is runway: total cash you can use, divided by what goes out each month. Run the job loss runway calculator with your own numbers, or do the rough version below.

The 3-number runway method

1. Total cash available. Chequing plus savings, plus any severance or final payout already received. Do not count credit limits — that is debt, not runway.
2. Monthly burn. Must-pay bills (rent, utilities, debt minimums) plus essential living costs (food, transport, phone), minus reliable income while searching such as EI, gig work, or part-time pay.
3. Divide. Cash divided by monthly burn is roughly how many months the search can run.

Example: $8,000 in cash against $2,600 going out each month is about 3 months. Against $1,800, it is over 4 months. Small changes in burn move the number a lot — which is good news, because burn is the part you control.

Why monthly totals hide the real risk

A monthly number says you can make it. It does not say which week breaks. Rent, a car payment, and two subscriptions landing in the same week can empty the account even in a month that looks fine on paper.

That is why Shelter thinks in bill timing, not just totals. The bills before payday calculator is the manual version: list what is due before the next deposit and see whether the week survives. The cash flow forecasting app does the same thing automatically once bank accounts are connected.

Three moves that extend runway fastest

• Pause non-essential subscriptions first. They are the easiest cuts with zero paperwork. Each paused renewal is weeks of burn handed back.
• Move flexible bill dates. Anything that can shift away from the week everything collides is worth one phone call.
• Protect one month of buffer. Do not spend down to zero chasing normal life. The buffer is what keeps a late EI deposit from becoming an overdraft.

What about the job search itself?

Guardian can help there too: upload a resume and ask for matching roles, and Shelter keeps the search next to the numbers that made it matter. Read how Shelter AI finds job leads for the full flow.

Shelter provides educational information and software, not personalized financial advice. The calculator is a planning estimate from numbers you enter.