What’s on this page?
The Gap Calculator is now part of the all-in-one Spending and Gap Calculator
Your gap is still one of the most important numbers in your financial life. It is the difference between what you earn and what you spend. Positive gap equals power.
We have now combined the spending tracker and the gap calculator into one Google Sheets tool, so you can track your spending, calculate your gap, and see your money picture in one place.
Start with the new all-in-one tool if you can. It is the simplest way to track both your spending and your gap together. If you only want to track your gap, the standalone Gap Calculator is still available further down this page.
How big is your gap?
This might sound like a personal question but it’s the most important thing to focus on when it comes to getting on top of your money.
Your gap is the difference between what you earn and what you spend.
The only way to make progress with your money and start to build wealth is to have a positive gap between what you earn and what you spend.
Positive gap = Power
Negative or Zero gap = Poverty
This page is all about working out the size of your gap each month.
You just need 2 numbers:
- how much you earned that month
- how much you spent that month
Let’s look at each of these numbers…
Gathering your numbers
How much you earned
This one should be relatively straightforward. If you’re an employee, look at your payslip. If you’re self-employed, you might need to do a bit of adding up of your invoices or checking what came into your bank account during the month.
No matter whether you’re employed or self-employed, we’re interested in the after tax number.
How much you spent
This one is potentially a bit trickier. There are a few different ways you can track your spending. It doesn’t matter how you do it just as long as you do it!
Here’s some guidance to help you…
Over to you!
Now that you have the two numbers, you can work out your gap. You’re ready! YAY!
Remember, your gap is the difference between what you earned and what you spent
So you need to do how much you earned minus how much you spent
Examples:
- You earned 3,000 and spent 2,500. You have a positive gap of 500 (3,000 minus 2,500)
- You earned 4,000 and spent 5,000. Your gap is -1,000. You have a negative gap! (4,000 minus 5,000)
What was your gap last month?
Can you help me please?!
Yes we can! We have a handy How Big is your Gap Calculator to help you work out your gap and track it over the months. It even has a pretty graph that shows you your progress!
Download the How Big is your Gap calculator
Just focus on part 1 of the spreadsheet for now!
We made a video guide to help you use the spreadsheet too…
