Emergency fund calculator template

Free build guide: Emergency fund calculator for WordPress

This guide rebuilds the Emergency fund calculator from this site in Gravity Forms: 9 inputs, 5 live results and no submit button. Expect about 42 minutes by hand. The template above is the same form as an import file, and the bundle adds a PDF version of this guide with a screenshot of every setting, plus the stylesheet.

You will end up with:

• Emergency fund target
• Still to save
• Months to get there
• Essential expenses per month
• Covered today (months)

What you need

• Gravity Forms (any license) — Calculation fields and drop-down values are in core.

Everything here is core Gravity Forms. No add-ons.

1. Create the form

1. Go to Forms → New Form and name it Emergency fund.
2. In Form Settings → Form Layout, set the CSS Class Name to fo-live-only. Step 3 uses it to hide the submit button.
3. Leave the form open in the editor; the fields come next.

2. Add the fields, in this order

Field IDs are assigned as you add fields. If yours come out differently, change the {Label:ID} references in the formulas to match your IDs. Settings not mentioned stay at their defaults.

1. Housing, per month · Number · ID 1
Number Format Currency; Default Value 1500; Description “Rent or mortgage, property tax, HOA.”; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed).

2. Utilities & phone · Number · ID 2
Number Format Currency; Default Value 300; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed).

3. Groceries · Number · ID 3
Number Format Currency; Default Value 600; Description “Food at home, not restaurants.”; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed).

4. Transport · Number · ID 4
Number Format Currency; Default Value 400; Description “Car payment, fuel, insurance, transit.”; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed).

5. Insurance & medical · Number · ID 5
Number Format Currency; Default Value 400; Description “Health premiums, prescriptions, other insurance.”; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed).

6. Minimum debt payments · Number · ID 6
Number Format Currency; Default Value 300; Description “Minimums only: the fund keeps you current, not ahead.”; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed).

7. Months to cover · Drop Down · ID 7

Choices (tick show values and enter each value):

• 3 months (two incomes, stable job) — value 3
• 6 months (the usual target) — value 6 (selected by default)
• 9 months (one income, or dependants) — value 9
• 12 months (self-employed, or a hard-to-replace job) — value 12

8. Saved so far · Number · ID 8
Number Format Currency; Default Value 4000; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed).

9. You can save per month · Number · ID 9
Number Format Currency; Default Value 400; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed).

10. Emergency fund target · Number · ID 10
Number Format Currency; Description “Keep it in a high-yield savings account: safe, separate, reachable in a day.”; Custom CSS Class (Appearance tab) fo-result; tick Enable Calculation, Rounding 0.

( ( {Housing:1} + {Utilities:2} + {Groceries:3} + {Transport:4} + {Insurance:5} + {Debt:6} ) * {Months:7} )

11. Still to save · Number · ID 11
Number Format Currency; Description “Negative means you are there.”; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed); Custom CSS Class (Appearance tab) fo-result fo-result--sub; tick Enable Calculation, Rounding 0.

( ( {Housing:1} + {Utilities:2} + {Groceries:3} + {Transport:4} + {Insurance:5} + {Debt:6} ) * {Months:7} ) - {Saved:8}

12. Months to get there · Number · ID 12
Number Format 9,999.99; Description “At the monthly saving above, before interest.”; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed); Custom CSS Class (Appearance tab) fo-result fo-result--sub; tick Enable Calculation, Rounding 1.

( ( ( {Housing:1} + {Utilities:2} + {Groceries:3} + {Transport:4} + {Insurance:5} + {Debt:6} ) * {Months:7} ) - {Saved:8} ) / {Monthly saving:9}

13. Essential expenses per month · Number · ID 13
Number Format Currency; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed); Custom CSS Class (Appearance tab) fo-result fo-result--sub; tick Enable Calculation, Rounding 0.

( {Housing:1} + {Utilities:2} + {Groceries:3} + {Transport:4} + {Insurance:5} + {Debt:6} )

14. Covered today (months) · Number · ID 14
Number Format 9,999.99; Layout: half width, on the same row as its neighbour (drag the field beside it in the editor; no CSS class needed); Custom CSS Class (Appearance tab) fo-result fo-result--sub; tick Enable Calculation, Rounding 1.

{Saved:8} / ( {Housing:1} + {Utilities:2} + {Groceries:3} + {Transport:4} + {Insurance:5} + {Debt:6} )

3. Hide the submit button

The results are live, so nothing needs submitting. Add this filter to your theme’s functions.php or a code-snippets plugin; it hides the button on any form carrying the fo-live-only class:

add_filter( 'gform_submit_button', function ( $button, $form ) {
	return str_contains( (string) rgar( $form, 'cssClass' ), 'fo-live-only' ) ? '' : $button;
}, 10, 2 );

Or with CSS alone: .fo-live-only_wrapper .gform_footer { display: none; }

4. Put it on a page and make it look like this

Add the form to any page with the Gravity Forms block, or the shortcode [gravityform id="X" title="false" ajax="false"]. The form inherits your theme’s styles; the classes you set in step 2 are hooks for the look you see on this site:

• fo-result on a calculation field makes it the big teal result panel.
• fo-result fo-result--sub makes the smaller secondary figures.
• fo-segmented on a radio field turns it into a segmented switch.
• Two fields on one row is the editor’s own column layout: drag a field beside another and the row splits in half. No CSS class is needed, and the old gf_left_half Ready Classes are deprecated.

The bundle includes the two stylesheets that implement those classes, with notes on matching your brand colours. Without them the form still works; it just looks like your theme’s default Gravity Forms styling.

How the maths works is explained under “How it’s calculated” on the live Emergency fund calculator.