01Use one month and one definition for every amount
Enter net household income that is actually available in an ordinary month. Put regular contractual payments under fixed costs and everyday spending that can change under variable costs. Using the same month for every entry prevents annual and monthly figures from being mixed.
The result is a simple subtraction: total income minus fixed costs minus variable costs. A positive number is a provisional buffer; a negative number is a provisional shortfall. It is not a bank affordability test, benefit decision, financial recommendation or prediction of future prices.
02Prepare figures from records rather than memory
Use recent bank statements, payslips, contracts and invoices. Convert quarterly or annual bills to a monthly amount before entering them, and keep irregular costs such as municipal taxes, maintenance, clothing, gifts and travel visible instead of treating them as unexpected.
If income varies, make more than one scenario: a cautious month, an ordinary month and a stronger month. Do the same for energy, transport or childcare when these costs move significantly. The calculator does not save scenarios, so print a result only if you want your own copy.
03Your amounts stay on your device
The calculator works locally in the page. It does not submit entered amounts to LiveInNL, place them in the page address or store them in local storage. Reset clears the fields in the current page, and closing or reloading the page removes the current calculation.
With analytics consent, LiveInNL can count that the calculator was started or a result was shown. Those events contain only the calculator identifier and page language, never an amount, household detail or free-text field.
04Treat the result as a planning signal
A remaining buffer can still be too small for annual bills, repairs or an income interruption. A shortfall shows that the entered month does not balance, but it does not identify the right solution. Review the largest categories and verify whether a cost or income was omitted.
For a fuller budget, use current guidance from Nibud and verify allowances through the responsible authority. Do not enter BSN, DigiD details, account numbers or other personal identifiers: the calculator needs amounts only.
