Calculator · Turn your real monthly surplus into a sensible maximum payment and loan size.
How much can I afford calculator
Enter your take-home income, your essential expenses and your existing debt payments. The calculator holds back a buffer and works out the payment and loan size that leaves you room.
Run the numbers
This is a ceiling, not a target. Lenders apply their own affordability tests, and it is usually better to borrow less than the maximum you are offered.
How this works
A ceiling, not a target
The number this produces is the most you should consider borrowing, not the amount you should aim for. Approval tells you what a lender's criteria allow; this tells you what your own month-to-month position can carry. The lower of the two is the useful answer.
Why a buffer is not optional
Every budget works in a month with no surprises. A buffer is what stops a car repair or a reduced shift turning a manageable payment into a missed one. Holding back a quarter of your surplus is a reasonable starting point; if that leaves nothing, the honest conclusion is that new borrowing is not affordable right now.
What counts as essential
- Housing, utilities, food and transport.
- Insurance of every kind, including the annual policies divided by twelve.
- Childcare and any support payments.
- Minimum payments on existing debts.
What does not count
Discretionary spending belongs in the buffer. Leaving it out of essentials and treating it as spare capacity is the most common way an affordability calculation flatters the borrower.
Questions
Should I borrow the maximum I qualify for?
Usually not. Approval reflects a lender's criteria, not your resilience in a bad month. Borrowing below the maximum is the cheapest protection available.
What if my surplus is negative?
Then your essentials and existing debts already use your whole income. Adding a loan payment to that position is how a manageable gap becomes a default, and the debt-trouble guides are the better starting point.
Is the buffer included in the loan calculation?
Yes. The payment used for the maximum loan size is your surplus after the buffer is held back, so the loan is sized against the amount you can genuinely commit.
Compare loan options
We match, we do not lend. No amount, term or rate is promised on this page — the calculator only models the numbers you entered.
LoanGoose is a loan matching and comparison service, not a lender. We do not make loans, set rates or make credit decisions. We may earn a commission when you click or apply through our links. The lowest rates are only available to the most qualified applicants.
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Lending rules and benchmark rates
The sourced rules these calculators assume.
Sources
- Financial Consumer Agency of Canada — debt and borrowing —
- Payday Lending Regulations, SOR/2024-114 —
- OSFI Guideline B-20 —
Every figure on this page is attributed to the publisher above. Where a value could not be verified against the publisher's own publication, it is left out rather than estimated.