The target is only as good as the bills behind it. If half your recurring costs are not in Cashrou yet, the figure will be low.
Steps
Cashrou adds up your real monthly obligations
Every recurring bill and subscription, converted to what it costs in an average month, so annual and quarterly charges are counted properly instead of being missed.
You choose the cushion
How many months you want covered. Three is the common answer. Six is right if your income is irregular or your household has one earner.
Nominate the accounts that hold it
Progress is the cash in those accounts, read directly. The goal measures and does not receive: money never moves into a goal, so there is nothing to keep topped up by hand.
Why the target moves
Add a bill and the target rises, because three months of your life just got more expensive. Cancel a subscription and it falls. That is the figure doing its job rather than drifting.
It settles down once your recurring items are complete, which for most people is after a cycle or two.
Emergency fund or debt first
Cashrou does not take a position on this and neither should a help article. The common approach is a small starter fund of about one month, then the debt, then the rest of the fund, on the grounds that without any buffer the next surprise goes back on the card.
Both live in the same plan, and you can fund either from a payday's leftover.
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