How much of your life does it cost?
The price is on the tag. The time you trade to pay for it, much less so.
Between the job, the commute and work expenses, how much does an hour of your time really earn you? Do the math, then look at what you buy differently.
Your result
Fill in your work and a price: the time this purchase represents shows up here.
A short text with the time and the page link, without your salary, your expenses or the price.
A time equivalence at the average rate calculated. It is neither how long it takes to save the amount, after all your everyday spending, nor the guaranteed pay for an extra hour.
Your working year
All the time your job takes over a year and, separately, what it costs you. Time and money are never mixed.
Time given to work
Fill in your work to see how your year breaks down.
- Work …
- Commute …
- Extra time …
Work expenses
Fill in your salary to see what your job costs you.
Planning a break, a move or a project? Your freedom plan connects this calculation with your time, your budget, your capital and your freedom, in four steps.
How the calculation works
The tool brings everything back to one year, so the 13th salary, bonuses, holidays and expenses all land in the right place.
- Annual income after expenses = net salary × number of payments + bonuses − monthly expenses × 12
- Annual time given to work = (working hours + commute + extra time) × weeks worked
- Effective hourly rate = annual income after expenses ÷ annual time given to work
- Time for a purchase = price ÷ effective hourly rate
- Personal workday = weekly time given to work ÷ days worked
A personal workday is not a fixed 8-hour day: it is the average time you give to work per day worked, commute and extra time included. Only the display is rounded, never the calculation.
A full example
CHF 4,000 net a month over 12 payments, CHF 200 in work expenses a month, 40 hours over 5 days, a 1-hour round-trip commute every day, 47 weeks worked. Income after expenses: CHF 45,600 a year. Time given to work: 1,880 hours of work and 235 hours of commuting, 2,115 hours in total. Effective rate: CHF 21.56 an hour, against CHF 25.53 if you forget the commute and expenses. A phone at CHF 1,000 then represents 46 hours and 23 minutes of that time, or 5.15 personal workdays of 9 hours.
What the result does not say
It is a time equivalence at the average rate calculated. It is not how long it takes to save the amount, since rent, groceries and the rest come first, nor the guaranteed pay for an extra hour. The "real hourly wage" calculated here is an estimated effective rate to understand how you use your time, not a contractual or legal definition of wages.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate your real hourly wage?
Add up everything you receive net over a year (salary, 13th salary, bonuses), take off the work expenses you pay yourself, then divide by all the hours your job takes: working hours, commute and unpaid time. With CHF 4,000 net over 12 months, CHF 200 of expenses a month, 40 hours and a 1-hour commute a day for 47 weeks, you get CHF 21.56 an hour, against CHF 25.53 without commute or expenses. This effective rate is an estimate to think about your time, not a contractual or legal definition of wages.
Why count the commute?
Because without your job, you would not make it. A 1-hour round trip a day, over 5 days and 47 weeks, adds up to 235 hours a year: almost six 40-hour weeks. That time is unpaid, but you give it in exchange for your salary. Remote days have no commute: only enter the days you travel.
Which work expenses should you include?
Only what your job costs you on top and that nobody reimburses: transport or parking to get to work, the extra cost of eating out compared with a meal at home, work equipment and clothing, professional fees. Not rent or groceries: you would have those costs without your job. Enter a monthly average over the year: a 600 purchase a year counts as 50 a month.
How do you count a 13th-month salary?
Choose 13 payments in the advanced options: the tool then counts your net monthly salary 13 times over the year. Do not add it a second time in the bonuses. Other net bonuses go in "Other net annual bonuses". If your contract has 14 payments, as is common in Spain or Peru, that option exists too.
Can you use this tool with a variable income?
Yes, with an average. If you are self-employed or your income varies, enter an average monthly income, for example over the last twelve months, net of the business costs already deducted, and leave work expenses at zero so they are not subtracted twice. Add your unbilled hours (prospecting, admin) to the extra time.
Does the result tell you how long it takes to save up?
No. It measures an equivalence: how many hours of your working time match this price, at the average rate calculated. To put the amount aside, you first have to pay rent, food and everything else: the real delay is much longer. Nor is it what an extra hour would earn, since overtime can be paid or taxed differently.
An information tool. This calculator is not financial, tax or legal advice. Its results are estimates that depend on what you enter. Read the disclaimer.
And your whole budget, not just one purchase? Where does your money go? analyses your spending line by line and builds an action plan.
And your savings, how many months of freedom could they give you?
The other side of the calculation: what your capital lets you live, at your own pace, at home or elsewhere.