Hours of Your Life Calculator
See how many hours of working life a purchase actually costs you.
Hours
39.2
Workdays
4.9
Workweeks
0.98
Gross hourly
$41/hr
After-tax (~25%)
$31/hr
Uses a flat 25% effective tax assumption to estimate after-tax hourly rate. Your actual effective tax rate may differ.
About this tool
Money is just stored time. This calculator translates a purchase into the working hours, days, or weeks it costs you, based on your salary and the hours you work each week. It uses a simple 25% effective tax estimate to give you an after-tax hourly rate, then divides the price by that rate. The number that comes out is often surprising — and useful.
How to use it
- Enter your annual salary before tax.
- Enter how many hours you work in a typical week.
- Enter the price of the item you're considering.
- The calculator returns how many hours, days, and full work-weeks the purchase will cost.
FAQ
How is the after-tax rate calculated?+
We apply a flat 25% effective tax assumption. Your actual rate may be higher or lower depending on your country and bracket, but 25% is a reasonable middle-of-the-road estimate for most working people in the US, UK, Canada, or Australia.
Why use 'hours of life' instead of just dollars?+
Dollars feel abstract. Hours feel real. A $300 jacket is two-thirds of a working day — that framing changes how you think about the purchase, especially for non-essentials.
Does it account for benefits, bonuses, or RSUs?+
No, it uses base salary only. Including total comp would inflate your effective hourly rate and undercount the true cost of purchases relative to your day-to-day take-home pay.