Know what you’d change before you ever need to
A SHTF plan — for when sh*t hits the fan — runs four kinds of money trouble against your household’s real numbers: prices spiking, losing your income for a while, losing it for good, and everything at once. You’ll see how long your money lasts, the first month you’d come up short, and how much the changes you’d make are actually worth.
Included free, with no separate subscription. For the household owner and their spouse.
Four levels, one household
It gets worse at every level — using your own numbers.
Start with prices climbing and work your way up to the worst case, or skip straight to the one that keeps you up at night. Each level has its own income and cost-of-living guesses. The basics — how much cash you have, how much you want to keep in reserve, when it starts and how far ahead to look — stay the same across all four.
Try it in the live demoLevel 1
High inflation
Prices go up faster than your paycheck does.
Level 2
Temporary loss of income
The paycheck stops, but you expect it back in a few months.
Level 3
Long-term loss of income
No idea when it comes back, so the big moves are on the table.
Level 4
The world is ending
Nothing comes back, unless you plan a way to bring it back.
Decide it once
Say it once, and it sticks.
Cut a bill, dip into savings or sell something at one level, and it carries into every tougher level after it — no re-entering the same thing four times. Want it to look different when things get worse? Change it there, and only the part you edit changes.
See how this worksOne change, level by level
Level 1 · High inflation
Not added yet
Level 2 · Temporary loss of income
You add it here: cut streaming, $45/mo
Level 3 · Long-term loss of income
Still cutting streaming, $45/mo
Level 4 · The world is ending
You change it here: cut the gym too, $60/mo
Illustrative sample data — a fictional household, not real user finances.
Before and after
How long the money lasts, either way.
A month-by-month forecast shows when your cash would dip below what you want to keep in reserve, and the first month you'd come up short. Then it puts the two side by side: how things go if you change nothing, versus how they go with your plan.
See a sample forecastWould the money last?
What your changes are worth
Money saved, earned, or raised by selling something, minus what it costs you to do it. One number, for the whole stretch of time.
Illustrative sample data — a fictional household, not real user finances.
What you can try out
Every option below runs on numbers you put in, and you can change them any time.
Sell something, or tap an account
Pull from retirement, sell investments, or sell a car or the house. Put in the price, what you still owe, the costs of selling, and your best guess at taxes and penalties. You’ll see what’s actually left over.
Count on help coming in
Unemployment, government assistance, moving in with family, a food pantry, or money raised online. You enter what you think you’d get — nobody here can tell you whether you’d qualify or for how much.
See what bankruptcy would do to the math
How your payments would change, what filing and a lawyer would cost, and any monthly payment you’d still owe. It won’t tell you whether you qualify, which kind to file, or assume any debt disappears.
Frequently asked questions
- What do I need before I start?
- Your income, bills and accounts already in Beyond Payday, plus a rough idea of how much cash you have on hand. That is enough for a first plan. You can add detail later.
- If I make a change at Level 2, do I have to repeat it at Levels 3 and 4?
- No. A change you make at one level automatically applies to every tougher level after it. If you want it to look different at a tougher level, change it there — only the part you edit changes, and you can undo it or remove the change from every level at once.
- Does it cost extra?
- No. It is included, with no separate subscription. The household owner and their spouse can use it. Kids’ accounts cannot, because this plans for the whole household.
- If money runs short early but recovers later, does the shortage still show?
- Yes. A month where you run short stays on the forecast, even if cash bounces back later or a sale comes through. The forecast uses monthly averages, so it will not match exact due dates, and it cannot promise a sale price or that a lender would approve you.
- Does the bankruptcy option tell me if I qualify?
- No. All it does is let you estimate what your payments, filing costs and legal fees might look like. It does not decide whether you qualify, suggest a chapter, assume a debt goes away, or take the place of talking to a lawyer.
- Is my plan saved?
- Yes, and your household shares one plan, so you and your spouse see the same thing. It saves as you go. The public demo is the exception: it never saves, and resets when you leave.
A SHTF plan is a planning tool. Beyond Payday does not give tax, legal, or financial advice, and every figure here is an estimate based on what you entered — not a guarantee of how things turn out, what something sells for, or whether a lender says yes. The bankruptcy option does not decide whether you qualify, tell you which kind to file, assume any debt or asset is protected, or replace a lawyer. Before you actually pull money out of a retirement account, check the rules, taxes and penalties with your plan provider or a tax pro. For anything involving real bankruptcy, retirement withdrawals, or selling an account, talk to a CPA or attorney first.
Make the hard calls now, not at 2am
Free for the household owner and their spouse. No separate subscription, no credit card.