Lenders call it FOIR — fixed obligation to income ratio — and it is the number that decides whether your next loan gets approved. It is also the single most useful figure for judging your own position, because it measures commitment rather than income. Two people earning the same amount can be in completely different situations depending on this ratio, and only one of them knows it.
After tax and deductions, as it lands.
Consumer EMI, card conversions, gold loan.
Lenders count this. So should you.
This calculator needs JavaScript. On paper: add every monthly EMI, divide by monthly take-home pay, multiply by 100. Above 50% and most lenders decline; above 40% and you have very little room to absorb a shock.
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FOIR here is every fixed monthly obligation divided by take-home pay, which is how lenders assess it. Rent is included because lenders include it. Groceries, fuel and school fees are not — they are expenses, not obligations, and they flex. Different lenders apply different caps and treat variable income differently, so a bank’s own assessment may not match this figure exactly.
A lender cannot see your discipline, your savings rate or your job security. What it can see is how much of your income is already contractually committed, and that turns out to predict default better than income alone. Hence FOIR: total fixed obligations over take-home pay. Most Indian lenders want it under 50% after including the loan being applied for, and many prefer under 40%.
The reason it is worth calculating for yourself is that the ratio, not the rupee amount, is what determines fragility. An EMI of ₹50,000 against ₹3 lakh of take-home is comfortable. The same EMI against ₹1.1 lakh is a situation where one delayed salary becomes a missed payment. The absolute number tells you nothing without the denominator.
Every EMI counts — home, car, personal, education, consumer durable, and any credit card balance you have converted to instalments. Rent counts, because a landlord is as unavoidable as a lender. What does not count are living expenses: groceries, fuel, school fees, subscriptions. They matter enormously to your budget, but they can be compressed in a bad month, and an EMI cannot.
The line people most often omit is the card conversion. A ₹90,000 phone taken on a nine-month no-cost EMI is a ₹10,000 monthly obligation for nine months, and it belongs in this calculation exactly like any other loan. If you have several running, they add up to a real constraint that never appears on a loan statement.
Two levers, and only one of them is fast. Raising income lowers the ratio but slowly and unreliably. Prepaying the highest-interest loan lowers it immediately and permanently — and the order matters more than most people assume, because a personal loan at 14–18% and a home loan at 8.5% are not the same debt. Clear the expensive one first even if the balance is smaller.
Whether to prepay at all, or keep investing instead, is a separate calculation with a real answer: compare the loan rate to the return you would actually get, after tax. The prepay-versus-invest calculator runs that comparison, and the arithmetic behind it is worked through in full on the blog.
Under 30% of take-home pay is comfortable and leaves room to absorb a shock. Between 30% and 40% is workable but tight. Above 40% most lenders become reluctant, and above 50% they will usually decline further credit. These are the same thresholds lenders apply, which is why the ratio is worth knowing before you apply.
Take-home pay — what actually lands in your account after tax and deductions. Using gross salary flatters the ratio by 20–30% and produces a number that does not describe your real position. Lenders assess against net income for the same reason.
Lenders include it, and so does this calculator. Rent is a fixed monthly obligation you cannot compress in a difficult month, which makes it functionally identical to an EMI for the purpose of assessing how committed your income already is.
Yes. A no-cost EMI is still a fixed monthly obligation for the length of its tenure, and lenders count it. Several running at once can quietly consume a significant share of take-home pay without ever appearing as a loan on your credit report.
The one with the highest interest rate, not the largest balance. A personal loan at 16% costs roughly twice what a home loan at 8.5% costs on the same principal, and clearing it removes a larger EMI per rupee repaid. Home loans also carry a tax deduction that partly offsets their cost.
TLDR Money reads your EMIs from the statements and confirmations already in your inbox, so the ratio updates itself as loans close and salaries change. Subscription only — no lending arm, so nothing here is nudging you towards another loan.
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Calculator and assumptions last reviewed 5 August 2026.
This is an explanation of arithmetic, not advice about your money. TLDR Money is not a registered investment adviser and earns nothing from any product mentioned here. Figures are illustrative; your own numbers, taxes and circumstances will differ.