How Much Can I Borrow With a Personal Loan? What Lenders Weigh Up

How much can I borrow with a personal loan? There's no single upper limit, because every lender sets its own product limits and bases your amount on your income, living costs, existing repayments, credit history, the loan term and whether the repayments would cause you hardship.

An advertised maximum is the most a lender offers anyone, not an amount you'll necessarily qualify for. This guide explains how lenders assess what you can afford, with a worked example you can follow using your own numbers.

Last reviewed: 21 October 2026

What decides how much you can borrow

Two people on the same salary can be offered very different amounts. That's because a lender weighs several things together:

• your income, and how reliably it can be verified
• your living costs, such as rent, bills and everyday spending
• the repayments you already make on other loans, cards and BNPL (buy-now-pay-later) plans
• your credit history, including missed payments and defaults
• the loan itself: the amount, the term and whether it's secured or unsecured

A secured loan uses an asset, such as a car, as security, while an unsecured loan doesn't. Lenders usually set different limits and pricing for each, so the type of loan affects what's on offer.

MoneyBuddy currently advertises small short-term loans from $500 to $5,000. That's the range of its own products, not the most other lenders offer, and not the amount any one person will be offered.

How a lender works out what you can afford

By law, a licensed lender must ask reasonable questions about your money and check what you tell it. In practice it compares your income, expenses and debts with your documents and account records.

The National Credit Act then sets the test. A loan is unsuitable if you likely couldn't make the repayments, or could only make them with substantial hardship, or if it won't meet your requirements and objectives.

Lenders may also compare the living costs you declare with statistical benchmarks, and they don't all treat expenses the same way. That's one reason the same application can get different answers from different lenders.

It also means a lender may offer less than you asked for, or suggest a different term, if that's what fits your budget. Your personal loan borrowing power is really the lender's view of what you can repay safely.

Income: what counts and how it's checked

For most employees, lenders look at recent payslips and bank statements that show your pay going in. Some also ask for a recent tax return.

If you're self-employed, a lender may use documents such as recent tax returns, Business Activity Statements, business financial statements, business account statements or a statement from your accountant. ASIC's guidance lists these as examples, so a lender won't necessarily ask for all of them.

If you’re studying, our guide to personal loans for students covers how student income is looked at and other options to check.

If you're looking at a payday loan rather than a personal loan, our guide to payday loan requirements in Australia explains the extra checks a lender must make.

Living costs and existing repayments

Every repayment you already make comes out of the same income a new loan would rely on. A car loan, a credit card or a BNPL plan can each reduce how much a lender is willing to offer.

Several debts at once, or debt that keeps growing, can also lead a lender to look more closely at your statements. For a fuller list of what lenders ask about, see our guide to personal loan eligibility in Australia.

Your credit history

Your credit report shows whether you've made repayments on time, any credit applications you've made, and any defaults. A credit provider may list a default only when the overdue amount is at least $150, it has been overdue for at least 60 days, and the required notices and waiting periods have been completed.

Each application is recorded as a credit enquiry, and enquiries remain listed for five years. Applying only where you're likely to be suitable keeps that record shorter.

You can get your credit report for free once every three months, according to the OAIC. Credit reporting bodies may hold different information about you, so you may need to request reports from more than one.

Estimate your own repayment room

You can't calculate exactly what a lender will offer, but you can see how much room your budget has for a repayment. The table uses made-up monthly figures to show the arithmetic.

Source: illustration only, using assumed figures. $4,200 minus $3,000 minus $350 leaves $850.

This is not a borrowing-power calculation, and it doesn't turn the $850 into a loan amount. A lender may classify your expenses differently, add a buffer for safety, or decide that only part of what's left over can go to a new loan.

To estimate a possible loan amount, you'd also need an interest rate and a term. Moneysmart's calculator works out repayments for an amount, rate and term you enter, but it doesn't tell you what a lender will approve.

Small amount loans have their own cap

Loans of $2,000 or less from a non-bank lender, repaid over 16 days to one year, are usually small amount credit contracts. They carry an extra rule that personal loans in general don't.

For these loans, the repayments due in each repayment period, across all your small amount loans together, can't exceed 10% of your available income. Available income means your income less the PAYG tax required to be withheld from it.

For example, if your available income is $1,600 a fortnight, the repayments due that fortnight on all your small amount loans combined can't be more than $160. The Credit Regulations set this cap for small amount loans only, so it isn't a formula for how much you can borrow on a personal loan.

Loans from $2,001 to $5,000, repaid over 16 days to two years, are medium amount credit contracts and follow different rules. If you're comparing a small loan with getting paid early, our guide to how a pay advance differs from a payday loan explains the trade-offs.

Before you apply

A few steps can put you in a clearer position before a lender looks at your application:

1. Check your credit report and ask the credit reporting body to correct anything that's wrong.
2. Review credit and BNPL accounts you no longer use. Close an account only if it suits your circumstances, after checking any fees or consequences.
3. Work out your real monthly living costs, so the figures you give are accurate.
4. Decide how much you actually need, rather than the most you might get.
5. Avoid applying with several lenders at once, since each application is recorded as an enquiry.

Worth checking before you borrow

If a bill is the reason you're thinking of borrowing, ask the provider whether it offers a payment plan or hardship arrangement. No Interest Loans can also cover essentials of up to $2,000 with no interest or fees, if you're eligible.

Talking it through with someone independent can help too. The National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 offers free, confidential financial counselling.

Borrow what fits, not the maximum

The most useful number isn't the biggest loan on offer but the repayment you can manage comfortably alongside everything else. Start from your own repayment room, then ask any lender how it assesses income and expenses and read its credit guide before you sign.

If repayments are already a struggle, a free financial counsellor on 1800 007 007 can help you plan before you borrow again.

This article is general information only and does not take your personal circumstances into account. It is not financial advice. Consider whether a product suits you and read the loan terms before you apply.