Your husband takes a 30% pay cut unexpectedly or gets laid off altogether. Now you have to figure out how you’re going to keep your electricity on. Would you have enough money in an emergency fund to do this? (This actually happened to us)
An emergency may be different for all families, but the fact is, an emergency will happen. Maybe not today, but it will happen. I know because we have been put in an emergency situation far too many times. We didn’t have an emergency fund either and this made life really difficult. So difficult that we almost lost our home! Did you hear me? We almost lost our home.
Your emergency fund is so important, that it should be at the top of your priority list!
We always put having an emergency fund after everything else. My family has faced many emergency situations throughout the years and I just want to tell you how important it is to have an emergency fund. Your emergency fund is so important, that it should be on the top of your priority list! I wish this was something I would have done a long time ago before disasters struck. Having an emergency fund now makes the financial part of life less stressful. And I am telling you right now, not being able to pay your bills or not knowing how you’re going to feed your kids, is a terrible feeling. A feeling I never want to feel again, a feeling I never want you to feel!
THE BENEFITS OF HAVING AN EMERGENCY FUND
- # 1 for me: Peace of mind, knowing that if we have a financial emergency I can still feed my kids!
- Less Stress, which leads to better sleep
- A happier husband! I know they say if “moms, not happy nobodies happy”, well in my house if, Daddy’s stressed everything’s a mess.
No, really, I love my husband, he is such a good man and he works so hard to provide for our family. When my father in law became very ill and we traveled to be with him, I ended up giving birth, via c-section a month early to our youngest son, 700 miles away from home. This was a very emotional and frightening experience and we had no emergency fund. We literally almost lost our home. Just to be clear, family always comes first for us, we would make the same decision again in a heartbeat. I just know now, that I have an emergency fund! So my husband who is the sole provider for our family won’t have to come to me and have the conversation about bankruptcy or foreclosure, hopefully ever again!
WHY DO MOST PEOPLE NOT HAVE AN EMERGENCY FUND
One thing that I told myself a lot and I hear it a lot now from others is, “how can I put money in an emergency fund?After paying bills we have no money left”. Does this sound familiar? I told myself that for years, but in fact, it wasn’t that there was no money left, we just weren’t handling our money the right way. You needed to make putting money in an emergency fund a priority. It should be right up there with paying your electric bill. Maybe you only have $10 a paycheck you can put in and that’s ok. You have to start somewhere! And you need to start now!
Write down all of your bills right now and figure out how much you can put in from each paycheck. Use the list below and try implementing some of them in your life. At least until you have your emergency fund built up.
HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED TO SAVE
Set a small goal for your emergency fund. $500 -$1,000 See what you can cut back on until you meet that goal. Most financial advisors will tell you that you need at least 3-6 months of expenses in an emergency fund. Yes, this should probably be a long-term goal. However, I am not a financial advisor, I am a mom with five boys and setting small goals is what works! If you think too big right now you may get discouraged. That’s why I encourage you to set a small goal to start. You will be surprised at how much peace of mind you will have just knowing that you have $1000 in an emergency fund. Once you reach your small goal, you can set another small goal and continue to add to your emergency fund.
How are you going to fund your emergency fund? There is a list below of things you can do right now to save money and use that money to fund your emergency fund! Make it a priority, you can do this!
HERE IS A LIST OF THINGS YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW TO HELP YOU FUND YOUR EMERGENCY FUND
- Cut the cable, cut the satellite, just cut it off. If you haven’t done this, now is the time. The money that you save from cutting off your cable you can put it in your emergency fund! Don’t worry, you will still be able to watch your favorite shows. Here is how you can do it!
- Lower your phone bill and use that extra money for your emergency fund. Here is how we reduced our cell phone bill by $1680 a year.
- Stop eating out. Start planning your meals for each night. You will be surprised at how much money you will save if you meal plan!
- Use these grocery apps when you shop. If you haven’t started using grocery apps yet. You are wasting money. The money you could be saving, you could be putting it in your emergency fund.
- Sell everything you don’t use. Yes, you can easily sell items that you don’t need anymore. This is probably the fastest way to get money to put in your emergency fund. This article here will give you a few places to sell your unwanted items, without having a yard sale.
- If you have to shop online, shop through ebates. I am currently waiting for a $27 check from ebates. If you’re an Amazon Prime member you can shop Amazon through ebates and save even more money, without ever having to leave your home. This was huge for me around Christmas time, I did pretty much all of my shopping online!
- Download the Money App on your phone and play games to earn money. Yes, this is legit! No, all the games aren’t fun, but they’re easy. I almost have enough points to cash out $10 🙂 Use this referral code when you sign up to get some extra points! CODE: 7HH1L1
- Think before you spend. Did you find a really cool kitchen gadget or an awesome new top? That is on sale! ( I am a sucker for sales). Stop and THINK. Do you really need this right now? Can I live without it? At least until I reach my emergency fund goal? Chances are you CAN live without it, and it will be on sale again! Instead, take that money you would have spent on that cute new top and put it in your emergency fund.
- Have your money directly deposited into your savings account. If you know when you will have income coming in and exact dates, you can have $10 or whatever amount you want directly deposited into your savings account. Then you will never even know it was there!
- Have a no spend month. This means no eating out, no junk food, no stops at the convenience store. Whatever money you have at the end of your no spend month put this into your emergency fund!
I am willing to bet if you put some or all 10 of these into action you will have some money left over after paying bills to put in your emergency fund. Remember every little bit helps!
TRACK YOUR SUCCESS
If you’re just starting out or need a little motivation. It can be helpful to track your goals. Put your goal tracker right in eyes sight so you can see it every day. This will be a constant reminder of what you’re saving and working so hard for!
You can print out your free Emergency Fund Tracker below. If you have any questions I am always here to help. Leave me a comment below, I would love to hear about your savings success!
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