I have an emergency fund. My husband and I set one up before my son was born. It helped out just last month when I needed to get my tires and front brakes replaced. It's been a lifesaver now that we are only on one salary.
Yes, we have an emergency fund of six months take-home pay.
When I was laid off in late 2008, were able to deal with my being out of work (sole earner) for five months. Since this was right at the edge of the abyss when people were still not sure whether the economy was going to totally collapse, once I got a job again we were painfully frugal and put back what we had taken out within one year. Because there was unemployment, we only used about 2 months worth.
No, we don't. It's been tough to get my spouse and I working together to look at our finances, and it's been tough to teach the concept of identifying the bill with the highest interest as the one we should eliminate first, and it's even tougher learning how to spend less than we earn. I have hopes - but they're feeling rather slim these days.
This website is great, but I think it's missing two integral sites: BargainJack and BargainJill. Although they may seem a little sexist (LOL!), they are both user-friendly websites--with Jack catering towards men's needs like men's apparel and electronics and Jill catering towards women's needs like women's apparel and home and garden. Extremely user-friendly; even the most novice bargain shopper could find fabulous deals on these! Definitely should have made the cut.
We have an 11.5 months emergency fund. It was bigger but then we had an emergency..the house we were renting was foreclosed on and we had to move quick. We found a decent place to live but we needed certain things we had in the house that came with it so we had to leave it behind (i.e. microwave, washer/dryer, etc). Fortunately we had the cash which went a long way to win over the LL...we offered 3 mos rent in advance when we heard there were other ppl interested..it's a great place, very roomy for an apt, and in a great school district.
You could call it an emergency fund, but I just save a lot of money under the generic heading of "for the future". Whether it's for a house or for traveling or for retirement or for an emergency, the money's there if and when I need it.
I belong to a gym that has the classes included in the membership fee. Some gyms don't though. There's a great smartphone app, Qponomics, to find deals around you (using the GPS) and in many areas in the country, gyms offer membership discounts - just one more way you can save money and still stay healthy. I have the app and I love it! Check it out to see if there's a gym near you!
The group classes in the conference was such a cool story! Thanks for sharing! It's a great idea to bring to my coworkers.
I keep a minimum of $2000 (2-3 months of living expenses) in an online savings account. I say "minimum" because I also use that as my "pre-IRA" account -- I add money to the savings account throughout the year, then move a big chunk of *that* to my Roth IRA at tax time.
Why don't I fund the IRA year round? Because my job *sometimes* has seasonal layoffs during the winter, and I worry that $2000 wouldn't cover a long layoff. (Fortunately for me, my seasonal layoff has never been more than 2 weeks, but I've seen co-workers laid off for longer.) So, I build up the emergency fund all year, then move the excess into the IRA when layoff season ends (conveniently, in March).
I'm sure this plan sounds insane to some people, but it's the best one I've come up with while having a slightly irregular income stream.
Yes, we have an emergency fund. Right now, there's enough to pay our mortgage for 8 months. We're going to continue till it will pay our mortgage for one year. We also have money set aside for household repairs/maintenance and car repairs/maintenance.
I have an emergency fund. My husband and I set one up before my son was born. It helped out just last month when I needed to get my tires and front brakes replaced. It's been a lifesaver now that we are only on one salary.
Yes, we have an emergency fund of six months take-home pay.
When I was laid off in late 2008, were able to deal with my being out of work (sole earner) for five months. Since this was right at the edge of the abyss when people were still not sure whether the economy was going to totally collapse, once I got a job again we were painfully frugal and put back what we had taken out within one year. Because there was unemployment, we only used about 2 months worth.
Great article--I'm inspired!
Yes, we do.
You are welcome!
Hey Ashley, love the picture! Thanks for including the article on tracking your investments.
No, we don't. It's been tough to get my spouse and I working together to look at our finances, and it's been tough to teach the concept of identifying the bill with the highest interest as the one we should eliminate first, and it's even tougher learning how to spend less than we earn. I have hopes - but they're feeling rather slim these days.
Yes, ever since I unexpectedly fell I'll a few years ago I've been adamant that my husband and I keep and fund one!
We have finally figured out how to keep at least $1000 for emergencies. It's saved our behinds on more than one occasion.
This website is great, but I think it's missing two integral sites: BargainJack and BargainJill. Although they may seem a little sexist (LOL!), they are both user-friendly websites--with Jack catering towards men's needs like men's apparel and electronics and Jill catering towards women's needs like women's apparel and home and garden. Extremely user-friendly; even the most novice bargain shopper could find fabulous deals on these! Definitely should have made the cut.
We have an 11.5 months emergency fund. It was bigger but then we had an emergency..the house we were renting was foreclosed on and we had to move quick. We found a decent place to live but we needed certain things we had in the house that came with it so we had to leave it behind (i.e. microwave, washer/dryer, etc). Fortunately we had the cash which went a long way to win over the LL...we offered 3 mos rent in advance when we heard there were other ppl interested..it's a great place, very roomy for an apt, and in a great school district.
You could call it an emergency fund, but I just save a lot of money under the generic heading of "for the future". Whether it's for a house or for traveling or for retirement or for an emergency, the money's there if and when I need it.
I belong to a gym that has the classes included in the membership fee. Some gyms don't though. There's a great smartphone app, Qponomics, to find deals around you (using the GPS) and in many areas in the country, gyms offer membership discounts - just one more way you can save money and still stay healthy. I have the app and I love it! Check it out to see if there's a gym near you!
The group classes in the conference was such a cool story! Thanks for sharing! It's a great idea to bring to my coworkers.
Yes, we have an emergency fund, but it seems like there is always another emergency!
Yes, and it is coming in handy right now. Been out of work for 3 months with a back injury. Rainy day fund is a real life saver!
I sure do! I'm working right now to fully fund it.
I keep a minimum of $2000 (2-3 months of living expenses) in an online savings account. I say "minimum" because I also use that as my "pre-IRA" account -- I add money to the savings account throughout the year, then move a big chunk of *that* to my Roth IRA at tax time.
Why don't I fund the IRA year round? Because my job *sometimes* has seasonal layoffs during the winter, and I worry that $2000 wouldn't cover a long layoff. (Fortunately for me, my seasonal layoff has never been more than 2 weeks, but I've seen co-workers laid off for longer.) So, I build up the emergency fund all year, then move the excess into the IRA when layoff season ends (conveniently, in March).
I'm sure this plan sounds insane to some people, but it's the best one I've come up with while having a slightly irregular income stream.
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We have a small $1K emergency fund. Will be working on increasing that this year.
I did until I landed in the hospital on Friday and paid the bill in full with my emergency fund. Next step: replenish and save $20,000!
I am just thankful it was there.
I actually paid the hospital bill with my credit card (points) and then paid off the credit card in full!
Yes, but it will probably be depleted during the next year and a half while I'm in school!
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Yes, we have an emergency fund. Right now, there's enough to pay our mortgage for 8 months. We're going to continue till it will pay our mortgage for one year. We also have money set aside for household repairs/maintenance and car repairs/maintenance.
I don't have an emergency fund yet. So many emergencies keep cropping up. I plan to build one soon, though.