Comments on: Emergency Fund Help Needed

By: Jeffrey Kosola

Jeffrey Kosola — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:14:17 +0000

Your are correct. I was faced with another “Emergency” 4 days after I wrote the original post. The complete totals for the emergencies was $1675. I was forced to move some money around my different accounts. The good news is that I’m back up to my $1000 EF the bad news I couldn’t make any extra payments for the month. Oh well, I didn’t go into debt over it and I proves that knowing where your money is and being on top of your finances sure makes it easy to handle things like this.

I’m in the process of setting up the budget for next year and I’m adding another grand to the EM for this just like this. I believe the term is “go big or go home” so I think I’d better go big.

Take care, Jeff

By: Thirtysomething Finance

Thirtysomething Finance — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:00:09 +0000

Hey Jeff, to quote Ned Flanders, that’s a dill of pickle you got there! Dictionary.com defines an “emergency” as “a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action.” That sounds about right to be — the point is that emergencies come up, whether you’re ready for them or not. Fortunately, you were ready for the first one, but that’s not to say that another one might not just come up out of the blue. But because the emergency is something that “requires immediate action,” if I were in your shoes, I’d do whatever I had to do to pay it off. That might mean re-shuffling some accounts around or using a credit card and paying it off over time.

What I would suggest is keeping your fingers crossed that another emergency does not come up and, in the meantime, continuing to contribute to your emergency fund! You might want to consider keeping a bigger emergency fund to combat this very problem!
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By: Jeffrey Kosola

Jeffrey Kosola — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:00:39 +0000

You put it perfectly.

Anything except a car insurance deductible is not an ‘emergency’ it is necessary maintenance

I’ve budgeted a small amount to cover the maintenance, but I’m revisiting and modifying it. Thanks for the comment.

By: Angie

Angie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:11:21 +0000

You definitely should think about a separate savings for car maintenance. That is one cost that will never be over. I put aside a certain amount each month based on the average I will expect for the year. Anything except a car insurance deductible is not an ‘emergency’ it is necessary maintenance. And your savings should reflect this.

By: Matt Jabs

Matt Jabs — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:49:50 +0000

Just keep plugging away. Better to use saved money than credit card loans at 20%. I say kudos that you had the money… so yeah – keep your head up!

Cheers
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By: Jeffrey Kosola

Jeffrey Kosola — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:07:56 +0000

Just when you think you’re back on the path, another freakin’ “emergency” happens. Yep, that truck is going to cost me another $650 to fix the heater actuator. The dealer is cutting me 25% deal on the labor because of all the problems I’ve had with them lately. I do have the cabbage to pay cash again so that’s great, but what a hit this is giving me. What’s that? Keep my head up. Ok, I got it – keep looking at the long term goal…

By: Vinny Financio

Vinny Financio — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:24:47 +0000

When we thought we werefacing a lay off. We fattened up our E-Fund until we felt more comfortable then went back to the debts. In our case $1000 wouldn’t have helped us too much if we lost a job.
I guess that’s why personal finance is personal – everybody has a different story.

BTW Jeff (pizza guy), please stop saying “dough” in your comments,I always wonder if you’re actualy talking about bringing home pizza dough

By: Jeffrey Kosola

Jeffrey Kosola — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:35:12 +0000

Very cool way to do it. We’ve been talking alot about different ways to dump the debt and still have a balanced life. I think you’ve just given me my topic for the dinner table tonight. How does the extra 10% factor into the equation? I’m giving 110% right now so the 75/25 method leaves an extra 10% on the table. Oh yeah I could put that into the EF and get there faster
Thanks a ton for the advice Matt.

By: Matt Jabs

Matt Jabs — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:23:39 +0000

Hey Jeff,

The same thing happened to my wife and I when we first started. We saved $1,000 then her transmission went out – a $1,600 bingo that required not only all our EF, but also $600 on the dreaded credit card.

What did we do? We decided to make personal finance personal. We saved our $1,000 back up quickly with 100% of our available funds, then after the initial amount was there we scaled it back and created what I coined “The Balanced 75/25 Method” of debt reduction/EF savings.

We continued to put 25% of our available monthly monies into the EF until we had it funded to a level we felt more comfortable with… one month’s expenses worth.

To us, building our initial EF up to one months’ worth of expenses – THEN turning the gazelle intensity back on – just plain made sense. We feel better, and the gazelle has once again left the building… so things are good.

Think about it, it worked for us – do what works for you.

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:31:27 +0000

I think in this instance I’d put it on the credit card. I’d be reluctant to raid other savings pots as it would ruin the overall ‘Zen’ of my financial plans. If the card was paid in full the next month, no harm done.