Emergency Funds – You never know when!

Not to get into a political debate or anything, but I thought this would be a great example of the need to have an emergency fund saved up.

I was never very hasty about saving money in case disaster struck, but I started the habit because everybody recommended it. Truthfully, I didn’t really need the emergency fund during my college years and you probably feel that you don’t need it now either.

But guess what? Get that emergency fund habit started because eventually you will need emergency money! You never know when. You never know how. You never know what for. But, you will need a stash of cash one day and you’ll be happier if you started now with small bits of money.

My habit of regularly saving a set amount of money for my emergency fund is really paying off now.

My teacher union (You did know that I’m a teacher right? Five years of college plus two years for my masters degree and a teaching credential. Whew, I’m all educated out!) is getting ready for a strike in the next few months. Nobody knows how long the strike will last. It might be a day. It might be for 17 days. It might be for months. During the strike, I will be walking that line and not receiving my regular paycheck.

Instead of freaking out, I am mildly worried. My rather casual attitude toward my emergency fund means that I only have $4,000 in there instead of $10,000, which is my goal. However, even my small emergency fund will allow me to strike without being anxious about my lack of income. The same cannot be said for some of my colleagues.

Trust me, I will be putting all my extra money into my emergency, or strike, fund in the next few weeks. Just in case.

What about you? Even though you feel that you won’t need that emergency fund now, get it started with a small montly deposit of $20 or $50 now. You’ll save up a small bit of cash and, more importantly, get into the habit of saving money.

Where can you save this money? Well, I have to entice you to come back to read frugal101 some how, don’t I?