Comments on: Take the Stress Out of Emergencies With a Sudden Emergency Fund

By: Money Infant

Money Infant — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 05:30:40 +0000

Paying off the debt is definitely the most important goal at this point. You only have 5 months to go and a small cushion, so I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. And at the rate you’re paying down the debt you should be able to build up an emergency fund pretty darn quick! Congratulations on a job well done extinguishing that credit card debt!

By: Jeannie

Jeannie — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:59:41 +0000

Well, I have about 2,000 in general savings with a separate, online bank. I was working on getting that one up to about $15,000 (end goal) but then stopped to focus on paying off my credit card debt. This was meant to be my “if I lost my income” cushion to tide me over for a few months. I can stretch it because I’m super frugal.

But now that I’ve read this, I think I need to work on a separate one for smaller emergencies and tuck that away with my same bank for easy access (good advice!). I should be done paying off ALL my credit card debt in roughly 5 months (only 5 easy payments of $1300!!). After that I will divert ALL that money to my savings until I reach my cushion.

To be honest, I’m such a worrier and having only 2K in savings REALLY bothers me, but I know that paying off my cc debt is the best way to go right now. They are eating me alive!!

By: David Cooke

David Cooke — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:23:13 +0000

surely, one emergency that might conceivably happen is that ATMs for some reason go offline. This has happened in the past in some countries. For me, the fact that the first $1000 of medical expenses per year must be paid for by me is one factor. Living in Thailand I want to have enough to get myself (and preferably my wife also) out of the country rapidly in an emergency, That means at least $6000. I have cheap insurances for medivac and emergency evacuation, but I have to pay the medivac costs back afterwards. This is money that must be easily accessible but in a special place all the same.

By: Money Infant

Money Infant — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:09:11 +0000

There are very few sudden emergencies that end up costing more than $1000 IMO. And if you have the larger emergency fund in case of job loss you are more than covered.

By: Aloysa @ My Broken Coin

Aloysa @ My Broken Coin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:20:59 +0000

We have a small emergency fund now. It is about 1,000. We decided that this amount is reasnable for us. Actually our pets decided this for us. Last time we took our cat to the vet we paid $800. So, having at least 1,000 will help us to cover our vet bills.

By: Modest Money

Modest Money — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:15:56 +0000

I think the biggest area many people will struggle with is determining what is a true emergency. Some people will find all kinds of excuses to raid their emergency fund. If you fall into that category, you may want to put the funds in a less accessible place than just your bank account. Make it easy enough to get at in an emergency, but not so convenient that you would be tempted to use it frequently. Personally I’m not too strict with my own emergency fund. I just try to make sure I have at least $1000 in my bank account at all times.

By: Money Infant

Money Infant — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:36:06 +0000

You must have been relieved to have that cash on hand when you were evacuated. During the flooding here in Bangkok in Oct/Nov I kept about $1000 in the house as well, just in case we would have to make a quick getaway. It was nice to know we had it on hand just in case.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:27:46 +0000

We keep about $1,000 in cash. We keep it in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight like it’s a medical first aid kit. Cash in our safe. Our safe isn’t something that we go into a lot (it’s behind and under stuff in a really inconvenient corner) and we’re pretty disciplined, so we’re not tempted. The only time we cracked it was when we were evacuated for the storm in August so we grabbed a bunch of cash just in case.