Comments on: Perfect Example of the Need for an Emergency Fund http://www.cleverdude.com/content/perfect-example-of-the-need-for-an-emergency-fund/ Family, Marriage, Finances & Life Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:09:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Fit Wallet http://www.cleverdude.com/content/perfect-example-of-the-need-for-an-emergency-fund/comment-page-1/#comment-34031 Fit Wallet Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:36:14 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=2039#comment-34031 My DINK family's bare-bones, essential living expenses are currently $3,100-3,200 per month. Our net income is anywhere between $4,800-6,000 per month. Right now, we have about a month and a half of living expenses saved, and we're adding $500-1,000 per month. I would like to have six months of living expenses saved up, but it seems every time we get above $2,500 or so, something major breaks. This time around it's news that we need a $3-5k repair to our house. Ughh. My partner and I both have steady jobs with benefits. If she lost her job, we could scrape by, but she would have to greatly increase her side income, part-time gig. If I lost mine, we would be in big trouble. However I just got a promotion and my job is very stable, so I'm not worried. My DINK family’s bare-bones, essential living expenses are currently $3,100-3,200 per month. Our net income is anywhere between $4,800-6,000 per month. Right now, we have about a month and a half of living expenses saved, and we’re adding $500-1,000 per month. I would like to have six months of living expenses saved up, but it seems every time we get above $2,500 or so, something major breaks. This time around it’s news that we need a $3-5k repair to our house. Ughh.

My partner and I both have steady jobs with benefits. If she lost her job, we could scrape by, but she would have to greatly increase her side income, part-time gig. If I lost mine, we would be in big trouble. However I just got a promotion and my job is very stable, so I’m not worried.

]]> By: Nancy http://www.cleverdude.com/content/perfect-example-of-the-need-for-an-emergency-fund/comment-page-1/#comment-33910 Nancy Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:39:01 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=2039#comment-33910 Bummer. Having a second bank account really helps. I've found starting a bank account online was a lot easier than expected. I discovered the Chesepeake Bank and so far I've had no problems. There's a few other good ones on there too. Bummer. Having a second bank account really helps. I’ve found starting a bank account online was a lot easier than expected. I discovered the Chesepeake Bank and so far I’ve had no problems. There’s a few other good ones on there too.

]]> By: Clever Dude http://www.cleverdude.com/content/perfect-example-of-the-need-for-an-emergency-fund/comment-page-1/#comment-33825 Clever Dude Sun, 22 Feb 2009 04:23:26 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=2039#comment-33825 @Danielle, congrats on those savings. Regarding unemployment income, it's never a given, and it does take some time to get that money in your hands. It should be considered, but in my case I would rather not depend on the government giving me money. I'll take it if available, but I want to know I can be self-reliant if that federal money isn't available. @Danielle, congrats on those savings. Regarding unemployment income, it’s never a given, and it does take some time to get that money in your hands. It should be considered, but in my case I would rather not depend on the government giving me money. I’ll take it if available, but I want to know I can be self-reliant if that federal money isn’t available.

]]> By: Danielle http://www.cleverdude.com/content/perfect-example-of-the-need-for-an-emergency-fund/comment-page-1/#comment-33824 Danielle Sun, 22 Feb 2009 04:20:01 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=2039#comment-33824 After a year of trying to turn our finances around I built up a small emergency fund, not to be touched unless loss of job occurred. A second savings account was used to plan for car repairs, furnace fixing, vacations, etc. I have now been unemployed for nearly 3 months and have yet to touch the emergency fund. We were able to minimize our expense and defer my highest payment on student loans and are still able to pay some extra on our debt using my unemployment insurance money. With the recent extensions to unemployment insurance I could leave my emergency fund untouched for another full 12 months! My husband is still employed though. I understand there are times when a person doesn't qualify for unemployment insurance, but in terms of how many months can you go without any earned income... shouldn't it be considered in the equation? After a year of trying to turn our finances around I built up a small emergency fund, not to be touched unless loss of job occurred. A second savings account was used to plan for car repairs, furnace fixing, vacations, etc.

I have now been unemployed for nearly 3 months and have yet to touch the emergency fund. We were able to minimize our expense and defer my highest payment on student loans and are still able to pay some extra on our debt using my unemployment insurance money. With the recent extensions to unemployment insurance I could leave my emergency fund untouched for another full 12 months! My husband is still employed though.

I understand there are times when a person doesn’t qualify for unemployment insurance, but in terms of how many months can you go without any earned income… shouldn’t it be considered in the equation?

]]> By: Eric http://www.cleverdude.com/content/perfect-example-of-the-need-for-an-emergency-fund/comment-page-1/#comment-33812 Eric Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:48:52 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=2039#comment-33812 I installed my furnace myself and had a professional inspect it. The one thing the inspector said was that I should not have direct-wired it. The electronics of modern furnaces are basically computers. And they can be sensitive to spikes and surges. He recommended plugging it into a standard surge suppressor. So I did that. You can do it yourself or hire an electrician - it shouldn't take them more than 30 minutes. I bought a surge suppressor that guarantees the electronics behind it. Hopefully it will never come to that. BTW, $657 is insanely expensive. Depending on the size of your house, you can buy a new furnace for less than twice that. If the space it is in is easy to work with, you can easily install it yourself in a weekend. I bought mine and an A/C online from alpinehomeair.com. The have a lot of help for doit yourselfers. I installed my furnace myself and had a professional inspect it. The one thing the inspector said was that I should not have direct-wired it. The electronics of modern furnaces are basically computers. And they can be sensitive to spikes and surges. He recommended plugging it into a standard surge suppressor. So I did that. You can do it yourself or hire an electrician – it shouldn’t take them more than 30 minutes. I bought a surge suppressor that guarantees the electronics behind it. Hopefully it will never come to that.

BTW, $657 is insanely expensive. Depending on the size of your house, you can buy a new furnace for less than twice that. If the space it is in is easy to work with, you can easily install it yourself in a weekend. I bought mine and an A/C online from alpinehomeair.com. The have a lot of help for doit yourselfers.

]]> By: Personal Finance Firewall http://www.cleverdude.com/content/perfect-example-of-the-need-for-an-emergency-fund/comment-page-1/#comment-33732 Personal Finance Firewall Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:52:02 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=2039#comment-33732 Our emergency fund which was pretty much still an infant was completely cleaned out by a dead furnace this past November. Right when we were feeling good about our accounts and everything was looking good, the Utah winter hit us like a brick in the head. The furnace just keeled over and had to be completely replaced. I am so glad that we had that money though or we would be in such a worse position at this time. Our emergency fund which was pretty much still an infant was completely cleaned out by a dead furnace this past November. Right when we were feeling good about our accounts and everything was looking good, the Utah winter hit us like a brick in the head. The furnace just keeled over and had to be completely replaced.
I am so glad that we had that money though or we would be in such a worse position at this time.

]]> By: fern http://www.cleverdude.com/content/perfect-example-of-the-need-for-an-emergency-fund/comment-page-1/#comment-33712 fern Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:20:57 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=2039#comment-33712 During the bull market years, i never kept an emergency savings fund; i had a few thousand in a checking account and the rest of my taxable savings went into mutual fund stock funds. So i've learned my lesson and am working to build up a year's worth of living expenses, which for me would be $$36,000. It's coming along slowly, with just 2.5 months worth now saved up, at $700 a month contributed, becus i'm also prepaying the mortgage with an extra $425 monthly and throwing 15% to the 401k plus the catch-up contrbution of an extra $5k. So i'm basically tapped out by all the savings, but it's worth it. During the bull market years, i never kept an emergency savings fund; i had a few thousand in a checking account and the rest of my taxable savings went into mutual fund stock funds.

So i’ve learned my lesson and am working to build up a year’s worth of living expenses, which for me would be $$36,000. It’s coming along slowly, with just 2.5 months worth now saved up, at $700 a month contributed, becus i’m also prepaying the mortgage with an extra $425 monthly and throwing 15% to the 401k plus the catch-up contrbution of an extra $5k. So i’m basically tapped out by all the savings, but it’s worth it.

]]> By: My Life ROI http://www.cleverdude.com/content/perfect-example-of-the-need-for-an-emergency-fund/comment-page-1/#comment-33697 My Life ROI Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:54:10 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=2039#comment-33697 Have to agree with LAL... for the most part a lot of car repair and house maintenance stuff shouldn't be considered "emergency" fund related. I know the preventative maintenance schedule on my car... so I know how much to put away each paycheck to cover that cost. I then usually add on 10% of that number to cover any unforeseen. The same can be done for house work. However, in your case, you did have an inspection that said everything was on the up and up... so I could see how that would be a surprise. Right now I am being conservative and have a year of living expenses in the bank. And there are definitely ways I could lengthen that some more. I figure I can't be too careful in this environment! Definitely happy to see more EF posts lately... just like Kristy! Have to agree with LAL… for the most part a lot of car repair and house maintenance stuff shouldn’t be considered “emergency” fund related.

I know the preventative maintenance schedule on my car… so I know how much to put away each paycheck to cover that cost. I then usually add on 10% of that number to cover any unforeseen. The same can be done for house work.

However, in your case, you did have an inspection that said everything was on the up and up… so I could see how that would be a surprise.

Right now I am being conservative and have a year of living expenses in the bank. And there are definitely ways I could lengthen that some more. I figure I can’t be too careful in this environment!

Definitely happy to see more EF posts lately… just like Kristy!

]]> By: LAL http://www.cleverdude.com/content/perfect-example-of-the-need-for-an-emergency-fund/comment-page-1/#comment-33692 LAL Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:21:21 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=2039#comment-33692 I view the EF as death and job loss. Everything else should be planned for. Knowing that you spend on average 1% a year on home repair. Why not keep separate categories of home repairs, car replacement/repair, etc? I mean those are planned right? You know they will happen? And I don't segregate them out, but I know they are separate. I view the EF as death and job loss. Everything else should be planned for. Knowing that you spend on average 1% a year on home repair. Why not keep separate categories of home repairs, car replacement/repair, etc?

I mean those are planned right? You know they will happen? And I don’t segregate them out, but I know they are separate.

]]> By: Roger http://www.cleverdude.com/content/perfect-example-of-the-need-for-an-emergency-fund/comment-page-1/#comment-33671 Roger Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:35:19 +0000 http://www.cleverdude.com/?p=2039#comment-33671 Like Susan (comment 2), I'm currently in the position of drawing down my emergency fund while I look for another (full-time) job. I have about 4 months of expenses remaining, although I haven't completely cut out my non-essential expenses. If I did so, I might be able to stretch that out to 6 or 8 months. As it stands, unemployment and the part time work I've been able to get have nearly covered my expenses each month, so as long as I can find a permanent job (or significantly more part time income) before the unemployment benefits run out, I should be able to get by without exhausting the EF. Like Susan (comment 2), I’m currently in the position of drawing down my emergency fund while I look for another (full-time) job. I have about 4 months of expenses remaining, although I haven’t completely cut out my non-essential expenses. If I did so, I might be able to stretch that out to 6 or 8 months.

As it stands, unemployment and the part time work I’ve been able to get have nearly covered my expenses each month, so as long as I can find a permanent job (or significantly more part time income) before the unemployment benefits run out, I should be able to get by without exhausting the EF.

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