Get Your Emergency Fund On!

It seemed like whenever I would get a little bit of extra money saved up something would happen, the kids would get sick so I would need to spend money on prescriptions, or even worse, the appliances would draw straws between each other and one would decide to quit working, or the car would need repairs.

So the cycle would start over and over and over again. NO SAVINGS AT ALL! After reading The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. The first thing I did was get what Dave calls the Emergency fund together which he recommends $500.00 if your single, if you have a family get $1,000.00 dollars as quickly as possible. Keep this money liquid, which means keeping it in a safe at home if you have one, or in a savings account at your local credit union or bank.

According to a article posted on the Blaze 33% of American's do not have an emergency fund of at least $1,000.00 to use on emergency expenses. This is frightening, I was one of these people! According to the 2012 Census Bureau Report there were 313.9 million people in America, so I was one of 103.5 million Americans who didn't have an emergency fund.

Your saying to yourself how the heck can I do this? Look around your garage, your house, for free stuff online and sell it! You'll be shocked what people will buy! When I started selling things one of the things I sold was a broke down truck that didn't run on eBay, and a guy from Oklahoma bought it and had to pay a shipping company to come get it, he probably paid as much for the shipping as he did for the truck. I had to pay eBay a small fee, but I had a national audience. When you post things for sale be completely honest, if it won't run tell them, if it has dents tell them, that way it won't come back to haunt you later down the road. As George Washington said "Honesty is the best policy." 

My wife would sell and still does through Facebook groups, clothes that are in good condition that no longer fit our kids, or shoes she hasn't worn in a long time. And I say if I haven't used it in at least 2 years, another person will probably want to give me some money for it.

On the Dave Ramsey Show people ask just what are emergency's. I'll share two thoughts, one of his and one of mine because everybody's emergency is a little different. Ordering pizza on Monday night because nobody want's to cook is not an emergency! (just saying.)

- My wife's father is a insulin dependent diabetic and lives in New Mexico, if something happens I can put her on a airplane headed for New Mexico within a hour. If something happens to my parents I have enough money to put gas in my tank and start driving to their place in Wyoming to help out. These would be considered an Emergency in my family.

- A faulty transmission would be an emergency according to Dave Ramsey.

An Emergency is anything that can't be planned for, life's unexpected events. CHRISTMAS IS NOT AN EMERGENCY! IT COMES EVERY YEAR ON THE SAME DAY! IT NEVER EVER CHANGES!

Rather than having the "OH CRAP, WHAT DO I DO NOW?" moments you won't be beat down and the emergency won't be much of an emergency. Before I had my Emergency savings if something happened I would have to pull out the credit card and hope that I would have the money to pay the payments on the credit card from month to month. (we'll talk about that evil in another week or two.) Now once your out of debt you will be able to save for at least 3-6 month's of savings. This will ensure you will be able to live for an extended period of time through either a job loss or extended sickness.

President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints said this in his address to members of the church in the October 2005 General Conference, "We can set aside some water, basic food, medicine, and clothing to keep us warm. We ought to have a little money laid aside in case of a rainy day."

Since getting my emergency fund and keeping it there for only emergencies I haven't had the stress or disappointment I faced in past times when things would randomly arise, when the black cloud of life would follow me around. Around Christmas time I walked into a wholesale big box store and I was looking at all the big huge t.v.'s they always have sitting right out front when you walk in, (by the way they don't just do that by happen stance, it's a marketing ploy my friends. DON'T DO IT!) anyways I was looking at these t.v.'s and thought to myself, I have enough money in the emergency fund I could be walking out of here with just about anyone of these huge t.v.'s but I'm not doing that anymore, today in my world that would be CRAZY!!!!! A T.V. STARING AT YOU IN THE STORE IS NOT A GOOD USE FOR YOUR EMERGENCY FUND!!!!!!! DUMB DUMB DUMB IDEA!!!!!!

So friends next week I'm going to go over BUDGETS and the different systems there are to use budgets with, one is very very old and I am a huge personal fan of and use. I heard the other day while listening to the audio book Debt Free Living by Larry Burkett, that just because you balance your checkbook don't mean your living on a budget. SO NEXT WEEK we'll cover that.

So until then sell anything you think of "One man's trash is another man's treasure!" so get your emergency savings fund in place and I'll see you next week. 

REMEMBER COWBOY UP

 AND 

FIRE YOUR DEBT!

P.S. I think next week I'll recommend some books to read as well, because well, I've become quite the avid reader. Readers are leaders and leaders are readers! BOOM!