Do you prepare for emergencies? I don’t mean full on preparing for the end of the world as we know it, rather things like having candles, extra water and food on hand and a 72 hour emergency bag made? If so, I have a question for you: the last time that you looked at your bank balance, did you wonder how you were going to pay your bills? Did you have enough money in there to cover your bills and a major repair with your car, home, or kids? Would you have enough money to do that? If not, you need to do some serious financial preparing because the #1 financial prep every family needs is exactly that: money to take care of life’s emergencies or a well-built emergency fund.
The #1 Financial Prep Every Family Needs
Building an emergency fund can seem like a very daunting task, but it really isn’t. A good amount to start with is $1,000. One thousand dollars is usually enough to cover most, if not all of the basic necessities that a family has. If you’re struggling to pay your bills already, $1,000 can seem like a mountain of a sum to come up with. When you break it down though, it can be done for under $20.00 per day which is quite doable. Another way to build your emergency fund quickly is to have a yard sale or sell the items you have floating around your home that you no longer need or want.
After you’ve got your $1,000 fund built, you don’t want to stop there. Continue saving and building your emergency fund until you have two to three months of emergency savings built up. Aside from the actual getting started part, this is probably the most important part of financial prepping. Why? While the initial one-thousand might help you get through the immediate financial emergency, the extra savings will be there to help you get through the long term. Make sure that you have enough money to cover every expense that you might have including debts and any must-have expenses for your kids.
Another good idea when you first begin prepping financially is to sit down and make a list of everything that you might need a larger sum of money for. Be sure to include things like car repair, home repair, a medical emergency, a death in the family, and everything else that may pop up and cost you a larger amount of money. After you’ve built up your main emergency fund, it is smart to have funds for these things as well. By being prepared for these events before they happen you will avoid having big budget troubles when everything does fall apart.
Not everyone can see the importance of being financially prepared, but usually all it takes is one major emergency and a budget failure for them to get on board. It might seem as silly as having a few cans of food or candles on hand, but once you’ve done it you will be surprised at just how much your stress levels go down and how much more comfortable your life seems.
More Frugal Living Tips
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Robert @ Frugal Buzz says
Nobody can be ready for all of life’s emergencies, but when it’s possible, prepare! Everyone needs to find ways to save money within their budget so they can build an emergency fund. Find places in your budget (today) that can help you reduce your expenses. This “extra” money can be used to start your emergency savings.