My emergency fund saved me when my furnace died in January

The thing just quit on a Tuesday night when it was 15 degrees outside. I called a guy the next morning and he said the heat exchanger was cracked, a full replacement. The quote was $4,800. I had been putting $200 a month into a separate savings account for two years for exactly this kind of mess. I wrote the check from that account and didn't touch my regular bills money or use a credit card. If I hadn't been forcing myself to save for 'stupid stuff breaking,' I would have been totally stuck. Anyone else had a major appliance go and been glad they had a specific fund for it?

3 comments

3 Comments

avery_smith2218d ago

Man, that's such a relief you had that fund ready to go... I read a thing once that said most people are one big repair bill away from real trouble. Was it hard to stick with putting that money aside every month, or did you just make it automatic? I've been trying to do something similar for car stuff, but it's so easy to dip into it for other things. Your story is a good push to leave that money alone.

terry_carter155d ago

Oh man, @avery_smith22, you hit the nail on the head about it being easy to dip into. I totally get that. What finally worked for me was opening a separate savings account at my bank just for that car fund, and then I set up a tiny automatic transfer for every payday. Out of sight, out of mind, you know? It feels less like money I can spend on other stuff when it's not sitting in my main checking account. Took a few months to build up, but man, when my alternator died last year, it was such a peace of mind thing to just pay for it.

jesse_allen18d ago

Ugh, @avery_smith22, it's like a diet for your bank account.