My father and mother are children of the Great Depression. They taught me very early in life to have emergency savings because life can take you from flush to busted before you know what's happened. That lesson was not lost on me, and it's been passed down to my children as well. Just makes sense to do it if you can.
60% of Americans Do NOT Have an Emergency Fund.
- Thread starter Sentry18
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10% of every checking deposit goes to savings. 1% of all expenses is added to savings, not including mortgage, taxes and insurance. Any money removed from savings is paid back with 5% interest.
I like to keep the checking account above $5000 because that gives me an easy three month cushion. My savings account is a bit higher than the checking and I don't have a mortgage or car tabs.
I have $0.00 credit card debt or a positive balance and just the normal gas, electric, water and phone/internet bills. Just finished paying off the doctor and hospital bills for the wife's cancer surgery.
It has been a couple of "tight" months for me but I am still on track financially.
The only thing hard about having a cushion is getting into the habit of saying no to yourself when it comes to buying anything that is not a necessity. When a deposit is made into the checking account you the decimal one place to the left and make out a transfer from checking to savings. You pay yourself just like you pay any other bill. It adds up fast and you start to like it after a year or so.
I like to keep the checking account above $5000 because that gives me an easy three month cushion. My savings account is a bit higher than the checking and I don't have a mortgage or car tabs.
I have $0.00 credit card debt or a positive balance and just the normal gas, electric, water and phone/internet bills. Just finished paying off the doctor and hospital bills for the wife's cancer surgery.
It has been a couple of "tight" months for me but I am still on track financially.
The only thing hard about having a cushion is getting into the habit of saying no to yourself when it comes to buying anything that is not a necessity. When a deposit is made into the checking account you the decimal one place to the left and make out a transfer from checking to savings. You pay yourself just like you pay any other bill. It adds up fast and you start to like it after a year or so.
10% of every checking deposit goes to savings. 1% of all expenses is added to savings, not including mortgage, taxes and insurance. Any money removed from savings is paid back with 5% interest.
I like to keep the checking account above $5000 because that gives me an easy three month cushion. My savings account is a bit higher than the checking and I don't have a mortgage or car tabs.
I have $0.00 credit card debt or a positive balance and just the normal gas, electric, water and phone/internet bills. Just finished paying off the doctor and hospital bills for the wife's cancer surgery.
It has been a couple of "tight" months for me but I am still on track financially.
The only thing hard about having a cushion is getting into the habit of saying no to yourself when it comes to buying anything that is not a necessity. When a deposit is made into the checking account you the decimal one place to the left and make out a transfer from checking to savings. You pay yourself just like you pay any other bill. It adds up fast and you start to like it after a year or so.
Very good plan SheepDog
I used to live by habit but that was gone when I noticed the same car was following me to work. I started leaving at different times and taking different paths everywhere. My monetary habits hung on for a while but I gradually stopped doing anything the same way more than twice. You really get to know an area when you never go the same way. When I got married my wife hated it because she never knew where we were going or how to get home. I finally convinced her that all roads lead to Rome - and she would answer, "I don't want to go to Rome."
She's a smart lady and picked up on it pretty fast. It's not what she does but she can find her way home.
She's a smart lady and picked up on it pretty fast. It's not what she does but she can find her way home.
