Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Bring On The Emergencies

Not literally praying for emergencies, but celebrating the achievement of our first financial goal: saving enough for all emergencies we can reasonably perceive. It took us a little over 6 months to set up a fully-funded emergency fund (as Dave Ramsey would advise). The few things we consider emergencies include: health insurance maximum out-of-pocket copay beyond what our plan covers, 4 months minimum income if we were both  simultaneously jobless, renters insurance deductible, auto insurance deductible and miscellaneous car repairs, and travel anywhere in the US on short notice.

The chances of all these events happening at once are minimal, but it is peace of mind to know that if it so happened, we would be alright. Because those chances are small, we are confident we can handle any other unperceived emergency too, without going into debt. In fact, we no longer have credit cards solely held for emergency purposes. It is a good feeling to have some control over your finances. It took a lot of discipline and sacrifice, but we can already taste its worth.

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