SAVINGS

“Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else.”

Dave Ramsey

Wealth is not about how much you make. It’s about how much you keep.

Live Small Dream Big

Emergency Fund

An emergency fund is the most important thing you need to think about as it is your insurance to help you deal with whatever life throws at you financially.  This is what helps keep Murphy away.  (Murphy’s Law – “If something can go wrong, it will, and usually at the worst time.”)

Never use the Emergency Fund without first AGREEING ON, PRAYING ON, and SLEEPING ON the decision first.  (Dave Ramsey – Total Money Makeover book)

  • Dave Ramsey suggests having $1,000 cash saved for your cash emergency fund, then after all debts are paid off (everything except your mortgage), he suggests then saving to have a fully-funded emergency fund of at least 3 to 6 months.

  • Jaspreet Singh from Minority Mindset, suggests having $2,000 cash saved. He says Dave Ramsey came up with $1,000 a couple of decades ago, and that $1,000 doesn’t have the same buying power today, so he suggests having $2,000 for your cash emergency fund.

  • Kelly from Freedom in a Budget suggests having at least enough to cover 1-months’ worth of expenses saved for your first emergency fund, then another 3 to 6 months saved for a fully-funded emergency fund.

  • The Money Guy Show suggests the first step should be to make sure you have enough cash to cover your deductibles/copays (Health, Auto, & Home), then after you get your employer match on your retirement and pay off your high-interest debt, you should then save for your 3 to 6 months emergency reserve.

Choosing if you need 3 or 6 months or more in an emergency fund depends on your employment and occupation, how long will it take you to replace your income, and how close you are to retirement.

  • 3 months is probably okay if you are in a high-demand position, and you feel like you could find another job quickly or quickly replace your lost income if needed.

  • 6 months is probably better if you feel it could take a little longer to replace your income if you lost your main source of income.

  • 18-36 months is better if you are nearing retirement. This will help you transition into retirement as it can sometimes take a while to start drawing your retirement income, and it could help cover you if the market is down when you retire leading you to not be able to withdraw your retirement fund quite yet.

You should also consider any other things you might need within the next 3-5 years like if you are buying any houses or cars, or if you are funding any weddings, trips, etc. in a cash/savings account.  They say you don’t want this money to be in investments as the market could be down when you need to use this money.

 

Come back to reevaluate this every few years. For most of us, our lifestyle tends to expand. We began making more money, expanding our families, and having more responsibilities. Be sure to reevaluate the amount of your emergency fund to ensure it will still be sufficient. If it does not pass, then stop what you are doing, and focus on increasing your emergency fund to your required amount. Then move on to your other financial steps.

Most say to aim to save at least 20-25% of gross income.

S.W.A.N. = Sleep Well At Night number

How much should you keep in your emergency fund? This is a common question with no one-size-fits-all answer. Most suggest 3-6 months’ worth of expenses while others may only suggest one month or even up to 12-36 months’ worth of expenses. This is due to the different life stages, priorities, goals, and risk tolerance levels. The goal of an emergency fund is to relieve stress by knowing you are prepared to handle unfortunate events. Stress is bad for anyone’s health, so it’s important to find the emergency fund amount that’s right for you.

We know it’s wise to keep some cash at home, but too much can be risky due to theft, fire, or natural disasters. Similarly, while savings in a bank are safer, they don’t grow wealth and could be at risk during banking issues. One way to find the sweet spot for your emergency funds is to use the S.W.A.N. method—your Sleep Well At Night number.

S.W.A.N. Method Steps:

  1. Start with Cash at Home: Save cash at home until you reach a point where having more makes you uncomfortable. You start to worry that the amount is too risky or would be too devastating to lose if something should happen to your cash. This amount is your S.W.A.N. number for your home cash emergency fund.

  2. Move to a High-Yield Savings Account: Next, deposit money into a high-yield savings account until you feel uneasy about having more in that account. This becomes your S.W.A.N. number for your savings account emergency fund.

  3. Apply this method to other funds: Continue this process for any other types of emergency funds you have.

    When you find the balance that feels just right—not too little, not too much—you’ll sleep better knowing you’re prepared which could lead to a healthier you.

Cash Emergency Fund

Have emergency cash on hand: We can learn a lot from past disasters. After Hurricane Helene, many of the affected and some of the surrounding areas were only accepting cash. This was due to losing electricity and some of the banking servers in the flood, making it impossible to process credit cards. This highlighted the importance of keeping some cash on hand.

  • Keep a little cash in your vehicle (hidden well, of course) to afford you the ability to purchase gas if the credit card systems are down.

    • This came from personal experience several years ago. We were leaving a family gathering and had approximately an hour drive home. We stopped to fuel up on our way home but realized the entire block of this city was without electricity. The cashier said he could not process credit cards at that time, but we could get fuel if we paid with cash. Thankfully, we had cash and were able to fuel up. Now I try to keep emergency cash for just this scenario.

Checkbook Cushions

We all make mistakes, and having a cushion or set amount that you plan to never go below in your checking account can help ensure you do not bounce a check or payment.  This is an amount that you write out (but not move or spend) so you forget that it’s there and won’t be tempted to spend it.  (However, remember the cushion’s amount when it comes to balancing your checkbook, so you can balance correctly.)

Some say a few hundred for this is fine for them, some use $1000 for this, and others say they make their checkbook cushions the amount of one month’s worth of expenses for them.  Do what makes you feel comfortable. Refer to the S.W.A.N. Method above for tips to find the amount that’s right for you.

With the rise in gas prices after 2020, gas stations have increased the dollar amount of holds on their transactions. This means when you swipe/use your debit card an automatic hold gets placed on your account until the actual total clears your account. Some of these holds have been $175 per transaction and can take up to a week to fall off. This has affected some individuals’ ability to purchase other necessities like groceries. Ensure you are leaving yourself a cushion in these accounts for just this case.

Using checkbook rounding as discussed below under Money Savings Challenges might be an easy way to build up your cushions amount.

Emergency Fund Tips Learned During 2020

This time period has been one cluster of disasters.  It went from “two weeks to flatten the curve” to an almost global economic meltdown in just a few years. The saying, “There are decades when nothing happens, and then there are weeks when decades happen”, is very much making sense right now. We suffered shortages of consumer goods, job losses, ransomware attacks that shut down gas stations, credit card systems, and even a large human resource software system (Kronos) that inhibited millions of employees from getting paychecks on time. We’ve also had supply chain breakdowns, major inflation, large catastrophic storms, and wars. This could all be a very devastating problem financially for anyone living paycheck to paycheck.

Having an emergency fund is imperative. None of us are immune to these crises or disasters. Having at least a 3-6 months (or 18-36 months if nearing retirement) emergency fund could help ensure the ability to buy groceries and pay bills if something happens.

Emergency Fund Tips Learned From 2020:

  • Log into your bank accounts frequently to ensure your balances are correct. Some banks have suffered system outages resulting in accounts showing $0 balances. Be sure you know roughly the amount in your accounts to ensure you will not lose your money. So many of us rely on information being online when we need it, but with the many outages and hacks, we’ve learned that will not always be the case. I suggest saving a printout of your accounts occasionally that you can use if you have to dispute any balance discrepancies.

  • Optional: Have a Stock Up of your most used shelf-stable groceries and supplies. I think of this as an extension to my emergency fund. After 2020, I realized how fragile our economic system and world are, and how important having a small stock of groceries and supplies can be. This can help carry you in times of need. For example, if you lose your job, you can rely on your stockpile leaving more cash for other necessities. This can also be invaluable if you or a family member is sick and you can’t get to the store. These supplies can help you get by until you can shop again. Additionally, having a stock-up can be a money-saving tool, as items tend to rotate when they go on sale. Purchasing multiples of an item when it’s on sale allows you to potentially wait until it’s on sale again before buying more.

*Most say it’s not a good idea to keep your emergency funds in investments, as those could be down in value when you need them, or it could take longer to withdraw your funds due to banking/government regulations. However, others say your emergency fund should be in something harder to touch, like a “break the piggy bank” scenario. Do your research to find where you are comfortable keeping this money.

Where this money should be saved

Your first step (either $1,000-$2,000, 1-months’ worth of expenses, or deductibles/copays covered) should probably be in cash or at least in a savings account that you can easily access should you need the money right away. 

Most say your fully-funded emergency fund (your 3-6 months, or 18-36 if nearing retirement) should be in a high yield savings account or money market account as this is not the money you are using to get wealthy. Just like you buy insurance hoping you will never have to use it, this money is like insurance, set aside hoping you will never have to use it, but you will be glad you have it if you need it. Most suggest not investing this money because when unemployment goes up, stock prices usually go down, and that is not a time when you want to sell your stocks.

If you use savings accounts, consider diversifying your banks into small credit unions, bigger banks, and online banks. Some banks could suffer problems during recessionary times making it harder to access your money. Having multiple banks can help minimize the problems you could run into if your bank suffered any problems. Also, be sure to log into your accounts frequently to ensure your balances are correct.

Others, however, suggest that you shouldn’t keep as much cash in your emergency fund, because you could be tempted to spend it on non-emergency stuff.  They suggest keeping your emergency fund in something like the S&P or total stock market index fund as it should pain you to take that money out, kind of like breaking glass or a piggy bank.  However, if you do this, they say to only think of the value of these investments as half or 50% of the total.  (For example, if you have $10,000 invested, think of it as only having a $5,000 value.)  This could make you work harder to invest more, and if the markets are ever down, you will still be okay because you have figured that in.

Something to consider is the stock market dropped almost 90% during the Great Depression, and it took about 20 years for it to fully recover.  Also, there have been times in our recent history when trading was halted for one reason or another, so it could still be a good idea to make sure this is not money you will need immediate access to, and you should still have a cash emergency fund and some savings in a high yield savings account that you can easily get to if needed in an emergency.

Roth IRA’s are great tax advantage vehicles, but they might not be the best place to park your emergency fund either. If you had to take a significant amount out of your Roth IRA for an emergency, you could be limited on the amount you can re-deposit back into your Roth IRA due to the yearly contribution limits.

**Do not let lifestyle creep happen. When you receive a raise, save that extra money. Do not condition yourself to live on that extra money. You are already living without it, save and invest it. This can help you reach your F.I.R.E. number faster.

Using Investments as an Emergency Fund

Several financial gurus say to never have your emergency fund tied up in anything else as you might not be able to get to it when you need it, however, others suggest that you shouldn’t keep as much cash in your emergency fund, because you could be tempted to spend it on non-emergency stuff.  They suggest keeping your emergency fund in something like the S&P or total stock market index fund as it should pain you to take that money out, kind of like breaking glass or a piggy bank.  However, if you do this, it’s good to only think of the value of these investments as half or 50% of the total.  (For example, if you have $10,000 invested, think of it as only having $5,000 in it.)  This can make you work harder to invest more, and if the markets are ever down, you will still be okay because you have figured that in.

  • Something to consider is the stock market dropped almost 90% during the Great Depression, and it took about 20 years for it to fully recover.  Also, there have been times during our recent history when trading has been halted for one reason or another.

  • It could still be a good idea to make sure this is not money you will need immediate access to, and still have a cash emergency fund, and some savings in an account that you can easily get access to if needed in an emergency

The wealthy only use debt for things that will bring in income (ie: purchasing property for rentals), and smart investors do not overleverage themselves.  There have been plenty of millionaires that have lost all their wealth due to overleveraging.  Be sure to prioritize your money wisely so as to not incur so much debt that it becomes unprofitable.  A slow continuous wealth growth is likely to be more lasting than an instant / temporary influx.

Steps To Help Build/Rebuild Your Emergency Fund

If you had to use your emergency fund, stop where you are, and go back to rebuild your emergency fund.  Remember how thankful you were or how thankful you will be for having an emergency fund when you need it?  Sometimes life just sucks, and things happen, and when it does pick yourself back up, go back and rebuild that emergency fund, and move on.

Some helpful tips when building/rebuilding your emergency fund:

1.    Back off your lifestyle – This is only temporary.  This can help you gain extra savings to build your emergency fund up or back up more quickly.

2.    Back off your 401k or investments – Again, this is only temporary.  If backing off your lifestyle isn’t enough to build or rebuild your emergency fund fast enough, you may want to consider stopping your investments until your emergency fund is built up where it should be.  IF Murphy comes, you will be thankful you prioritized your emergency fund first.

Your emergency fund should be reevaluated every few years to ensure it will still be sufficient. For most of us, our lifestyle tends to expand. We began making more money, expanding our families, and having more responsibilities. If the amount of your emergency fund does not pass, then stop what you are doing, and focus on increasing your emergency fund to your required amount. Then you can move on to your other financial steps.

Difference between saving and saving strategically

Saving to just save could hurt you, but if you are saving strategically for a purpose, then that is where you will benefit. Save for your emergency fund and any purchases you plan to make within the next five years, and then be sure you are investing the rest. You want to make sure you have as many dollars out there working for you as you can. It can also be smart to save some dry powder (cash-on-hand sitting on the sidelines) for investment opportunities that may arise in the future, however, be sure to calculate this amount to ensure you are not wasting opportunities for your dollars to be invested working for you. Your dry powder is NOT your emergency fund.

7 Accounts – suggested to keep your money organized

Jordan Page from FunCheapOrFree

1.      Family savings – Leave at least 3 months’ living expenses in this account.  Put in 10% of your income every month until you reach your desired amount.

2.      Emergency savings – Have at least 6-12 months of living expenses in this account.  Put in 10% of your income every month until you reach this desired amount.

3.      HSA (Health Savings Account) or regular savings account for health expenses.

4.      Family checking account – Bills are paid from here.  Do not leave a lot of extras here because if there is extra money, it should be transferred to savings.

5.      Husband’s checking account

6.      Wife’s checking account

7.      Slush fund – Fun Money!

Money Savings Challenges – A few ideas to help you save extra money

No Spend Week/Month – Set times when you do NO extra spending.  This, however, can backfire and make you want to spend more during the times you can spend, so be mindful.

Weather Challenge – Pick a day of the week, and whatever the day's high or low temperature is, save that amount.

Dime or $5 Challenge – Every time you get a dime or $5 or any other denomination you would like to choose, you put it into an empty bottle or box to save.

Themed Month Challenge – Choose one thing to cut out, and transfer that amount you would have spent into your savings.  Examples could include eating out, buying clothes (don’t do this at back-to-school season), tools, Starbucks, Amazon shopping, Target $1 spot, ex.)

Checkbook Round-Up Savings – This is the same idea as a change jar, just used with your checking account.  Round up anything you spend from your checking account (checks or debit card) to the nearest dollar or nearest $5 amount.  However, when you are doing this, make sure you are tracking these amounts separately so you can still balance your checkbook at the end of every month – VERY IMPORTANT.  When I hit a certain amount of Round-up Savings, I will then transfer the money to a savings account.

Sinking Funds – A very beneficial budgeting tool!

These are funds that you set aside for a specific planned purpose like saving for Christmas, an upcoming trip, a house or new car, a wedding, or even small stuff like auto/home repairs or paying bills that only come up once or a few times a year (example: auto insurance or subscriptions). 

Including these in your budget can help ensure you don’t have to use your emergency fund for events that are planned as your emergency fund should be for unplanned emergencies.  Christmas gifts are not an emergency. 

 

Two types of sinking funds:

Ones with a due date for when you need the money

Example: Christmas, trips, wedding, a new car or house funds, or for bills due once or a few times a year like auto insurance payments.  For these, just take the needed amount and divide by the number of months you have to save for it.  That will give you the amount you need to set aside each month for these funds.

Ones with no due date that are ongoing.

Example: funds set aside for house or auto repairs or health care expenses.  For these funds, you usually set aside a little money each month for things that will come up here and there, but there is no specific due date.

Best Place to Save Your Sinking Funds

For anything you are saving for coming up in less than 5 years, you should save your money in a cash savings or a money market account.  Find a good online bank that is FDIC insured with good interest rates. 

For anything you are planning for over 5 years from now, you can look into investing that money. 

If on the borderline of 5 years, you could do part one and part the other, but make sure you have what you really need in the savings or money market accounts just in case the market is down when you need your money, and you can’t take out your investments without losing a lot of money.  Then you can take the other part of that money out when the market is back up.

 Example: If saving for a house, and you are on the borderline of planning to buy in 5 years, make sure you have what you will need for the down payment in your savings or money market accounts just in case the market is down when you buy.  You can use the savings for the down payment and then take your investments out later to pay more of the house off when the market is back up, if it was down when you bought.

No-Spend Challenge Tips

No-spend challenges can be a great way to save money, but they often get very mixed reviews because they can work great for some people but not so great for others.

Here are a few tips to hopefully help make no-spend challenges work better.

#1 - Know your why! - Having a specific and strong why could help keep you motivated during those very tempting times of wanting to spend money. They also say you are 42% more likely to achieve your goal if it’s written down, so I suggest writing down your goal along with your why and keep it somewhere that you will see often. I found that if I don’t have a specific goal, then it’s a lot harder to feel like I am getting anywhere. We always had a savings goal, but it seemed like our savings amount was always a slow crawl, but when we had a specific goal of saving for a truck, along with a deadline when we needed the money, I was surprised to see how fast we could save. We were motivated and could more easily say no to things we thought were needs but were actually wants. Know your goal and your why, and write it down!

#2 - Start a wish list of items – I am very much a list person.  I have lists everywhere for all different things.  I find that making lists can help me feel like I can get things out of my brain so I can more easily organize my thoughts. When I heard of this concept, I knew it was definitely for me. Starting a wish list of items that come to mind during no-spend challenges could help trick your brain into thinking you are doing something about your wants. This could potentially relieve the stress or itch of thinking you must buy the item right now. This could also give you time to decide if that item is really a need or a want. Knowing how many times I failed no-spend challenges, I knew this was something I needed to try.

Some people will make written wish lists, and others use online shopping carts for their lists. They put items in their shopping carts but will not check out or finalize the purchase yet. At the end of the no-spend challenge, go back and review the items you thought you needed (either written or placed in your online shopping carts) and decide if it is still a need.

#3 - Remove saved payment info - On any websites or apps you shop, go through, and remove any saved credit card or debit card payment information. If it forces you to put in the extra effort of getting up and finding your card info, then it could possibly help give you time to rethink if that item is really a need or just a want. It’s probably more of a lazy thing, but this tip has saved me money.

#4 - Delete shopping apps - These apps can be a constant advertisement in our faces reminding our brains over and over again about shopping. Get rid of any apps that cause you to shop.

#5 - Review subscriptions - So many of us have recurring subscriptions that we don’t even use. Use this time to review your subscriptions and cancel any that you are not using. This can easily help add to your savings.

#6 - Watch or read about minimalism, cleaning, and/or hoarding - This is one of my favorite tips. I am definitely not a minimalist, but I strive to make my life easier. I have found that having more stuff leads to more work tending to the stuff with cleaning, dusting, and just staying organized. I feel having less is really more as I get more of my time back. Cleaning is so much easier with less stuff. When I watch shows about minimalism, cleaning, and/or hoarding, it helps me to really think before I bring something into my home. Is it going to be worth the extra effort to tend to and keep clean? Before and during no-spend challenges, I will focus on minimalism and cleaning videos and shows to help me not want to shop for extra stuff.

Here are some of my favorite YouTube channels on minimalism and cleaning. Please let me know if you have any other recommendations.

  • Dawn from The Minimal Mom takes you on a journey of the experiences her family of 6 had in becoming minimalist. She gives lots of tips, tricks, and information on what worked and didn’t work along with what she loves, and what she regrets about her journey to becoming a minimalist family.

  • Cassandra or Cas from the Clutterbug and host of HGTV-Hot Mess House offers organizing advice along with quizzes to help you know what kind of organization fits you best. How many times do we buy organizers and take the time to organize only to revert back to our old ways? The Clutterbug Quiz can help you find what kind of organizing system will work best for you so you might be more apt to stay organized. I’m a LadyBug. What type of Clutterbug are you?

  • Melissa from Clean My Space offers a lot of great cleaning advice on things she’s learned from owning and operating her own cleaning business. I’ve still got a long way to go in learning, but I’ve learned a lot about how to properly clean, and how to cut down my time cleaning.

  • Kallie created But First, Coffee to share the lessons she learned to be more productive, keep a cleaner home with less time, and live a more frugal life.

  • Gabe Bult is all about minimalism, and he has some very helpful suggestions for minimalism and being more productive.

  • Joshua Baker writes all about minimalism and has a YouTube channel full of videos helping people let go of their excess stuff.

  • The Minimalists are Emmy-nominated Netflix stars and New York Times–bestselling authors helping people live meaningful lives with less.

    The Minimalist Podcast contains their full-length episodes of minimalist living.

#7 - Track your savings! - This is probably the most important tip. It can be hard to stay motivated if you do not even know if your process is working. Be sure to track your progress to ensure what you are doing is working. This will give you the opportunity to make any necessary changes so you can get the most out of your no-spend challenge.

ClearCheckbook is an online money management tool that we have used for years. I like it because it doesn’t require you to link or input any account information, and it works great for tracking expenses and savings.