I have said it over and over, and I know you guys are tired of hearing it….but it’s Truth: You will need $50 bills far more often than you will need .50 BMG.
I finally(!!) got the water heater issue resolved and it was not cheap. But, thats what a grossly overfunded emergency fund is for. I just jumped on the computer, moved money to my personal account, gave the guy my debit card, and it was a done deal. Finito. Time for a hot shower!
And…just in time for a dental emergency that also is not going to be cheap. Fortunately, I have an overstuffed HSA that I keep for just this sort of thing.
And…my homeowners and auto insurance come due this next month.
Thats a buncha cash outlays to be facing all at once.
Am I stressed? Am I concerned? Am I worried?
No.
I’m not even giving it a second thought. Know why? Because every single paycheck I put a percentage into my emergency fund (water heater fix), into my HSA (dental fix), and once a month I put a chunk into my insurance account (homeowners and auto), And I do this faithfully, religiously, without fail. Every month, every paycheck.
As a result I wind up with some increased resiliency. Yeah, I’ve got a basement full of guns, food, ammo, and a safe full of silver. But those stashes of cash, for specific types of emergencies/expenses, has streamlined my life a lot more than the cases of 5.56mm have. But…play it safe, have both.
Wisdom. A reasonable cash cushion goes a LONG way in the peace-of-mind category. My mother always said “Keep five grand in the bank if you can” and demonstrated why her whole life. Me, I think at least two months total expenses but six months is much better.
Murphy visits MUCH more often than recognized (though the prepared know what he/she looks like). So much so, that Dave Ramsey recommends the very FIRST thing in getting out of debt is setting up a $1000 emergency fund – eating out isn’t an emergency, insurance isn’t an emergency (though the increase may be).
Things like the water heater and dental emergencies are a easy fix it as you did plan for it with a robust emergency fund . Insurance you know when it’s coming so you prepare for it by putting money away for it. All of that is just good financial planning . We have a budget setup to put money away in different areas , Food for now and to stockpile , Auto repairs and replacement , The list goes on all so we avoid a catastrophe when something craps out . 50.00 dollar bills are more useful then 50 cal’s for the vast majority of your life emergency’s . We have started to put a little more spending on food in the long term stocking since pricing don’t seem to be going down , So we put a little more away when we see the occasional good price . Fun times
Prepared means more than just having enough beans and bullets.
I love Dave Ramsey fans, because they tend to be calm, level-headed and prepared. I only get a few hours a week of his radio show, so I’ve been supplementing that with his YouTube videos. What this nation needs is a Fed chairman and other financial leaders who follow Dave’s principles.
Well…most of his principles, anyway. Ramsey is also a bit of a hypocrite. One of the things he’s famous for is holding his employees to a moral standard. He would fire anyone who didnt live up this moral code..especially if they were adulterous. But when one of his big rainmaking talents got caught, not once but several times, screwing around on his wife, Ramsey circled the wagons and kept the guy on with counseling and support meetings. Mostly because an expensive and potentially profitable book launch by that talent was about to take place. So…hypocrite.
https://julieroys.com/dave-ramsey-board-kept-adulterer-chris-hogan-on-staff/
https://middleclassdadmoney.com/why-is-chris-hogan-not-with-dave-ramsey-anymore/