If you follow me on Instagram, you know that whenever my husband goes out of town, my appliances just fall apart! But in case you don’t, basically, Uncle Murphy moved in while my husband was out of town. No, we don’t have an actual Uncle Murphy – I’m talking about Murphy’s Law. You know, the one that says that anything that can go wrong will, in fact, go wrong. And I swear that any time my husband goes out of town, things fall apart. It’s like they know he’s gone, and I’m on my own trying to figure it out.
It started with my washing machine. It wouldn’t drain. I fought with it for over an hour and watched all the YouTube tutorials, and I just couldn’t get it to drain. So I called my neighbor and ask him if I could borrow his washing machine so I could finish washing my bed sheets that were soaking wet. He, of course, came to my rescue and helped me figure out the problem. The drain pump went out due to one of my sons not emptying their pockets before doing laundry, and their small cotter pins for their RC car got caught in the drain pump and burned up the motor.
Thankfully it was just a $100 inconvenience. Then the very next day? The kids and I come out from church, and the Sequoia won’t crank! Once again, I call the same neighbor who comes to my rescue to jump off my car. Thankfully the only thing wrong with the Sequoia is that the positive battery terminal is loose and caused a bunch of corrosion on the battery, which is why it wouldn’t start.
So, here are the lessons of the day:
- Always, always, always have a pair of good, sturdy, and LONG (seriously – buy the extra long pair. You’ll thank me later) jumper cables in your car. (And yes, I know that battery jumper packs exist – we have one, but it’s never charged. So unless you’re some amazing soul that will not ever leave your house unless that pack is charged, I’d still recommend you invest in jumper cables.)
- Always, always, always have an Emergency Fund because life happens. It doesn’t wait for you to be ready.
Your Emergency Fund is Your Safety Net
Our Emergency Fund turned the new drain pump into a $100 inconvenience. Had we not had an Emergency Fund, I would have been panicked! $100 is a lot of money when you’re not expecting it. And the truth is, had I not been married to a handyman; I would have also had to pay someone to install my new drain pump if I couldn’t figure it out on my own. That’s why an Emergency Fund is the MOST IMPORTANT FINANCIAL ASSET you can have. And yes, I’m yelling – not at you but just making my point by being loud.
And the bank we use for our Emergency Fund just raised their APY again! That’s FREE money added to your Emergency Fund just for keeping it at their bank! We use CIT Bank for our Emergency Fund – you can check them out here.
Emergencies Will Happen
Okay, so we’re going to borrow a part from my book, Getting Good with Money, because I believe it’s worth repeating:
“At some point in your life, you are going to use your emergency fund. Just because you find yourself in dire need of using your emergency fund, it does not mean you are starting over. It does not mean you’ve failed. In fact, you have actually succeeded. Because of your prudent planning, you’ve avoided having to sink back into debt. You’ve used the emergency fund for an emergency, and that’s what it’s for.”
You can’t stop emergencies from happening. Car wrecks happen. Broken bones happen. Furnaces decide to die on the coldest day of the year. Death is inevitable. Seriously, you can’t stop emergencies. Life will happen. So prepare for it! You know this is a fact – that life changes in an instant. So stop playing around.
If you don’t already have at least a Starter Emergency Fund of at least one month’s living expenses saved, you need to get that set up today! It’s more important than paying off debt – yep, I said it. Seriously, get it set up and start contributing to it this paycheck! Don’t wait. Even if all you’ve got is the minimum deposit of $100 to put in the account – do it. Don’t think about it. Just do. (Just like Maverick tells Rooster – don’t think – just do).
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