When I was working in the financial business, I saw more often than not, people fitting into the percentage of people that spent more than they earned. For the longest, American Families saved -1%. Yes -1%. For the first time, in a LONG time, I think that is starting to turn around. People for once are actually saving their money. I think we can all find a handful of things to cut out of monthly budgets to make sure we’re saving, if not 10% of what we bring home, at least a little something.
Emergency Funds are always a start, and once you get to your six months worth of income, should you stop? Absolutely not! Losing a job can cause so many things all at once. Not only is a steady income missing, but what about all the unforeseen issues that can arise during that interim. Can we prepare for the worst? What do you do when you have a family of four and you can’t afford the alternate health insurance? What do you do when funds are super low and you don’t have enough to feed the family? What do you do when you are single and you made just enough to cover your expenses?
Liz Pullman Weston, one of my favorite Financial Gurus on MSN.com, breaks it down for us in her article, Where to turn when you’re desparate. Bookmark her, subscribe to her emails, I think you’ll like her as much as I do!
Today’s lesson is that we can prepare as much as we possibly can. We can’t foresee every possible scenario so its important to know where to go in case we need it. Hope this brings you some comfort in knowing that there’s help available if we need it!