How Much Should Your Emergency Fund Be? 💰🤔
Updated: May 5, 2022
First things first.. the answer to this will likely vary from person to person BUT there are some general statements I can make from personal experiences, as well as experiences my friends have gone through.
Some gurus will say “have 3-6 months of expenses saved up” some will say “have 6-12 months of expenses saved”.
Listen.. you have to do what you think will work for you BUT I believe a good base to start with is 6-12 months of expenses saved in a place that you can access quickly if things go sour.
» BLOG: A Few Action Tips For You To Make A Quick Change In Your Personal Finances
Imagine this, you are the director of marketing at a booming company in your city & all of a sudden your company goes bankrupt, or a situation completely out of your hands (like a pandemic) occurs & now you’re out of work for 3+ months.. unemployment either isn’t an option or isn’t sufficient enough to allow you to continue living life as you have been, now you’re having to deal with the financial-related stressors of trying to figure out ways to secure some money so you can cover this months abnormally large electric bill or the blown-out tire you just had because your city doesn’t believe in patching potholes.
As a hustler who is constantly aiming to live up to their current full potential, the goal isn’t to always be trying to “figure stuff out” or having to borrow money from family and friends when sh*t hits the fan. As you grow and mature, you want to be able to handle your own, no matter what’s going on in the inconvenience department. Because let's be honest, help won’t always be available.
Although this ^ was a hypothetical story, it’s not unusual by any means. (Part of the story was actually something that happened to my dad, the other part of the story was a jumble of things I’ve been told by my friends in the Wealth Squad and other groups) Know that these things can happen to anyone.
I never thought I would be homeless, I had always been good with money.. since a child, saving money was never a issue & keeping a job was never a issue for me either. But sometimes sh*t happens - whether it was or wasn't in our control. And a lot of times, when one bad thing happens (depending on your current mindset) it seems like ALL the bad things happen. Left and right. Next thing you know, you're in a hole you can't seem to climb out of.
But when you're a little more prepared.. sh*t doesn't really hit you as hard as it did when you were careless with your time & money & acted as if everything was "all good". 😎
I saw a quote that said, “average people have made a lot of clichè phrases to justify our failures as humans” & I couldn’t have found a better way to put it. The thing you must remember is, those phrases aren’t meant for winners. 👇🏾
“I guess my ship has sailed” If the Lord wanted me to have it I guess I would” & all that type stuff.. man, that's a conversation for another day - back to our emergency savings…
At the time of this writing, it might be a lot harder to save money with the way prices are rising (I’ve been saying I think we’re headed to a recession for the last 3 years - have you seen the headlines lately?) So I would say instead of focusing so heavily on saving, lean a little more towards earning. On top of that, you must spend the money you earn wisely. 📝🧠 Learn the difference between wants & needs. (Even the CEO can be fired - job security doesn't exist)
For the next 6-12 months, cut back where you can and at the same time, focus on ways to earn more. At the end of your 6-12 months, you’ll have an emergency fund + more income, once your emergency fund is set up now you can focus on learning more about that "iffy" thing you hear people talk about all the time.. “investing”.
🔗 You can learn more about investing in my Personal Finance for Beginners ebook, here.
What should you invest in??
KNOWLEDGE! READ BOOKS, take courses, attend webinars seminars & other networking events whenever you can - IT IS WORTH IT!!
When I decided I would never be homeless again & made a choice to really change my life I started with Free Game University & Youtube University aka google.com & youtube.com! If you have a question, SEARCH IT! If you don't know how to ask the question, ask it how you would ask a person! Use keywords and incomplete sentences if you have to, just learn what you don't know!
If you don’t have time, you’re gonna have to spend money to get what you need, if you don’t have money you’re gonna have to spend time to learn what you don’t know or get what you need.
Time is gonna pass by anyway, what are you gonna do with it?
Stay where you are & then look back when you’re 50 years old & say “I wonder what would’ve happened if I spent that $300 on that course & learned something new”??
DUDE! You will NEVER REGRET learning more & investing in yourself. TAKE IT FROM THE OLDER PEOPLE WHO CAME BEFORE YOU! A lot of them are filled with regrets, you don’t want that to be you. Our mission is bigger than us, we are here to be a blessing to others. We are here to influence others to live up to their full potential, we aren't here to make excuses to stay small & give up on our dreams. Come on, let's go! It's time to boss up!
#HustleInspireElevate #BagBaby #MillionDollarMindsetClub
» BLOG: A Few Action Tips For You To Make A Quick Change In Your Personal Finances
"Get money, buy income"
📝🧠 Here are a few YouTube pages I like to learn from:
BudgetDog
Decade Investor
Chris Johnson