Is $1k Baby Em Fund enough?

**misstina87** · 12-25-2010, 04:19 PM

In my opinion, it depends on how much "extra" income you have. I'm talking about the extra money you have after paying bills, insurance, gas, etc. For example, I personally only have $3-400 "extra" income every month. If, say, my washing machine broke and I needed a new one, I probably wouldn't be able to afford to just buy it if I didn't tuck away some money into a savings account to cover such costs. Whereas if someone has $1000 "extra" income, they might be able to easily pay off any smaller emergencies that might come up. I have a sinking fund that is used to pay for things like car repairs, appliance repairs, medical emergencies, etc. And then I have a SEPERATE account (which is my emergency fund) that contains 7 months worth of income in case I were to lose my job. That's what I use my emergency fund for. If I only had $1000 total in both my emergency and sinking fund accounts, that would worry me.

**meredith1629** · 01-03-2011, 12:07 AM

I currently have $1,100 in my BEF and I feel it isn't "enough." I am working my way up to $2k to feel better about things.

I only have $108 "extra" left at the end of the month and I plan to get a 2nd job to start paying down the debt with!

**santamargaritamom** · 01-07-2011, 01:47 PM

Unfortunately, when we bought our house (in a very expensive area) we did it on 100% of our income at 45% debt-to-income ratio. Welcome to California & why we are falling apart out here. Based on that info we have a $4,000 Baby EF. Today our engine broke & we are replacing it with labor for $3,500. We got a $800 discount for paying with cash. What a hard way to start the year!

**krbshappy71** · 01-07-2011, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by santamargaritamom

unfortunately, when we bought our house (in a very expensive area) we did it on 100% of our income at 45% debt-to-income ratio. Welcome to california & why we are falling apart out here. Based on that info we have a $4,000 baby ef. Today our engine broke & we are replacing it with labor for $3,500. We got a $800 discount for paying with cash. What a hard way to start the year!

oh, ouch!!!!

**Nellonello** · 01-07-2011, 05:27 PM

We also live in a higher cost of living area and I am the primary money maker with a contract job that could end any time. For us we currently have a $5000 BEF though my husband and I are discussing $10000 (Two months mortgage (ouch!!)).