Help! Emergency Fund!

[daughter of pearl]

I know I need an emergency fund. It would not be difficult to put $1000 together.

I am not trustworthy enough to have $1000 available to me. I'm the one who got me into this mess! When I think about putting together an EF, all I can think is that the money is safer with the credit card company. At least that way, it's going to debt repayment and not nonsense!

How do other people secure their emergency fund? I'm really afraid that if I just put the money in my savings account, I may as well just throw it away.

Wow! I guess I'm not feeling very financially confident right now.

[Ceashels]

I have read where others have wrapped their cards or cash and froze it into blocks of ice. You could put it on a prepaid card and stash it in the freezer as well.

I would try to figure out why you don't think you could be trusted with it. What behavior modifications do you need to prevent you from spending it... even toward debt? Maybe you should start with a smaller EF and see if you can hold onto it for a while then add to it so it can build as your financial confidence builds.

would that help?

[Darlene]

I'm not trying to be mean but you have to make your own priorities and that means putting that money somewhere & being strong enough not to touch it. You can do it and only you can make the changes needed for your future. It's all about choices and you have to realize that YOU DO have the power. Don't let a cc company, the irs the government or anyone make the decisions you need to make for you and yours. Wishing you strength and cheering you on.

[Luckybustert]

Usually when I overspend (or overeat) I'm trying to compensate for some other area of my life that I find lacking. It may be that I'm bored, and I'm using spending as a form of entertainment. I find that if I keep myself busy with activities that interest me, I am far less likely to overspend or overeat. This has been a hard one for me to come to terms with, but I find that I'm getting better at spending less and saving more. But I am by no means perfect. I think it's important to acknowledge that setbacks may happen and, if they do, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get right back on track. It's only failure when we stop trying.

[Mom2-3]

It will take time, but you can do it!! Pull up those big girl panties, put $100 in the savings and DON'T TOUCH IT!!

Try that for a week. Think about how much more secure that tiny little bit helps. Then add more to it. Slowly but surely it will feel so good to have that security.

[justpeachy92]

I don't keep my whole EF where it is easily accessable (sp). I keep a small amount of cash in the house, and a $20 stashed in the car. My savings account is in a small local bank that has not modernized yet. It is an hour drive away from me, making it not tempting to swing by and make a withdrawl when I have to go shopping.Yet close enough if I truely need to make a withdraw. Ofcourse the only option to access the money is through a teller because the bank doesn't offer debit cards or online banking.

[krbshappy71]

I know how you feel. I obliterated mine once I let myself touch it for an actual legitimate reason.

Then I did what Mom 2-3 suggested. I put $100 within reach, in cash, actually IN MY PURSE for a week. I knew that was the utmost risk, that my super weakness was driving home every day from work and not stopping for dinner out. I told myself for one week I was going to carry it and not touch it to prove to myself that I could. I DID IT. I basically shifted my thinking to "I am strong enough." instead of "I'm weak, I'll spend it."

Now I've moved that out of my purse and removed another $100 from the bank. Once again telling myself I'm strong enough. You can do this. It isn't easy, especially if you have gone through hardship times in the past, that desire to spend and feel good is so strong. But you can do it, because being debt free will feel so much better. Hugs.

[ladykemma2]

i put mine in a bank a drive away. it takes effort to go over there and get the money out. i mail the deposits with a deposit slip.

[ladytoysdream]

I think learning new ways to work with money is a habit that we have to adjust ourselves to. Start small . Keep adding on a little at a time, till it becomes a routine.

Play little tricks on yourself to figure out what works for you. If cash on you, is a tempatation, then only carry what you need for that week. If a debit/credit card helps you control better, then mainly use that.

You may have to start a savings account just for the EF, all by itself. Then you have given it a name, a purpose. My EF savings account.

Reward yourself with little treats. Make it a weekly thing, a day of the week you can look forward to. The rest of the week, you stay in budget.

After awhile, you have new habits. You made it work

[TheRootedNomad]

I had to have mine out of my reach at first, when money was REALLY tight, and DH and I both agreed WAY out of his reach. I opened an account for it and did not get the debit card. I then threw out the withdrawl slips and kept only the deposit slips. For me it was those quick little impulse things that even just a run to the bank would stop. Once we got what we considered a full EF in place the struggle was to not borrow from it. Everything that happens is not an emergency. To remedy this we pulled some and laddered 6 month CD's in specific amounts. Currently one set is our morgage payment but you could do it for whatever you want or even start with those prepaid cards labeling each as 1 month electric, 1 month water, and so on. It really is all about what works for you and REALLY wanting it. Start small, find what works, and then grow it. You can do it!

[TheRootedNomad]

[QUOTE=Ceashels;1349973] You could put it on a prepaid card and stash it in the freezer as well.
QUOTE]

What a wonderful idea with the prepaid cards! I am known to stash gift cards (like the $10 ones Target gives you for RX's) as a savings mechanism but never thought about the "can be used anywhere" cards. Food for thought....

[Mom2-3]

I have 1/2 of my EF in ING. It takes a couple days to get the transfer. I only keep $500 in my savings account (special rate up to $500)

ING is only paying 1.1%, better than local banks, but not great. A CD ladder may be a great idea!

[Greebo]

What we do is keep our EF in a completely separate bank account, so it requires a real effort of will to get access to that money.

A side note - statements like this tick me off.

I am not trustworthy enough to have $1000 available to me.

My GUT response when I read stuff like this is: Well either you're going to suck it up, put on your big girl panties and be a grownup with your money, or you're not.

Statements like that tick me off because people (not you) use them as justification to change nothing. They need to get past the "If X then I Y" and come up with "When X, I will do Z so I don't do Y". They've got to take responsibility for your own actions. They've got to look at themselves in the mirror each morning and own up to their behaviors and also to the responsibility for CHANGING them. Nobody else is going to do it for them. Nobody else can.

I *know* I cannot be trusted with a credit card - so I don't have one.

I *know* if I carry cash, I spend it, so I don't carry much cash.

I know you didn't mean it like in the manner to which I am reacting - btw - but that kind of phrasing strikes a cord. I do recognize that you are looking for solutions.

[daughter of pearl]

Greebo, thanks for the post!

I think what I am talking about is this feeling I get, usually when I am trying to change an old behaviour.

I was once in a band, and half way through a set, all the power to the stage blew out, and the first thing out of my mouth was "I need an adult!"

It's that moment when you recognize that YOU ARE THE ADULT and it's time to start acting like one!

[rudypoo98]

My ex husband was a spender and could never remember what he spent it on.So every paycheck I would deposit the money then in the check register make it look like I'd wrote a check for $50 - $100 cash for groceries.I had a notebook I wrote all these fake withdraws into to keep track of them.He never looked to see where I wrote checks only if there was money so he could spend it.It wasn't long before I had $2000 and told him I need you to go to the bank with me,we get there I tell them I need to put $2000 in CD's.He just stood there with his mouth open but as we were walking out to the car he said. WE HAVE MONEY!!! I bet about everyone else I work with dosen't have money like this.I said no most of them don't have two nickles to rub together because they spend every dime they get hold of.Which was true.He decided having money in the bank was a good thing and he really liked it.He would brag to his dad who did everything on credit,we have money in the bank!!
As I was doing this to save money tho something would sometimes come up and I'd think,oh no I don't have the money to pay for this,Then I'd realise yes you do dummy it's right in your checking account.