How much is concidered a baby emergency fund?

**brenda67** · 02-19-2007, 10:57 AM

I have read $1000.00 to start.. If this is so do you feel it's enough? We have lots of dept ...my Dh wants to keep at least $5000.00 savings at all times and I feel more secure having that is a security blanket(actually I'm obsessed with this amount saved)..However I feel if we were to only have a $1000.00 saved we could pay off Hh's truck or pay off a portion of our cc dept...I'm so torn..I'm so desperate for a house that I'm hoping to see this happen this year and that it's all I think about every minute of the day..If we can get rid of the truck payment and cc dept we would only have my truck left to pay off...which this would look really good for a bank loan..Please any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

**AmyBoz** · 02-19-2007, 11:09 AM

It's my understanding that a baby fund is $1000. A fully funded one would be enough to cover 6 months expenses, I think. (I don't really remember) I'm with you, though. I'd prefer to pay off the debt first.

**nuisance26** · 02-19-2007, 12:01 PM

~I don't want to sound negative, but have you been saving cash for a down payment on a house? 7 years ago my DH and I had saved $14,000 for a house down payment and the purchase took just about every cent. We only had to pay the minimum 3% on the purchase price but had to prepay property taxes and closing costs and legal fees. Just another thing to think about.~

**brenda67** · 02-19-2007, 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by nuisance26

~I don't want to sound negative, but have you been saving cash for a down payment on a house? 7 years ago my DH and I had saved $14,000 for a house down payment and the purchase took just about every cent. We only had to pay the minimum 3% on the purchase price but had to prepay property taxes and closing costs and legal fees. Just another thing to think about.~

No we don't..My Dh can get a VA loan..I don't know the in's or outs of how it works..but I do know that you can get 100% financing and a low interest rate..If anybody who has delt with the VA could you please give me any info that would be great!

**mom2three** · 02-19-2007, 12:27 PM

I understand both sides of the issue. We started with a baby EF of $1000, but it did not turn out to be enough for our emergencies so we opted on $2500. Maybe you can split it, keep 1 mos expenses in a baby EF, the use rest to pay credit. Personally if the security is needed, I see nothing wrong with $5K in a BEF if your other debt is lower interest rate and you are getting a return on your savings (we have 4% interest on our savings account).

**nuisance26** · 02-19-2007, 12:28 PM

~I'm sure you'll have more options than we had. DH was making about $28,000 at the time and had less than 3 years in his credit history. Hard to believe we got a loan at all. It just sounds like, from your original post, that your priority is home ownership. Maybe you could talk to a VA loan specialist and run your scenerio through to them??? Hope someone else here can be more helpful than me!~

**JustJoy** · 02-19-2007, 01:43 PM

We started out at $1000 and are slowly adding to get it up to 6 months.

**Emerald_Mommy** · 02-19-2007, 02:22 PM

The baby emergency fund as described by Dave Ramsey is $1000. After all debt is paid then you increase to 3-6 months expenses. For our family we're happy with 3 months expenses in savings (we have no debt).

Either The Total Money Makeover or Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey would be good reads if you want the "baby steps" laid out for you. HTH!

**brenda67** · 02-19-2007, 02:24 PM

Thanks everybody for input..

**jenloveschip2001** · 02-19-2007, 02:57 PM

We are in the proccess right nowof buying a house through a va loan. We close on the 27 of Feb. This is the second time that we have used our va certificate. We really didn't belive that we were ready to buy a house right now but had some issues come up so we went and applied and were aproved. We are using half VA loan and half Ky housing loan. The only thing that we had to pay down was $325 for the home inspection but we will get it back when we close. Now the Va loan doesn't cover the closing cost. You either have to pay them out of pocket or you can get the seller to raise the price of the house to include the closing in the price of the house. They were asking $82,900 for the house we are buying and we are paying $83,000 for the house. They came off the price of the house and included the closing cost of $3,000. Can be confusing because to look at it we are paying more than what they are asking for the house in the first place. They are actually getting $80,000 for the house, so they came off $2,900 of the asking price. Va has alot of guidlines to follow. The home has to meet certain requirment to qualify for there loan. They have a wesite with all the info. http://www.va-home-loans.com/eligibi...or_va_loan.htm If I were you I would go ahead and send off for you certificate so you will have it when you are ready to use it. Hope this helps.

**brenda67** · 02-19-2007, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by jenloveschip2001

We are in the proccess right nowof buying a house through a va loan. We close on the 27 of Feb. This is the second time that we have used our va certificate. We really didn't belive that we were ready to buy a house right now but had some issues come up so we went and applied and were aproved. We are using half VA loan and half Ky housing loan. The only thing that we had to pay down was $325 for the home inspection but we will get it back when we close. Now the Va loan doesn't cover the closing cost. You either have to pay them out of pocket or you can get the seller to raise the price of the house to include the closing in the price of the house. They were asking $82,900 for the house we are buying and we are paying $83,000 for the house. They came off the price of the house and included the closing cost of $3,000. Can be confusing because to look at it we are paying more than what they are asking for the house in the first place. They are actually getting $80,000 for the house, so they came off $2,900 of the asking price. Va has alot of guidlines to follow. The home has to meet certain requirment to qualify for there loan. They have a wesite with all the info. http://www.va-home-loans.com/eligibi...or_va_loan.htm If I were you I would go ahead and send off for you certificate so you will have it when you are ready to use it. Hope this helps.

Heres what we want to do...we need to get a loan to buy land,foundation and put a modular home on it..Is there still closing costs in this case? could you tell me what the benefits are to using the Va?? Are the interest rates really that low? TIA..

**jenloveschip2001** · 02-19-2007, 03:40 PM

In my experience the intrest rates are not a whole lot less, maybe just a little. We are getting a 6.375 interest rate. I know that you can get a mobile home on a Va loan. I would think that the closing with the house or a mobile home would be the same, they would probally just add the closing cost on to the price of the mobile home so that they could be financed. I am not completly for sure, that is just my opinion. The two times we have used ours have been for houses. I would call a mobile home dealership and ask to speak with someone in finiancing, they should be able to tell you for sure. The biggest benifit of using Va is not having to have a down payment, and sometimes you get a little better intrest rate because the way I understand it VA guarentees the bank its money even if you don't pay thats why you might get a little better interest rate and your credit might not have to be as perfect. Try checking out that website it might have more of the answers you are looking for.

**brenda67** · 02-19-2007, 05:21 PM

Originally Posted by jenloveschip2001

In my experience the intrest rates are not a whole lot less, maybe just a little. We are getting a 6.375 interest rate. I know that you can get a mobile home on a Va loan. I would think that the closing with the house or a mobile home would be the same, they would probally just add the closing cost on to the price of the mobile home so that they could be financed. I am not completly for sure, that is just my opinion. The two times we have used ours have been for houses. I would call a mobile home dealership and ask to speak with someone in finiancing, they should be able to tell you for sure. The biggest benifit of using Va is not having to have a down payment, and sometimes you get a little better intrest rate because the way I understand it VA guarentees the bank its money even if you don't pay thats why you might get a little better interest rate and your credit might not have to be as perfect. Try checking out that website it might have more of the answers you are looking for.

Thanks for your onfo...