What do you use your EF for?

[momto6]

I was just curious what you all consider emergency? If your money is short one month to pay the bills, is that an emergency? If your furnance goes out I know that would be an emergency. What would you use your ef for and not use your ef for? Amy

[Dancing Lotus]

My ef is for a lot of things. If something important breaks and we dont have the money I would use my ef. We dont have health insurance so I would use the ef.

I wouldn't use my ef to pay bills unless they were going to be more then one payment behind.

I would use the ef to buy milk for the kids but not beer for dh.

[emily_hope]

I used my EF to pay for DD18s wisdom teeth removal and then paid it back to the EF.

[monkeywrangler71]

I use mine to pay the bills if I am short. I'm not going to waste money on late fees or interest when the money is sitting in another account. This sometimes happens when my husband has a large expense claim to file but doesn't get it in before the Visa is due.

[Momof4cats]

I know Mary Hunt advocates a 'freedom account', which is used for things such as car repair, etc. Really it's an emergency fund, just done a little different.

I'm thinking about having both: an emergency fund that you don't touch unless something like the motor blows up (big ticket items) and having a freedom fund of say, $500, that I'm free to touch if I'm just 'short'. That way I won't feel guilty about using the emergency fund for 'non-emergencies'.

[latierra84]

big ticket items that i wasnt budgeting for, like removal of a 50 year old tree that would have hit our roof because it was falling over.. it was a much bigger expense than i had planned for and it couldnt wait so i dipped into the EF. i dont use it for smaller things like groceries or gasoline because (i know for me at least) if i get used to always having spare cash in my purse it tends to spoil me. let me explain, if i know that i only have x dollars to spend for the week and i run out before ive run of week, then im forced to make do with whats in the pantry and get creative instead of just buying what i want when i want it. that way the following week, im more careful with my money.

[Lady Jennelle]

I'm shamed to admit it but for some reason, I can't seem to keep $ in my EF for longer than a couple of months.

Has spending it been on emergencies? No. *hanging my head in shame*

For some reason, when I get a couple or three hundred dollars built up, then I find something I think I "have" to have and then I buy it. Ugh!

Maybe what I'll have to do is to issue a challenge daily for NOT touching the EF fund unless it is an emergency.

Chances are though is that "I" will be the only one having that problem to participate in the challenge.

Love,

Jennelle

[ilovechocolate]

Mine is for emergencies, like a car repair or new tires that MUST be bought because they fell apart unexpectedly or vet bills that aren't budgeted (cat got very sick very suddenly).

[redhead68]

Our emergency fund is for unexpected medical bills or auto repairs. Also, emergency travel (elderly relatives) and insurance deductibles. That's about it.

Someone mentioned a freedom fund. We keep one of those, too, and use it for expected, but infrequent bills, like taxes, insurance premiums, car/house maintenance, vacations and holiday expenses.

[dcompton]

I have two accounts. One is an untouchable until the roof caves in account -- I would use it for job loss, really major medical, etc. The other I call the In and Out account, used for deductibles, unexpected large expenses, etc. I used to have a hard time using it, but renamed it to give myself permission! I try to keep enough in it cover medical deductibles and upcoming expenses. The untouchable one is not very big yet, but slowly growing. Once I used some out of savings for big initial start up costs for a hobby, but that was unusual, and I would normally not use it for that.

[Michelle68]

Our EF has been used for emergency surgery for me and for emergency repairs, but then we pay it back. We never use ours to pay bills. I have started a separate repair fund which is probably kind of like the freedom fund mentioned above.


--Michelle

[brainyblonde]

I have both a freedom account and an emergency fund. The freedom account is to pay for auto registration, misc. repairs, co-pays in excess of the FSA account and other irregular expenses. I have separate checking account, and the funds are easily accessible.

The emergency fund is used for unexpected big ticket bills - like the large co-insurance expense I expect to have from an unplanned hospitalization. This is kept in an interest bearing savings account with no debit card access. I will have to personally make a trip to the bank and withdraw the funds.

[chatterweb]

My ef goes to pay back the 21K we "borrowed" to help fund the ef at 400.00 per month!
But, I just got our property tax bill today, and that will come from the ef, $2200.00 for this year semiannual taxes. I try not to use the ef fund, but would rather use it than a credit card!!

[chatterweb]

My ef goes to pay back the 21K we "borrowed" to help fund the ef at 400.00 per month!
But, I just got our property tax bill today, and that will come from the ef, $2200.00 for this year semiannual taxes. I try not to use the ef fund, but would rather use it than a credit card!!
I try to add 300.00 a month to ef fund, sometimes more.

[Its_Donna]

We have used the EF for things like:

~Car Repair
~Vet Bills (our 15 y/o cat had liver cancer but has since passed)
~DS Braces (not really an Emergency but this is where we had the most money. I put it back thru the Medical Flex Acct I have thru work.)
~Household Repair