EF how much is 6 months living expenses?

[itlw8]

I have my $1000 EF so now were are slowly working on 6 months living expenses as we pay off all debts but how do you figure what is requred


mortage, utilities, food, minimum payments on CC what have I forgotten?

gas that is a big one.

I assume there would be no cc debt if I had that much savings

[nuisance26]

~Car insurance, property taxes, water/sewer bill, medical and life insurance premiums, co-payments, medication, educational expenses, and $ for a lawyer. The last one is something I've been thinking about for awhile to add to mine. Worst case scenario of wrongful termination, injury or death may require retaining a lawyer.~

[AstarB1]

I assumed that in that scenario, one of us would be out of a job, so I took out job-related expenses, i.e. monthly transit passes.

[Cricketlegs]

Yes, you don't start the six month savings until the credit debts(I don't include the house and neither does dave but you should be snowballing all the credit excess into the house at this point right?)

Can you tell I am NOT on that step yet??? LOL

car insurance maybe?

Dp you not have a written budget to go by? YOu can add up what you spend over a 6 month period(not counting the paid off debt--hahhaaa! we like to say that!) and get a general number.

If you don't have a written budget, GET ONE! They are priceless.

[FrugalMomof3]

Basically ANY bill you pay on a monthly basis.

Mortgage, water/sewer, electric, cable/internet, phone, gas, cell phones, food, gas in car and CC debt if any.

For us 6 months of BARE living expenses not including food is $8000, since we can live off of the pantry and freezer for about 3 months I would add another $200 to that for food for 3 additional months.

[starsapphire]

Money to pay COBRA premiums for health insurance. When I remembered that, it almost doubled the amount I needed to save for a 6 month FFEF. But well worth it if one of us loses our job or goes out on some sort of extended leave and have to pay COBRA on top of not having any income.

[M55FF]

to make it very easy, 6 months emergency fund would be what you make in one year, divided by 2......... before taxes are taken out...

add 2% for inflation and you'll get a good ball park figure.

[Denvergirlie]

to make it very easy, 6 months emergency fund would be what you make in one year, divided by 2......... before taxes are taken out...

add 2% for inflation and you'll get a good ball park figure.

If I did that, I would have a full years worth of a FFEF. I live on half of my take home pay, so 6 months of my pay would cover 12 months of expesnes.

To the OP - look at your budget and add it all up for 6 months

[mikandmari]

I would add up 6 months from my budget, but deduct the stuff you would do without (if you had to) like cable t.v., high-speed internet, cell phones, etc.

I'm saved up enough to cover 3 months' expenses living like we do now, or, I believe if I was in a bind I could make it last about 5 months.

A big one is what Tracy said: We could live off the food in our pantry for a couple of months!

[ladykemma2]

pay off the non mortgage debt first...

[Michelle]

to make it very easy, 6 months emergency fund would be what you make in one year, divided by 2......... before taxes are taken out...

add 2% for inflation and you'll get a good ball park figure.

I would be funding that EF for a very long time if I divided our income by two to determine that figure.

I am not at that step yet, but when I get there, I am going to use my budget to determine monthly expenses x 6. That number will be much less than half of our income. Maybe we just live well below our means?

It's different for everyone, I guess, and you just need to do what works for you and your family.