Emergency Funds For Specific Purposes Can Help You To Avoid Debt

Want to get more out of emergency funds specific purposes without the guesswork? Below we walk through the essentials in plain language, with practical steps you can use right away.

Key Takeaways

• SharePin10TweetShare313 SharesI‘ve written on this site about the importance of planning ahead for unforeseen circumstances multiple times.
• We also have several other smaller emergency funds for specific purposes that allow us to plan for other scenarios.
• Up until a couple of years ago our car fund had quite a bit of money in it.
• Car Troubles Earlier this week I  had a weird occurrence in my car on the method home from work.

Is Emergency Funds Specific Purposes Worth It?

Another area that I’ve talked about where you can plan ahead is just by having an emergency fund in place to assist you in case of any other unplanned expenses, from car repairs to job losses.  We have a large emergency fund to cover all expenses from a furnace needing to be replaced, to a job loss. Over the last few days I’ve had to put my preaching into practice as I began to have car trouble and found that we would be needing those funds we had stashed away for a rainy day.

Worth noting: we don’t consistently know that we’re going to have an expenses in a certain areas, but in others we can reasonably be sure that we will have expenses that we’re going to have to deal with eventually. So we have identified an area where we know we’ll have a future require, and we’ve started saving for that require.  This week that planning has had to come into play.

Where the Real Savings Hide

More importantly, out of the blue my car started dinging and the information panel said that my engine was overheating and that I needed to stop the car immediately.  I had been having a couple of other weird electrical issues in the car, so I stopped the car, turned it off and then re-started it thinking maybe the issue would go away. It did, but only for a couple of days.

Last night on the method home from work my car started dinging and warning me about impending engine overheating again.  Again thinking it might be just a weird electrical issue I pulled over and turned the car off. But this time when I restarted the car and continued on my method the dinging continued.  This time the car also started to feel different, it started to have less power and the steering started feeling sluggish.

A Closer Look at Emergency Funds Specific Purposes

Remember that i could tell something was wrong. Emergency Funds Made This Car Repair Straightforward Since we had an emergency fund I was able to take the money out of our Capital One 360 goal based savings account, and pay for the repairs in cash.

Problem solved with little or no mess. If we hadn’t saved that money months ago (and our other emergency fund) we would now most likely be putting the repair on a credit card.

What to Know About Emergency Funds Specific Purposes

As a rule, while there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with putting aspects on your card, if you don’t plan ahead problems have a method of multiplying.  Before you know it you’re not able to pay the card off each month and debt starts to pile up. So now that we’re in the midst of savings as fast as we can for a home down payment we have less of an auto emergency fund, but it still has enough to get us by in case we have another issue.

That provides me peace of mind. Do you have or setup goal based savings accounts for specific purposes like we do?

How Emergency Funds Specific Purposes Really Works

In short, how do you pay for unexpected expenses like my car repair? Here is a full… SharePin10Tweet.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I save money on emergency funds specific purposes?

Compare prices across a few retailers, look for active coupon codes, and time bigger buys around sales events. Over the last few days I’ve had to put my preaching into practice as I began to have car trouble and found that we would be needing those funds we had stashed away for a rainy day.

Is it worth shopping around for emergency funds specific purposes?

Usually yes. Worth noting: we don’t consistently know that we’re going to have an expenses in a certain areas, but in others we can reasonably be sure that we will have expenses that we’re going to have to deal with eventually.

What should I check before buying?

Read the terms, confirm any code still works, and factor in shipping or returns. So we have identified an area where we know we’ll have a future require, and we’ve started saving for that require.  This week that planning has had to come into play.

Smart Ways to Save More on Emergency Funds Specific Purposes

• Time non urgent purchases around major sale events for the deepest cuts.
• Leave items in your cart for a day; some stores send a follow up discount.
• Pair cashback with a coupon so you save twice on the same order.
• Stack a coupon code with an existing sale whenever the store allows it.
• Sign up for the retailer newsletter to catch first time and seasonal discounts.

Final Thoughts

Put these ideas to work and emergency funds specific purposes gets a lot less expensive. Bookmark this page, check back for fresh deals, and let the savings do the talking.

Originally published at biblemoneymatters.com.