Credit • Debt • Finances & Money

Spice Up Your Emergency Fund

Imagine this. You get up early one fine morning and find all your family members sleeping peacefully. Suddenly, you hear a painful groan coming from your father’s room. You rush and find him lying on the ground with his hands clenched to his chest. Without wasting any time, you rush him to the hospital. The doctor diagnoses a major heart attack and you need to shell out a huge amount for his treatment.

You do not panic. You have been smart enough to save up for unforeseen situations like this. Yes. Hats off to your emergency fund!

So you have been there and done that?

Your definition of life has always been ‘a series of crises’, so you always knew the importance of an emergency fund and stuffs like why you need it, how much you need to save and blah blah…Is it now getting boring for you? Do you need ways to spice things up? How about approaching to build up your emergency fund with a renewed vigor?

Why Not Try This?

No need to get stereotyped, here are some fresh approaches you can try to spice up your savings:

1. Redefine emergency: If every unplanned expense seems an emergency for you, you will end up saving much less. Narrow down your definition of emergency. Be clear about what actually constitutes an emergency for you. You will be surprised at the amount you save up when you do not constantly use it for your ‘emergencies’.
2. So you have got a promotion? : How about transferring the extra income from your promotion to your emergency fund? Sounds good?  Budget using your old income and boost your emergency fund by filling it up with your extra income.
3. Make use of your unplanned income: An unexpected income is a great feeling! Use this extra money, no matter how small it is, to fill up your emergency fund.
4. Use every penny: So you have been lucky this year and got a tax refund check? You just know how to make the best use of it! Yes, go ahead and use it for your emergency fund. The idea is to use every extra penny towards achieving your goal.
5. Sell your stuffs: If you have been piling up your rooms with some unnecessary stuffs for a while, then here’s what you can do! Go from room to room and make a list of whatever you own but which is just taking up some unnecessary space. Now make a plan to sell off all this gradually. This will bring you some extra money and at the same time make your house tidy!
6. Still having trouble? : You have tried all the possible means but still nothing is working out? Worry not! Make your emergency fund your topmost priority. Put a halt on all your other savings for a short time. Channel all your energy towards making your emergency fund healthier.

Your emergency fund can be your sole savior in times of a severe financial crunch. Instead of relying on your credit card and then frantically seeking ways to settle credit card debt, it is always better to build up a solid emergency fund. So get geared up to develop your emergency fund to paint a healthy financial picture of yourself!