UPDATE: I could use an emergency fund right now!
| February 29, 2012 | Posted by admin under The Goal, Ways to Save |
**New posts continue next week**
UPDATE: I paid off my charge card without a problem and received my $500 cash bonus. I am continuing to work to beef up my emergency fund. Next week, I’ll post the numbers.
Whoops!
One of the most controversial posts ever here at Mortgage Free by 30 came after Mr. Money Mustache featured an article about my early retirement dreams.
His readers were outraged, saying I needed a traditional emergency fund. I responded to them in detail, in this post. To put it simply, I have access to money should an emergency arise. I keep my checking and savings account balances low because interest rates are terrible. Instead, I put my money in investments and towards the mortgage.
HOT POST: My personal finance failures!
Right now, I have about $1,500 in one checking account, $750 in another and $150 in a third. Not a lot of cash. That’s normally not a problem, but I recently made a mistake. I charged up $5,000 on a new card that I thought was 0% for 6 months. The point was to meet a $500 sign-up bonus, but this backfired. It’s not a credit card. It’s a charge card and that $5,000 is due back February 6th! That’s less than a month from now.
HOT POST: Nearly 50% of the mortgage paid off in about a year!
Fortunately, I have two paychecks before February 6th. I also will have $700 to $1,000 in freelance income and a $200 Citi rebate coming in. Between that and the money sitting in my checking accounts, I am optimistic I will be able to gather $5,000 before the deadline without tapping other financial sources.
HOT POST: Paying the mortgage with a credit card! It’s possible! See how!
In any event, this has served as a reminder to me. I really need to pump up that emergency fund. I don’t agree that you need 8 months of expenses if you have access to cash, but certainly $2,000 (what I have) is not enough. After meeting my monthly goal for the mortgage, I am going to start putting more money into the emergency fund.
So there. Mr. Money Mustache readers can say “I told you so!”
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