How to build an emergency fund

i have 3 kids, ages 14,12 and 8. Whenever i have cash i gave it to them right away to keep for me. they are very responsible kids. so whenever i have the urge to buy things that we dont need, for me to get the money back, i need to give them a reasonable answer as to why do i need the money. And if I really don't need to get that from them, my urge to spend it will be gone due to guilt. they are my conscience. my reason to be wise whenever i'm about to act irresponsibly. works for me...

I feel that the best way to getting an emergency fund is to not only keep it a priority over other ventures and goals, but to also make it a little less available to spend. Such as an account that would take you going into the bank to access or a personal safe. For example, my wife and I set a $1000.00 as a starting goal for an emergency fund. The reason that we chose a thousand dollars is that most of our deductibles were around that range. Also, to constitute a real emergency would mean that we would either be having car trouble, health problems, or even trouble with the house. Then we evaluated our monthly expense, such as food, gas, mortgage, utilities, and other debts to give us our monthly expense. After that, we made a choice to set a side a certain amount of money to obtain our goal of a thousand dollars. We had also decided that it should be an amount that we could continue to save every pay period. For some it might be $10 or $20 dollars and for others it might be $100, but what ever it is the only way you will get there is by committing to a realistic goal and maintaining it even once the original goal is obtained. Once we hit this landmark of an emergency fund, both my wife and I realized that saving money need to be a fundamental part of our monthly budget and we both became excited about what we were able to accomplish. There was a since of relief that came knowing that you would have something there to go to if you have an emergency. On a personal note our relationship actually took another step in a more mature direction from the experience. It has helped us both become more open and less frustrated with what is going on day to day.

My first emergency fund was to get $1000.00 in the bank. While this sounds like a lot at first, it takes no time to accomplish it with a little bit of work. One of the best and fastest ways to build an emergency fund is to have a garage sale. In these days and times, many people are looking for good deals on clothes, household goods, etc. and not looking to pay retail prices for them. It would not be uncommon for someone to make between $400.00 - $600.00 on a garage sale. A second way to add to your emergency fund, would be to get a second or part-time job. While this sounds impractical depending on your family situation, it in no way means it is a long term solution. (Remember, you're already half way there after the garage sale.) Great part-time jobs would be delivering pizzas at night or newspapers in the early morning, working at local retail stores at the mall, umpiring baseball games, babysitting at night for families, taking care of pets while families travel....the opportunities are limitless! All that you need is the willingness and desire to accomplish your goal.

Every time you get paid from your job take 10% of your net income out of your paycheck. Then take that amount that was the 10% and deposit it into a savings account. The amount saved will keep growing little by little and will become your emergency fund. Every time you get a raise add 5% more to the amount that you take out and deposit in your savings account. This way you accumulate a perfect emergency fund!

I do have an emergency fund started and I allocate at minimum $25.00 each pay period to it. Granted in my financial situation, I have emergencies kinda often but I live by the rule that getting out of my saving is like borrowing from a payday loan without all of the interest fees. I make sure to put in my usual plus the amount that I initially got out.

Living by this standard has helped me out tremendously!

In the words of Warren Buffet "pay yourself first". Put some money, even a little, away (in a tin or envelope) each week. Buy a cheaper lunch and save the change. start slow and build. If Your not paying credit cards it is real important to put the money away , some for settlements and some for emergencies.

I just set up or rather started my emergency fund. I believe it is best to have at least 3 months bills in an emergency fund, I personally have put my money into a high yield savings so that it can build interest & I don't use it and it is with a separate banking institution from where my regular checking and savings is so that its out of site out of mind. To build up this fund I set up a budget. Everyone is different I am a tech person so when IO can use technology I will, and set up an account with mintdotcom. You sign up and provide your account information and mintdotcom will draw a transaction log every so often depending on your preference and your bank/credit union's practices and it tell me where I am spending my money like fast food, gas, bills... you name it it tracks and does a good job I only had to manually set up a few accounts so that they were in the right field. At any rate I set budgets for my most expensive habits, for me that was gaming and eating out. Mintdotcom would notify me when I was close to my limit and if I went over, this helped me keep my spending in check and the 1st month I saved about $100 the following month I cut the budget more and saved more money. I continued to do this until I found a place I was comfortable but didn't feel like I was missing out on eating out or drinks with friends, I just wasn't doing it as much or found ways to get the most bang for my buck like using Gamefly instead of buying games or paying $10 bucks a pop to rent at Blockbuster. I now have been taking that extra cash and placing it in a high yield savings at ING and what was merely a $100-$200 a month has built to a decent savings of $2000 and counting. So the point is get a budget, stick to it. Find a safe place to hold your savings while letting it work for you a bit and even if its only a little here and there something is better than nothing.

I am planning an emergency fund just as soon as I am done paying off some payday loan debts. I am so thankful to have found this forum to lean on. I figure I should try to make the best of my situation. After I am done paying the last PDL lender I am going to start putting a reasonable amount aside to save each payday. I am certainly used to putting my money elsewhere. This way the money is MINE and I can issue myself my OWN payday loan... with the darn interest. I've opened up a separate checking account so that I am not banking with my bill and savings money out of the same account. I cannot wait to get started!!

Right now I have been recieving checks from school for left over balances on my school loans depending on how much the checks are I put 50-500 dollers in a savings account for use when we really need it. It has really come in handy. It also makes a really good rainy day fund if we get bored. It works really good for us since my fiancee is going to school tooand we are both putting back money.

The best way to build an emergency fund is to start in a small increment so as to not put a strain on your budget. I take $50 out of each paycheck. I put it into a savings account that is attached to my checking for easy access. I actually have it set up through my payroll office to go automatically from each check, so then I never see that $50 or miss it. The key then is to never use this account unless it is an unforeseen, absolute, out of the ordinary expense. You have to be the judge of what that is, but if you can somehow find a way to pay for the expense by flexing your budget, its best to leave the emergency fund alone.

I have a $5 fund. I have a large envelope tacked to my bedroom wall. Every day I come home I empty my wallets of all the $5 bills in there. Anytime I get change, I put the $5 in the envelope. I have a rule...that there should be no more than 3 on any given day. I have been able to use this fund for minor emergencies, and as the money continues to grow I will transfer it over to my emrgency savings account for safe keeping!

It may a slower way,but it does build and feel good.If I go to the gym, or am going to be on errands longer then I expected( Ineed to eat every 3-4 hours.) I've noticed if I prepared nothing to bring with me to eat I will go to a fast food joint.This can blow up to $10.00 dollars and Idon't really feelgood with what I eat.

Before leaving the house,I reink 2 bottles of water,with a little lemon juice squeezed in to help digestion.I fix 2-4 wraps,cut in half and heave ready with 2-4 more bottles water.
On the wrap,I try to put healthy oils,avocado pieces,medium chain triglycerides,few almonds, that work to burn off the food I eat instead of turning it into my belly roll.I take the cash I would have spent,and then at home put it into a special envelope that has a picture oon from what I'm saving for. The trick is the healthy oils, I believe. They,fill you,burn fat and save money!

1.WE ESTABLISH WHERE THIS FUND WILL be hopfully in a different place then the depositers account

we have money automatically witdrawen from our netpaycheck at a predetermined rate of time

3. we store that information away and promise not to touch it unless we've used every available solution to resolve our situation or emergency and we have to reach out and use our last alternatve that being the EFUND which we've allowed to buid up for exactly what it was purposed for:EMERGENCIES,NOTHING ELSE, WE PROMISE OURSELVES AND WE DESIGNATE SOMEONE ELSE AND SHARE THAT PROMISE WITH THEM SO THEY CAN HELP US TO STICK TO OUR WORDS

I have an emergency fund i took out 35$ each pay check for a year an put it into my Savings account and after a year it gains interest of 3% a year and i did that 3 years ago it started out at 210 and im up to almost 400 the more u deposite and the highter interest rate the bank offers the more u can get .. now most say its useless to use the bank to hold an emergency fund but i can pull it out anywhere in the world and not have it in, cash is loseable always a good thing.. hope this helps

I started a fund last yr and have built up 2 months of living expense.

1. Cut up debt card
2. Used only cash envelop system.
3. Cut out coffee from Starbucks saved $4 or more a day.
4. Didn't buy sodas or drink when going out to dinner.
5. Packed a lunch saved $6 a day.

Total savings $300-500 month

I use to sit around thinking, "I can't save any money, I live paycheck to paycheck". I was stressed out and worried all the time about "what if?" I started saving my receipts and I did this for a couple of weeks. It was clear to see that I had to cut back even further. While I was no longer spending $4-5/ day on coffee, the $2/day still totaled out to $40-50/month. After switching to even better home brew, I can easily move my savings into my new emergency fund. I scour the Sunday paper for deals and the savings also go into this fund. I am amazed how much I have saved in the five months since I've started. I no longer feel as though I am living paycheck to paycheck. Most importantly when I got a flat tire the other morning, I didn't have to think twice about where I would get the funds for a new tire.