An emergency fund is a healthy thing to have if you want to keep your finances in order. Before you start saving for anything else, you should make sure that you have an emergency fund saved so that it can pay for any unexpected expenses. You wouldn’t want to have to spend the money you’ve saved for a holiday on fixing your washing machine. Emergency funds, as the name suggests, will help you to pay for emergencies, but you also need to be careful that you’re only using your fund for real emergencies. You should take steps to protect it and ensure it’s there for you when you really need it.
Insurance, Insurance, Insurance
Taking out the right insurance protection can help you to avoid spending your emergency fund when you don’t really need to. Alternatively, it can reimburse you so that you can quickly replenish your emergency fund without having to save up the money again. There are different types of insurance you should consider, including home insurance, pet insurance, and even income protection. Be sure to look for the best deals too. You can compare boiler cover options at BoilerCover.com, and there are similar websites for other types of insurance. Think about how much cover you need and check what circumstances you’re covered for.
Budget for Everything
A solid budget can help to prevent you from dipping into your emergency fund when it’s not necessary. If you forget to budget for something, you can end up having to spend some of your emergency fund when it could have been prevented. Taking the time to really think about your budget across a whole year, and perhaps even longer for some things, can help you to make sure you’re ready for any expenses that you can reasonably expect. For example, maintenance costs for your car shouldn’t come out of your emergency fund.
Maintain Your Things
Taking good care of everything that you own is really a must if you want to avoid spending your emergency fund unless it’s necessary. Of course, caring for something doesn’t mean it won’t ever have problems, but it will help you to prevent any issues as much as possible. If something does break or require repairs, you’ll know that you did what you could to put it off as long as possible. Your maintenance costs for anything, be it your home, your car, or your computer, should be included in your normal budget.
Put Your Savings Somewhere Safe
When you have an emergency fund, it can sometimes be hard to convince yourself not to think of it as available money. It might exist and you could technically spend it if you want, but then it won’t be there when you really need it. If you struggle not to spend your emergency fund on things you don’t really need, it can help to put your savings somewhere safe. Put them in a savings account that doesn’t give you instant access to make sure you only use the money when really necessary.
Your emergency fund should be available for real emergencies. If you manage your money well, you can avoid using it when you don’t really need to.