What Steps Have YOU Taken?

Such A Boring Name For Such An Important Thing

Let’s start calling them “****-hits-the” Funds instead. That’s what they are, right? You may recall that about a month ago I wrote about Emergency Funds. Well, here’s a follow-up to that entry. The topic is still pretty hot in the blogosphere, and that may have to do with the fact that the world is facing an increasing number of disasters and catastrophes, thus validating the need for such funds. Or maybe it’s just one of those topics that is SO important that there always remains something to be said. Either way, here I go again.

You Better Ask Somebody

Just today I went to my local RBC branch to make an appointment to analyze my accounts, and see what I can do to make the most of my situation. The goal is to slowly set some money aside for myself. The main thing I am looking to do is to separate my current savings account from money I actually want to save. I know for a lot of students a savings account doesn’t really hold savings, so much as a pool of money from which all expenses come.

What Can 4% Do?

My other employer sets aside my 4% vacation pay (Emergency Funds are nowhere near as fun as a vacation, though) as opposed to including it on my paycheque. While there’s not THAT much money in my Vacation Pay, in the roughly 10 months that I have worked at that job I nonetheless have access to money that was put aside automatically for me. The point is that a small percentage of monthly earnings can accumulate quickly, and I didn’t miss that 4%.

Where Will That Extra Money Come From?

For those among you that feel you don’t really have any extra money to put towards such an Emergency Fund, SavvySugar has some advice on how to find some surplus coin, over at her blog. While a couple of the points may be straightforward, the idea is that we all have things that we do that are wasteful and by cutting back on such things, extra money then becomes available.

Should Debt Come Before An Emergency Fund?

Over at I’ve Paid Twice For This Already, there is an important question asked that I think sums this debate up perfectly. The whole blog entry is well worth reading, but consider what the author has to say:

Be honest with yourself - what would be the psychological ramifications for you of having to increase your debtload if (when) an emergency happened?

Make Sure You Have Easy Access

FrugalDad (one of the hottest names in money-related blogging right now, and sort of my blogger idol) makes a great point about making sure that at least some of your *gulp* Emergency Funds can be accessed quickly and easily. After all, if there is an EMERGENCY, there’s no time to waste with transfers and 2-3 days for processing times.

Well, that’s my kick at the Emergency Funds can. Hopefully at least a few of you have decided to consider doing the emergency funds thing. It’s like sooooo chic right now. Do it. You know you wanna.