Blogging Away Debt

Why I’ve Decided to Start an Emergency Fund

Unlike the other bloggers, I have no savings, no emergency fund. I did, until my son broke his hand this past December, and now it’s gone.

And for the last few months I have flown by the seat of my pants, and that really stinks! I mean, big time! I always feel broke because after paying all the necessary monthly bills, keeping out just enough for the grocery budget, I throw everything I’ve got at debt. And then I’m broke…until a client pays me. Now I’m really blessed to have mostly reliable clients who pay me at least within the standard Net 30, and some who pay within Net 10, so I “know” I have income coming, but I don’t always know exactly when.

So this week was one of those totally broke weeks. I didn’t even have two dimes to rub together. It was exponentially harder as I had to drive a lot due to standardized testing for the three youngest in a different city. Needless to say, I ran out of gas. And I did not have the choice to stay home or bike to where I had to go (we can bike to pretty much anywhere we need to go.) I even stooped so low that I asked my ex to pay his child support early (he’s really great about giving financial support to our kids, really great, the only issue is, it’s on his schedule, not mine and not always regular.)

So you can feel how desperate I was, right? And you are probably saying “duh, Hope, start an emergency fund.” And you would think that my incident last summer where we were out of toilet paper would have convinced me of the same thing. Yeah, but no, I’m hard headed and stubborn and always see the glass half full and know everything is going to turn out alright.

But in this dark hour when I needed to get my kids to testing and had no gas, I searched through my wallet and found a $50 bill. Evidently at some point, I knew I would need an emergency gas fund, and being the “out of sight, out of mind” kind of person I am, I put my “emergency $50” out of sight but right where it should be had I needed it. Joy, relief flooded and we finished out our testing week with no other financial crisis.

But I am now convinced, I need an emergency fund. Two, in fact! I am going to replace my “emergency $50” immediately and as I mentioned last week I am going to start funding a traditional emergency fund with a percentage from my new job. It will go slow, it’s not my priority, but after the toilet paper, the broken hand and this most recent gas debacle (along with a few that I will not mention here,) I am convinced that it is necessary. (And in using my new job’s money, well, it doesn’t affect my current debt payoff, yeah!!!)

Flashback – No Toilet Paper

by Hope

I don’t know if I every told you that, this application to BAD was my third. Last June, I wrote a couple of blog posts for them to see my style, and as I was considering what to post today, I went to look at those old posts. It’s never been published anywhere and is a great segue into my post in a couple of hours. So here’s a glimpse of my financial status last summer…June, 2013…posted just how I wrote it back then.

There’s a lot of ways that you know you are broke, but let me tell you my most recent realization experience…when you run out of toilet paper and don’t have the money to go buy more! Now that’s broke.

Ok, I’m not living in squalor. One thing I’ve become very good at while I’ve been trying to live on a budget and get out of debt is taking care of the essentials…I make sure I have both cars full of gas and a house full of food before anything else happens with my income. (This is VERY important when you are supporting more than yourself.)

Because my income fluctuates and I don’t have predictable pay dates…it’s just luck of the draw if my existing pay lasts til the next bills or needs come up. But this time, the fail is completely my own. I didn’t pay my PO Box bill. Ok, I forgot and they didn’t put a reminder in the box. When I went to counter after realizing I was locked out, they told me the reminder was a courtesy…and because my paychecks come there, I had no way to get the money to pay the bill. You see the cycle here, right?

So I’m living on less than expected this month, way less, and praying when my check is returned to my client they will forward to my new address. Hoping!

So I’ve learned two very important lessons with my toilet paper debacle:
1. Always stock up on extra toilet paper; AND
2. In addition to knowing what bills you have in a kind of general way, keep pay dates and amounts somewhere and check it regularly. This will keep them from locking you out of your PO Box which is essentially your bank when it comes to getting your paychecks.

As of now, we have two rolls of toilet paper (we have 3 bathrooms, well, 2 1/2) and are using tissue in the 3rd. Will probably be doing a couch change crawl if my check(s) don’t arrive tomorrow.