Building an Emergency Fund

What’s up loves!

Hopefully, you watched my candid video! Sorry if it is not your typical video. None of my work will ever be “typical”. As I write more content you will get to know me through my work and see that is just one thing I am not, ‘typical”. As mentioned in the video, this past government shutdown revealed some disheartening facts in regards to most Americans' financial state and how fragile it truly it is. I am sure financial fragility is piercing through as well during this current pandemic, COVID-19. I am here to share some tips to BUILD that Emergency Savings Fund.

1. Set aside a certain amount (what you can afford) weekly.

a) Each month I set a goal I want to save monthly and break it down weekly. Example: January saving goal: $200.00 – Week 1: $75.00 Week 2: $25.00 Week 3: $75.00 Week 4: $25.00. $200 may not seem like a lot, but guess what it’s better than ZERO and $200 more then what you previously had. I do that for the remaining of the months & I may also set the goal higher. If I cannot go higher, $200 is the lowest I will set as a goal.

2. AUTOMATE

a) Set reoccurring deposits into your savings AUTOMATICALLY. That way it becomes a bill and you expect that money to already be gone. In a way, you discipline yourself to deposit money into your savings. Money is rarely about money more so your behavior and discipline you have towards it.

3. Separate location

a) If you do not have enough discipline to not move the money from your savings account back into your checking account then I recommend having your savings account not linked and located somewhere else, either at a different bank than you already used or use an online bank, which typically offers higher interest rates.

4. Saving Challenges

a) Try different money-saving challenges. They are fun and feasible ways to start saving money. For example, in the envelope saving challenge (my fav) you can save either $55, $820, or $5050! You label the envelopes, however many you want to do, and stuff the envelope with the designated amount. I am doing 100 envelopes so I will the envelopes 1-100 and stuff each envelope with the amount stated on the envelope. I pick 1-2 envelopes a week. If you complete $1-$50, you’ll save $1275. Amazing right?!

5. DO NOT GET OVERWHELMED

a) Do not get so wrapped into the fact you are not saving a lot. You can put away a few dollars a week or whatever you can afford. If you do that regularly, you will create a buffer that will prove itself useful when an emergency happens

As always, you got this! Follow me on twitter @sisidevoe & snapchat iamsisidevoe