I’m sure with a title like this one people will be flocking to read this article. Ha!
In all seriousness, I do want to communicate an important point in a recent experience we had.
In November, our furnace went out. We decided at that point that best option was not to risk a large repair bill on an old furnace. We opted to replace it. Replacing a furnace isn’t cheap, but we didn’t have to take a loan.
We heard a long time ago that you should “be your own credit card”. At the time, we were making less than we do now, but we began to adopt it and have since tried not to go into debt. We’ve saved our money for unexpected expenses.
And, in this case, we were able to be our own bank for the furnace. Yes, it’s taken several months to get all the money back into our savings (and combined with several other unexpected expenses we’re still not all the way back). But, I hope you find encouragement here.
This is not designed to toot our horn and say how great we are. It’s to encourage anyone reading that it is worth it to avoid spending everything you get, diligently and sacrificially save, and “be your own bank” whenever you can.
Think. What approach do you have to save money for things that are going to happen?
Act. Depending on your answer to “Think”, develop a plan. Using part of that tax refund might be a great way to start. $500 or $1000 is a great start and can really help when things go wrong. Couple some money from the tax refund with a commitment of $50-$100 per month and you’ve built a little safety net to be able to sleep the night the brakes go out!