Before I begin, I must throw out a disclaimer. I know it does not make sense from a mathematical point of view to receive a tax refund. If you do, you are basically letting the federal government “borrow” money owed to you with no cost to them – they are getting this interest-free. Even though this [...]
Tag Archives | Emergency Savings
Emergency Fund Budgeting: Stop the 401K to Save for Emergencies?
This week I came across an interesting article from USA Today about an early 40′s couple with a combined income of $225,000 per year and retirement savings of $330,000. You’d think they were in good financial shape, but the problem is they have no cash or emergency savings stashed away. The article shares they needed [...]
What are the Best Online Savings Accounts?
You never know when Murphy (as Dave Ramsey puts it) is lurking around the corner. Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. So, you need to be prepared by establishing an emergency savings account A while back (about the time I started blogging) I became interested in online savings accounts [...]
Early Retirement Planning Lessons from a Snow Storm
As I am typing this, the snow has blanketed my yard and road. School has been closed for three days and our city is pretty much at a stand-still. I know for many, 8 inches of snow would not do much but, here in the South, this is like a blizzard. The storms came late [...]
How the Recession Has Affected My Family
This recession has actually improved most aspects of our lives. Tracy and I had a goal (when we married ten years ago) for her to be able to stay home with our children when we eventually had them. Even when times were good and we had two incomes coming in, we lived very frugally and [...]
How Much Emergency Savings Do You Need?
As we continue to build our family emergency fund, I often think about what is the right amount. For the longest time I’ve heard from financial gurus you need to have a minimum of 3 months and possibly up to 6 months. We’re now hearing 9 months up to a year since the economic crisis [...]
Emergency Fund Versus Getting Out of Debt?
People have certainly changed their motivation of getting out debt and saving based on experiences from this past recession. Many Americans were cash poor and paid dearly because of it. This was evident after so many people were laid off and had no cash to cover expenses while they searched for new employment. Many unfortunate people [...]