The 7 Personal Finance Articles We Loved This Week
What’s your biggest money goal right now? I have many, but the biggest is one that I won’t be done with for a good long time. I’m speaking, of course, about my emergency fund.
I’ve had emergency savings before, but I ended up having to use them. Thankfully, it was because of an actual emergency situation that I had to use them (though one I wish I’d gotten myself out of sooner), so I can’t feel too bad about the fact that I needed to use it. Now, in order to rebuild it, I use a savings app that automatically transfers a percentage of each paycheck into an account that’s totally separate from my bank. But with a vacation on the horizon and a new apartment that needs (okay, wants) decorating, it is so tempting to transfer that money over to buy myself some new shelving, or give myself some extra cushion for spending on my trip. Even though I can work decorating the apartment into my monthly budget and just space it out more, and my trip has already been saved for in a totally separate account. The idea that there is a large-ish sum of money that technically belongs to me is sitting somewhere, unused, is as tempting to spend as it is validating to have.
Because I know if I ever took that money out to spend it on something that wasn’t an emergency, I’d almost immediately regret it. I’m proud of myself for getting to the point that I have it at all, and I owe it to myself to leave it saved until it’s actually needed. That’s why I loved J. Money‘s first pick this week from Bitches Get Riches, as it was a nice and truly entertaining reminder of how important it is to know what constitutes an emergency:
Here are your criteria for determining a real emergency:
1. Is something broken?
2. Is someone broken?
3. Is it impossible for you to fix yourself?
4. Will there be legal consequences if you do not fix it?
5. Will you lose money, productivity, or your life if it is not fixed?
6. Does it need to be fixed right the fuck now?
I’m definitely going to bookmark that and return to it the next time I’m tempted to spend my emergency savings. Be sure to check out the full post, as well as the rest of this week’s great picks!
1. There is No Such Thing as a Bacon Emergency – Bitches Get Riches
“It’s an absurd fallacy: the emergency fund exists to financially prepare you for emergencies, yet even in the face of emergencies, some of us feel like we should…save it for a more important emergency, I guess?”
2. Finance Tips I Wish I’d Known When I Was 20 – Wit & Delight
“I’m not a financial expert. I’m a regular human being, one who once sailed off on a work trip after whispering to her boss that she didn’t have enough cash to pay for her cab ride to the airport. I’ve figured out some shit the hard way and learned a few things I wish my younger self had known.”
3. How to Optimize, Improve, & Get the Most Out of your Crappy 401K – 20 Something Finance
“401Ks aren’t like sub sandwiches. You don’t get your 11th one free…Once you leave an employer, you can roll over your 401K into an IRA.”
4. The F*ck It Budgeting System – Finance Yoself
“The FIB is a plan. It’s a plan to continue playing defense. It’s a plan to continue to let life happen. Any decisions in step 3, whether good or bad, are met with a resounding F*ck It!”
5. Are You The 1%? – The Three Year Experiment
“If you have around $100,000 in assets, count yourself among the top 21% of the world If you have anywhere between $100,000 to $1 million, you’re in the top 7.4% of the world.”
6. Double Your Money… Again and Again – Action Economics
“Save $64,000 as quickly as possible…Even if you save nothing else, in 40 years, you will be a millionaire.”
7. You Don’t Need A Budget, You Need More Money – Does That Make Cents
“Make a budget blah blah blah. We’ve heard it a thousand times…You can try and try and try to spend $50 less each month, OR you can go and try to earn another $50 a month, and then not stress over breaking your budget by that $50.”
Image via Unsplash
