When I was still working my 9-5 office job, I made this huge mistake in not focusing on my savings and for not having any money set for emergencies.
I mean, I thought I was doing okay. I was paying all the bills on time, making headway towards my goals and then boom something unexpected happens – I needed to quit my job.
And having to quit my job with no emergency fund and zero savings definitely placed me in a full-blown crises mode.
I was panicking, constantly looking for ways to come up with the money needed to cover all the bills.
Imagine the stress and frustration that I have to deal with every single day.
Having been in that situation was a serious eye-opener.
I’ve realized that though we are not hoping for any sudden emergencies to happen, we still need to prepare for it.
Building an emergency fund is definitely one of the most important steps needed for you to gain (or regain) control over your finances.
It is the key part of being financially secure and I know that most days, building an emergency fund is the least of our worries.
Especially, if you are living paycheck to paycheck and with all the bills piling up – doing it now is just next to impossible.
I get it. I was also ruled by that mindset.
I was constantly telling myself that I was just not making enough money to save, that there were just too many bills needed to be paid.
And of course, I was completely wrong.
Regardless of how much (or how little) you are making – building an emergency fund is POSSIBLE.
You just have to recognize and treat it as a priority, be open to making a few changes in your lifestyle and of course, set realistic goals.
So, to help you get started, I have decided to gather 6 brilliant tips to help you build an emergency fund fast. Check them out!
Start Small
Sometimes, one of the main reasons why we never have the drive to start building or to even continue building an emergency fund is we often set unrealistic goals.
Goals that are too difficult for us to achieve – making it easy for us to quickly give up on it.
That’s why we always have to remind ourselves to Start Small.
With the mortgage payment due and credit card bills piling up, setting up an amount that you’re not comfortable with will only make things too overwhelming for you.
So, start with 15$ or even 5$ a day until you’re comfortable in increasing it.
Doing this will make it a lot easier for you to stick with it.
It won’t make you feel like you are sacrificing too much.
Cut Back Unnecessary Expenses
Sit down and look at your budget and I mean to REALLY LOOK.
Are there expenses that you can maybe cut back a little?
Do you have any unnecessary memberships or services?
Often, we are just so used to paying all our monthly expenses that we never even think twice in paying them.
We don’t realize that some of those things are not even a necessity.
Cutting back on things that weren’t really a necessity for us was a serious life saver.
It made it so much easier for me to set money on the more important things – like building that long overdue emergency fund.
So, take the time to review your budget and be willing to make cuts on those things are not really necessary.
You will definitely be surprised by how those little things can add up significantly.
Side Hustles
If you want to be able to build that emergency fund FAST then you should be willing to explore other options to add more money into your pocket.
And Side Hustles are the best way to go.
It’s the best and fastest way to add a couple hundred to your savings and the great thing is, there are a lot of side hustles that you can do in the comfort of our own homes.
I know that adding extra hours of work can seem daunting.
Especially if you are already working a draining 9-5 job but the sacrifices that we are willing to do now will definitely reward us tenfold in the future.
And to help you get started here’s a list of side hustles that you can do at home!
Sell Stuff that you don’t need
After having to quit my job, I was desperate to look for ways to make the ends meet and still have enough money left for emergencies, so I started going through our stuff and that’s when I’ve realized that we had so much stuff lying around that we no longer use.
Things that can easily add a couple hundred to my savings.
So, take a couple of hours to look around your house.
You will definitely be surprised by the amount of stuff that you have and don’t need.
Because let’s face it, often, we just have so much stuff lying around the garage or too many clothes in our closet that we don’t use.
So, it’s time to free up some space and convert those things into cash.
Set up an automatic deduction
If you have the tendency to blow through your money once it hits your account then setting up automatic deductions is definitely right for you.
Open up a separate savings account just for emergencies and automate your savings.
You can even check with your payroll department if they can set up an automatic deposit on that account.
Doing this will prevent you from splurging your paycheck and it will make it so much easier for you to make do with the money left on your account.
Practice Delayed Gratification
I was working in a very stressful environment, so I was always justifying my spending habits or my splurges on the thought that” I deserved it”.
Like: I’m working hard so I deserve to eat at this fancy restaurant.
My job is too stressful, I deserve buying this dress.
Sure, it made me happy. But it was only temporary happiness.
That kind of thinking was only doing me more harm than good.
It’s true, we deserve the best things in life. You deserve to reach your dreams and achieve your goals.
But you need to be willing to KNOW WHAT YOU REALLY DESERVE.
Do you deserve to eat at that place around the corner or do you deserve to eat breakfast in Europe?
Do you deserve that thousand-dollar dress or do you deserve to live in your dream house?
So, don’t settle for immediate gratification.
One last takeaway, always make sure that after you take from your emergency fund that you’ll do whatever it takes to rebuild it.
You wouldn’t want to start from zero again.
The key to building an emergency fund is to recognize that it may not be easy, it takes hard work but it will certainly be worth your effort.
So, don’t settle for the here and now, always look at the big picture. Try these tips today and let me know how it goes!
Your Turn…
What about you? Do you have any tips on starting an emergency fund?
Let me know in the comment section below or send me an email, I would love to try it!