Emergencies are inevitable! Your car breaks down and you find out you need a new alternator. Your child falls off his/her bike and you have to rush them to the emergency room for a potential broken arm. A family member becomes ill and you have to fly out of town to check on them.
Emergencies will happen, but according to a Forbes article, 63% of us do not plan for it. Only 37% of Americans have $500 to $1,000 in their savings for the aforementioned emergencies. The remaining 63% have to borrow the needed funds from family or friends, put it on a credit card or get the money from one of those payday loan places.
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Why aren’t Americans saving money when many have household salaries reaching over and beyond the six-figure mark? The answer… the more we make, the more we spend.
When we get that promotion, we now have to live up to the “new title” and upgrade our clothes, our car, our house and our overall lifestyle.
Or when we have the extra money in our account, we feel compelled to spend it.
Yes, we should enjoy our money, have nice things while enjoying the fruits of our labor. We just need to make sure the “nice things” do not have us and we are storing some fruit for the dry seasons. We must always prepare for a Rainy Day, because trust me, the rain will come.
So how can you quickly save $1,000? Follow these steps.
- Stop Spending! Well, do not stop spending altogether, just push pause for 21 days. For 21 days, only spend money on “needs” and not “wants”. So it will be critical to plan ahead. Plan on cooking and getting adequate groceries for the next 21 days. Plan on taking a bag lunch and not eating out. Plan on giving yourself a manicure and pedicure instead of going to your local spa. Plan on buying a coffee maker and some caramel syrup and making your own Caramel Mocha Cappuccino. Plan on not spending for 21 days. Why 21 days? Well, research shows that it takes approximately 21 days to break a habit and re-establish new habits. Since we are quickly trying to save money, the 21 Day No Spending Fast is a great way to start. It will not only help you save hundreds of dollars that you did not know you were spending, but show you precisely where you were spending the extra funds.
- Sell, Sell and Sell some more. I am sure you have tons of household items, furniture, clothes, shoes, baby items, books, arts and crafts and other things in your house that you do not use or have not used in years. If you have not used it within the last 12 months, chances are you can get rid of it and start by selling it. Nowadays there are tons of websites where you can post your items to sell quickly. Google how much you can get for certain items, research good websites to post them on and sell it within the next 30 days.
- Get extra income. Having other streams of income is on my list top priorities in becoming of becoming financially free. Over the next 30 days, if you love doing your own lawn, see if your neighbors’ lawn need to be mowed and charge them the “going” rate. Within the next 30 days, if you love cleaning your house, advertise your services locally and start cleaning houses. Whatever you love to do or are good in doing, see if you can make some money doing it and do it.
If your household income is over six-figures, having at least $1,000 in an Emergency Fund should be easily attainable. Remember, the goal is to get it saved and get it saved quickly, so when the rain comes, you will be well prepared.
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