A New Reason to Build an Emergency Fund
Jul. 2nd, 2009 07:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabrinamariAs if I needed more proof that they were critical and necessary...
We have been waiting patiently for the first of two very large checks representing Michael's share of this house. We were given a bank check from another institution yesterday afternoon, and deposited it immediately.
This morning we awoke expecting to see it clear, as it was a bank check rather than a personal check.
No dice. Five hundred of it was available, and all the rest was still pending. When Michael called to inquire, he was told it could take up to TWELVE DAYS to clear because it was so large.
In New Jersey, it takes between $3000 and $5000+ to move into a new place. Rents for a two bedroom apartment or half house range between $1500-$1800 a month, and usually a place is secured with a deposit of one to two months' rent, plus the first month's rent. If you use a broker---almost required when searching for a house---you must also pay one month's fee to that broker before moving in.
Originally, we thought we'd depend on the proceeds from the sale to fund our move, but in the end, the transaction took so long that we had to develop a Plan B. Happily, we still had some emergency fund money left after the purchase of the Body Buggy (Michael's new-to-him Black Grand Caravan). It was a small, fall-back emergency fund quietly built over time through a series of automatic monthly deposits.
Between that fund and some careful financing, we were able to secure our apartment and get a few rugs. It helped alot that we didn't use a broker, and that the complex only required one month's rent as a security deposit.
This morning, we sighed with relief that we finally had our apartment and would finally, finally, have access to our money!
Nope.
The lesson I take from this: COUNT ONLY ON YOURSELF FOR FUNDING ANY TIME-SENSITIVE PROJECT.
1. Build your emergency fund.
2. If you can, build multiple emergency funds...
3. ...and BE ABLE TO DEPEND ON YOURSELF!
Money = freedom, and if you have it, you retain the freedom to build the life that you want in the way that you want.
If you don't, you can lose that freedom easily, when a check takes longer than expected to clear, or a refinance/sale drags on and on.
If we had not been able to fund ourselves, we would have lost this apartment and found ourselves in a real pickle.
We have been waiting patiently for the first of two very large checks representing Michael's share of this house. We were given a bank check from another institution yesterday afternoon, and deposited it immediately.
This morning we awoke expecting to see it clear, as it was a bank check rather than a personal check.
No dice. Five hundred of it was available, and all the rest was still pending. When Michael called to inquire, he was told it could take up to TWELVE DAYS to clear because it was so large.
In New Jersey, it takes between $3000 and $5000+ to move into a new place. Rents for a two bedroom apartment or half house range between $1500-$1800 a month, and usually a place is secured with a deposit of one to two months' rent, plus the first month's rent. If you use a broker---almost required when searching for a house---you must also pay one month's fee to that broker before moving in.
Originally, we thought we'd depend on the proceeds from the sale to fund our move, but in the end, the transaction took so long that we had to develop a Plan B. Happily, we still had some emergency fund money left after the purchase of the Body Buggy (Michael's new-to-him Black Grand Caravan). It was a small, fall-back emergency fund quietly built over time through a series of automatic monthly deposits.
Between that fund and some careful financing, we were able to secure our apartment and get a few rugs. It helped alot that we didn't use a broker, and that the complex only required one month's rent as a security deposit.
This morning, we sighed with relief that we finally had our apartment and would finally, finally, have access to our money!
Nope.
The lesson I take from this: COUNT ONLY ON YOURSELF FOR FUNDING ANY TIME-SENSITIVE PROJECT.
1. Build your emergency fund.
2. If you can, build multiple emergency funds...
3. ...and BE ABLE TO DEPEND ON YOURSELF!
Money = freedom, and if you have it, you retain the freedom to build the life that you want in the way that you want.
If you don't, you can lose that freedom easily, when a check takes longer than expected to clear, or a refinance/sale drags on and on.
If we had not been able to fund ourselves, we would have lost this apartment and found ourselves in a real pickle.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-02 11:50 am (UTC)Hey, do you have some time for a conversation sometime today?
no subject
Date: 2009-07-02 11:57 am (UTC)