10 ways to jumpstart your emergency fund this month
If you read my post about the importance of an emergency fund, you might have felt inspired to start one.
But you might also be feeling like getting several month's worth of expenses in your account is impossible when you're just scraping by as it is.
So, I'd advise you to just focus on getting started. Work toward your first hundred, then your second hundred, and keep going after that!
To get you started, here are a few ways you could find some extra money to put into your fund this month.
(Most of these ideas are not sustainable over the long term. But you can do anything for a little while, and trust me, the joy of having an emergency fund is worth a little short-term pain.)
1. Eat from your freezer/pantry for a week or a month.
(depending on how big your freezer and pantry are!)
Make a list of the food you have and plan your meals with that list in hand.
Feel free to buy extra ingredients as needed (this way your meals will be way more palatable!), but try to mainly focus on the food you already have.
2. Sell your stuff.
Most people have unwanted items in their houses that could be valuable to someone else. Look around to see what you could sell on eBay, Craigslist, or Facebook marketplace.
The listings are pretty quick to set up, especially if you have a smartphone with a camera, so give it try and see if you can offload some of your stuff.
3. Go on an eating-out fast for a month.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: eating out is crazy expensive compared to eating at home.
So if you want to pad your emergency fund, get your food from the grocery store instead of a restaurant. See if you can go cold turkey for a month, and then put the extra savings in your emergency fund.
4. Look at your "fixed" expenses and see what can go.
Take a fresh look at the bills that come up every month and see if you can trim any of those.
Could you
- cut cable, or simplify the package you pay for?
- switch your cell phone service to Ting?
- switch your home phone to Ooma?
- shop around for car insurance rates?
Question it all!
And when you reduce or eliminate a bill, funnel that monthly money into your emergency fund.
5. This month, borrow, barter, or rent instead of buying.
When a need comes up this month, stop before you go out and buy something. Could you borrow it instead? Barter with a friend? Rent it instead of buying it?
Could you ask for it on Freecycle, or in your friend group? Putting the word out is surprisingly effective!
6. Buy only second-hand for a month.
Things like food and gas excluded, obviously!
Use craigslist, consignment stores, eBay, ThredUp, NextDoor, and so on. There are tons of second-hand options out there.
7. Offer your skills for pay.
Can you babysit? Copy-edit? Do yard work? Clean/organize/declutter?
If you have a skill that someone will pay for, see if you can get yourself a few hours of side work this month, and then put that money into your emergency fund.
Or, if you work an hourly job, take any overtime that comes your way this month.
8. Drive as little as possible for a month.
Calculate how much you normally pay for gas, then spend this month driving as little as you can.
(Batch errands, stay home, carpool, walk!)
At the end of the month, figure out how much you saved on gas, and send it on over to your emergency fund.
9. Have a free-only entertainment month.
Find free concerts, check out movies from the library (or borrow from a friend), play board games with friends, play video games you already own, visit free parks in your area, cook a meal with a friend...whatever it is you like to do, find a free version of it this month.
And put the savings in your fund!
10. Keep a change jar.
Throw all your extra change in there and deposit the money in your fund at the end of the month.
(Clean in between your couch cushions/under the couch for bonus coins!)
Incidentally, I know it's not the beginning of the month right now.
But today is as good a day as any to start working on your emergency fund. Start now and make your month go from May 21st-June 21st.
Your emergency fund won't care if your month of focused saving includes two pages on your calendar. 😉
Go jumpstart your emergency fund now!
"Eat only from your freezer"
Great advice for me! I buy lots of frozen food (esp vegetables) and sometimes they get buried in the freezer and I can't even see what I have! Turns out I have enough in there to keep me chugging for a while, I just need to eat the darn stuff
@Accidental FIRE, I keep a freezer inventory list on the fridge to prevent things from getting "lost" in my freezer -- also helpful when meal planning!!
Great tips! We are having out second baby in about 3.5 months. We are excited but a bit nervous about the future.
There's no way we can know for sure what surprises we might have in the next couple of months.
But one thing that can make us feel much better about life is a sizeable emergency fund which we are building using a lot of the things you mentioned above.
#1 is so clever! People don't clear their fridges. We tried it in the past weekend and avoided eating out and grocery shopping both! Now there's more space is our freezer and more money in our wallet.
@Lily | The Frugal Gene, I do! But I agree, it seems that more don't. I have an informal volunteer sideline in cleaning & organizing my friends' fridges for them.
If you live in Wisconsin, file for the 100 per child bonus until July 2.
My suggestion is when you save money on something, put it aside right then. For instance, if you normally fill the car on Monday and Friday, but you only need half as much gas this Friday because you stayed home more, take that money for the gas you didn't have to buy out of checking and put it into savings immediately, the minute you see how much you saved. If you have a phone app for your bank, it's dead easy. If you usually eat out Friday after work, but not this month, take the usual amount you spend eating out, and slide it over to savings. I find that even if I save money, if I don't set it aside, it tends to just disappear.
Check out sites like Capital One 360. They will sometimes offer bonuses for opening an account with them online. I did this a few years back and got something like $200. I simply had to set up a direct deposit or make 3 or so debit card transactions within 90 days of opening, something simple like that, and the money was mine. I think I only needed $50 to open.
Cancel things you don't use that much and put any refunds or monthly savings into your savings. Do you read all those magazines? Really go to the gym (some folks do, I know)? If not, try going without them/it entirely, at least for a while.
Snack on real food. A bag of apples or a hand of bananas provides several snacks. Popped corn. Homemade granola or yogurt. Much, much cheaper than chips, snack bars, crackers and boxed cookies.
You could call it an end-of-spring clearance, or a get-ready-for-summer plan, to end on June 21.
Good encouraging list of ideas here!
We had a sewer/plumbing issue and just cleared out our emergency fund. 🙁 Boo for the sewer issue but yay for having funds...and boo for having to use it all...Now we work on building up our emergency fund again! Fun times...
We just had to use ours too but so nice not to feel the anxiety of not having the funds. We are back to eating out of the freezer/fridge, not eating out, buying most everything second hand and we have decluttered ALOT and will sell our treasures at a flea market this weekend. I am always so surprised how quickly I can save money when I plan well and we eat more healthy. Finding treasures at flea markets is always a blast- last weekend I found two really nice summer shirts for a grand total of 10 dollars. I always feel like I´m a little kinder to mother nature when I buy used as well- double bonus.
Question everything! I thought our fixed expenses were unchangeable. But we were able to move to an apartment that was $400/mo cheaper, and get rid of a vehicle payment entirely.
Funnel work, DDA, HSA, etc. reimbursements into it (if you can afford to pretend that they're spent from your budget instead of needing them to replenish your main accounts).
1. Lots of great ideas. It isn't rocket science but it does take prioritization and discipline.
1. Go hang out at the Library. 2. Bake something from scratch at home.3. Invited to kid next door's graduation? Nothing to wear? Notice lots of good quality long skirts at thrift stores lately. Try them on..they seem just about like current styles. Pull out your best blouse or light weight sweater and your pearls
Unfortunately, I think if we ate from the freezer we'd be eating ice cream and chocolate for a week. I guess we might need to consider creating a stock up of "real food" to turn to. Oops.
unplug all devices not in use & stop paying for standby power
wash everything in cold water, have short showers
eat more cheap meals in your diet eg oats, eggs, lentils
eat what's in season
do free entertainment like games nights & everyone brings a plate
carpool
make presents
make do
have small portable solar power lights in the garden & bring in at night & put them in glass vases for mood lighting
read instead of watching tv
use the microwave more
I love to go out for brunch but I've been learning how to make some of the things I love to go out for at home one day a wk & I've already saved heaps
plan errands to coincide to save petrol
buy whatever staple is on special regardless of brand eg toothpaste
dilute handsoap with water so it lasts longer - learned this one from my mum
not the most often talked about topic but work out & teach the kids the most efficient way to use toilet paper - I don't know about the US but here I'm happy if I get it 50c or less per roll - that's a big ticket item over a year
buy hankies instead of tissues for at home
I chop my dishwasher soap in half as a whole one sometimes leaves a sticky residue
I use 1/3 to half the recommended laundry powder
clean with microfibre cloths or vinegar/bicarb
use the same glasses frames when upgrading prescriptions
I think holidays are really important for health but if you need to urgently boost your savings or pay off a credit card maybe take some annual leave to moonlight doing other paid work or even to spend the time researching cheaper options for essential expenses like insurance renewals
stop buying any drinks when out; take a water bottle, I have a great leakproof insulated bottle that keeps hot drinks hot for 8 hours at a restaurant stick to the free tap water
take snacks in your handbag when out to avoid buying food on the run
ladies buy men's toiletries - they're cheaper; i've been buying men's sensitive shaving cream for years, the only difference is the price and the container is navy blue instead of pink
look after your teeth & avoid dental work
do your own nails etc
work out an inexpensive skincare and makeup routine
Sell, Sell, Sell! Look through every closet and cabinet. Look under all of the beds. You would be amazed how much stuff you don;t use that you could sell.
Some more ideas:
1. Make laundry detergent. It uses washing soda, borax, and powdered soap.
2. If you can be responsible with a credit card: pick a fee-free card that gives cash back, funnel all your charges through it, pay it off every month, and use the cash back for your Emergency Fund. Not for everyone, of course.
3. If credit cards aren't for you, negotiate a discount for cash.
4. Call your internet/etc provider to negotiate a lower rate.
5. If you do need to buy something, remember to ask for discounts. Even places that don't offer discounts, will sometimes give them to first responders anyway.
6. If there's something expensive you need to buy, consider working at that place to get an employee discount.
7. When buying produce, ask for "seconds" (food that looks damaged but isn't) or, if at a farmer's market, buy toward the end of the day and negotiate a discount.
8. Be patient, even $5/month will add up.
And, as Kristen stressed, Move the Money to the Emergency Account Right Away!
If you just save a bit on groceries and don't do anything with the savings, it will just get absorbed into the regular budget. If you only make a transfer at the end of the month, you'll have lost some of the savings if other expenses came up.
I have a side of beef coming in July...3 months early. I am going to use a couple of your ideas to help get the rest of the money together.
I have a question for Kristen and everyone, how do you post on ebay and avoid fees? The few times I have tried I seem to have lost money after the fees...or if no one buys the item. Especially if they are lower dollar items. Thanks!
I pretty much never do auctions; I always list my stuff as Buy It Now and I just leave it up until it sells. And I only list stuff that I am reasonably sure will sell; I check the completed listings for something before I list my own, so I can see what something ACTUALLY sells for.
@Jackie, You can't avoid fees at any auction site. (Brick and mortar auctions, at which I often buy, now often have 30% buyers' and sellers' premiums, sigh.)
Of all the things that bring me joy, I think my emegency fund is not even on the list. Ha.
Thanks for these great ideas! I love this kind of post!