how do you cope with unexpected emergencies without an emergency fund?

[Deleted User]

It's also worth remembering, new kitchen appliances needn't cost a fortune.

When I moved into my current address, I bought some new appliances, including an ASDA Smart Price electric kettle.

It cost about a fiver.

Over 4 years later, it is still going strong, as is the Tesco economy microwave I bought at the same time.

flamingo747

I've checked supermarkets etc, currys is actually cheaper. Currently looking at a refurbished one locally. Not ideal but we need to avoid adding any more to credit card than absolute essentials. We tried looking at whether we could fix it but it'd need a new bit welding on

ALIBOBSY

flamingo747 wrote: »

Oh god now my washing machine has died!! Having such bad luck at the mo. Dreading having to put in on credit so hoping dh can learn how to fix it

How exactly did it die?

Ali x

Opps didn't see the second post. Welding gets a bit difficult lol.

flamingo747

The support bit inside that stops the drum crashing around has collapsed, and the part of the frame that's fastened to has sheared off and essentially crumbled to bits

cabriolean

My first option: would be to attempt to fix it if possible
Second option: try freecycle
Third option: do without
Fourth option: I also have about enough food for a month:
Freezer: Veg, Economy pork chops
Cupboard: Insta-mash, 1kg pasta, 1.5kg rice, spices, powdered sauces, cup-a-soups, 3 loafs bread mix, powdered milk, semolina, tinned new potatoes, tinned soups, oil, flour, sugar, lentils, 500g oats, other stuff

(I do have an emergency fund, but it's fairly depleted atm and I hate dipping into it)

flamingo747

This can't be fixed, nothing on freecycle. We have a toddler so couldnt last long without washing clothes. I can probably knock £30 off my shopping if I'm very very tight but tbh we're already cut back hard as I'm out of work and dh new job won't pay properly til march.

sithemadmonkey

We had to move house at short notice on a very tight budget about 6 months ago (old landlord wanted the house back). The house we moved to had fewer white goods, so needed to get a washing machine, fridge/freezer and oven on a shoestring.

Our old landlord sold us the fridge freezer from the old place (managed to play the 'you're kicking us out' guilt card and haggled a good discount ), and found a really good condition nearly-new washing machine on Gumtree for £70. Gumtree has got us an awful lot of incredibly cheap stuff over the years, my advice is to keep checking regularly as the cheap good stuff gets snapped up ridiculously quickly!

The only item we didn't compromise on was the oven, as the new house only had a gas point - if there's one thing I will NEVER d*ck about with on the cheap it's gas... luckily the bank of mum and dad were able to help out with paying for it, and the old landlord just happened to be a boiler engineer (more guilt tripping for free installation). I've more or less paid the parents back out of the various cashback deals I got from moving all the utilities/internet/insurance over to the new address :beer:

When it comes to emergency funds, I'm lucky that the debts I'm paying off are all running-account credit (overdrafts, CCs, etc) and I've avoided any defaults, so there's always credit available as a last resort. Having said that, I'm also turning my hand to far more DIY since I got real about my finances - currently waiting for some parts to arrive for my phone so I can replace the screen (cost of parts £30, cost of replacement phone £180 :eek:)

FireWyrm

flamingo747 wrote: »

This can't be fixed, nothing on freecycle. We have a toddler so couldnt last long without washing clothes. I can probably knock £30 off my shopping if I'm very very tight but tbh we're already cut back hard as I'm out of work and dh new job won't pay properly til march.

Local laundrette or....

Wash by hand in the bath. It's a pain, but does wonders for your back and upper arms. Honestly, you dont need a washing machine really, all you need to do is sufficiently agitate the clothes in the (hot) water and let the modern detergents do their job. Wringing out is a killer but if you have no money, no way of fixing the problem and you cant buy your way out (sensibly), this is it. It's not that bad...I did it for over a year once.

flamingo747

I've managed to juggle money a bit. It means no overpaying on debts, and tighter shopping and fuel budget, but we got a second hand one that's only two years old and in excellent condition for £90 inc fuel to collect, rather than the £160 minimum for brand new. Definitely will be paying into an emergency fund once money is sorted afterdh starts getting paid!

Sharon87

I don't have an emergency fund perse, but I do have savings that are supposed to be for a holiday next year. I did start an emergency fund, but I used it when out of work. My work is sporadic, so I try and save as much as I can when in work.

But I have a lot of credit available to me if there is a real emergency, and my credit cards offer me 0% deals every month!

I also stockpile food, not as much as some people, but compared to my housemates I do! My space in the freezer is always full of reduced items and my cupboard is full of tins/jars of things like chopped tomatoes, beans, kidney beans, tuna, curry sauces.etc I can always find something in to eat.

My last resort is ebay. So maybe paying for something on a credit card and then ebaying some items to pay it back.