Rainy Day Fund???

MrsBi

FireWyrm wrote: »

If you have planned your budget properly (with YNAB, this almost happens without you thinking about it), you should quickly get to the point where you have the following :

1) one month of bills ahead
2) all annual bills saved and accounted for
3) at least one month of dry goods and cans in the house. It isnt pretty or glamorous to live off tinned veg and rice, but it'll fill a hole until you can get yourself out of yours.

Short of a disastrous situation which is almost impossible to account for ahead of time, there are few emergencies that require more than that to get through. No one should need a credit card, that is what logistics and planning are for.

Can't one use dry vegetables only since it's healthier? Like lentils, beans, dried tomatoes, apples, etc? Maybe it might sound strange but I have never been eating canned food, am using fresh food most of the time. Why would you have so many tins of veg though? Sorry but I'm not used to the concept.

I agree with you on credit cards though, have never owned one and I never took a loan either (the only loan we are paying now it's my husband's school loan). Overdraft, never ever had that either...so freeing as well as not having a mobile contract or home phone. Saves us tons.

FireWyrm

MrsBi wrote: »

Can't one use dry vegetables only since it's healthier? Like lentils, beans, dried tomatoes, apples, etc? Maybe it might sound strange but I have never been eating canned food, am using fresh food most of the time. Why would you have so many tins of veg though? Sorry but I'm not used to the concept.

They are a hedge. Dry and canned goods keep. With a rolling stock of at least 1 month on hand, if something goes wrong in your life and you need your 'grocery' money for some other emergency, then you have an instant buffer of 1 months' food. That means your 'food' money is now spare and can be thrown at the emergency. Believe me, it beats going hungry for 3 weeks...been there, done that.

MrsBi wrote: »

I agree with you on credit cards though, have never owned one and I never took a loan either (the only loan we are paying now it's my husband's school loan). Overdraft, never ever had that either...so freeing as well as not having a mobile contract or home phone. Saves us tons.

I have overdrafts, but I dont use them. They sit untouched as a buffer on the account.