The £1,000 emergency fund challenge.

DancingUnicorn · 24 July 2017 at 10:21PM

Thank you for the kind welcome! It's going to take me a long time to build my emergency fund but I suppose small steps are better than no steps.

[Deleted User] · 25 July 2017 at 10:17AM

DancingUnicorn wrote: »

Thank you for the kind welcome! It's going to take me a long time to build my emergency fund but I suppose small steps are better than no steps.

So right:T. I think small steps is how most of us have built up our EF. Don't worry about having to take a few backward steps along the way either by having to dip into your funds when emergencies strike. That's what it's there for after all;)

patman99 · 25 July 2017 at 9:17PM

Yes, the thread has been mentioed in Martin's email (very early on as well). Was well chuffed with that (there I go, showing my Essex roots again).

£25 spent on a prescription for 3 items yesterday. Been suffering with hayfever really badly this year and have been coughing constantly for over 2 months. Hopefully, the new tablets along with two fresh inhalers will sort the problem.

Actually managed to tx £58 over to my EF yesterday which cheered me up a bit.

DancingUnicorn · 26 July 2017 at 7:30AM

I round my bills up to the closest pound in my budget so each time a bill comes out and it's a few pence below that I'm transferring that money straight into my emergency fund.
I've intended to do this in the past but end up leaving it and it gets spent but this time I'm determined.
60p transferred across today as my first bill of the month (mine starts on 25th when I get paid at the moment - will change for September) came out today.
Small steps...

patman99 · 26 July 2017 at 9:15PM

One thing I do,and have done for years, is to save all my 1,2,5 & 20p pieces. Have also started saving £2 coins as well.

I usually bank these into my Metro bank account as they have coin sorter that is free to use. This is my 3_6 month fund in case I end up out of work.

[Deleted User] · 27 July 2017 at 4:57AM

patman99 wrote: »

One thing I do,and have done for years, is to save all my 1,2,5 & 20p pieces. Have also started saving £2 coins as well.

I usually bank these into my Metro bank account as they have coin sorter that is free to use. This is my 3_6 month fund in case I end up out of work.

I save loose change too, patman. Surprising how quickly it mounts up:T. Can't run to saving £2 coins though, need to spend them:o

My bank doesn't have a coin sorter:( but I quite enjoy counting them up and bagging them myself prior to taking to the bank. Well, everyone needs a hobby:rotfl:

quintwins · 27 July 2017 at 11:09AM

Can I join please, right now I have nothing in my emergency fund!

patman99 · 29 July 2017 at 11:48PM

Welcome quintwins, you are #240.

Decided to get back into surveys again. Did these a few years back and earned a few quid out of them.

All is going well. Might even be able to tx some more money tomorrow.

Have decided to start a fresh new diary as I cannot be bothered to continue with my old one.

CBC. I am lucky. Colchester has a branch of Metro Bank. I use NatWest for my daily banking, TSB for my EF and Metro for my 3-6 month fund.

All 3 banks have coin sorters, but Barclays is a faff as you need to manually enter your account details. NatWest allows me to deposit straight into my account and Metro you just deposit the coins, take the print-out up to one of the many tellers and decide whether you want it deposited into your accounr, or if you would rather have it in cash to spend.

DancingUnicorn · 30 July 2017 at 8:24AM

Payday for my part time job finally came around (it seems like longer than 4 weeks between pay days when I'm excited about my new methods and wanting to top up the emergency fund!).
Topped the EF up to £100.67 which will leave me with £60 spending money over the next 4 weeks (my boyfriend buys the groceries and bills aren't included in this so this is literally just any meals out, lunches at work if I forget to pack up, or frivolous spending). I'm hoping to stick to only £10 per week so I've got £20 as a buffer.