I have cash secured outside the banking system for 6 months of my bills. Not expenses. I have about 3 months of expenses for normal operating, in savings at the bank. (in addition to the cash)

We always attempt to have 6 months of living and operating expenses set aside by the end of October every year. This year...may be close. It's not going well, and the belt tightening can only go so far. ALL expenses have gone up, and revenues have gone down.

I am retired. Our current residence was paid off in ten years. The last vehicle purchased a Toyota Highlander we paid cash for. Our banking we deal with three banks and a credit union. We live modestly because that's the way we are. Money is not spent foolishly, it was hard to acquire. For our children we paid for their education so they would not start out with educational expense burden which can be crushing.

I should mention I have food and supplies for about 6 months typically, but with COVID crazy, we're probably down to 3 months on some items. We're working to slowly build back up, but winter savings takes precedence. I am thinking about liquidating an AR or 2 that could be considered surplus to help add a month of savings if needed. I figure the closer to November, the more they'll be worth.

I may sell my 96 bronco also...its worth enough to cover my beer expense for the winter.

I had about 2 months worth. Not anymore, I have burned through that. No unemployment insurance, don't qualify. So, things are not smooth.

I will be going back to work Monday, but it's not anywhere near the hours that I got before. So, I don't know what is going to happen in the future.

I wish that I wasn't in debt to the extent that I am now, but sometimes things don't go as planned.


ARman

I went with no but working twords it.

The annoying part about it tho is I have been working twords it for MANY years and don't seem to really make any headway.

As it is now I have maybe 4 months tops as far as covering the "normal" monthly stuff.
I am 46, never married, no kids. I have a job with a supposedly good paycheck and I am in a two bed apartment that is too small for me because there is no way I can afford a house.

I do stuff money in the savings account on a monthly basis but considering that everything seems to go up cost wise way too fast, and my paycheck never seems to change...despite a yearly "raise"....the savings is taking longer and longer to increase in any kind of proper way.

Yes, but that is after divorcing a wife of 8 years who wanted everything fancy.

Once I got back to just myself I was amazed at how much money I could save.

My job has been crazy busy since March so extra money is plentiful which also helps. But I have spent many many years on the paycheck to paycheck train and I have no desire to go back.

Yes! And I was guessing the answer for a majority of this group would be "yes". Hey, most of us here are smart, mature, and responsible, right?

Yes, we have 36 months in savings and 6 years of guaranteed checks which makes it 108 months total that we can feed ourselves and pay the bills.

That’s assuming I don’t get kicked out the military.

6 months normal living also isn’t the same as 6 months frugal living so I hope people can be sensible and cover their bills and stop buying GD pumpkin spice latte.

Our emergency fund also includes 12 months of food in the house That doesn’t count military provided meals if we needed them. So we good for a decade. And that’s assuming my wife never works again.

I did pre COVID. Just got my first paycheck at my new job. So starting next month it's time to start rebuilding savings to where they were in March.

Getting rid of debt and having that buffer takes a lot of weight off your shoulders.

Yes. Took me a while after my divorce to get there but I have about 3 years worth. It's not a ton of cash, its just that I live lean, my townhouse is paid for, and my truck could be paid for but the interest is very low. I try to save as much as I can and invest as much as I can. Occasionally I buy something nice but fuck it, you only live once.

Maybe not that much in the bank. Close. But I'm at a point where I can tap my 401(k) without penalty. If we stretched it, we could probably live for 10 years on that.

quote:

Originally posted by Cous2492:
About 2x that. I have no idea how.... My wife is a stay-at-home mom and I am a cop.

Easy: You spend significantly less than you make.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Getting rid of debt and having that buffer takes a lot of weight off your shoulders.

Agreed.

I’ll be 48 in a week. We’ve had at least six months of expenses saved for over 15 years. We don’t live the high life and make good money. Barring unforeseen emergencies we could live off our savings for years.

I have over a years worth of wages saved up. Don't spend money on stupid shit, it's not nearly as hard as people think. For years, I didn't use my air conditioner. Not only did I save money, it kept people from coming over to my house.
The feeling of "I'm rich bi-otch" is a nice one. Not spending money, yields a 100% return.

The wife and I can live for a year on our savings (I am leaving retirement out of it). Six months if we need to shoot some cash to the son and daughter. This prep makes me feel very secure. A nice feeling for sure.


SevenPlusOne, you're right. It's not hard. Take care my friend!

Just turned 46 this month. I’m the only earner. I got laid off in 2001 dot com bust totally blindsided. Worked 2 crap jobs to get back to finding one good one. I’m probly overly conservative with about 50% of Non retirement savings in cash the other in the market. Current cash position is = to my entire annual gross salary. So 12+ months. Stretched if I cut spending to the bone. Only debt I have is mortgage.

It was part of our goal even as we were having to pinch pennies and paying down debt. What helped is the principle of paying ourselves as one of the first things that come out of every paycheck - 10% towards savings.

We had to split that 10% between emergency fund, retirement, and near term savings.

We got to 1 month then 3 then six months. When I hit 3 months cash, I started putting it in stocks. I figure it can’t go all the way down to zero and if I had bad luck to need it and the market tanked at the same time, well, there you go.

When I got laid off for 4 months, we didn’t even touch our savings; we made my unemployment check fit and I was the sole bread winner.

I have at least 6 months of expenses put aside, but it took many years to acquire it. As a few stated, cutting debt was the best way to build up that reserve. Retirement is right around the corner for me, so I'm being very cautious with large purchases.

quote:

Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:
Not spending money, yields a 100% return.

This bears repeating.

We have about a 12-18 months of expenses in savings. We both have 401k which won’t be touched unless we’re about to be homeless.

When we first got married we were deep in debt. Spent a decade getting it down to something manageable and building up a emergency fund. An inheritance helped speed up the process which allowed us to pay off the house and up the emergency fund to where it is.

Not having to worry about paying bills is such a relief. We keep our expenses down well below what we make. Trying to put away as much for retirement as we can. My job is tenuous at best. If I get laid off it may not be possible to find another job at my age. At that point we’ll have to see exactly how little we can live on and still have an enjoyable lifestyle.