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My fridge died and I almost panicked until I checked the actual numbers
My 12 year old Whirlpool in the kitchen just stopped cooling last Thursday. I was about to drop $1,200 on a new one from Best Buy but my buddy Mike told me to look at what I'd saved in my emergency fund from budgeting. I had $800 set aside specifically for stuff like this so I only had to scrape up $400 extra to get a solid replacement. Anyone else find that having a specific home repair fund saves you from impulse buying the first thing you see?
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anthony7632d ago
Yeah, the "check the actual numbers" part hit home for me. When my dryer quit last year I had the same panic, started looking at home depot ads and everything. But I remembered I had a separate envelope in my sock drawer with exactly $300 for appliance breakdowns. That plus another $150 I could spare meant I got a decent used one off craigslist for $250 and pocketed the rest. Having that pot of money already set aside saved me from financing something shiny I didn't need.
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nelson.wren2d ago
Nod along because that sock drawer strategy is basically my financial planning method too (very sophisticated, I know). I've got an old coffee can in the back of my closet labeled "Car Trouble" with like $200 in it, because apparently I trust myself more with loose change than a savings account. But honestly, having that little stash saved my bacon when my fridge went out last summer, and I didn't have to pretend I was excited about a 0% APR offer on a stainless steel model I couldn't actually afford.
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anthony7632d ago
Wait you keep emergency cash in a sock drawer like some kind of bank robber or what?
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