How much is your 3-6 months?

amother

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 9:35 am

Imamothers, please help me figure this out.

How much is your emergency fund?

I'm really trying hard to build our 3-6 months of expenses but I'm at a loss. How much do you need to feel like your emergency fund is fully funded? I get that this is probably very individual but I need ballpark figures to help me figure out my own situation.

(For reference, we are a family of 8. I'm simultaneously trying to build up a 'wedding fund' for my eldest daughter. Feel free to throw out a number for that too.)
Thanks for all your help!

amother

Oak

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 9:37 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I would say it should probably be as much money as you bring in in a typical 3-6 months, minus anything you spend on "extras" (vacations, takeout, unnecessary clothing, savings, maaser etc.)
As far as the wedding fund, what are you including in that? Just the actual wedding? or wedding + lchaim + vort + gowns for everyone + SB outfits + rent for a year + furniture?
Very different situations

Bleemee

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 9:38 am

I think you need to know your numbers.
How much does your family need to live a month?
What’s your rent/mortgage, grocery, tuition, utility, car, insurance, etc?

amother

Blonde

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 9:42 am

I would suggest you start tracking your expenses.

my dh and I use something called mint.

It shows how much we pay for mortgage plus taxes, utilities, and other categories we putted in like food, health.... that way you can see ok mortgage is non negotiable unless we sell the house so need to make sure we have for that, we need to pay x for health insurance..

it helps to see where our money is actually going.

Amarante

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 10:34 am

As others have posted, the 6 month emergency fund is the amount of income you would need to support yourself for that period if you lost income.

It is obviously going to be different for each family. You calculate it by adding up all of your non-discretionary expenses. You should be honest but you can also assume that you would be able to cut some discretionary expenses by standard belt tightening measures - e.g. not buying non-essential clothing; not spending a lot on entertaining, gifts etc. Some people have lower expenses in certain areas - eg no commuting expenses and lower clothing and dry cleaning bills since they aren't wearing work clothing.

amother

Slategray

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 10:35 am

We used to have this. We had more than 6 months. Plenty, right?
Turns out it doesn't help when the pandemic just doesn't end. My formerly successful self employed husband is now bringing in less than 1/4 of what he was before. For the first few months he was making NOTHING. The savings ran out now. Luckily my business had just taken off and is a type of business that was bh not affected by the pandemic. The money I made was supposed to go towards saving for the future (seminary, weddings etc...) We're just barely making it now and have no savings left. And my oldest daughter wants to start dating soon. Can't Believe It

amother

Wheat

Mon, Jan 04 2021, 11:28 am

Family of 8 here as well. Monthly obligations are $10,000. We keep min 10k liquid in a savings account and another $50k in investments we can liquidate if needed.