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The Struggle is Real

May 25th, 2018 at 03:45 am

I know that Dave says $1,000 for emergencies but I need at least one month of expenses stashed away, and that total comes to about $2500. Though I split the bills (e.g. Rent, water) with the significant other, I'd rather have the full amount because you never know. I'm socking away $100 a month to the EF, plus anything extra (e.g Poshmark sales, iBotta). I'm also adding to the car maintenance fund and other sinking funds, all in all I save about $400 a month total.

I know some would say that this isn't the DR way but it works for me and it gives me a peace of mind. I did my debt free journey once before without Dave, only thing I did wrong was get caught up in living like everyone else. I found DR after and I'm staying focus, vowing not to go down this path again, besides I'm too old for this foolishness.

I need to figure out how to pay an extra $200 a month on this student loan to stop the bleeding. Once I get the EF to about $2500 I should be able to.

I don't know, what I see happening in this country scares me. Yes, I'm a conservative but I don't like what I'm seeing, home prices are going back up and companies are laying off. This is probably why I've shift my attention so much to paying off debt and saving. When the last recession hit, I was debt free. I had a nice savings. All my friends were panicking, I took a trip to Puerto Rico. My goal is to knock out what I can. When the house sells, I should be able to pretty much take care of all my debts, and they will be gone with maybe the exception of one student loan.

While I see my friends on Facebook doing great things, new cars, new houses, $1000 iPhone, trips, etc I know that pretty much all are drowning in debt. They think that it's all good because they're able to pay their bills every month, but yet they're just one emergency away from mess. Not me, I'm done.

Well it's late, I'm going to try and finish my May book, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad, before the end of the month. It's okay. I don't agree with every but at least I'm able to take some things away.

8 Responses to “The Struggle is Real”

  1. latestart Says:
    1527231276

    No one plan works for everyone. You have to keep tweaking until you find what works for you and go with the plan.

  2. latestart Says:
    1527231406

  3. creditcardfree Says:
    1527245528

    I really do understand wanting a larger emergency fund. We paid off debt with Mary Hunt using her methods before I started blogging here. And then later when we had debt again, we paid off it off with Dave Ramsey. We already had an established EF, which I think was probably $4K-$6K. I never once thought off using that money towards debt. So while I wasn't added money to EF while paying off debt, I wasn't taking away from it either. It was too scary to go down to $1K. I'm still sort of that way...must save the emergency fund at all costs!!

    Looking forward to hearing your progress on CC5! What's the predicted pay off on this one?

  4. CB in the City Says:
    1527249119

    Emergency funds should be as big as you need them to be! I suspect DR focuses on $1000 because that's a reasonable goal for people who are just learning to manage money.

  5. My English Castle Says:
    1527253183

    Yeah, I agree with the wise ones here. You need peace of mind. And Suze Orman and others have higher EF goals.

  6. Amber Says:
    1527255215

    Thanks everyone for the encouragement and validation, other groups are brutal when it comes to DR.
    CCF the projected pay off on CC5 is late June, early July 😀
    I'm so excited!

  7. LuckyRobin Says:
    1527294750

    You're having layoffs where you are? They are hiring like crazy around here. I wonder if that is just local to you, because they are saying unemployment is the lowest it has been in ages.

    Dave says keeping it at $1000 keeps you going with a sense of fear to make you focus. I'm not all that into having a sense of fear driving me. I can focus without fear, but I can't focus without some sense of security. I'd rather have a larger EF of one month's expenses than be afraid all the time. That might change if DH's job becomes permanent, but I don't think so. Also, he's been saying $1000 for many years, but I don't think that keeps up with the rising prices of everything.

  8. Amber Says:
    1527333678

    Hello LR,

    Lol, no thank goodness the lay off isn't at my current employer, it's the company I just left.
    I'm in HR, on average to find a job here in south Florida it's about 8 months to a year. HR jobs are hard to come by, turn over is generally low

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