Author Topic: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?  (Read 13490 times)

FuckRx

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Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« on: July 29, 2014, 02:17:58 PM »

I was wondering if anyone has a personal story to share about how their emergency funds (money kept in an easily accessible account that is FDIC insured and therefore likely not invested) came in handy. I'm trying to play out various scenarios in my head.

Kaspian

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2014, 02:31:35 PM »
Nope, never had to touch them.  But that's what they're there for--flying bird shit I never saw coming.  There were times in my 20s, I definitely could have used one.  I could see something like car accident, foreign travel injury, fire (God forbid), long-term unemployment, kidnap ransom, or (I have no idea--temporary world food shortages?)  screwing up my main plan.  ...And that ain't gonna happen on my watch. 

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2014, 02:59:20 PM »
Yup. Plenty of times over the years.

Transmission went out on car - $3K

Furnace died  - $4K (went ahead and got new ducts as well)

Got an unexpected K-1 form that caused me to have to refile taxes; ended up owing - $1K

Plane tickets/travel expenses to visit family member that had a heart attack and emergency surgery - $1K

Tree fell on house (thank dog it didn't do more than superficial damage) - $500 to remove tree, grind stump and repair damage

Lots more probably but those are the ones I remember the best.


dandarc

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2014, 03:01:51 PM »
We had a timing issue buying our new house a couple months ago (not too thrilled with my realtor - we could have been really screwed on this), and needed to come up with close to 30K to close on the purchase on what is now our home.  We had been planning on using proceeds from sale of our condo, but that sale was delayed several weeks due to the condo board not keeping its FHA certification up to date.  Luckily, we had the money in savings and were able to pull this off.  When our condo finally closed, we repaid our emergency fund, then brought the mortgage down to what we had originally wanted, withheld some to prime our home repair fund, and finally caught up on our investing which we had pressed pause on when we decided we were definitely moving.  One upside to this maneuvering is that now our mortgage payment is higher to the point it will be paid off in 7 years even if we never send in anything extra again (and we can easily swing the higher payment).

Of course, writing our purchase contingent on our condo closing would have been a better way to deal with this, but it worked out OK, and now we know better for next time (which hopefully there isn't, at least for many more years).  I guess this is sort of what the E-Fund is for - getting through a short term cash crunch, but had we had better contracts, we might have never needed to touch this, so to me it doesn't really feel like a proper use of the account.

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2014, 03:06:41 PM »
Over many, many years...
* HVAC died
* car tranmission...
* and the biggest one I can remember: the plumbing nightmare...  Under a slab foundation, the cast iron drainage rusted to nothing.  The resulting leak made the clay soil swell.  This resulted in a large foundation repair, drain replacement and flooring/patio repair to put it back together.  This was > $20k (and that was 10+ years ago).

FuckRx

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2014, 03:17:53 PM »

Great stories thanks guys! So I'm curious, if I keep my emergency fund in stocks and my transmission dies then I can pay with a credit card and if I really can't cover the payment then I would sell some stock and pay it off with the stock sale. Should the economy tank really bad right around the time of a tranny going out I could always sell some bonds. I know these arguments have been made before so I'm sorry for rehashing them. I just for some reason read that and e-fund is supposed to be for something catastrophic like losing one's job. I can't count my car or house as an emergency because my car isn't my main mode of transport and I'm renting so I can always stay in a hotel until I find a new place.

FuckRx

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2014, 03:18:39 PM »
* and the biggest one I can remember: the plumbing nightmare...  Under a slab foundation, the cast iron drainage rusted to nothing.  The resulting leak made the clay soil swell.  This resulted in a large foundation repair, drain replacement and flooring/patio repair to put it back together.  This was > $20k (and that was 10+ years ago).

oh ouch, that's a big one though.

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2014, 03:21:06 PM »
(1)Last minute flight for two to a funeral ~1200.
(2) Floating buffer for apartment deposits while landlords take their sweet time.

But we also have a separate car maintenance fund. Car repairs are not an emergency but an anticipated future expense.

Spork

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2014, 03:26:49 PM »

Great stories thanks guys! So I'm curious, if I keep my emergency fund in stocks and my transmission dies then I can pay with a credit card and if I really can't cover the payment then I would sell some stock and pay it off with the stock sale. Should the economy tank really bad right around the time of a tranny going out I could always sell some bonds. I know these arguments have been made before so I'm sorry for rehashing them. I just for some reason read that and e-fund is supposed to be for something catastrophic like losing one's job. I can't count my car or house as an emergency because my car isn't my main mode of transport and I'm renting so I can always stay in a hotel until I find a new place.

Yeah, a CC is a pretty reasonable replacement for most things short of losing a job.  (I'm making the assumption folks here are rational beings that use CC's reasonably).   I guess I should also add: My emergency fund was also a FU money fund.  I got tired of working, put in a 2 week notice and didn't get back at it for 3 years.  Sure... that could have been in the stock market... but that made my butthole pucker a bit.   This  probably was a good thing, as this was in the 2008 down turn where I had enough in cash to live on.  (The other side of that is: Had I actually been more patient and just kept working through the turndown, I would have had enough cash inflow to invest at lower prices such that I could have retired permanently...   There is always a trade off.)

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #9 on: July 29, 2014, 03:31:22 PM »
$500 deductible on car insurance when backed into another car in my driveway. $1250 up front probate costs to be settled among relatives later. $300 unexpected non-reimbursed hospital co-pay. $950 up front for crown on broken tooth (got $320 back eventually from dental insurance.) Not really emergencies, but definitely unexpected expenses that needed to be paid right away, and absolutely not a problem with the cash I keep in a local bank for my emergency fund. I keep around $3500 on hand--might not be quite enough if the furnace goes, but in a case like that I'd either do credit card or access Vanguard accts.

Zamboni

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #10 on: July 29, 2014, 03:42:11 PM »
Aside from several small ones, two big ones:

Time #1:  the spousal unemployment nightmare of 2009 (would not have been a good time to sell the stocks!)
Time #2:  loved one had house burn down recently


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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #11 on: July 29, 2014, 03:51:42 PM »
We used ours after short-selling our house and moving cross-country, and also to help fund my 8-month unemployment before, during, and after said move.  We could have used a whole lot less of it, but it was pre-Mustachian days and we were stupid.

theonethatgotaway

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #12 on: July 29, 2014, 06:47:22 PM »
Medical and dental things, house repairs, car repairs.

Pre-insurance my brother had a breakdown that landed him in the hospital. $80,000 in debt now. He couldn't get insurance due to preexisting condition. He's covered now, but that doesn't make the old bill go away unfortunately.

tomsang

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #13 on: July 29, 2014, 06:53:19 PM »
We have all the various emergency expenses. We put them on the VISA or LOC and pay them off in short order. I don't like earning 1%, when I can tap my 4.24% LOC for longterm issues or get free money on my VISA if it is small enough to be paid off with my excess cash flow when it is due.

Nords

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #14 on: July 30, 2014, 12:04:24 AM »
I've had the usual broken cars, failed appliances, and leaky roofs.  But here's what I hope is the worst case you'll ever see:

My father (in Grand Junction) ended up in the emergency room with a perforated ulcer.  The surgeon saved his life, but it was clear that Dad's Alzheimer's was too severe for him to be able to live independently. 

I flew in from Oahu, and my brother drove over from Denver.  Dad was going to be discharged in about a week, and we needed to find a skilled nursing facility for his rehab-- followed by a full care facility.  That's a full-time search for about five people in two different locations.

It took nine months for my brother and me to be appointed guardian/conservator.  We did not have authorized access to his checking account (pension, Social Security) or his investment accounts.  The hospital bills and the six weeks of rehab were paid by Medicare (and his supplemental insurance).  However during that time we went as deep in the hole as $25K because the long-term care insurance claim was initially denied.  Luckily that was later approved and retroactively paid to the start of his full-time care ($18K worth of paper checks) but we still had to shell out $6K up front for the next month's care before being reimbursed for the previous month's care.  We paid over a thousand dollars for geriatric care managers (in both GJ and Denver) to talk through Dad's options and find a facility.  Legal bills (lawyers for the probate court petitions, and a neuropsychologist to document Dad's Alzheimer's for the insurance company and the probate court) were over $10K.  We also had to carry Dad's apartment rent and utility bills for several months while we searched all of his possessions (luckily he only had a 2BR apartment) and cleaned it out.  We spent several hundred dollars on "miscellaneous" expenses like probate court interviews ("What makes you qualified to be a conservator?"), criminal background checks, and priority mailing of legal documents.  Luckily I didn't have to post a conservator's bond.

I also had several thousand bucks in no-notice airfare, car rental, a night or two in hotels (until I got Dad's apartment key), driving Dad from GJ to Denver, and "surprise" expenses like getting his SUV caught up on its maintenance (and a new set of tires).  I pretty much threw credit cards at every obstacle until people started saying "Thank you!"

Once I could legally access his accounts I reimbursed myself for the expenses.  Luckily he has the assets for that.

Today he's 80 years old, he's been in the care facility for over three years, and he's doing as well as Alzheimer's will let you do. 

I'm really glad that by that point in his life he was no longer a homeowner-- or a landlord.

 

Khan

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #15 on: July 30, 2014, 02:48:20 AM »
Wow Nords, that's, as usual, one hell of a story. That's something I'll keep in mind for the future for sure.

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #16 on: July 30, 2014, 05:30:12 AM »
We spent ours down several times due to unemployment during the recession (several instances of coming in to work to discover then entire company is shutting down). 

We will likely never not have a decent cash reserve thanks to that experience during our early years of marriage. 

We also spent down a big chunk when we moved xcountry.  We were reimbursed in the first paycheck, but that was about two mons we had to carry the expenses. 

LibrarIan

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #17 on: July 30, 2014, 05:47:56 AM »
The story Nords posted is a great reminder for everyone to get all their crap in order for their posterity. Unless you can't trust your kids, put all your property in their names, give one of them power of attorney over you and  your stuff, tell them exactly what needs to be done in a given situation, get your lawyer's info in an easy-to-find place and have your wills and such ready to go. This all sounds pretty morbid, but what Nords posted reminds me very much of what my grandparents/parents just went through with my grandfather's stroke. They had nothing prepared so they lost boatloads of time and money going through similar things that Nords did. The laws surrounding property and decisions for seniors are pretty fucking terrible in my opinion, so it's best to head all that stuff off as early as possible.

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #18 on: July 30, 2014, 05:50:47 AM »
In one week in April, I had bed bugs (had to pay local council £200/$300 to fumigate), same week as my washing machine broke (£160 repair and £50 launderette fees as everything in the bedroom had to be washed to get rid of any bugs), and my vacuum cleaner broke too (perhaps it didn't fancy dealing with bed bugs), so that was £200. About $1,000 in one week with nothing really to show for it.

quilter

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #19 on: July 30, 2014, 06:01:54 AM »
The story Nords posted is a great reminder for everyone to get all their crap in order for their posterity. Unless you can't trust your kids, put all your property in their names, give one of them power of attorney over you and  your stuff, tell them exactly what needs to be done in a given situation, get your lawyer's info in an easy-to-find place and have your wills and such ready to go. This all sounds pretty morbid, but what Nords posted reminds me very much of what my grandparents/parents just went through with my grandfather's stroke. They had nothing prepared so they lost boatloads of time and money going through similar things that Nords did. The laws surrounding property and decisions for seniors are pretty fucking terrible in my opinion, so it's best to head all that stuff off as early as possible.

See your attorney about best way to do this. In our state we have a trust, wills etc. well worth the money.

Used our EF when DH was out of town and heat went out during a brutal cold snap. Ended up replacing the furnace on a weekend. Luckily the pipes didn't freeze.

Used $5000 once to help a sibling not lose their house. They paid me back but it took a while.

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #20 on: July 30, 2014, 06:58:15 AM »
The story Nords posted is a great reminder for everyone to get all their crap in order for their posterity. Unless you can't trust your kids, put all your property in their names, give one of them power of attorney over you and  your stuff, tell them exactly what needs to be done in a given situation, get your lawyer's info in an easy-to-find place and have your wills and such ready to go. This all sounds pretty morbid, but what Nords posted reminds me very much of what my grandparents/parents just went through with my grandfather's stroke. They had nothing prepared so they lost boatloads of time and money going through similar things that Nords did. The laws surrounding property and decisions for seniors are pretty fucking terrible in my opinion, so it's best to head all that stuff off as early as possible.

See your attorney about best way to do this. In our state we have a trust, wills etc. well worth the money.


+1   

Sorry to go off-thread, but ........ Do NOT put assets in your children's names while you are still living unless you're ready to cede control over how that asset is used. 

I have a pourover will and a trust.  When I die, the pourover will sends everything into my trust and the trust has instructions on how assets are to be distributed/ used.  Trustees have a fiduciary duty to protect the trust assets and adhere to its terms (e.g. my ex-husband will be allowed to live in my house until our son, 17, graduates high school.  That way, Son's education is not disrupted.  Trustee oversees this arrangement and sells the house after Son graduates, investing the proceeds until all kids are >40 at which time proceeds are distributed.).  The trust is also the beneficiary of my life insurance policy.  I have a Power of Attorney and Medical Directive which kick in if I'm disabled.

Get an attorney who is barred in your state (state laws vary) to set this up for you.  Be frugal.  Don't be cheap.

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #21 on: July 30, 2014, 07:42:33 AM »
At a 50%+ savings rate we are almost always able to pay for unexpected expenses out of income, we just invest a little less that month.  The fact that we put everything we can on the credit card helps too, because it picks up another several weeks of float before the money has to come out of the checking account and allows time for another paycheck or two to come in.  The only time I can remember actually drawing down "saved" assets is when buying a car, and while this expense was planned for, it could be considered an emergency as the old car died suddenly, so the exact timing of the expense was unknown. 
Once we reach retirement, I am bugeting for unexpected expenses in our withdrawls, and if it doesn't get used, our 'stash will just bigger.   I still keep some cash on hand (earing a pathetic return), but I am leaning more and more towards no cash and will probably be 100% invested if we get a significant down turn in the next year or so.  If there is no downturn, I will withdraw my cash first and leave my investments alone to grow until the cash runs out.

Chloe358

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #22 on: July 30, 2014, 07:49:48 AM »
We just started on our FIRE mission in January-had my little baby emergency fund and have 1 car debt left (8k) plus mortgage, we were kicking it in the face, things are going amazing.  BAM-a/c goes out on car 1=$1600, 2 days later a/c goes out on car 2=$300.  Car 1 comes out of emergency fund.  The great part of the story is I know that 3/4 years ago spending $1900 on car a/c would have been an impossible catastrophic event.  While it stung a bit this time, it really had no true impact on our financial situation.  A huge turn of events for us!

Scandium

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #23 on: July 30, 2014, 07:51:44 AM »
Interesting what people classify as emergency. Anything less than about $2,000 I'd just called expenses and pay from cash flow or checking account. Emergency was when we needed new furnace/heat pump for $8K, which did take some out of the savings account. I like to keep at least $1,000 - $1,500 buffer in my checking, sometimes more. Maybe that's too much..? But I do pay most of the bills so it can vary at bit. Unfortunately my wife don't want shared accounts so I have no idea how much money she has at any time. I guess I should be thankful it's usually too much, not too little.

 

Scandium

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #24 on: July 30, 2014, 07:54:36 AM »


Get an attorney who is barred in your state (state laws vary) to set this up for you.  Be frugal.  Don't be cheap.

One who passed the bar exam, or one who is barred from practicing?

stripey

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #25 on: July 30, 2014, 07:58:53 AM »
Last year someone a few levels up the ladder from me... just simply... forgot to sign the contract sitting on his desk and so my contract lapsed. The way it worked with HR was that with all the paperwork, I wouldn't get paid for six weeks. I found this out less than a week prior to my going overseas for six weeks. I was less than impressed but still able to go.


Mister Fancypants

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #26 on: July 30, 2014, 08:13:33 AM »
We had an uninsured medical expense of about $150k over the course of a 1 year period. We fortunately had the cash available to cover it.

Contrary to many on the board I prefer to keep a large cash emergency fund in cash or a liquid equivalent and I am glad we did as we wound up needing it.

The first time we saved a large amount of cash it was our house down payment, it was replenished as our emergency fund. We are currently replenishing it again as we don't know when the next emergency might occur and I plan on being ready and have no intention of needing to tap my equity be it stock or home for an emergency, I prefer to keep my assets intact and growing, even if I didn't add to them as much as I could have because of a large cash fund.

I know financially it is smarter to invest the large sum of money in the market and get higher returns as it can easily be converted to cash in a timely manner, however on the other hand, my FI goals are not impeded by having a large emergency fund so we take a far more conservative approach. And to the point that we did need our cash I am far happier for it, piece of mind is worth far more than a few extra basis point.

We also have a low rate HELOC with a huge limit, it my roof goes I could use that as I don't consider my roof a "true" emergency, although I could probably just budget for replacing my roof out of ordinary income.

-Mister FancyPants

RFAAOATB

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #27 on: July 30, 2014, 08:46:51 AM »
I just pulled $1000 from my emergency account.

The need started 2 months ago with spousal layoff.  With the job opening up again in September it was an experiment to see if we could live off one income.  Two unplanned for medical trips combined with a shopping spree made things a little too tight this month and I had to pull some savings.

Luckily she starts working again soon being hired for a new job, but seeing how fast we went to credit cards and spending more than we make shows how we need to trim the fat a lot more if we want to live a one income lifestyle.

frugaliknowit

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #28 on: July 30, 2014, 09:02:18 AM »
Dental Surgery sooner than planned $10,000 back in 2009.  Bedbugs two years ago $600.  Dishwasher failure and complications associated with it $800.

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #29 on: August 21, 2014, 08:47:16 PM »
Nope, never had to use emergency funds.  Have a hard time picturing a scenario where I would need to.  We can cash flow most issues that would come up.
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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #30 on: August 21, 2014, 11:27:53 PM »
I'm freelance so yes a ton of times. It's a cash cushion for the lulls in work that sometimes happen.

My emergency fund went down a full 10k+ this year as my wife got really sick and I had to stay home from work and take care of her and all the kids.

As a freelancer an emergency fund is the only way that you can sleep at night.

nvmama

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #31 on: August 22, 2014, 06:04:47 AM »
We've had to use ours for some smaller unexpected things such as dental work, home repair, and the such.  However, it really came in handy when my husband was laid off multiple times over a 4 year period. 

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #32 on: August 22, 2014, 09:19:22 PM »
We used part of ours five years ago to buy a backhoe for cash instead of using the signature loan we had lined up via a letter of credit for the farm auction. It ended up costing less than we'd expected and we knew we'd be able to replenish the EF the next month, so we save a boatload of interest and loan charges.

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #33 on: August 23, 2014, 12:27:27 PM »
Last three months....  Emergency room visit for my daughter followed by a couple days in the hospital (she is now healthy and happy, thanks), a surprisingly expensive fender bender, home remodel project unexpectedly spiraled to double the budget, wife forced to say FU to her primary job, tree needed to be removed before it collapsed on the house,  mortgage company snafu so they debited our usual extra principal payment after we put the extra payment on hold, and various other first world problems. Anyway the heart of the question is do you really need a ready cash e fund?  For my family the answer has turned out to be... not really.  Our savings rate simply went to zero temporarily and the e fund was never touched.  What the emergency fund did was let me sleep at night.  So I'll be keeping that stupid / old fashion FDIC insured savings account that doesn't earn money.

trailrated

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #34 on: August 23, 2014, 12:50:16 PM »
At work I was tasked with registering a new commercial vehicle to our fleet that we purchased registered as a non-op vehicle. After going to the DMV and waiting about 30 minutes to be seen, the woman informs me there is a new "business only" DMV located 30 minutes away that I need to go to.

I make it through another waiting period and get all the paperwork sorted out just to be told my corporate card will not be accepted for payment. Also since it is a government agency, it will be closed for the day in about an hour. I did not have enough time to go back to work, get a check, and go back to the DMV.

I took a pleasant stroll about half a mile to the nearest Wells Fargo, got a cashiers check for $3,500 out of my savings account to pay the DMV and got it all taken care of. When I came back and submitted the forms to the finance woman she was in shock that I paid out of pocket and assured me they would cut me a check right away to cover the difference. I told her she did not have to rush and the look on her face was priceless.

Finally the boss pulled me aside and thanked me for taking care of it and not turning it into a two day ordeal. E-Fund FTW!

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #35 on: August 23, 2014, 02:58:51 PM »
When Gram passed away we paid for the funeral.  We were expecting her death and were just about to start saving up to pay for it when she passed. 

Unfortunately we were only paying, and didn't have much say in what was done.  My preference would have been a private cremation and a party, stick the urn next to her husband in the ground.  What we actually did cost around $8.5K, what a racket.  But it was the right thing to do at the time.

Other than that it's mostly been house issues like digging up the slab and fixing the drain pipes, replacing the lawnmower when it died, etc.

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #36 on: August 23, 2014, 08:00:43 PM »
I have used it a few times. I am a freelancer, so when I have a slow month I may have to dip into from time to time. I also had my stone steps redone ($1,400) and a new hot water heater($1,200). But I always put the money back. I like to keep any where from $8,000 to $12,000 in it.

southern granny

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #37 on: August 23, 2014, 08:12:02 PM »
Many times over the years.  Just in the last year we had a $3000 car repair and I had to have a medical procedure and even with good insurance, my part was $1200.  My sister died and I paid almost $5000 for her funeral expenses.  In every case, it was nice to just write a check for the expense and not have to worry about how I was going to come up with the money. 

Suit

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #38 on: August 23, 2014, 08:17:39 PM »
I've had to use mine in the past for things like unexpected dental expenses, car repairs and money to live on after law school prior to getting a job. Now that I've got the job I have I could probably credit card and sell stocks or cash flow most of the things I had previously used my emergency fund for. Since finding MMM and realizing that I have the ability to credit card and cash flow most problems I have decreased my emergency fund so that money can be working for me in the market instead, but I still keep a few months' worth of expenses on hand.

Ohio Teacher

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #39 on: August 23, 2014, 08:23:26 PM »
It is interesting to see some of the items and amounts some of you consider to be emergencies.  Appliances and car repairs?  And in the hundreds of dollars?  Some of these seem like expected maintenance expenses. 

We have used ours only once.  We depleted our emergency fund to pay off my wife's student loan of $11,000 after I started reading this site, as it was a debt emergency.

Bateaux

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #40 on: August 23, 2014, 08:40:28 PM »
My son had cancer at 14.  My wife was 2 years out of work caring for him.  His treatments were 500 miles from home.  We never missed a bill and he is alive.  Being frugal when faced with the most dire conditions got us through.

Mister Fancypants

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Re: Who here actually had to use their emergency funds?
« Reply #41 on: August 24, 2014, 05:22:51 AM »
My son had cancer at 14.  My wife was 2 years out of work caring for him.  His treatments were 500 miles from home.  We never missed a bill and he is alive.  Being frugal when faced with the most dire conditions got us through.

+1

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!