Unexpected outgoings

[Asgard01]

Hi all,

I write this after having a just had someone damage my car which will cost me $1000 to fix the body damage. A driver reversed into my parked car on a supermarket car park, the camera footage was too blurred to identify number plate. Feel gutted about that, I do have $800 a year out aside for unexpected outgoings but it's still a tough pill to swallow.

I was just wondering what similiar unexpected outgoings you all have had and what kind of budget you out aside for such things. I think I need to increase mine after this. I now hope no unexpected out comings come until next April but that's probably wishful thinking :)

Chris

[golden1]

This was one of my biggest financial challenges for years.  Now what I do is budget a certain amount per month called "misc. expenses" for just those little emergencies. 

[Cpa Cat]

I purchased a mandolin (to slice vegetables extra thin). On my first night using it, I sliced off my fingertips and had to go to the ER due to non-stop gushing blood. That was awesome. $25 mandolin turned into a $625 mandolin and a wasted evening.

My fingers grew back, so that's good.

[PloddingInsight]

1) Have an emergency fund.

2) Keep track of your non-expected costs and put the long term average into your budget as the amount you pay into the emergency fund.

[Asgard01]

Thanks for the replies so far, I do have an emergency fund and do budget per month for a total of $800 a year. I think I need to expand that a little though hehe. Just wondered what kind of unexpected outgoings people have had though, might be interesting and make myself feel not so unlucky :).

Ouch about the finger...

[dude]

It's almost always vet bills for our dog and two cats. But to date they've always been very manageable, knock on wood.

[Jack]

Slightly off-topic:

What do you mean, it "will" cost you $1000 to fix the car? You're assuming that a) it needs to be fixed at all and b) you can't do it yourself cheaper. Be sure to examine those assumptions before spending the money, please.

[soccerluvof4]

In the last year I have had to replace our kitchen stove top..Dishwasher...washer and dryer...and refrigerator. Not because I wanted to beautify but because they went out! I have some windows that have started to fail and have concerns about my Furnace/AC as well. Seems to never end!

[PloddingInsight]

I'm budgetting $857 per car per year right now, for auto repairs alone.  Also $2019 for home repairs, $1613 for medical expenses, $491 for travel, $472 for electronics, and $170 for "other" (mostly wedding gifts).

The numbers are not "round" because I use a formula in excel to continually increase the amounts by 3% a year for inflation.

[EarlyQuit]

I have $2K in a savings account for emergency situations. Also have a HELOC that could be used for a major disaster. The only thing that actually happened that I can recall in the past year, is I had to take my pet to the ER for animals in the middle of the night. Cost me a little above $400.

[Asgard01]

What do you mean, it "will" cost you $1000 to fix the car? You're assuming that a) it needs to be fixed at all and b) you can't do it yourself cheaper. Be sure to examine those assumptions before spending the money, please.

That is the cheapest quote of  5 garages tried. The front is damaged quite bad, I don't want to drive around with that kind of damage. Probably would get pulled over by police hehe. I intend to sell in 2 years time when it's 4 years old, should still be worth $15000. I could not do it myself and don't want a cheap job where it's obvious there's been an accident, will lose value when I do sell otherwise. I will then be switching to a much cheaper car, I brought the car before discovering mr money moustache :).

Chris

[GoCubsGo]

Timely topic.  Whilst on vacation last week (1,000 miles from home in the mountains near Ft. Collins CO) the transmission decided to act up on my wifes vehicle (at only 60,000 miles).  A transmission that won't go out of 2nd gear in the mountains = bad times.  Called 4 GMC dealers in Colorado and no one could take it for a week.  It started working again so I drove 15 hours straight back to Chicago.  Dealer here said I need a new trans which is $3,500. Great.

There's good and bad in this.  They could have rebuilt it for $1,750 but could only guarantee it a year.  The old me would've done the cheap fix, traded it in and bought something new or newer to replace the vehicle (and I admit I was tempted to shop a bit).  In the past, I've literally driven past a dealer, seen a car I liked and bought it on the spot so I definitely enjoy buying cars. The dealer also said GM would give me a large chunk of loyalty cash to trade it in for something new (really trying to test me).  I decided to go with the $3,500 fix and will drive it a couple more years. 

The $3,500 sucks but doesn't impact my finances much.  I'm just glad I got home safe and changed my ways enough to avoid buying a new car on the spot.

[ThriftyD]

I keep an emergency fund of $3,500 (USD) in my online Capital One savings account.  It actually takes effort for me to access since it's an online only account and I can't just swipe a debit card or write a check to access those funds.  I have to consciously go online to transfer funds to my normal checking account, which I would normally never think to do. 

So while some may say that $3,500 is just sitting there losing out to inflation, it's the best option for me that provides the most liquidity.  The interest rate is a paltry .7% but it still beats your standard .2% or whatever at any typical big bank with brick and mortar locations. 

I only had to dip into that fund once when my steering pump went out on my car but I made sure that I bumped the fund back up to $3,500 again as soon as I was able. 

[RetiredAt63]

Vet bills.
Replaced the engine on my 2010 Mazda when it self-destructed - not covered by the warranty any more.  Silver lining - as long as I make sure the body stays in good shape, the car now has a newer engine, and should last me a good long time.

[Angie55]

Seems to be the month of odd car problems for me....

1. Piston for the hatch on my Outback ripped the metal where it bolted on. Hole in the side is about double in diameter than it should be. I could only find one incident of this happening to others through google and they had to get it specially welded patch in. No idea on the cost yet, dealing with a 2x4 prop for now. But I can only imagine the cost and hassle of trying to fix this odd issue.
2. Yesterday the window on my car got stuck down. Not because the motor blew out but because the auto switch is stuck in the down position. Think I need a new power window switch which will be ~$150. Bummer is I park on the street and had to tape up my window with plastic wrap until I can get it fixed. Can no longer open the driver's door with it taped up.
3. Cracked windshield over the weekend. Going to run ~$300 to replace.

Ugh. Glad for a car maintenance fund. But if I pay to fix all of these its going to drastically deplete it...

[Joggernot]

1 - no help here
2 - the is s DIY job.  easy.  Look up youtube video on how to do it.  Buy a replacement at a junk yard.
3 - ask the local window repair person if it can be repaired.  If yes, it will be free if you have insurance.  $50 or so if not.  Many can now repair cracks as well as rock damage.

[OddOne]

I purchased a mandolin (to slice vegetables extra thin). On my first night using it, I sliced off my fingertips and had to go to the ER due to non-stop gushing blood. That was awesome. $25 mandolin turned into a $625 mandolin and a wasted evening.

My fingers grew back, so that's good.

Those are seriously dangerous! Glad you got your finger tips back!

[Thegoblinchief]

It's called an emergency fund. There's unfortunately no "correct" amount, but a month's expenses is an okay minimum.

[Asgard01]

It's called an emergency fund. There's unfortunately no "correct" amount, but a month's expenses is an okay minimum.

I actually have an emergency fund as a separate Amount for large unexpected outgoings or if I lost my job etc. Unexpected outgoings to me is actually a monthly category as it's likely to have certain things come up that do require money but I don't class the microwave breaking or having to buy an unexpected gift, unexpected outing as an emergency but it still requires money if you are strict with budgeting. Currently, I put away $70 a month. My emergency fund is $7500. I think I like building up the unexpected money fund so I don't need to replenish this stash as it's always growing.

[Melody]

I would not fix cosmetic damage on a car if it was going to wipe out my emergency fund.
If it's just a matter of "I'll spend more than planned this year, but I'll still have a good savings rate" then it's ok to do the repair after shopping around for the best quote. But if $1000 represents a significant portion of your liquid net worth, I would leave it until you've got a larger liquid buffer available. There would be nothing worse than to drop a grand on a cosmetic repair and then need a new hot water heater the next day and not have the cash available.

[Noodle]

Ugh, the time 10 seconds of inattention in the kitchen a week before I moved out of an apartment (where I had been for 5 years with no major damage) cost me the entire damage deposit. It was a very expensive move and I really could have used that money...