Let me preface this by saying, while I have been in deep debt, I have never been to the point where I couldn’t pay my bills. I have had some people really close to me go through it and I have seen how scary it can be. Just remember that you always have hope in God. He said that He will never leave you or forsake you - ask Him for help.
What does the Bible say about bankruptcy?
God’s laws supercede national and local laws. Just because you can go to Las Vegas and legally get a hooker, doesn’t mean that it is okay with God. The tough truth is that bankruptcy seems to work the same way. Just because it is legal, doesn’t mean that God approves of it.
Psalm 37:21
The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives.
Ecclesiastes 5:5
It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
The problem with bankruptcy is that it is the Government who is saying that you are off the hook with your bills. In most cases the businesses that you owe money to probably would still like to collect payment. It is actually doing a great disservice to the companies that you owe money to. Essentially, the borrower/buyer made a promise to pay, but is allowed (via bankruptcy) to break the agreement.
I remember a guitar I sold for $800 and agreed to let the buyer pay me in installments. I ended up only receiving $400 from the buyer only to never see him again. Everyone has stories like these and knows that it’s not fun when someone doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain.
When someone files for bankruptcy, this is basically what is happening to each of the businesses that are expecting payment. While I am sure most of them are credit card companies and other lending institutions, it is not an excuse for doing something wrong.
If the businesses themselves forgave the debt, it would be a different story. Realistically, this is rarely the case.
I am drowning in debt and bankruptcy is my only option!
God is great at getting us out of tough situations that we get ourselves into. Ask Him for help and He will not let you down. And be prepared to to fight to get out of debt, because it is going to be a fight. Just because God is helping you doesn’t mean that it is going to be a walk in the park. But you can be assured that if you do it God’s way (even though it may take longer) you will be greatly rewarded! It is worth it.
As far as practical steps I would read articles about getting out of debt, go to the library and read Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. That book has been a tremendous help to many people who thought that bankruptcy was the only way out.
What about bill consolidation companies?
I would suggest trying to avoid them as well. That said, definitely do a bill consolidation rather than filing bankruptcy. But still avoid it if at all possible. The reason is that most of the bill consolidation companies negotiate with your lenders to get your payments lowered which is nice, but there are a few problems here.
- It is only a temporary fix to the problem. If you don’t put that freed up cash to good use, you are going to be worse off then you were before.
- The bill consolidation company has to get paid to. This is just another hand reaching in the pot wanting to get paid.
- You can negotiate with (at least some of) the lenders yourself. Yes, they negotiate with lenders all the time so they are probably better at it than you will be, but it is worth trying. Believe me, lenders want to get paid something rather than nothing. So, if you communicate with them and put forth a good faith effort, most of them are going to work with you. Give it a shot, you have nothing to lose.
I would love to hear your comments about bankruptcy. Am I missing any Bible verses that suggest something different?
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This is a reprint of an article I wrote for Being Frugal a few days ago…
When I was about 14 years old, my uncle suddenly and unexpectedly went home to be with the Lord. He had meticulously taken care of the finances for their family and left my aunt on a very solid financial foundation. Obviously, this didn’t take away the pain of him being gone, but his preparation eliminated additional stress that would have been present without it.
It’s one of those things we all prefer not to think about, but it is always better to be prepared. My aunt is still reaping from what my uncle sowed by having his things in order.
My FLOP
Being impacted by my uncle’s premature death and wanting to do everything I can do to help my wife, I decided to create a system for keeping things organized.
It has been a work in progress over the last few years, but has evolved into a very helpful tool. Simply put, it is a single file or location for all your financial account details. I call it a FLOP (Financial Life on One Page). FLOP sounds a little cooler than FLOOP, but not much 
In adding to it over the last few years it has come to have three main purposes. The first being that it is a:
1. Balance Sheet
One of the best pieces of advice I received about 5 years ago, when I started my journey to clean up my finances was to keep a balance sheet. I didn’t really understand why at the time, but I did it anyway. I have updated it twice a year since I started it and it has been a great source of encouragement as I have fought to get out of debt.
The reason it has been such a source of encouragement is because a balance sheet not only takes into account the debt you have been paying off, but all of your good financial decisions. So increasing your savings, paying down debt, making wise purchases all will affect your balance sheet in a positive way.
Also, looking at the size of your debts or assets does not necessarily give an accurate report of your financial condition. To get a accurate picture of your financial situation you need a balance sheet to calculate your net worth. It is very easy to do and is just a big subtraction problem:
Assets - Liabilities = Net Worth
If you have never started a balance sheet, I recommend doing it. It is a simple way to track your financial progress as you move towards your goals. For most people it shouldn’t take more than an hour to gather up all your account balances and asset values.
And as with most things, you are either moving forward, or you are going backwards. If you are increasing your assets or minimizing debts your net worth should be growing. If your net worth is getting smaller, then it is an indication that you should re-evaluate how you are spending your money. And even if your situation is not very encouraging, it will force you to see the financial truth so you can make adjustments as needed.
How to create a balance sheet
- Use Excel, Google docs, or some other spreadsheet software.
- List every Asset you can possibly think of from cars to stocks to jewelry for the amount that you could quickly sell it for. (To save time, you can lump together smaller assets like “misc. household items”) Total these items up to get a subtotal of your assets.
- Below the Assets total, list every debt or liability that you have. Mortgages, credit cards, student loans, they all apply. Total your debts to get your liability total.
- Subtract your liability total from your asset total to get your Net Worth.
2. Organize all my login information
Another piece of good advice I got a few years back was to create an extremely unique login ID and use it for every website that I had an ID for. I followed the advice and it has helped, but it is not a fail-proof system. Some sites require your email address, some want more than 8 characters, some want less, etc. And in this day in age, where you just about need to login to open your refrigerator, it can be difficult keeping track of all your login information.
After adding all your accounts in the balance sheet section above, you should have all your account information listed already and you can just add a column to add your login for that company. If you use various passwords you could list them in another column as well, but consider using a password hint rather than the actual password. I still come back to my FLOP at least once a week to figure out a login that I forgot about.
3. Financial roadmap for my wife
The third and most important reason for my FLOP is for my wife. In most families, one person manages the finances and has a better understanding of the overall financial picture. I am that person in my family. Are you that person in yours?
If so, would your spouse (or other beneficiaries) know where to find your financial information? Insurance policies, bank accounts, investment accounts, safe deposit boxes?
I know for my personal situation I know a bit more about our financial details than my wife does. I use my FLOP to layout all of the pertinent details for my wife, if she ever needed them. It contains the name, phone number or web address of each institution, our account numbers for those institutions and any other pertinent info that may be needed.
I then burned the file to a CD and kept it in our safe. Every year or so I put a copy of the updated FLOP in there.
Losing a loved one is a terribly difficult process. Having a “roadmap” prepared in advance for your loved ones is a great way to help eliminate unnecessary stress.
If you are interested, you can download a copy of my template for my FLOP.
This article was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance
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I signed up with ING about 4 years ago and have had a great experience with them. They have been a model business that has worked very hard to satisfy and meet the changing needs of their customers. These are just a few of the ways they have helped me.
1. They are nuts about safety.
A study from the University of California, Berkeley was just published that measured occurrences of identity theft at the top banks. Guess who came out the winner. Yep, ING was rated the safest bank from that study. It is really no surprise to me, just going through their login process you become well aware that it would be a tough feat to hack into someone’s account.
2. Consistently good interest rates.
You may occasionally be able to find a better interest rate online, but ING consistently has good rates. And the rates still clobber any brick-and-mortar bank.
3. Free Bill Pay.
Yes, you can get free bill pay from just about anywhere. But, I have used a few different bill-payment services and theirs has been the easiest and quickest to use.
4. No overdraft charges
This is an a brilliant service that they offer. Most banks charge you about $30-$40 overdraft fee if you bounce a check. With ING, you don’t have to worry about that. Rather than charging that overdraft fee, they basically lend you the money at a competitive interest rate until you bring the balance back to $0. So if you are short for a couple days, it might cost you pennies rather than $30-$40.
5. They send paper checks for you
If you need to send a paper check to someone, you just go to their site and fill the check out like you normally would. They will then mail it to whomever you would like. How easy is that?
6. CDs with no minimum.
Not only do they have very competitive rates on their CDs, but they also have no minimums. This makes it very convenient to do a CD ladder and open up multiple CDs with different maturities to take advantage of the rates available. Many banks only offer good rates to customers with $10,000 or more. Not ING.
7. They make budgeting easy.
ING has been my budgeting tool of choice for the last few years. I am not sure if they created it to be a great way to budget or if it was an accident, but either way it is great. You can read more about how I budget with ING if you want.
8. They now own Sharebuilder.
I opened a Sharebuilder account about 5 years ago and currently have most of my stocks with them. They only charge $4 to purchase stocks, which was the best deal going at the time (Now Zecco offers free trades). I was happy with Sharebuilder before, but now that ING bought them, they have made some nice improvements to it as well. Lowered some fees, simplified some processes, improved the user experience, etc.
9. Great customer service.
I have called them about 5 times over the last 4 years that I have banked there and I have not had a bad experience. They still do NOT outsource their calls, so every time I have been able to speak to someone who speaks my language 
- that is a good thing. I have never been on hold more than a couple minutes and most times I have gotten someone right away.
- that is a good thing. I have never been on hold more than a couple minutes and most times I have gotten someone right away.10. Bonuses for friends.
One of the things that ING has become famous for has been their referral program. New users get $25 if they are referred to open an account, while the referrer gets $10. Not a bad deal. So of course I will send you a referral if you are interested. Just let me know.
What did I miss? Are there other features or other banks that you love?
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Money Market accounts only allow six withdrawals per month
It doesn’t happen too often to me, but since I use my ING sub-accounts for budgeting I occasionally make more than six withdrawals per month. When this happens they send me a kind, but firm email informing me that if I make that mistake again they may be forced to close my account.
What you will get in your inbox from ING if you are bad…
Based on recent activity in your Orange Savings Account™, we want to remind you that you cannot make more than six withdrawals from your account each month. This is a federal regulation that all banks are required to follow for savings accounts like this one, so if this type of activity occurs more than three times in any 12-month period, we will have to close your account.
Since this is not the first time that you have made too many monthly withdrawals, we will be required to close your account if you do this again - and we don’t want that to happen!
So here’s what you can do to prevent your account from being closed:
Take a look at your statements or go to ingdirect.com and review your account activity. Keep track of how many times you transfer money out of your Orange Savings Account, including transfers to other ING DIRECT Accounts, and make sure you’re not making more than six withdrawals each month. Make one or two larger transactions rather than moving money numerous times. This will reduce the number of withdrawals you make each month.
Having worked closely with Money Market accounts earlier in my career I am very familiar with these restrictions. As the email mentions, the six withdrawal per month limit is a government restriction on the accounts, the bank itself can get in trouble for allowing customers to make more than six. Some banks will be more strict about enforcing this policy than others. But, if it comes down to it most banks will eventually close your account if you continue to abuse it.
I was frustrated about not being able to withdrawal my money once I reached this limit, and then the simple solution dawned on me…
The ING Hack to get around the six withdrawals
My wife and I budget for gifts and some months (i.e. December) we may be transferring a lot from the Gifts fund to our checking account. Once we reach five withdrawals for the Gifts account and we know we will need to do more that month, we simply transfer the remaining balance of that account to an unused (or a new) account. Then we just rename the new account “Gifts”. Viola, now we have another six withdrawals that we can make that month.
Renaming and opening new accounts (once you have opened the first one) takes about 20 seconds. So, really it is a very quick and easy process. I wouldn’t want to have to do it often, but it is better than getting your hand slapped or having your account closed.
A phone call to ING
I was also curious about what exactly they meant when they say they will, “close your account.” Did this mean just the individual savings account or did it mean the ING user account as a whole?
So, I called them and they confirmed that after exceeding the limit three times within 12 months, they will close the individual savings account. They did also mention that if a user does it multiple times for multiple accounts, they may consider removing that user’s profile from the system.
Just FYI.
Does anyone have any other ING helpful tricks or tips?
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The effects of inflation on my money
In the May 2008 Money magazine they had an article titled, “Life in the time of inflation.” They mentioned how the price of milk is up 13% over the last year, hospital costs 8%, and of course gas up 33% . Overall inflation being up about 4%.
There are lots of effects that inflation has on the world, our economy, and our personal lives, but I think one of the most important ones for us to be aware of is how it affects our cash.
Cash sitting in our wallets, under the mattress and even in many savings accounts is becoming less valuable because of inflation.
At 3% inflation (which I think has been the average over the last decade in the U.S.) we are essentially losing money when our cash is not earning at least that amount in interest. So, if you have a savings account that pays 1.5% interest and inflation is at 3%, you are losing spending power.
Even though your total balance in your savings account may have gone up, you will be able to purchase less with that money because of inflation.
How to best handle inflation
By having a savings interest rate that is higher than the inflation rate, you can take comfort in knowing that your money is growing in dollars as well as spending power. In times of high levels of inflation, this most likely will not be possible.
Bank CD’s often offer higher rates of return than savings and money market accounts, in exchange for promising to keep your money there for a fixed time frame.
Stocks, index funds, and mutual funds all generally offer good protection against inflation.
How to benefit from inflation
Fixed-rate debt - your mortgage, car loans, or any other loans you have at a fixed rate will be beneficial to you as the borrower. For instance, if you have a 30 year mortgage, every year further into the loan you go, you are actually using less of your spending power to pay the bills.
In theory, if inflation goes up in the U.S. by 4%, our living expenses will rise by 4%. Then (in theory) our incomes rise by 4%. But, your fixed rate debt doesn’t rise. Therefore, with all other things being equal (and assuming that we have a constant rate of inflation) your mortgage payment should be easier to pay each year as you get further into it.
This cycle is amplified and you see much greater benefits from it in periods of high inflation. The bank who made the loan pays the price because even though they are getting the same payment each month, it become less and less valuable as the loan progresses.
Bottom line: Inflation is likely to always be around, we might as well learn how to make the best of it.
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SmartyPig $50 gift certificate
The nice folks over at SmartyPig.com just sent me a $50 gift certificate that I am going to pass along to the readers.
SmartyPig is basically an online savings account that allows your friends and family to contribute to your savings goals. They also provide you with additional incentive boosts from top retailers who sell the items you are saving for. And surprisingly, they are currently boasting a 4.30% (APY) - which is a heck of a lot more than ING Direct is paying or most other online banks.
A few more notes about SmartyPig:
- Opening an account on SmartyPig is absolutely FREE. In fact, you can open your account, create a goal, reach your goal, and redeem your goal, and SmartyPig won’t charge you a thing.
- SmartyPig savings accounts are FDIC insured, so consumers can be confident their financial information and savings are secure. SmartyPig also utilizes the services of VeriSign, HACKER SAFE and TRUSTe.
- SmartyPig is the only online savings initiative that allows family and friends to help consumers reach their savings goals.
- SmartyPig gives consumers even more for their money by offering additional incentive boosts (up to 5%) from retailer partners like Pottery Barn, Best Buy, Royal Caribbean and Home Depot when they reach a savings goal.
- SmartyPig’s approach to savings teaches the benefits of good financial habits, reverses the “buy now, pay later” mentality and makes saving money a fun and easy experience.
The winner will receive a $50 head start to their savings goal!!
What do I have to do to win the SmartyPig gift certificate?
If you would like to be entered for a chance to win the $50 gift certificate just type “SmartyPig” in the comments below before 7:00 p.m. CST on March 30th.
(If you are having trouble finding the comments section, just click on the title of this post and scroll all the way to the bottom.)
A few more notes about the SmartyPig giveaway…
- From those comments entered I will randomly select a winner using random.org.
- Go ahead and enter each week, but only enter once (per household) for each one. (Duplicate entries or IP addresses will be disqualified)
- Make sure you enter your email address when adding your comment so I can contact you if you win. (I promise I will not give your email to anyone else)
- The winner will be announced on March 31st in the comments section of this post!!
- To be sure you hear about the next giveaway why not get ChristianPF via email?
Technorati Tags: SmartyPig, online savings accounts
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Banking with ING can help you avoid identity theft
A study from the University of California, Berkeley was just published that measured occurrences of identity theft at the top banks. The study analyzed all of the identity theft complaints issued for a few months in 2006 and provided some clear distinctions between banks.
You can see in the chart below that HSBC and Bank of America are the most prone to identity theft. It is no surprise to me that ING Direct has the lowest incidences of identity theft on the list. If you bank with ING, you will know that they have so many security measures that it can ALMOST be annoying. But, I can’t fault them for taking my security so seriously. The increased levels of protection are worth an extra few seconds every time I log in.
I had plenty of reasons to love ING Direct before, but now I have one more. If you are considering banking with ING, let me know because I can get you $25 for opening a new account.
This study alone shouldn’t be a cause for bailing out of your bank. Identity theft is still on the rise and I assume that it will continue for a while, but that is not a reason to panic. There are simple identity theft prevention tips that everyone can follow that will greatly diminish your risk.
Technorati Tags: identity theft, ING banking, ING Direct
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How does Virtual Bank compare with ING Direct?
I decided to open a Virtual Bank savings account. They gave me $20 for opening it, so I figured I don’t have much to lose. To me ING has clearly been the best online savings account in terms of features, interface, and overall user experience, but I am trying to keep an eye out for other up and coming great online banks, so I decided to check out Virtual Bank.
ING Direct and Virtual Bank Features
|
ING Direct |
Virtual Bank |
|
| Minimum Balance |
$0 |
$100 |
| Minimum to open |
$1 * |
$100 |
| Interest Rate |
3.4% |
3.0% - 4.0% |
| Monthly Fees |
No |
No |
| FDIC Insured |
Yes |
Yes |
*$250 to get the $25 referral bonus
Refer a Friend program
- ING Direct’s refer a friend program pays $10 to the referrer and $25 to the person opening the account (if the new account is opened with at least $250).
- Virtual Bank pays $20 to both the referrer and the new account holder (if the account is opened with at least $100).
Security
As far as security goes, both of these sites are top-notch in the level of security they offer. I would almost say that both of them could be considered frustrating if you are used to having your browser log you in to web sites automatically. There are a few steps to log in for both ING and Virtual Bank. That said, if you are concerned with keeping your account safe, you can’t go wrong with either ING or Virtual Bank.
User Interface
For the user interface and overall web site, I have to give it to ING Direct. Virtual Bank’s layout and web site isn’t bad and it is actually easy to navigate from one place to the next. ING’s is just better. This is one of the area’s that makes ING stand out from the others. They have worked very hard to create a great user experience with their web site and they have been successful. ING’s interface is very user friendly, intuitive, simple, and well organized.
Virtual Bank interface
ING Direct Interface
Customer Service
I have had very good experiences with ING’s customer service thus far. I have called them 3 times and each time I got my problem resolved or question answered quickly and from a friendly person the line. I have heard from others that not all calls to ING go as well as mine did.
My first call to Virtual Bank did not go so well. After being on hold for 28 minutes, all of a sudden their hold music stopped and I was hung up on. Possibly in their defense, I looked at their hours of operation and it appears as if I called right after closing time. It just would have been nice if they would have had a message that said to call back later. It is never any fun to wait on hold for a half an hour.
Conclusion: ING Direct vs. Virtual Bank
After all is said and done, I think I am still in the same place as I was before my Virtual Bank experiment: ING is still the winner. If I had $100,000 to put in savings, I would probably put it in Virtual Bank to get the 4.0% return rather than ING’s 3.4%. But, for smaller amounts I am sticking with ING Direct.
If you are interested in opening either (or both) of these accounts - contact me so you can get the referral bonus cash!!
Technorati Tags: ING Direct, Virtual Bank
Also, if you have used either or both of these banks, I would love to hear your opinions about them…
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Kiplinger’s just came out with their best list of 2007. In it they cover a wide range of services and products they have ranked. Here are a few that stood out to me…
Best Checking account -ING Direct
No surprise to me. If you have been a reader for any length of time, you will probably know how I budget with ING and how I am a strong supporter of their products. Kiplinger’s mentions the 3.5% rate that ING pays on their checking, the free bill pay service they offer, the no minimum balance, the no fees, and how ING will send e-checks for you free of charge. They have a great thing going - if decide to open an account they will pay you $25 if you contact me first, so I can send you an invitation.
Best All-Around Retirement Account - Roth IRA
I understand why they think this. The ROTH IRA has become the default retirement account for most people. After contributing enough to get the full match from your 401k or 403b, this is generally the next step to building your retirement savings. The ROTH is not ALWAYS a better choice than a traditional IRA, but for most people it is the best choice.
Best Online Broker for Fund Investors - Muriel Siebert
I had honestly never heard of Muriel Siebert before reading this issue, but it looks like the do offer a valuable service. According to Kiplinger’s they “carry a selection of nearly 3000 no-load funds and more than 1800 of them are available without a transaction fee.” They also mention that Muriel’s website offers countless ways to compare and contrast funds.
Best Websites to Meet Various Personal Finance Needs…
- AnnualCreditReport.com - They allow you to get a free credit report from the three major credit bureaus at once.
- myFICO.com - This site will get your credit score (which is not included in your credit report) for $15.95.
- Wesabe.com - A free budgeting service that helps you track your spending with a social flair to it.
- InsWeb.com - They can get you several insurance quotes in one sitting.
- RetailMeNot.com - This is an online coupon site that is actually organized and easy to use
- LastMinute.com - They provide an easy way to get last-minute travel deals.
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Do you need an emergency fund?
I previously wrote about how to make more money from your emergency fund, but I decided to take a step back and explain the purpose for an emergency fund. I used to think of an emergency fund as robbing myself. It was essentially the same as paying taxes in my mind. All I knew was that money was coming out of my pocket going somewhere else. Obviously, 
this was completely untrue, but it was how I felt at the time. Thankfully, I learned how beneficial an emergency fund is to my long-term financial well being.
If you had a $500 unexpected expense come up right now, how would you pay for it?
If you could come up with the money and NOT have to use a credit card, you are doing much better than most Americans. Life happens, and unexpected expenses are to be EXPECTED. If you prepare for them you will be able to better avoid a financial crisis, if not, that is what they call "learning the hard way." Lets say (for sake of discussion) that emergencies happen, on average, once every year (everyone’s definition "emergency" is different, so the frequency may be more or less for you) and cost an average of $500. The truth is that just about everyone does have an emergency fund. The only difference is that they are either earning interest or paying interest.
Paying Interest
Let’s look at the typical American response to an emergency (costing our assumed average of $500). Emergency #1 happens and they don’t have an emergency fund, so they borrow the $500 from a credit card (17.5%). This solves the short term problem of paying for the emergency, but now they have to start making payments to the credit card company. Things are tough enough, they didn’t have the money to pay for Emergency #1 to begin with, now they have to try to find $20 each month to pay the minimum payment and to add insult to your injury the credit card company is going to charge them a huge percentage rate on the amount borrowed. When emergency #2 happens they will likely be:
- Still trying to pay for Emergency #1 (they will still owe $350)
- They will still be paying the interest to the credit card for Emergency #1
- It is probable that they were not able to save up for emergency #2, since they were still spending extra money to pay for emergency #1, therefore they will have to borrow again to pay for Emergency #2
- Now they are paying back both Emergency #1 and #2 ($850 total), paying interest on both amounts borrowed, and in even a more difficult place to start saving for emergency #3 since their minimum payment increased to $35.
This is only the beginning of the vicious cycle: it only gets worse from here. You can imagine what their financial lives will look like in 5 or 10 years.
The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. -Proverbs 27:12 (NIV)
Earning Interest
Let’s assume you are one of the few (but extremely wise) Americans who decided to start an emergency fund (because some equally wise blogger told you it was a good idea). If you were able to find that $50 a month now (before emergency #1 happens) and start saving it to prepare for it, you would likely (and hopefully) be here when emergency #1 happened:
- Have more than enough money saved for emergency #1 ($600 saved)
- Will have earned interest ($15) on your savings which will have just increased the size of your savings even more ($615)
- You will have a head-start saving for emergency #2, because you saved more than enough for emergency #1 ($615-$500=$115)
- You will be earning interest on what you still have saved after paying for emergency #1 ($115), and you will be saving and earning interest on the amount you are saving for emergency #2.
When emergency #2 rolls around you will have $735 saved up to pay for the $500 emergency. Just repeat the process again and again and you can imagine what this will look like after 5 or 10 years.
How much should I put in my emergency fund?
I think $50 a month is a good ballpark to get started for many people. Obviously if you are making six figures, you may want to increase the amount or if you are making four figures, that may be too much. If you are having trouble finding the extra money, you may need to quit spending everything you make or learn what to do with a raise.
Where do I start an emergency fund?
I recommend ING Direct for a high yielding savings account. The most important part is getting started, no matter where it is. But, look for something that you can direct deposit into so you do NOT have to think about it.
Before I get a bunch of comments arguing about the frequency of emergencies or how much the average emergency costs, let me just say these assumptions are based on how things have worked out for me. I am sure some will have "emergencies" every 6 months and some every 4 years, but I am basing this off averages in my life. My intention is only to show the long-term benefit of building an emergency fund rather than using a credit card.
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