Utah Money Moms
  • HOME
  • RESOURCES
  • About
  • Contact
  • Online Course

Preparing for "When LIfe Happens"

9/15/2022

0 Comments

 
Alicia Nelson-Bell, HCHC
Picture
While experiencing times of high inflation and after spending the last couple of years in a pandemic, it is more important now than ever before to make sure that you have money in your emergency fund. Notice I didn’t say if emergencies happen, but when. According to a recent survey, 36% of Americans reported withdrawing from their savings accounts in the first half of this year to help keep up with the rising costs of the goods and services in the midst of high inflation. As you could imagine, during that same time period, the personal savings rate has fallen by almost 3% from what it was in December of 2021 to only 5%. Take this as your personal reminder to keep/begin contributing to your emergency fund, so you don’t find yourself stressed out and taking on new debt when bumps come up in the road of life, no matter how hard it may seem. 
One of the action items for this month from our 2022 Finance Calendar is to increase your emergency fund contribution by $10. This means if you find yourself like many Americans who aren’t currently contributing to their emergency fund, put $10 in this month. If you are currently making monthly contributions, increase it by $10. This can help build or replenish your emergency fund even quicker.
 
A couple of tips to help with this:
 
*Make the decision once and then set up an automatic deposit/transfer- This takes the discipline out of having to remember to transfer money from one account to another. Also, no more “hoping that there’s some leftover at the end of the month to save.”
 
*Evaluate your habits- See if there’s something you’re spending money on that you could cut back on in frequency or cost. For example, if you get your favorite treat or drink every day, see if you could make it at home for cheaper or do without it a couple of days in the month.
 
*Save a portion of your raise- If you’re one of many who have received a raise recently, put $10 of it into your emergency fund.
 
*Something in savings is better than nothing “when life happens”- No matter where you find yourself able to start with contributing to an emergency fund, start now! I don’t know about you, but I'd rather have some money saved up when I have an emergency.
 
Even though high inflation is wreaking havoc on all of us, it is more important than ever to have at least some money set aside for emergencies. Start where you are and work on increasing your contributions over time and the money will just keep on growing. 
 
 
Source:
O’Brien, Sarah, with inflation running at a 40-year high, 36% of U.S. adults tapped their savings to cover living expenses: Survey CNBC, Aug 11, 2022. inflation-has-caused-more-than-a-third-of-adults-to-tap-their-savings.html
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    TAKE A FREE CLASS!

    Sign Up

    Host a Class

    Click Here!

    Picture

    amanda

    Sharing real-life money smarts to help you stay on track with financial goals while still enjoying life!
    Blog editor,  Accredited Financial Counselor &
    Extension Professor
    Utah State University 


    Follow the fun on Instagram


    AS SEEN ON

    Picture

    awards

    Picture
    Best of State 2022: Personal Finance Education
    Picture
    1st Place National Award in Social Media Education from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences
    Picture
    Gold Award in Blog Site category at the 7th a​nnual Education Digital Marketing Awards.
    Picture
    Platinum Award in Digital Media, Web Design category at the International Marketing and Communication Awards.

      stay updated!

    Subscribe

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    2020 Census
    Allowance
    America Saves Week
    Book Review
    Budgeting
    Car Insurance
    Charity Fraud
    College
    Consumer Protection
    Couples And Money
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Credit
    Credit Cards
    Data Breach
    Debt
    Earth Day
    Education Expense Planning
    Emergency Savings
    Entrepreneurship
    Estate Planning
    Events
    Financial Binder
    Financial Education
    Financial Emergency Prep
    Financial Freedom
    Financial Goals
    Financial Health
    Financial Literacy Month
    Financial Paperwork
    Financial Peer Pressure
    Financial Security
    Financial Vision Board
    Flexible Spending Account
    Food Budget
    Gift Giving
    Holiday
    Holiday Budgeting
    Home Maintenance
    Homeownership
    Identity Theft
    Inexpensive Fun
    Inflation
    Insurance
    Investing
    Kids And Money
    Money Mindfulness
    Money Monday
    Money Personality
    Money Tip
    Mortgage
    Mutual Funds
    My529
    Net Worth
    Panic Buying
    Personal Allowance
    Personal Property Inventory
    PowerPay
    Renting
    Retirement
    Review
    Revolving Savings
    Roth IRA
    Saving
    Scams
    Singles And Money
    Spending
    Student Loans
    Taxes
    Tax Freedom Day
    Teens And Money
    Tracking Spending
    Travel
    Unemployment
    Utah Saves Week
    Vacation
    Women And Money

OTHER RESOURCES

finance.usu.edu
livewellutah.org
extension.usu.edu
powerpay.org

    STAY UPDATED!

Subscribe

FOLLOW US

  • HOME
  • RESOURCES
  • About
  • Contact
  • Online Course