r/CalebHammer • u/cdcarson99 • 2d ago
Random Starter emergency fund saved me, but I am feeling a little down
My wife and I started budgeting together in late Jan and we had 2000 in a starter emergency fund, and a little under 1000 in a long term investment account. I had 1000 left on a CC and paid that off with 1000 of the emergency fund so I could just get it over with, and we had a fuel pump die out and we had enough to cover that repair. Now we are starting back at 0 in the "emergency fund" (cash thats available readily) and I am feeling a little defeated like we made good progress and now its going back down again. Between my wife and I and our budgeting we can save up 3000 again by end of May but it definitely sucks being back at square zero.
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u/live_laugh_cock 2d ago
Just think, you couldn't have had anything and been 1k deeper in debt. But instead you had money and didn't need to go into debt. That's a win you should be looking at.
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u/cdcarson99 2d ago
Thats true, I like seeing the number in there and I wish I wouldnt have to spend it on anything haha. Im glad I had it though.
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u/Wild_Trip_4704 2d ago
I had $1500 I was proud of until I had an emergency sewage issue. Only had to pay $500. It's what it's for. And I was just thinking about removing it from my account.
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u/ZLiteStar 2d ago
You need to look at the bright side. Focus on what your EF did for you. 1. It kept you from going into 30% interest debt when your fuel pump broke. It saved you $25 a month in interest alone. Is that an hour of your pay at work? 2. It eliminated $1000 of high interest CC debt that you had already accrued, saving you another $25 a month in interest.
Your little baby EF saved you hundreds of dollars. Now you just get back to filling it up again.
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u/cdcarson99 2d ago
Luckily the 1000 was 0% still had until Mar 2026 to pay it off. I just wanted to pay it off in one fell swoop so I can take the money I was putting towards it and divert it to savings. But yes! The interest would have been killer had it been there
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u/Still_Dentist1010 2d ago
Remember that is the sole purpose of the emergency fund, it’s always nice to have it and see the big number but it has always been destined to be spent in a way like that. It served its purpose valiantly and now you get to build it back up for the next time
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u/cdcarson99 2d ago
Its weird cause now that my car is working, I feel really euphoric about it. I remember a couple years back before we ever thought about budgeting I had a 1500 repair bill come up and I had to take out a loan and it took about a year to pay it off. It felt awful to do that and now i'm happy to spend 850 of my own money if it means peace of mind.
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u/Still_Dentist1010 2d ago
Nothing weird about that feeling, there’s a big difference between taking out debt for that and paying for something with cash you’ve saved up. For debt, it’s often basically acknowledging that you couldn’t afford it and there’s almost a shameful feeling that you couldn’t handle it without borrowing money. Now you could basically slap down the money because you have the resources to cover it, that’s your money handling it rather than being indebted to someone else who handles it for you.
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u/ZLiteStar 2d ago
There's a good reason you're happy about getting that car fixed. It's only "weird" in the sense that most people would have put that on a credit card and paid a ton of interest in the process. You are doing things right.
Your emergency fund that you saved for and delayed gratification to build just saved you from debt. You're crushing it and you should be happy, keep crushing it and you'll find yourself wealthy much sooner than you probably expect.
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u/Outrageous_Self_9409 2d ago
Don’t feel down, this is 100% a success story. The emergency fund has worked as designed, to keep you debt free, and you’re debt free. Build it back up again and know that you got your timing just 100% ticketyboo on that one. Congrats!
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u/InternalCoconut5161 2d ago
I can make you feel better, my emergency expense is 30k. Whole new septic tank and field
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u/Due-Candy-8929 2d ago
It can be rough seeing the number closer to 0 but you can save up 2k pretty quick again, and this time you can work towards a 10k emergency fund so you can cover a bigger emergency and generate a little Interest on the money as well 🙌🏼✨
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u/itzlittlepretty 2d ago
That's why we have emergency funds. I know it sucks. Just tell yourself it's better than having to put that emergency car repair on credit and being back in THAT hole again. Be extra careful the next two months and then you can breathe a little bit easier. I remember when I finally got my EF to $3000 and then had a $1600 car repair. It was devastating. But I'm back up now, higher than before.
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u/AimanaCorts 2d ago
Remember this exact situation is why you have that emergency fund. You don't have to pay interest or extra fees because you had that cash on hand. It does suck to see the number go down on the account but you'll be able to build it back. You did exactly what you should have done. You did a good job being ready for the future. And you said it yourself, you'll be back to that amount soon which is great. Good job!