You never know when the unexpected is going to occur. That's why it's essential to have an emergency fund. Some financial experts recommend having a savings account that could cover your expenses for three to six months. For the purpose of this article, we're going to focus on just getting started with a $1,000 balance. Let's take a closer look at how to quickly build an emergency fund.
Sell Items Around the House
One of the easiest things you can do to build your emergency fund is to sell items from around your home. You'll be really surprised at what people are willing to buy. Something you may think is junk may actually be worth something. Gather the items you want to get rid of and then look at what the items are selling for on eBay. You can then post the items on eBay or sell the items through Facebook yard sale groups. You can quickly earn a few hundred dollars or more, depending on what you have to sell.
Do Odd Jobs
Doing odd jobs in your spare time is another great way to quickly build an emergency fund. You might decide to do yard work, clean gutters, wash cars, or do online gigs, such as creating graphics. Depending on the type of job you do, you can earn a couple hundred dollars a week.
Cut Unneeded Expenses
Another easy way to quickly build an emergency fund is to cut unneeded expenses. For example, if your car is paid off, you may decide to drop to liability insurance only rather than full coverage. This can cut your bill in half. You may also decide to drop your satellite service and save another $150 a month. You'd be really surprised at how much money you can come up with when you cut your expenses.
Eat From Your Stockpile
If you have a large stockpile on hand, take one month to eat from your stockpile. Depending on the size of your family, this could easily save you over $200 a week. This will go a long, long way towards building your emergency fund.
Carpool
Last, but not least, you can save a good amount of money by choosing to carpool to work. You can even get together with a friend and do your grocery shopping together. This will literally cut your gas bill in half or even more, depending on how many people are in the carpool.
It's a lot easier to build an emergency fund that you might think. Chances are you have stuff lying around your home that you can sell for a few hundred dollars. If not, you can always do odd jobs, cut unneeded expenses, live off your stockpile, and even carpool to save money.
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