How to Save Money When Your Emergency Fund is Wiped Out

No savings, no emergency fund, nothing to fall back on.  That’s where we are now that necessary repairs to our paid off, ten-year old car have been made.  I’m sure many of you can relate. That’s why I am sharing How to Save Money when your Emergency Fund is Wiped Out!  I know what it is like to have that need, so I want to help you learn how to manage!

How to Save Money When Your Emergency Fund is Wiped Out

How to Save Money When Your Emergency Fund is Wiped Out

Did you know that according to the Federal Reserve, 48% of Americans say they wouldn’t be able to come up with $400 in an emergency, and only 38% could handle an unexpected expense of $1000?  We are fortunate as we had $1,500 in an emergency fund.  However, spending it to repair the car put us back to ground zero.  Now that our emergency fund is wiped out, we need to save money.

Luckily for us, I decided to participate in the brightpeak financial campaign and $500 Savings Challenge.  Since I didn’t have anything to lose, I signed up HERE and, within minutes, received the first of seven daily emails containing financial advice to help us jump start our savings and rebuild our now wiped out emergency fund.  The best part of the challenge is it will help us boost our efforts to save money and keep us saving!

brightpeak-logo

The first step was to learn what to look for in a savings account.  We’ve always kept our emergency fund in a savings account at the same bank as our everyday checking account.  Now that I’ve completed the $500 Savings Challenge, we have a new savings account which will reward us for saving.  We’ll earn rewards for hitting certain saving milestones.  By depositing $50 a month into the account, we’ll be rewarded with up to $100 in rewards over the next two years.  Can you say FREE MONEY!!?.

HERE’S WHAT I DID

As the emails arrived each day, I was encouraged to pick a savings goal and work it into our family’s budget, steal my own lunch money and put it in savings, sell something, shave $50 from our weekly spending, get a side hustle to boost our savings, and look at common savings mistakes.  With the help of brightpeak’s daily emails, this is what I was able to accomplish this week to save money:

  • Setting up a new savings account for our emergency fund
  • Saving $40 by bringing my lunch to work each day
  • Making $86 dollars selling a few items in a Facebook online yard sale group
  • Cutting $45 from our weekly spending by not eating out one night
  • Increasing my contribution to my 401k plan by $25 a pay period

I’m pleased to report that by implementing the ideas from brightpeak’s FREE $500 Savings Challenge, we’re on track to replenishing our emergency fund in less than six months.  That’s what I call peace of mind!

Ask yourself these two things:

  • Are you above average? Approximately 62% of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts and 21% don’t even have a savings account, according to a new survey by Google Consumer Survey for GoBankingRates.com.
  • Do you have an emergency fund of at least $1,000 to cover minor emergencies like ours to repair our car?

Here are a few other things you might like to know about brightpeak:

  • They are a not-for-profit. This means they don’t answer to shareholders or Wall Street.  The company’s only focus is making you stronger.
  • They’re a division of Thrivent Financial, an A.M. Best A++ rated company with over 100 years of experience helping people (like me) achieve their financial goals
  • They exist solely to help young Christians grow stronger. In addition to providing affordable and highly-rated products, they get to invest their profits back into the community.

brightpeak financial

I encourage you to Sign up for the FREE $500 Savings Challenge online and let us know how you boost your savings — and keep saving!

Learn more about living frugally and saving money with our tips.  We want you to be able to manage when those emergencies come along.  That’s why we share great tips like the ones below!

More Frugal Living Tips:

Why Do You Need An Emergency Fund?

How To Start An Emergency Fund

Smart Money Saving Tips To Control Your Debt

How To Not Spend Money