31 Days Towards Financial Freedom ~ Day 24 *EMERGENCY FUND #2*

Your debt is paid off!!!  Now what?!

Remember back on Baby Step #1 you saved your baby emergency fund  which was only about $1000 or so?  Well, guess what!?  Now it is time to get that piggy bank really full!!

At this point in the game you should have ZERO debt, except for your house payment.  This means no car debt, no student loan debt - NADA! 

This is not time to start investing or saving for college or trips, this is where you save for a 3 - 6 months of expenses in an emergency fund.  This is absolutely necessary so that if something major should happen, like a job loss, you will not go back into debt.

This step should move a lot more quickly than paying off your debt.  All of the money that you were so diligently putting towards paying off your debt you put into your savings account.  Determine for yourselves whether you need 3 or 6 months of expenses saved.  This is a personal decision based on personality - are you a the type who needs to feel the security of 6 months to feel safe? and based on the risk of your situation - are you at risk for losing your job? are you both working? and so on...

This step may seem easy and great, but for some it may be the hardest.  You finally get to the point of paying off your debt and now you still have to stick to that strict budget!  Just think of the freedom when you have no debt and actually have a full funded savings!!  Push through and make it through this step.

One more thing...remember those rewards you set for yourself?  It is probably wise to have some type of reward before you jump into this step, after all you are DEBT FREE!

Check out the other posts in this series:

Day 1 ~ Budget


Day 2 ~ Cash is King


Day 3 ~ Change Your Mindset

Day 4 ~Shaving Down the Grocery Bill

Day 5 ~ Think Outside the Box

Day 6 ~ Baby Steps

Day 7 ~ Get Together

Day 8 ~ The Reluctant Spouse

Day 9 ~ Reward Yourself

Day 10 ~ No Credit Cards Allowed! 

Day 11 ~ Emergency Fund 

Day 12 ~ Bye Bye Debt

Day 13 ~ Earning Extra Income

Day 14 ~ Infrequent Payments

Day 15 ~ Avoid Impulse Shopping

Day 16 ~ Consignment Stores

Day 17 ~ Making Cuts

Day 18 ~ Be Careful Who Your Friends Are

Day 19 ~ To Tithe or not to Tithe

Day 20 ~ Making the Hard Decisions

Day 21 ~ Co-signing

Day 22 ~ Borrowing from Family or Friends

Day 23 ~ Start Young

Day 24 ~ Emergency Fund #