HOW TO START AN EMERGENCY FUND
Is an emergency fund important for you to have? Will an emergency fund help in your financial freedom journey and your goal to be debt free? Yes!
An emergency fund is a cash reserve that’s specifically set aside for unplanned expenses or financial emergencies. Some common examples include car repairs, home repairs, medical bills, or a loss of income.
How to start an emergency fund is probably one of the first keys to getting finances in order so that you will be able to become debt free.
An Emergency Fund is a safety net for your finances
When you think of the saying, “Pay GOD and yourself FIRST”, this also means some kind of emergency fund. This is your safety net and helps you fund emergencies without depleting all your savings or putting you back into debt.
When you’re trying to climb out of the pit despair and stress that debt causes, this is one of the most helpful tools you can be given.
It’s important to know that the emergency fund is separate from your other savings goals such as vacations, a new car, a new outfit, or other types of “wants”.
The emergency fund is for things like a broken appliance, car repairs, deductible on insurance, etc.
So, how do you start an emergency fund when you have no extra money right now?
Watch this video that explains how to start an Emergency Fund!
Here are 7 fantastic and simple ways to start saving your emergency fund!
1. Start small. Put back a little each payday, even if it’s $10, $25, $50 each time.
2. Make a budget. Know where your money is going! What can you cut back on?
3. Direct Deposit is great to use because you know it’s automatically going into your savings account.
4. Save unexpected income like child credit, stimulus, tax return, overtime pay. Every little bit counts.
5. Figure out how much your emergency fund goal needs to be. We suggest beginning at $1,000 and grow it from there.
6. Use a specific savings account. Do NOT use the same account as your personal living and checking account.
7. Sell some stuff…we all have extra items laying around that we no longer use.
Something that is good to remember when beginning your emergency fund is that when God gives the Vision, He also gives the Provision.
God will provide money for your financial freedom
If God has placed it on your heart to begin getting out of debt and live a better life not bound and chained by finances then Be encouraged! When God gives you the vision, He also gives you the provision that you need to accomplish them (Psalm 37:5).
He will give you all of the necessary resources—both tangible like professional contacts and financial resources and intangible like grace and favor—to make what you envision become a reality.
Begin looking for ways, as you say a prayer for finances, where God is pouring out His financial blessings on you. When you do get additional money other than your normal paycheck put that in your savings. Do not spend it.
Scriptures about Money
Speaking scriptures from the Bible and praying over these scriptures is one of the best ways to see God work through your finances and circumstance.
When God gives us a vision, He not only supplies the provision, but He actually goes ahead of us to prepare a way for us to accomplish His will (Exodus 23:20)
Isaiah 45:2-3
I will go before you
and will level the mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron.
I will give you hidden treasures,
riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the Lord,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name
Whatever God calls you to do, pursue it wholeheartedly with the confidence that you will achieve it “for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23) Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.;
Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?
As Jesus says, “Because of your faith it will happen” (Matthew 9:29).
Print out this Goal Sheet. Hang it somewhere that you see it every morning, whether it’s in your closet, bathroom mirror, fridge etc. Write down a few of these bible verses and pray them every morning.
Tell God how you’re trying to fix this and ask for his help. Invite Him into this process. Take care of His kingdom with your tithes and offerings.
He is faithful to help you. I’ve seen it…over and over again.
So the best way on how to start an emergency fund is to know exactly what the emergency fund is for, begin your 7-step process, pray scriptures over your finances, and watch God help you start saving more than you ever thought was possible!
