Hola bellas! As you know, life can be very unpredictable. Everything’s going dandy one minute, and the next, you might have an unexpected expense come your way, or you might have your work hours reduced, or you might even lose your job. These types of unfortunate scenarios happen to people all the time, and they’re extremely stressful!
The good thing is that you can be proactive and prepare for when unexpected financial expenses come your way! We can show you how!
One of the best ways to prepare for unexpected events that have a negative financial impact on you is to create an emergency fund! An emergency fund is a savings stash that will cover all of your expenses (for example, rent, utilities, car, gas, food, etc.) for three to six months.
It is a way to protect yourself from future financial hardship. If you currently do not have much savings, you can start with saving for three months of expenses. Start by setting money aside each month and putting it into the emergency fund. Before you know it, you will have savings for three months of expenses!
It is crucial to set money aside for emergencies, because most of us will have unexpected expenses come our way at one point or another, so it’s best to be prepared! You do not want to be in a situation where you are forced to sell your valuables, have to borrow money, or might lose your home because you did not have money saved for emergencies/unforeseeable events!
Plus, you don’t want to be part of the statistics that demonstrate that most U.S. adults do not have emergency funds. According to the Pew Research Center, “fewer than half of U.S. adults have emergency funds that would last three months.” This percentage gets even lower for Hispanics, with only “29% of Hispanics having emergency funds that would cover expenses for three months, in case of an emergency”, according to the Pew Research Center.
29% is extremely low, and we need to change that! How do we change this? We need to prepare for the future and plan accordingly by saving money each month that will go into the emergency fund.
Once you have a decent amount saved, you’ll feel more prepared to face what comes your way! It’ll give you a feeling of freedom! In addition, it will give you a sense of security and calmness! Who wouldn’t want that? Tu puedes (you can do it).