[...] from being able to access it quickly. I like having the security of an emergency fund. Once the emergency fund is fully funded and the money going into the TFSA are for future use only, will we have the self [...]

[...] $1000 emergency fund. [...]

[...] last if you were to lose your job or other main sources of income.  Basically, how much of an emergency fund (cash or line of credit) would you need?  In this “worst case scenario”, proper [...]

[...] I don’t write a lot about debt as I personally believe in focusing on building wealth instead. However, dealing with debt is a big part of personal finance. We managed to pay off $50,000+ worth of student and consumer debt in 3.5 years after graduation all the while maintaining a principle residence, purchasing a rental property and getting married.  In fact, we could have had our debts paid off sooner if we didn’t build a large cash emergency fund. [...]

[...] the comments of the post, regular reader Telly mentioned that she doesn’t keep an emergency fund, only a line of credit if the worst happens. Out of curiosity, I asked “Since you use your [...]

[...] Why not save a few dollars in a high interest rate savings account or even have a HELOC/LOC ready to go for an emergency fund? [...]

[...] an essential part of your emergency fund.  This is an interesting twist as I've looked at emergency cash requirements in the [...]

[...] emergency funds are wasteful. The Money Gardener explains why he doesn’t like having cash. Million Dollar Journey says he relies on a line of credit in an emergency. Never one to follow a crowd, Thicken My Wallet [...]

[...] you haven't done so already, I would suggest that you start an "emergency fund" because you never know what can come up.  How much?  Some suggest to have around [...]

[...] Unless you have a personal line of credit for an emergency fund, you should have some money put away to cover your expenses for hard times.  Check out my article on Emergency Funds – How Much is Enough? [...]

[...] Emergency Funds: How Much is Enough? (29 comments) [...]

[...] Trent from The Simple Dollar has hosted this weeks Carnival of Personal Finance.  I submitted my article on "Emergency Funds, how much is enough?". [...]

[...] are featured, including these favorites in addition to Trent’s Editor’s Choice: Emergency Funds: How Much is Enough?, How to Not Ask for a Raise, and Why You Should Keep Your Money Invested in a Declining [...]

[...] Emergency Funds: How Much Is Enough? (@ million dollar journey) [...]

Something that alot of people talk about is that they have an PLOC for emergency. I work in Banking, I manage credit and risk for a major US bank that operates in Canada. What I can tell you is that your credit card companies actively watch your credit files and if your PLOC makes a mjr jump in balance over a short period of time (due to unemployment for example) it will decrease your FICO score. Your credit card companies will be alerted to this decrease and depending on your balance they have a clause in there contracts that they can “risk-based reprice” your account. Which in other words means they will increase your credit card rates dramatically. This is a strategy to get your attention and also get as much money from you just incase you go bankrupt and cannot pay them.

With this in mind it will not affect everyone but if your balances were greater than 50% of the avalible credit and you had a decrease in your FICO you could be subject to this kind of strategy.

Just thought people would want to know about this little technique that they use to detect the people they think are risky so that they can effectively manage there emergency fund accts.

If you have question about credit or want to dispell any myths I would be more than happy to help.

Credit Analyst.

I applaud you for not having any more debt and it seems you paid yourself first(savings for that rainy day) while you had debt.

=o)