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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can we agree $1000 as a step-one emergency fund is nuts for people in this area? Particularly if the only debt is student loans?[/quote]

Why?  For people, even higher earners making $150+ if they are living paycheck to paycheck, you have to start somewhere.  Telling someone who can't save money that they have to have an emergency fund that covers six months of expenses without a paycheck can be overly daunting.  That's like telling someone that has a fear of heights that they have to start by climbing up a 50 ft cliff and looking out over the edge.

$1K may not be a full emergency fund, but it's a good baby step.  It's enough to replace most of the appliances in your house that fail.  It's enough for an unexpected car repair.  It's enough to handle  a small unexpected medical emergency (like needing to rent a wheelchair or buy assistive technology/equipment).  After you have that, then you work on increasing the amount in the emergency fund.  But for people who don't know how to start, baby steps can help a great deal to just getting over that hump.  Later steps will be bigger once people experience and understand what it takes.[/quote]

This is exactly right. My first, Dave Ramsey-inspired emergency fund was $1K. My first major emergency was a $750 car repair. Boy, did I feel good about being able to cover that; I was 24 at the time and only making $35/year.

So then I not only repaid my emergency fund, I raised it to $1,500. Then I focused on debt, but threw more money into my emergency fund whenever I could from Christmas gifts, tax returns and other "found" money.

I will never forget that feeling of being able to cover an emergency.[/quote]

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