How Important is the Emergency Fund?

Happy Friday Hivers!

I was once financially illiterate, which is something I regret the most. But what I am grateful for is that I was able to learn a great lesson about saving and investing before I reached the age of 38. Although it was a little bit late, at least I still have enough energy to work for money, save, and invest.

When I decided to change my bad spending habits, I'll tell you, it was like an uphill battle, as there are sacrifices that I need to endure. Like, I can't easily buy food that I like to eat when I am hungry. I only prioritize what I need, not what I want. Before, when I felt hungry but it wasn't mealtime yet, I would easily grab my pocket and purchase the food that I wanted to eat. But now, I am different. I would rather choose to drink water and wait for the mealtime. It may be torture for some, but I perceive it as discipline.

When I compare my current salary to what I earned before, it's significantly lower. However, despite having a higher salary before, I didn't set aside any money for emergencies. As long as I am happy, I don't mind where my money goes. Why am I sharing this to you, Hivers? Because I recently encountered an unexpected situation that requires financial attention.

Three days ago, my mini USB adapter unexpectedly got damaged while I was in the middle of working on an urgent task, causing my laptop to lose its internet connection. I was suspecting that the problem was the USB adapter, so I checked it and confirmed that it was indeed the cause of the issue. The only way for me to get my work done that day was to purchase a new one.

Fortunately, since I had saved up money for emergencies, I didn't have a problem figuring out where to get the money to buy a new USB adapter. The only challenge was that it wasn't a huge amount of money.

I went to the mall in no time because I had an urgent task that day. As I arrived, I immediately asked the attendant for the item I was looking for. Luckily, the attendant was very accommodating and showed it to me right away. I felt a little bit worried because I only had $20 and I didn't know how much it would cost. When he told me that the price for 300 mbps was around $10, I was able to breathe comfortably knowing that I can afford the item.

After 2 days, my mouse was also damaged. To be honest, I couldn't really do my job quickly without using a mouse, so again, I had no choice but to purchase a new one. My plan was to purchase a wireless mouse, but since it was expensive compared to the wired mouse, I bought the latter.

If I hadn't saved up money for emergencies, I would have certainly kept looking for solutions on where to get money, and my job would have been greatly affected. But what I am thankful for is that I had money available in my pocket, and it was enough to support me at that time. It is very important to save up money for emergencies because there are unexpected situations that require financial attention.

Thank you for reading and see you on my next blog. Cheers!

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Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.

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