Rebuild my cash reserve fund

I moved $100 into the reserve fund, bringing the balance to a whopping $105. It’s not much, but then, this goal is part of a larger issue – getting my finances under control. I can’t do a lot on rebuilding the cash reserves until I get the spending under control and get the debt down. Rather than get discouraged about this goal, though, I will try to remember:

Even a few drops at a time eventually fill a bucket.

I’ve had to take ALL but $10 out of the reserve funds, in order to cover recent expenses.

Ouch.

I’m forcing myself to add $100 per check to the reserve fund, even though it makes me feel a bit panicky. On the one hand, it’s not enough to build a reserve quickly. On the other hand, it’s a big hunk of money that is then not available to pay bills. Hurts on both sides.

I guess that means I’ve hit the right balance of progress on this goal – at least for right now.

Once I have $1k in the reserve, I think I’ll feel better. It needs to be around $5k to feel like it is a sufficient reserve, though.

I had a long talk with my Amor de Jour last night about our individual financial situations. We both agreed that we want to rebuild our individual cash reserve funds – and that we want to find ways to spend time together without spending money. It was wonderful to be able to have such a candid conversation!

We agreed that we would continue to have supper together several times a week – but instead of dining out, I’ll cook and we can eat at my house. He will contribute to the groceries and do the dishes, so it’s a fair trade.

We also agreed to pick one big event every 6 weeks or so that we really want to attend, so that we can individually save up for it without a negative budget impact.

These changes will leave more money in the budget so that our individual cash reserve funds can be rebuilt faster – but won’t cut down on spending time together and enjoying life. Yay!

If I push hard, I should be able to put $100 per check into the reserve fund. I need to pay down my debt – but I’ve got to have some emergency cash set aside as well.

Truly rebuilding the reserves won’t happen for a while, but I can at least make a cursory attempt.

$100 per paycheck into the reserve fund as a Bare Minimum.
Target: have a minimum of $3k saved by my birthday this year.

There’s no comfort or security to be found in a flat reserve fund.

I have a personal comfort level that is directly tied to the size of my “emergency cash reserve fund”.

I used up all but $200 of that fund in moving & funding two households for two months. It’s a rainy day fund – and it was raining. The use of the money was appropriate; I don’t regret it at all.

However, not having the fund anymore makes me squirmy. I’d like to rebuild it quickly.

I need to look at the overall budget (once I have certainty on the new figures) and determine how much I can set aside for this fund each month. That will let me create a specific plan and a quantifiable $$ / time goal.