Weekends Count Magazine - Helping you maximize your weekends through travel and DIY experiences.: Making Money Moves

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How to Easily Build a $100 Emergency Fund for Your Family

I know that all of you are incredibly busy driving your children to school, planning meals, paying bills, and finding seconds for yourself. However, now I am challenging each of you to embrace planning for a rainy day (or a rainy month) because these will happen sooner or later.

My mother always referred to these this rainy day fund as an emergency funds that you only tap into “if something happens”. Now, she was a teacher who later served as a entrepreneur and something was bound to happen at one time or another. From the stove and air conditioning unit to new state/local regulations for the business, she always had to prepare for rainy days.

She pushed me to also have an umbrella and poncho for when our family encounters financial rain storms. Most Americans are only one to two paychecks away from a dire financial situation. This financial situation can cause people to chose to pay one bill over another. For example, when it comes to paying the electric bill or the credit card bill. Most people will pay the electric bill. This can cause your credit card interest to impact your financial situation.

This emergency fund can range from $100 (by saving $5 a week for 20 weeks) or up to two paychecks. I would definitely begin with $5 a week.

Speaking of your financial situation, here are easy ways to save $100 for your emergency fund:

1 - Save $5 each week for 20 weeks (4-5 months) and place these in a secret place in your house.

2 - Automatically transfer $5 each week from your checking account to your saving account.

*Bonus - If you keep this transaction for longer than 52 weeks, you will have a $260 in your emergency fund.

MORE of a bonus - If you transfer $25 each week for 20 weeks, you will have a $500 emergency fund. If you save for 52 weeks, you will have $1,300 in your emergency fund.

3 - You can purchase a $25 gift card at CVS, Walgreens, Walmart or a local restaurant when a bonus of $5 or more is offered. Use this $120 for everyday purchases when your money in the bank becomes slim. Plus, you just gained 20% interest! Better than the bank!

4 - When staples in your weekly food reach rock bottom prices, use $5 a week to stockpile these items in your pantry. Weekly staples can include spaghetti noodles, canned or frozen veggies or fruit, canned or packaged meat, etc. By the end of 20 weeks, you will have $100 worth of food saved. Remember to watch those expiration dates.

Bonus - You can actually find these items on sale at Kroger or at your local Dollar Tree store.

5 - Have a garage sale or use online buy, sell, trade groups/apps to offer $100 worth of items you already own to form your emergency fund in a few days.

These are some easy ways that I’ve discovered to help our family form our stockpile. These extra funds help with regular monthly expenses when emergencies arise. Our most recent emergencies included: requiring a plumber to replace a part on our sink, repairing our air conditioner, and repairing our garage door! Goodness! So, many unexpected expenses at once!

If you have any questions about forming a $100 emergency fund or if you have other ways to save, please let me know by sending an email to weekendscount@gmail.com OR contribute a message below.

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

Sincerely,

The @WeekendsCount Family!

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!

Authors - Jennifer and Tony Edwards

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3 Weekend Side Hustles for Busy Parents

Need extra cash but can’t find a minute to spare? It’s a common struggle for busy parents trying to juggle work and family, but picking up a part-time job isn’t the only way to increase your household income. Here are three side gigs you can do on the weekends that don’t take away from your family time.

Three Weekend Side Hustles for Busy Parents

I've known these two young ladies for their entire lives. They have an phenomenal mother and amazing grandparents who taught them about the importance of saving money for the future. Recently, I saw their mom's post on Facebook about beginning the year with a savings account. I was compelling to write her and ask for her family's viewpoint on saving and why others should consider saving. These were their responses.

I am QUITE impressed! So focused! :)

Jamiyah Stephenson (15 years old)

The reason to save as a teenager is because you don’t want it to affect your future. You also, don’t want to be living paycheck to paycheck because you are focusing on your wants instead of your needs. In the future, it is going to be even harder to stop spending money constantly because it has already become a habit. You shouldn’t want money problems when you’re older because you’ll have all kinds of bills to pay.

Jaterria Stephenson (13 years old)

Saving money as a teenager is important to me because it’s about growing up and being a responsible young lady. Maturity is a must-have in order to succeed at saving money. It took me a while to want to save, but now that I’m getting older I feel it’s time to finally be a responsible teen. It may take more time for other teens to want to save their money for something. Learning have to save as a teen can help secure you for the future so it’s important to save as much as you can.

Mom's View:

I stress saving because I want my children to be able to live without me, I want them to know financial security and freedom. I don’t want them to have to struggle before they learn the value of a dollar. This day and age it is imperative that our children have a nest egg or at least be working toward something bigger than themselves. We know in the black community, the struggle is rampant and it is pretty much a learned behavior. We see our parents spending money but we are never taken to a financial institution to show us the value of keeping our money. I was so proud taking my girls to the bank the other day and seeing their reactions to going into a bank, filling out and deposit slip and handing over their money.

A sad moment came when they correlated a bank as a bad thing because of the shows they’ve seen where the bank was getting robbed. 😢. My middle child said, “oh my god that was so weird but I feel so grown up now.” Beautiful moment for me as a mom. Thank you for featuring them on your blog. If you don’t mind, let me know when it goes up so I can share I with other. Our community is in need of financial gems.

Thank you for sharing your stories! I am proud of each of you and I want you to know that you have an AMAZING future ahead of you!

So... "What are YOUR tips for teaching teenagers to save?"

Let us know in the comments!

Sincerely,

The @WeekendsCount Family!

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How to Easily Build a $100 Emergency Fund for Your Family

3 Weekend Side Hustles for Busy Parents

3 Weekend Side Hustles for Busy Parents

How Teenagers Can Save Money for the Future