Moved into your new home recently. Chances are that you are negative on your cash reserves. You must have spent up all of your savings including your emergency cash reserve saves up. Many of you must have borrowed money from friends and relatives too. Sounds familiar? Well now that you have moved into your new home, make sure that you assign the first priority to building back your emergency reserve fund.
A cash reserve fund should be able to cover at least 3 to 6 months of your living expenses, incase you go without a job on hand or some other situation warrants that you spend all the money.
The ideal thing would be to invest this money into a short-term mutual fund. This has dual advantages for you. You are tied up for short term keeping your cash in near liquid asset. Secondly you earn higher interest than keeping it in a savings bank account.
Of course now with mortgage payments and monthly expense it might seem impossible to set aside cash for the surplus emergency fund. But then you would have to cut corners everywhere and save every penny to make this happen.
Of course in the normal course of living surprises do spring up now and then and you have no option but to spend money on unbudgeted expenses like car repairs, medical bills etc. But then you can look at avoiding expenditure on home interiors or improvements and divert some savings to this fund.
It is quite natural for people to keep spending on their new home without realizing how much is going into it. You have new furniture to buy, home extension, home repair etc…the list can be endless and burn a big hole in your bank account.
It is quite natural that you wish to keep your home spotless and hence spend money on repairing things as soon as you detect a small crack or a flaw.
For now it is advisable that you put away your plans for home improvement and save up all that you can, living frugally and within your means. Tomorrow when you have more disposable income and higher income you can splurge on all these things.
Get various other pieces of work by this same author covering things such as pressure washer nozzles and fire exit signs.
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