While driving on the New Jersey Turnpike last week, a rock struck my windshield leaving a small crack. I knew it was going to have to be taken care of but no more so than today when I walked out to my car and saw how the crack had somehow, magically, spread overnight. But you know what? It’s OK. Why? Because I have a car maintenance/emergency fund.
After the debacle with the free car and the thousands of dollars of maintenance that went into keeping our 1994 Honda Accord on life support, my husband came up with the idea of having a separate emergency fund just for our cars. We were both tired of our regular EF being drained for car purposes and this seemed like the perfect solution. We agreed that $1000 seemed like a good amount and we’ve been contributing $100 per month to the fund. We’re currently around $600. This would be higher but some things have come up, like routine maintenance, brake replacement, and now, the crack in my windshield. And his windshield (let’s not go there). None of this things make me break into a a sweat because the money is there to fix them. Without the help of credit or having to compromise our budget.
This wasn’t always the case. There were times that a simple oil change induced anxiety attacks and frantic budget rearranging. Not anymore! Now, we can take a step back and breathe because we know the money is there. As our cars are later models (his is a 2007, mine is 2010), the problems that come with older cars aren’t necessarily present and the money lasts a lot longer. This is a great side effect because, just like with our regular emergency fund, when money gets taken out we have to make sure it gets replaced as soon as possible.
There have been many days in my life when I’ve wished I could go car-free. I find that cars are too expensive and generally a pain the ass. Unfortunately, I live in the suburbs with poor public transportation so I have to suck it up. Having the car fund has given me a little peace of mind with regard to all the upkeep, maintenance and problems that come with a car. If only I could just find a way to get it to clean itself…
Do you have an area in your life where you’ve created a separate maintenance and/or emergency fund? How much do you routinely keep in that fund?
Comments
Trackbacks
-
[…] It just happens. To prevent having to constantly dip into our emergency fund in those situations, we’ve established a separate fund just for the cars. This fund covers regular maintenance like oil changes and it’s there in case we need new tires […]
You might check with your insurance – in Kentucky windshield replacement is free and does not affect your insurance rating!
I do have a separate car emergency/maintenance fund. One day I hope for it to be a car replacement fund.
I think SingleMom is right about the windshield replacement I have heard of that before.
I just wrote an article about sub accounts for exactly these reason; expected expenses like car repairs. I've set up 3 separate savings accounts but am thinking I also need two more for car and vet bills. These two "unexpected" expenses have really been adding up lately!
UGH! We are working hard on this, starting with a car fund.Every time I turn around I am wiping out our $1,000 Dave Ramsey EF and then working to replenish it. Recently we did manage to put away a few extra hundred dollars over the course of four pay checks and but new tires w/out dipping into to the EF. Yea for baby steps!
I have a massive crack going all the way across my front windshield also. I just can't bring myself to pay to get a new windshield though. I paid to get one of those crack repairs, but the crack came back the next day (luckily I got a refund).
I have around $6,000 in my emergency fund. Check out my new blog by the way, I have a ticker at the bottom for my emergency fund which I plan on building.
@smokey–thanks! My husband checked with insurance and we only have a $50 deductable on my car.
@niki–that's ultimately my goal, too! I would love to be able to pay cash for our next car.
@littlehouse–oy, vet bills. I need to start building a pet fund espcecially with one of my guys' health issues. That is going on the budget meeting agenda.
@anotherhousewife–I don't know where we'd be without baby steps. Say what you want about Dave Ramsey; baby steps is great idea. Even if he did steal it from a movie!
@michelle–$6K is a great amount! I can't wait until we're there!
I drive a 2002 Hyundai Elantra and I have $1000 emergency car fund, created with the money i saved from insurance (by comparison shopping)for 2 years. Its very handy