2020年6月30日 • 10分钟
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Besides having a balanced budget where you live within your means，有…… emergency savings fund is the single most important way to safeguard your financial wellness. According to a 2020 Bankrate survey, the average emergency expense costs around $1,000 – but the cost of not having an emergency fund could cost you much more. That’s because emergency savings can help protect you from high-interest payday loans, credit card debt, 还有滞纳金.
If you’re already struggling to cover your 费用, 振作起来——即使每周或每月存一小笔钱，在紧急情况发生时也能起到作用. Here, we’ve rounded up 27 different ways 为了节省 money. Not every idea will work for you, 但我们相信，这里有足够多的不同想法，即使是最不情愿的储蓄者也会找到一些有用的方法.
即使是每周或每月存一小笔钱，在紧急情况发生时也能起作用."
If it seems daunting 为了节省 up three months’ worth of 费用, consider saving up for smaller, discrete categories 第一个. 例如, 第一个 save up for three months’ worth of groceries. 然后 save up for three months’ worth of rent. 然后 do the same for car insurance, utility bills, etc. 这种方法可以帮助你感觉更有力量，并向你展示在紧急情况发生时你在保护生计方面所取得的真正进展.
提前为如何处理意外收入制定计划，比如加薪、退款或奖金. Something that many people can live with is saving 50% and spending 50%.
Download your 费用 from the past two or three months into a spreadsheet. 打印两份——一份给你自己，一份给你重要的人、家庭成员或朋友. Review all the 费用, marking them as High, Medium or Low importance. 然后 compare your notes with the other person. If you’re part of a couple, this can help you find 费用 you both think can be cut. If you’re single, 这可以给你额外的视角，哪些开支是重要的，哪些应该削减.
Facebook和Reddit等社交媒体网站的个人理财小组都面临着“不花钱”的挑战, 你加入一个团体，然后同意在一段时间内不花钱(或不花任何可自由支配的钱). 然后你发布你的进展，小组成员互相挑战，让每个人都负起责任. Take the money you would have otherwise spent and put it into your emergency fund.
If you don’t want to join a social media group, consider posting your challenge on your own individual social media page, such as your Instagram account. Or go offline and share your “no spend” challenge with friends and family, and update them on your progress.
如果有一家你一直想尝试的新餐馆，或者一双你一直想买的新运动鞋, put aside enough money for the meal or the shoes. 然后设定一个目标，比如存下两个月的生活费或四个月的房租. When you meet your goal, treat 你自己 to the dinner or the shoes.
Make sure the relative amounts are appropriate – for instance, it would make sense to splurge on a $200 dinner after saving up $6,000 worth of rent. But it wouldn’t be wise to buy $150 sneakers after saving up $600 of utility bills.
例如，从一元店(或你的食品储藏室)买一个罐子，把一定数量或种类的钱放在一边, all $10 bills or all change you receive from restaurants. At the end of the month, put this money into your emergency savings.
和你的经理或人力资源部谈谈你在工作中可以得到的所有补偿——包括手机折扣或锻炼的奖励. These can add up over the course of a year, so contribute all the benefits into your emergency savings.
If you’re paid bi-weekly, two months each year will have an extra payday. 保存 these “extra” paychecks into your emergency fund.
Unless you had an expense like rent go up, don’t spend your raise – instead, 把加薪带来的额外收入转移到应急储蓄中，直到你的账户达到你的目标.
Eating out consumes a huge amount of many monthly budgets. So if you’re not working from home, consider skipping just one meal out per week, and put that money into your emergency savings. Or alternate weeks, one week eating out for lunch and the next week cooking from home.
增加你的预扣税超过它需要-这样做通常会导致更大的退款. 然后 put that refund into your emergency savings. 这是一个特别有效的方法，对于那些难以每月储蓄的人.
If your employer offers a flexible spending account (FSA) for qualified medical 费用, direct any reimbursements from that plan into a high-yield savings account. Since you’ve already spent the money on the original expense, the reimbursement can be put towards your emergency fund.
If your insurance has the option for a Health 储蓄 Account (保险公司), consider using it for 强迫储蓄. There are two ways to do this. 第一个, 你可以简单地建立你的保险公司账户，这样你就可以为医疗紧急情况存钱. (Be sure to stay on top of 保险公司 limits and other rules that affect your balance.)
第二种使用保险公司账户的方法是将所有可报销的医疗费用作为每月常规预算的一部分自付. 然后, at the end of the year, 让你的法律允许报销这些费用，把所有的钱都存进你的应急储蓄中.
Talk to your insurance agent about your homeowner’s or renter’s deductible, your car insurance deductible, and any other deductibles you have. 考虑到他们的索赔历史和风险，有些人的免赔额太低了——换成更高的免赔额可以节省你的钱，然后可以把这些钱存进你的应急储蓄中.
While this method can save money, 一定要仔细考虑你的风险偏好和索赔历史与你的代理人做出改变之前.
Once you’ve determined your monthly budget, 每月把这笔钱转到你的支票账户里，然后把你的薪水直接存入储蓄账户. This way, you’ll only have easy access to what 你需要 each month. 把薪水中多余的钱从储蓄账户转到你的应急基金中, 所以你可以把这笔钱专门用于紧急情况，并清楚地看到应急基金的增长.
Instead of saving up your credit card points for a free flight or other reward, convert it to cash and then put that cash into your emergency fund. An emergency fund may not be as fun as a free flight to the coast, but it will help you sleep better at night.
Consider splitting the amount you’re saving for retirement 分成两部分，一半用于应急基金(直到你达到目标)，一半用于退休. Not sure how much your emergency fund goal should be? Learn more about how much emergency fund 你需要.
If your employer matches your retirement contributions, 考虑将超过雇主要求的数额存入你的应急基金.
If you have a stock portfolio, it’s likely that you’re reinvesting the dividends. While this is a great way to increase your holdings, you would be better served building an emergency fund if you don’t have one. Divert 你的红利 into your emergency savings until you reach your goal amount.
有几个应用程序可以自动计算你的信用卡费用，然后保存它们. Patelco also offers this solution: Patelco + 检查. With this account, we’ll round up your total to the nearest dollar, 然后把差额转到你的储蓄账户，然后我们会把合计金额的10%存入你的储蓄账户, 太.
如果你选择了一款应用，一定要阅读有关费用或限制的细则.
每周从你的支票账户(你用来支付日常开支的账户)自动转账到你的应急基金储蓄账户. Patelco Online™ makes this easy – just log in, hover over 转移 & 支付 in the main menu, and then select 转移 开始吧. Having a small amount of money go out 每个星期 can be easier to swallow than a larger, once-a-month lump sum.
下次你去买东西的时候——无论是客厅的电视机还是工作的新夹克——找一个二手的东西，而不是买新的. Websites devoted to pre-owned stuff have become very popular. And don’t forget about your local thrift store. 然后 figure out the difference between the used item and the new item. 例如, if you paid $40 for a 二手 jacket instead of $100 for a new one, put $60 into your emergency fund.
Next time you make an unnecessary purchase – like a new pair of shoes you don’t need, an expensive concert, 或者买一些你可以买到的普通商品的名牌——在你的应急储蓄中省下等量的费用. 第一个好处是，它让储蓄变得不那么痛苦——你会看着你的应急基金，想着有趣的事情. The second advantage is that you’ll be more cautious before making frivolous purchases.
Consider any 费用 you are currently outsourcing – like yard work, 打扫屋子, or grocery delivery – and temporarily do these tasks 你自己. 然后把你花在外包上的钱存进你的应急储蓄中.
每个月，选择一项要削减的开支，然后把这笔钱转到你的应急储蓄中. 例如, you could start with your Monday morning coffee outing the 第一个 month. The second month, you could cancel a movie streaming subscription you don’t watch. These changes don’t have to last forever – only until you meet your savings goal.
Consider a secondary job where you can make money from home – and put all your earnings into your emergency savings. Or, temporarily take a second shift or part-time job. It may be a very busy month or two with the additional work, but you’ll be protected for years to come when your emergency savings is built up.
Many of us receive cash or gift certificates on our birthday or at holidays. 保存 any cash into your emergency savings, and then turn your gift cards into cash for the same purpose. Some merchants will redeem gift cards in low amounts for cash. 车ds worth larger amounts could be sold online to companies that buy gift cards. 只是要确保对你要出售礼品卡的公司进行调查——有几家合法的公司购买礼品卡, but there are also scammers.
Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace, 分散, and Craiglist can help you offload unwanted items and turn them into cash. 把 anything earned into your savings account. Whenever you’re selling online, 注意诈骗——这主要发生在远方或国外的人给你一张支票或汇票来购买你的物品时.
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