8 months living expenses...?

[Jen C.]

With all of the talk about the current state of our dismal economy, I'm curious how many of us actually have the "recommended" 8 months living expenses in the bank. I realize it is somewhat of a personal topic, so reponses in the poll will be annonymous.

The funny thing is, I know I have 8 months of my "now" living expenses, but I'm not so sure of job loss expenses. Once you factor in COBRA payments for healthcare, or another supplemental coverage, I'm not so confident.

[kakn7294]

I generally live paycheck to paycheck so I'm not even close to having 8 months of living expenses in the bank. Everytime I try to set a little aside, something comes up and I'm back to square one.

[LauraleeH]

Seriously?! That would be a dream! We live paycheck to paycheck and even then we don't have enough. And it just keeps getting worse, you have no idea :(

[DisneyLandMomma]

I generally live paycheck to paycheck so I'm not even close to having 8 months of living expenses in the bank. Everytime I try to set a little aside, something comes up and I'm back to square one.

Same with us...as soon as we have a little put away, something ALWAYS comes up.

[merlinmagic4]

We live paycheck to paycheck here but it is by choice. I have been home raising my kids for 12 years. I have worked our landscaping business and now have a part time job caring for an elderly woman but I am planning on reentering the teaching field in the fall. We need another full time income at this point - my oldest goes to college in 6 years!

So, no we do not have 8 months worth of living expenses in the bank!

[Ian]

I could have said yes a couple months back, but then I actually did get laid off and we burned through a lot of savings.

We're slowly building it back up, though, and hope to be in a better financial place 12 months from now.

[JanetMegan]

My income was cut about 95% this past year with starting a new business and not really having a salary. I was WAY glad I had plenty of reserves in the bank. I'm not where I would like to be at the moment but I can still survive 9-12 months on what I have if I need to.

[TinkerbellT421]

Also DBF and I pretty much live pay check to pay check. There is no way. I started putting a little bit aside week after week but something always comes up. Every time.

[MNNHFLTX]

I always thought they recommended six months of living expenses?

We would be okay, although we would have to cut back on a lot of things. I'm just glad that my husband and I have a while before we retire--our retirement funds have taken a beating this past year. :(

[Jen C.]

It used to be six, but I've heard that given the changes in the job market, etc., it's now eight. :(

[Ian]

We would be okay, although we would have to cut back on a lot of things. I'm just glad that my husband and I have a while before we retire--our retirement funds have taken a beating this past year. :(:ditto:

When I look at the amount of money we've lost in the last 12-14 months it's just ... shocking ... totally shocking ...

[diz_girl]

Nope.

My maternity leave in 2007 drained a lot of my savings. Of course, it's now 2009 and I haven't saved as much as I'd like for another maternity leave. But I have time, as I'm not pregnant yet. I only have one month saved right now, but I'm trying for six months of expenses.

Thankfully, my job is pretty secure, so this is more for illness rather than for layoffs. Of course, I really don't have an excuse for not having this money put away, except for the fact that I had a bit of debt, which I finally paid down a couple of years ago. So only three more car payments and then I only have to worry about my mortgage. Woohoo!

[Disneyatic]

Check another one for paycheck to paycheck here! It's nice to know we aren't the only ones out there in the same boat :secret:
I would be happy to have 1 month's worth of income in the bank, but I got laid of last July with no severance and have since then gone back to school full time so we are down to only one income and the umemployment I am getting for however long that lasts.
We are hoping to put back a little from our tax return, but that never seems to work!

[thrillme]

If I budget really tight and plan on LOTS of speghetti and beans I "might" to be able to swing 8 months but I'll probably have to give up a LOT of "extras".

BUT...nothing ever goes "smoothly". I have to really scrape by...and I have no doubt that something will happen that would really mess with my budget like plumbing or a roof.

When I'm done with the 8 months I will most likely have nothing left.

[KylesMom]

Quote:
Originally Posted by MNNHFLTX
We would be okay, although we would have to cut back on a lot of things. I'm just glad that my husband and I have a while before we retire--our retirement funds have taken a beating this past year.


When I look at the amount of money we've lost in the last 12-14 months it's just ... shocking ... totally shocking ...


Or depressing, depending on the way you look at it. DH and I are trying to take the "but it's on SALE now" approach so that we keep our spirits up. We almost didn't open our various account statements the past couple of weeks, but decided that would be irresponsible.

As far as 8 months, not even close. We're debt-free, but no way we have savings to keep us buoyant for that long. Now,if you count in potential unemployment benefits . . . that's do-able.

[BrerGnat]

We have it, but not in "savings". We're fortunate that DH's job (military) will continue to pay him, no matter what. He cannot get "laid off", and if he gets sick, injured, etc., he will continue to get paid. Unless he does something illegal (like, bad enough to get dishonorably discharged from the military), or he dies (God forbid--although, there is significant life insurance for that event), we will continue to have his income, which includes our housing payment.

We have never had a significant savings, but we are slowly starting to build one up, more for a house down payment in the future than anything else. I am a stay at home mom, and we live paycheck to paycheck, but we are debt free, and if we had to, we could cut out a lot of "extras" to add to our savings, which we plan to do this coming year.

There was a time a couple years ago when DH was considering leaving the military, but the job security factor was ultimately what led him to decide to stay in for the remainder of his 20 years (10 more years to go).

[cindchan]

There are people who have that? I have a couple of months, but if I were to lose my job, I'm pretty much screwed. In Michigan, to lose your job, is to lose everything. There's no hope of finding another job anytime soon.

As it is, if I get into grad school, that'll seriously cut back my work hours, and therefore my income. That I don't look forward to. :(