DSG firedrill--how much money?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
DSG firedrill--how much money?
16
Fri, 02-04-2005 - 11:11am

Am I allowed to do this littlesbigs? LOL

Okay, here goes:
There has been an error in your checking account and they completely failed to credit your account with your latest paycheck. It will take at least a week for them to fix it. You have a mortgage payment (or rent), utilities, and groceries to pay for.

Without charging, using credit lines, borrowing from friends or family or otherwise creating debt, how much money can you get your hands on right this minute?

With about a week's notice, how much more can you get your hands on (no debting, not even temporarily on 0% cards!)?

Again, you must do this without resorting to borrowing. For the purposes of this drill, I am considering borrowing against a retirement account or cashing it out with a penalty to be off-limits.

Now, what if you were allowed to touch your credit line/cc/equity/retirement account? How much would you need and how much would it cost you to borrow it for the week until they fix your paycheck deposit?

Okay... go!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-22-1999
Fri, 02-04-2005 - 9:33pm

Hi, Heather! I saw the fire drill and laughed! I am honored! You go for it!

I would probably without borrowing in any way be able to get my hands on enough cash to pay my expenses for a month. I could probably get at this moment get about $100.00 in cash money.....yikes! Well, it is 9:30 at night......the cash is not in the ATM account, LOL! I don't want to think about how much I could spend on credit....too much!!!!

Great fire drill!!! You've got me thinkin'!!!!!
Littlesbigs

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2004
Fri, 02-04-2005 - 9:45pm
I would be pretty nervous and stressed about why the deposit wasn't credited and I would probably obsess about it until they fixed it! So mentally, I would be stressed about that, but financially I would be okay. I just got my federal tax refund yesterday and had it direct deposited into my savings account; and now with that, I have a 6 months emergency fund set up totaling $10,500. I had $10,650 yesterday, but had to use $150 for misc medical expenses so tapped my account for that. I also get payed next week on Wednesday and adjusted my withholding so they aren't taking as much out now, but my checks are usually around $1000-1100. So I would be fine if this happened, but I wouldn't completely relax until it was fixed! lol!
Avatar for mquin73
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sat, 02-05-2005 - 12:30am
Oh no, I would be freaking out too.


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Avatar for cl_beckymk
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sat, 02-05-2005 - 5:19pm

Hmmm.....does the money I had put aside from our refinancing count as debt money??????????????????

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sun, 02-06-2005 - 10:59am

I think you can count the money you had set aside from your refinance. I was thinking of cash the way a bank would think of it when considering you for a mortgage--they want to see a certain amount of money that is set aside *ahead of time* and not money that you've borrowed on the spur of the moment. I mean, in the big sense, any cash that is less than the total amount any of us owes is debt--since we have debts that it could be used to pay. But it's still important to have because sometimes credit just won't cover sudden expenses, and it's a good habit to get in to have a cash buffer lying around.

And I don't think a food pantry is debt, except in a big social context, but if that's what it takes to feed a family, well, that's what they're there for.

Speaking of a cash buffer, though, there is another reason I think it's important. I read somewhere (I think it was Amy Dascycyn) about people all having a time and money comfort threshold. Some people are always late by fifteen minutes, no matter what time they are told to be there. And when the clocks change to give them an extra hour, unless they forget the time change they are still fifteen minutes late. And with money, it's the same thing--some people are used to being at a certain level of debt, and when they get there, they stay there until there's an emergency. I think it's the same with cash buffers.

I remember when having $500 in an account somewhere for emergencies seemed like a big deal. I had a hard time envisioning myself with something like one of my friends had--a $15,000 emergency buffer.

But our comfort zones can be reprogrammed. And that's what I've been working on, and what I think building those cash reserves can do for us. The $1000 that's sitting in an emergency fund for me right now seems comfortable, where at one time it would have seemed like a lot more than I needed (even if logically I knew it wasn't much, emotionally I would *feel* like I had money to blow, and would probably blow it). Now the $3000-plus that I have in various accounts seems like a lot to me, but I'm learning to feel *comfortable* inside of it, so that it doesn't feel like "money to blow" to me. And as my balances grow, I hope that when I get debt-free instead of feeling like I've got money to blow, I'll feel comfortable and on the right track, and continue to build wealth instead of just blowing it all again.

Okay, back to work for me...

Heather

Avatar for cl_beckymk
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sun, 02-06-2005 - 1:09pm

OK...now I understand.

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