Comments on: Should I Increase Emergency Savings or Payoff Debt?

By: Joe Morgan

Joe Morgan — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:12:34 +0000

I’ve been wrestling with this myself. I hate having debt, but would like more in savings given the current economic and unemployment rate. The fact that I have 4 dependents and we are living on a single income should push me more towards the savings side of the fence, but I feel my job is pretty secure and I just want to finally be able to pay off the car and student loans.

I like your point system for helping to decide, but I came up with “6″, which is middle of the road! LOL!

Guess I’ll keep on keeping on for now.

By: AJ

AJ — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:00:08 +0000

Great post, we don’t feel totally comfortable with just $1k so we’re going to bump it up to 3-6 mo emergency fund and then attack the remaining debt which are the student loans and they’re going to take some serious time to eliminate.

By: Carnival of Debt Reduction » Welcome to this week’s Carnival

Carnival of Debt Reduction » Welcome to this week’s Carnival — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:30:12 +0000

[...] Personal Finance Journey debates building an emergency fund or paying down debt. [...]

By: Austin

Austin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:43:40 +0000

I agree — Build Savings First (for contingencies) — Then pay off debts — Then Invest — Then Spend.Nice post.

By: Thursday Linkfest [2010-03-19] | The Orange Paper

Thursday Linkfest [2010-03-19] | The Orange Paper — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:42:20 +0000

[...] Should I Increase Emergency Savings or Payoff Debt? [PersonalFinanceJourney] [...]

By: Friday Links - Canadian Finance Blog

Friday Links - Canadian Finance Blog — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:03:42 +0000

[...] Personal Finance Journey asks, should I increase emergency savings or payoff debt? [...]

By: Derek - ChristianCommonCents

Derek - ChristianCommonCents — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:39:12 +0000

I completely agree. I went with a slightly modified version of Dave’s plan. $1000 was quite enough to make us comfortable so we went with about $2500. I could have probably gone with a little smaller fund, but this is what my wife and I were comfortable with.
.-= Derek – ChristianCommonCents´s last blog ..How My Emergency Fund Saved My Honeymoon From Total Disaster =-.

By: Carlos Frank

Carlos Frank — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:09:34 +0000

Lakita- I like how you bring the risk tolerance into this and I’m glad it’s more on the conservative side and not on the side that say “forget savings, I’m paying off debt!” I’m huge on sticking with Baby Step #1 (saving $1000) because it’s literally a life changer for most people and then attacking the debt with everything you’ve got!
Do you remember the time when 3 months of living expenses was considered safe?
.-= Carlos Frank´s last blog ..I’m Sorry but Stewardship is not just about Management =-.

By: BibleDebt

BibleDebt — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:06:37 +0000

Wonderful summary of Dave Ramsey’s plan. Like you said, it is all about personal preference. I prefer to be out of debt and have money. Both of these will be true if you follow this plan!

By: Joseph |kickdebtoff.com

Joseph |kickdebtoff.com — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:38:01 +0000

My opinion would be -pay off debt, with the assumption that one has an emergency fund. $1000.00 is the beginning point and gradually build it as you attack debt. This is the approach we have taken and right now we are out of credit card debt, paid off car notes.. and aggressively attacking our huge student loans.
The questions you posed are great way to check which direction to go.