The Financial Strain of Household Emergencies

It can happen in an instant.

The washing machine quits working. Pipes freeze. A flood, fire or refrigerator that quits working just hours after you return from the grocery store with a week’s worth of meat, milk, fruit and vegetables.

Household emergencies never give you advance notice. They just appear out of nowhere to send you into a tailspin. They’re always an inconvenience, never expected and almost always designed to break your budget.

Thankfully, there are ways for you to get the money you need to fix the problem–especially at the Personal Money Store.

Preparing for the Unexpected

In a perfect world, you wouldn’t have to worry about household emergencies. In a perfect world, cars breaking down, water heaters that break and baseballs thrown through windows wouldn’t be a big deal.

You’d have enough money in the bank to hire someone to fix the problem.

But this isn’t a perfect world. This is a world where people work too hard and everything costs entirely too much. It’s a world were most people don’t make enough money to cover unexpected expenses, much less household emergencies.

In fact, Fortune reports that 63 percent of all Americans don’t have enough money to cover a $500 car repair, a $1,000 doctor’s bill or an emergency that is much, much more serious.

So you’re not alone.

You and pretty much everyone else works hard, pays bills and hopes that nothing goes seriously wrong. Because if a household emergency pops up, you just might find yourself choosing between groceries, hot water and trying to figure out how you’re going to get the kids to school in the morning.

Expecting the Unexpected

If you pay attention to the news, you would likely believe that everyone in the United States is living large. The stock market is hitting all-time highs, businesses are doling out bonuses and there are more millionaires than ever.

So why aren’t the average people doing better?

Yes, the American Dream is still alive and well–but not for everyone.

These days, most Americans are barely making enough money to pay their everyday living expenses. Rent, gas, food and clothing are enough to drain a family’s checking account.

And then you add in extra expenses such as youth athletics, field trips, birthday parties and the occasional night out and it’s enough to bleed a bank account dry.

And then the household emergency hits.

When something bad and unexpected happens–and it always happens–it can quickly wipe out a family’s savings account (if they are lucky enough to have one) and throw you into an immediate crisis.

Now, the big-time government experts will tell you that you should expect the unexpected. You should sock away 10 percent of your earnings in order to pay for a household emergency.

But that’s not practical–especially when you’re barely making enough money to make ends meet in the first place.

Options and Opportunities

So how do prepare for a household emergency–and respond when one strikes?

Here is a list of things you can do to prepare for and respond to a household emergency:

Save whatever you can. Even if it’s a handful of change a day, you should save something. Over the course of a year (or two or three, if you’re lucky) a few cents or dollars a day can really add up and help you be better prepared to respond to a household emergency.
Eliminate risk. It might not sound like a very pleasant idea, but simplifying your life is actually a great way to eliminate the risk of a household emergency. This means getting rid of laundry machines, automobiles and even electronics. The simpler your life, the less likely it is that something can go wrong.
Invest in insurance. Insurance can be costly. It may ultimately turn out to be unnecessary. But it can also save you a lot of money in the long run when something bad happens. These days, you can get insurance to cover everything from home appliances to automobile repairs.
Consider your lending options. You never know when an emergency is going to strike. Saving, eliminating risk and paying monthly premiums might not be feasible. This is why knowing your lending options is always a good idea. There are organizations that will provide short-term loans that can help you take care of household emergencies without going to the extremes. Know them.