The Oh $h*t Fund

Sometimes things happen that make me think thank god I have a savings account, that if I didn't have a cushion, no matter how small it may seem, the most insignificant fall could have ended up breaking a bone. Instead, I just got a good internet workout with my ING account.

Saturday morning M and I left Brooklyn for a three week vacation (!!). I won't bore you with the details, but essentially a large purchase for M's work went on our credit card right before the card's monthly statement ended. This meant that the check reimbursement from work would not come until a few weeks after the payment was due. While we were away on vacation. On top of that, my freelance check would also come in-- you guessed it-- while we were on vacation. I guess the old me would have paid some smidgen over the minimum payment on the credit card, canceled the automatic IRA investment that happens on the 15th of every month, and just gone into a rationalized debt for the sake of a few weeks of summer vacation.

Okay, maybe this doesn't count as an emergency. But sometimes calling something an Emergency Fund is a little more alarming in name than what life throws at us. So I transferred some money from our aptly labeled ING Vacation Fund and Emergency Fund into our respective accounts and will enjoy vacation free from the stress of what is going on in our bank accounts. When we get back and deposit our checks I'll just transfer the money back into the ING accounts. Because you never know when the next oh $h*t moment will happen.

And that's just one way I avoided 7 Surefire Ways to Stay Poor