{"id":616,"date":"2017-04-30T13:43:17","date_gmt":"2017-04-30T13:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/?p=616"},"modified":"2017-04-30T13:43:17","modified_gmt":"2017-04-30T13:43:17","slug":"could-you-cover-a-400-emergency-from-ready-cash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/30\/could-you-cover-a-400-emergency-from-ready-cash\/","title":{"rendered":"Could you cover a $400 emergency from ready cash?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/iStock-514505768.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-617\" src=\"http:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/iStock-514505768-300x243.jpg\" alt=\"umbrella protect euro coin from rain\" width=\"572\" height=\"463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/iStock-514505768-300x243.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/iStock-514505768-768x623.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/iStock-514505768-1024x830.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/iStock-514505768.jpg 1923w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 572px) 100vw, 572px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A Federal Reserve survey showed that nearly half of all Americans could not cover a $400 emergency without borrowing from someone, selling something, or putting the expense on a credit card.<\/p>\n<p>That means that nearly half of all Americans aren\u2019t saving any money.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why aren\u2019t Americans saving? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are two primary reasons:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They aren\u2019t earning enough to do more than cover basic needs.<\/li>\n<li>Saving isn\u2019t as important to them as instant gratification. It simply isn\u2019t a priority.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s true that some folks barely earn enough to put a roof over their heads and food on the table. Some of them are getting by through careful spending and some are going farther into debt on credit cards each month.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Far more Americans do earn enough to save, but it isn\u2019t a priority<\/strong>. They\u2019d rather go out to dinner and a movie, buy new clothes, own the latest iPhone, or drive a new car.<\/p>\n<p>It really isn\u2019t safe to live that way, because those $400 \u2013 or $4,000 \u2013 emergencies do come along. When you have no money set aside, you are forced to borrow, usually on high-interest credit cards. And then the spiral into crippling debt begins.<\/p>\n<p>And what about those future expenditures? Your savings can have any purpose you wish \u2013 retirement, college for the kids, a down payment on a home \u2013 or a bigger home, a new car, or a dream vacation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You know you need to save, but how? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You might think you don\u2019t earn enough money to begin saving, but the odds are \u2013 you do. The secret to finding that money is budgeting.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have you heard of zero-based budgeting?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A zero-based budget is one in which your income minus your outgo equals zero. You plan how you will spend every last dollar.<\/p>\n<p>Begin with those fixed expenses such as housing, insurance, and the power bill. Then include a figure for necessary spending, such as food and gasoline. Next assign an amount to savings before you decide how the remainder will be spent. And do decide. Assign a purpose to every one of those dollars.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t mean you must spend it all \u2013 if your budget allows $200 for new clothes and you decide you don\u2019t really need them, you have more to add to savings \u2013 perhaps for some more enticing purchase in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Making a budget sounds intimidating, but it really isn\u2019t. Money-guru <a href=\"https:\/\/www.daveramsey.com\/blog\/the-secret-to-saving-money\">Dave Ramsey<\/a>\u00a0 says his favorite budget app is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.everydollar.com\/\">Every Dollar<\/a>. The Every Dollar program prompts you to remember all of those miscellaneous expenditures, so you don\u2019t forget a thing. With it you can set up your money plan in about 10 minutes. The basic program is free, so there\u2019s no reason not to get started today.<\/p>\n<p>You can also take advantage of a free trial that connects to your bank account and uploads your transactions. It also lets you track your expenditures on the go, so you won\u2019t be tempted to exceed your budget in any category.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s never too late to take control of your money \u2013 and the sooner you do take control, the sooner you\u2019ll have more money <u>to<\/u> control.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Mike-Clover-Group-Email-Signature-muy-grande.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-530\" src=\"http:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Mike-Clover-Group-Email-Signature-muy-grande-300x183.jpg\" alt=\"mike-clover-group-email-signature-muy-grande\" width=\"300\" height=\"183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Mike-Clover-Group-Email-Signature-muy-grande-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Mike-Clover-Group-Email-Signature-muy-grande.jpg 405w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-6 small-9 columns\">\n<div id=\"post-610\" class=\"post-610 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-uncategorized\">\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Mortgage Banker<\/p>\n<p>Homewood Mortgage,LLC<\/p>\n<p>O: 469.621.8484<\/p>\n<p>C: 469.438.5587<\/p>\n<p>F: 972.767.4370<\/p>\n<p>18170 Dallas Parkway<\/p>\n<p>Ste. 304<\/p>\n<p>Dallas, TX 75287<\/p>\n<p>NMLS# 234770<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; A Federal Reserve survey showed that nearly half of all Americans could not cover a $400 emergency without borrowing from someone, selling something, or putting the expense on a credit card. That means that nearly half of all Americans &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/30\/could-you-cover-a-400-emergency-from-ready-cash\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":618,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions\/618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mikeclover.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}