Part of my emergency fund resides in my checking accounts in the form of “cushions” below which I try not to fall. These are the first line of defense when unexpected bills strike.

The weekly budgeting scheme has kept me not only within my budget but often under budget, so that the money market checking account where I stash the amount set aside for charge card purchases now has a cushion of over $400. Thank goodness I decided not to move that over to Vanguard and apply it to the Renovation Loan repayment fund! What with the vet bills (and more to come: the dog still stinks and the sore on her leg is relapsing), the $100 hit to renew mac.com, the $50 hit to renew the Costco membership, and the $104 Costco run I made in the first week of the cycle before all these extra expenses started to crash down on my head, this month’s budget is already shot to Hell. With two weeks left to go!

Despite the $104.18 Costco run in week 1, that week still ended in the black. The following week we have the $380 vet bill, the $100 mac.com renewal, and another $75 Costco run. In the current week, I carried forward the $75.60 underrun from week 1 and the $282.96 overrun from week 2. I’ve returned two pairs of shorts to Costco, crediting this week’s column with another $41.14. That leaves me $208.77 to live on this week. This is probably do-able for a week, except that I’m running low on food and will definitely have to buy at least one more $50 tank of gas between now and the 13th. If I buy nothing but food and the next vet bill is within reason (by that I mean under about $75―not likely!), I will make it to the end of the month in the black. BUT: all it will take is one more exorbitant vet bill to put me in the red. And since the dog is relapsing fast, it looks bad for solvency this month!

However... That $400 cushion may just cover the overrun, assuming the vet doesn’t charge more than $500 for whatever comes next.

Where did these “cushions” that can serve as mini-emergency funds come from?

Snowflaking, mostly. In January, I had $150 left over; in February, $200. Instead of spending these amounts, using them to snowflake the Renovation Loan principal, or moving them to the Renovation Loan pay-off fund, I just left the money in the checking account. Over a few months, about four hundred bucks has accrued. I intended to let it build to $500 and then go back to snowflaking principal with the budget underruns. It will be a while before I can do that―but at least I won’t have to raid a mutual fund to pay for the vet bills!

categories: budgeting