Experts recommend having 3-6 months of expenses stashed away in an emergency fund. These days, it is wise to have 6-9 months of expenses stashed away, or more if you are an older worker (it takes longer to find a job).
But what happens when your cash runs out?
If you must take drastic steps, here’s what to cash out, according to USA Today.
Along these same lines, TheStreet.com shares five steps to take if you cannot pay your bills.
If you are facing foreclosure, here is how you can buy some time (video).
If you got your lender to reduce your mortgage debt or already foreclosed, here’s how to deal with that on your taxes.
February 27th, 2009 at 11:00 am
I’ve been reading along for a while now. I just wanted to drop you a comment to say keep up the good work.
February 27th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Sadly, this is a very timely article. Very good information.
February 27th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Um, advising poor people is ALWAYS timely. Just because suddenly it’s now ‘cool” to be poor, doesn’t mean that there haven’t ALWAYS been poor people around. It disgusts me that suddenly everyone is jumping on the impoverished bandwagon.
February 27th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Crystal, you bring up an interesting point. It is very trendy these days to talk openly about saving money and being thrifty. For a lot of folks, however, being money conscious is a way of life. I’m not sure that it is “cool” to be poor now, but it certainly is cool to be cheap.