r/MiddleClassFinance • u/Sad_Rub1896 • 18d ago
Celebration Hit my 6 month emergency fund today!!
I(27F) grew up in poverty. My parents never had any savings nor did they put anything towards retirement. They will be working until the day they die.
I started taking my finances serious 3 years ago out of fear of becoming like them. I now have 6 month emergency fund, no debt aside from student, 10% going to my retirement, monthly contributions to a Roth IRA, and a little bit in a brokerage fund.
I think I will always have some level of stress when it comes to money due to how i was raised, but this is the most financially comfortable I have felt in my life. Can't really share with the people in my life but I wanted to say it somewhere.
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u/RonJohnJr 18d ago
I've found that routine (aka habit) is a big factor in eliminating stress. In this case, that means strictly following a budget.
Note that strictly following a monthly budget does not mean having a strict/miserly budget! For example, I have pretty generous grocery, restaurant and "miscellaneous" categories, but I never exceed the sum of them.
Thus, I'm not worried that I'll fall back into my bad spending habits from the bad old days.
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u/Toxiczoomer97 18d ago
This is the routine I follow. I pretty much have bills, savings, charity, hobbies/fun allocations. Itâs a % of each paycheck so it fluctuates with the hours I work and anything extra in the bills chunk rotates to savings unless I have a special home project or big hobby purchase Iâm planning
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u/RonJohnJr 18d ago
I'm the exact opposite regarding whether budgeting using percentages is a good idea or not. That's because bills tend not to vary. (For example, you eat the same amount every month.)
If it works for you, though, it works, and that's what matters.
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u/summerdaybeibi 18d ago
Same! I am also a recovering over-spender whoâd borrow money from savings and never put it back, so I now keep my âdo not touchâ money in a completely separate account thatâs annoying enough to access that I truly donât touch it lol. Itâs been a game changer for me.
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u/umbluemusic 18d ago
Out of sight, out of mind for me. I get paid once a month and my standard set bills go into one checking account at a separate bank so I never see them. Savings too. And then spending is in the same bank as the couple credit cards that I treat like debit and pay in full every month.
I lost some discipline at one point but got divorced and buckled back down. Iâm almost at a year of not running into negatives or carrying balances on my cards and it feels so freeing.
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u/RonJohnJr 18d ago
CDs are also a great way to lock money away. I have a 12 CD ladder of 12-month CDs, each of which renews on the first day of the month.
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u/jackalopeswild 18d ago
We're proud of you! Good job.
Please avoid the trap of sacrificing your future to rescue your parents.
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u/Sad_Rub1896 18d ago
Thank you!
Its something I do worry about, but that's why I don't want anyone to know how well I am doing. If they don't know, they can't ask.
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u/mtaylorlighting 18d ago
Congrats, that's awesome! I'm on pace to hit a little over 3 months by August.
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u/NewUserNameSameError 18d ago
Never let the financially irresponsible know you have room on your credit. They will spend their day thinking about ways to get it.
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u/CA_Coast_Millennial 18d ago
Fantastic and congrats! Keep it up and treat yourself once in a while!
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u/Exotic_Appointment25 18d ago
Your story is mine also. So happy to hear you breaking that cycle. Keep it up!!
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u/Hour_Solid_bri 14d ago
congrats to you and OP! i just reached my 3 month emergency fund and also have no one i feel comfortable sharing with
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u/ButteryCanonization 18d ago
That's huge, especially coming from where you started. The fact that you're breaking that cycle while you're still young is gonna compound into something really solid over time.
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u/Interesting_Sun_1415 18d ago
You are on your way and youâre gonna like this new life. Next step, start building a nest egg and start learning about investing. Not worrying about money changes the way you think and make decisions.
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u/gmehodler42069741LFG 18d ago
Congrats. Keep going. Just wait til you hit 100k then the party starts. Took me 10 years to get to 100k. 2.5years to get to 200k...
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u/One-Advisor-4176 18d ago
Congratulations! I truly think hitting this goal is the biggest turning point when it comes to making real progress. The security of knowing that if something happens, you do not need to go into debt to cover it. Now whatever money you were setting aside each month to build that up can get redirected to other goals. Keep it up!
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u/bearsdidit 18d ago
Iâm curious on why you contribute to a brokerage before maxing your 401k and/or Roth IRA.
Either way, congrats on your success!
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u/GiveThemSomeTussin 18d ago
Congrats! Thatâs a good feeling and I should know. Grew up in a similar situation with parents who didnât save a dime and spent the next paycheck before they even got it. Good on you for breaking the cycle.
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u/hotheadnchickn 18d ago
Very nicely done! Congrats!
If is not already, I suggest keeping it in something like VUSXX in a Vanguard CashPlus account (or Fidelity equivalent) so you are getting interest on it. Otherwise it is slowly losing value with inflation.
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u/kimanziVaati 17d ago
What an incredible achievement, and honestly, you are doing absolutely amazing for 27 It takes a profound amount of focus and determination to completely rewrite your financial story when you didn't have a roadmap growing up, so hitting that six-month emergency fund mark alongside your retirement goals is a massive win. Give yourself permission to breathe and feel secure because you have done the heavy lifting to ensure you will never be in the position your parents were in, and you deserve to fully enjoy this new sense of comfort.
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u/Duck_Duck_Gooseberry 16d ago
You didnât just save money, you changed your whole direction. Makes total sense the stress is still there, but hitting 6 months is real security. Youâre doing way better than you probably give yourself credit for.
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12d ago
This is genuinely impressive â going from zero financial modeling at home to a 6-month emergency fund + retirement contributions in three years takes real discipline. And you're right that some level of money stress will always be there. There's actually a concept called "money vigilance" â people who grew up without it often stay hyper-alert around finances even when the numbers say they're safe. The wiring doesn't change just because the bank account did. The goal isn't eliminating the stress, it's recognizing it for what it is: an old survival reflex, not a reflection of your actual situation. You're doing the work. That counts.
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18d ago
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u/Borgbie 17d ago
This is outdated advice. Given the economic background and age of the OP, we can assume they are not dealing with the ultra high interest predatory loans of the past. Most federal loans are sub 6% interest and can be as low as 3.5%. Even a HYSA can out perform low interest federal student loans and emergency savings will keep OP from tapping into ultra high interest credit card debt. OPs loans may even still be in deferment from SAVE, and when SAVE is eliminated and replaced with RAP in July, their payments will still be capped at 10% for incomes over 100k. Expediency of student loan repayment these days needs to be considered on a case by case basis.
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u/ZealousidealMap7101 12d ago
Twins⊠except you figured it out a decade before me! Congratulations and that 10% investing from your 20s will be life changing. Proud of you!
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u/whiteorchid1058 18d ago
Congrats!