The news of a pregnant Jamie Lynn Spears and her need for any kind of an emergency fund probably does not bother you. If she needs a few bucks I’m sure her sister Britney can help her in any financial crisis.

However, what about you? Are you prepared for those money emergencies that come up? The car repair, time to replace the washer or dryer, maybe a quick out of town trip for an unexpected family issue, or down sizing in your job.

Jamie Lynn may not… but many others reach for their credit card as their emergency fund and continue to dig a deeper pit of debt.

Financial gurus recommend that you need to maintain a 3 to 6 month cash reserve. This will cover all of the household expenses during this period of time.

The concept of an emergency fund is a great, but in order to build a fund for emergencies you’ll need to put in some work. The first step is to figure out what you spend each month. Those working and living within a budget will be able to make quick work out of this exercise.

In 2003, the cash reserve needed to fill these requirements for a three month period was $10,204 or $20,408 for a six month time frame. Your number may be higher or lower but however you look at it, that three month number is big! Most react with – “That number is too big, I could never have that kind of money sitting in a fund!”

In today’s uncertain economic times, job security being only a passing thought and emergenices da reality – one must be prepared.

Compared to the money you’ll need when you say goodbye to your job forever (retire), 3 – 6 months of money doesn’t seem like much.

Once you know the amount needed to fully fund your account, you can begin to create a plan to make it happen. To save $10,000 in 5 years means you’ll have to put $166.67 per month away for 60 months. Now $166.67 may sound like an impossible amount to come up with, yet that amount is less than many people spend on a cell phone bill every month!

It’s all a matter of perspective! The key is to treat your emergency fund as a regular monthly bill and put the money away. Let’s see if we can make that $166.67 look smaller. On a 30 day month that works out to approximately $5.56 per day. Check with your employer to see if you can set things up to automatically take it out of your paycheck.

Do you realize that giving up the coffee and muffin or brown bagging your lunch may be all that is needed to fund your account!

There is no time like today to get started on building your emergency fund.