We are happy to partner with brightpeak Financial and The Motherhood on this post. 
Emergencies happen to families all the time. We have cars, children, pets, a house, something is bound to happen and yet I was shocked to discover that so many Americans are struggling with less than $400 in an Emergency Fund. Most families don’t budget for unexpected expenses that’s why it’s so important to have a savings.
Did you know that approximately 62% of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts? All of this according to a new survey by Google Consumer Survey for BankingRates.com. These facts make one thing clear it is more import than ever to have an emergency fund of at least $1000 to cover minor emergencies (like if your car breaks down) so you don’t have to rely on your credit cards. Credit cards have a lot of hidden fees associated so it’s best to have the cash in savings for these minor emergencies.
I am the worst at spending, I can easily send our family budget over the top. That’s why I wanted to take the brightpeak $500 Savings Challenge. 
bright peak Financial helped me establish the type of savings account our family needed and how to set it up. We signed up and right away received the first emails to help us jumpstart our savings and start to add to our savings account. Each day I received a new savings challenge to help me add to my savings, we decided to set aside $50 a month and also find other ways to add to our savings.
How I Found Success & Savings
I decided to start setting aside a small amount each month for savings. We’re still fresh with student loan debts from college so I wanted to keep it manageable with $50 a month to our savings account. I also use the tools form the challenges and was able to find other savings.
- Saved $40 a week by making my own tea at home and not going to my favorite coffee store.
- Sold unused dance wear in a Facebook group for $130
- Saved $50 by using coupon and savings at the grocery store
- Cut back on cable bill to save $30 a month.
- Saved $75 by not eating out for a week.
We’ve been using the tools we used with the brightpeak $500 Savings Challenge and not only are we generating an emergency fund but we’re also saving and being more aware of our spending habits. Sign up today and start your savings.
Signing Up for the $500 Savings Challenge is as easy as: – Visiting the website to sign up.
Does your family have an emergency fund and a plan for savings?
Giveaway!
To jumpstart your savings we have a $25 VISA gift card to give away!
Our savings account could cover quite a few emergencies, and yes, we save at least $200 a paycheck, minimum, without including work-related retirement savings.
I am a single mom and do not have a huge income so unfortunately I do not have the means to have an emergency fund.
Yes, we do.
Yes, we have an emergency budget. Sometimes we have to dig into it but always put the money back as soon as its available.
No we don’t
I was outta work for 3 months due to a dislocated shoulder so I spent my emergency fund. I’m slowly working to get one back!
We have small emergency fund
Unfortunately no, we don’t have any money to save = /
I try to make sure that I have at least $1000 savings in addition to all the reserve minimums needed to keep the savings and checking fee-less.
Yes we always have an emergency fund! You never know when something happens and you need to pay for medical, car payments etc.
We have an emergency fund and a savings plan…wish we could save more !
I have had an emergency fund in the past and it definitely needs replenishing now! Thanks for the good tips to help me make that possible!
Yes, we have an emergency fund. We save by having money directly taken out of our paycheck.
Unfortunately no which is really scary. Living paycheck to paycheck.
We have $25 a week put in an emergency fund. But sadly we have to use it more often than we would like. Thank you
Honestly, my family no longer has an emergency fund because of a few things that came up this year but we are trying to start saving again to build it up. We truly are planning to set aside a small % of income in the future for our savings.
I do not have a fund, but I know I must start.
We should but honestly we do not.
We do not currently have an emergency fund – we really need to start one.
Yes we have an emergency fund and a plan for savings
We have a very small savings and live paycheck to paycheck.
We have a certain amount from our checks deposited into our savings account.
I do have a good amount of savings, and investments. I’m a saver not a spender!
We do not have an emergency fund set up, but I try to save whenever I can.
We do have an emergency fund but sometimes it gets very low when you have a lot of things go wrong.
We do have an emergency fund.
We don’t , we live pay check to pay check at the moment.
Yes, we do have an emergency fund for those emergency moments.
No, I live paycheck to paycheck but I wish I could save
We do finally have an emergency fund that we just started this year. It feels good to know that we have a little something saved. We hope to do much better next year.
We have been saving all our lives. (This includes plans for emergencies, which we have had to use on occasion.) Now that retirement is approaching, we are so thankful for our frugality.
I have savings but nothing I call an emergency fund. I just try to save as much as I can, no specific plan at the moment.
THANKFULLY, WE A BLESSED WITH A SAVINGS.
We are retired now. Through our working years, we always put our tax refund in the bank. That gave us a nice nest egg to use in case of an emergency.
I’ve had a plan for savings and an emergency plan my whole life.
Yes, we have an emergency fund and savings plan.
Yes, but it could be better
Yes we have an emergency fund. My husband has a portion of his pay check put in savings weekly
yes we have a savings account just for emergancys
I always have an emergency fund for small emergency’s (like in the $500 to $1,000 range), but more then that would be a problem.
A big emergency would wipe us out because we have no emergency funds put aside.
We save money out of each pay check for emergencies!!
Yes we have enough for an emergency but it never feels like enough!
Yes, we have savings and an emergency plan, which in this economy is mandatory considering the number of times someone my husband has worked for has downsized or had layoffs.
Thankfully we do because my husband just lost his job.
We did have an emergency savings, unfortunately it is mostly depleted do to unforeseen events. We will work on rebuilding it so that it’s there in case we face another event. Glad that we had it available.
I used to have an emergency fund set aside, but not anymore due to medical issues.
We have an emergency fund and add to it on a regular basis.
We have a little saved.
We have a small fund
Yes we have an emergency fund.
Yeah a bit.
Yes we do. It has saved our bacon more than once!
9/28 missing tweet link https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/781290432458264577
No we don’t have a emergency fund in place
My family does not have an emergency fund, or a plan for savings?
I live paycheck to paycheck. It is really hard to save when having a tight budget.
Yes, we’ve always planned for emergencies.
There are savings.
I have a very small savings. It is hard as a single mom to make that happen.
I try to have an emergency fund, but I keep having emergencies!
I have a small savings set aside. Limited budget doesn’t allow routine saving.
Yes, we do have an emergency fund set up for lots of things, thankfully we haven’t needed it yet.
YES BUT ITS GETTING HARD TO ADD TO IT!
Yes we do, my family is military and that is one of the things you are taught. Be able to GO.
We normally do, but someone had an injury a month ago. So we are just getting back on our feet. Time to build that fund back up…. Because you never know when you will need it.
Unfortunately, there is not enough funds to go around to save, thus we do not have any money to save.
We used to have a fund but we’ve had a few emergencies that have depleted it.
We have savings accounts.
I had an emergency fund until I was diagnosed with cancer and this fund has been depleted due to all of the medical bills.
We have an emergency fund
Yes, we put some money in savings every pay check
We sort of have an emergency fund and also have saving plans.
This economy is killing us and what savings we had is long gone and it’s really hard to try to build it back up again. We are trying to work on it, but it’s just not happening too easily.
yes we have a savings account and family budget. we are very strict with our budget.
no it’s impossible to save anything with everything so massively overpriced
unfortunately, we do not have an emergency fund, and no savings plan. It’s check to check. It’s a good idea to develop one though. You just never know when you’ll really need it!
No – we have neither unfortunately.
We have no savings fund but i do have a plan in mind for one.
We currently have an emergency fund but aren’t able to put any into savings right now.
Thankfully we do have a savings account for emergencies. And thankfully we have not had to use it in awhile.
We do have an emergency fund.
We had an emergency fund up until last week when a water line broke and we had to replace the whole line. We try to put aside ten percent of our pay each week.
We have an emergency fund, provided it’s not that bad of an emergency!
We currently do not. We are living day to day.
We have an emergency fund and a plan for savings
We do not have an emergency fund, which scares me.
We have an emergency fund that can cover 6 months of our basic expenses
yes, we have an emergency fund and we do have a savings plan.
Yes, we have both.
We have an emergency credit card!
My family does have a plan for savings and somewhat of an emergency fund but we have room for improvement.
We definitely do have an emergency fund which of course I find so vital. I think everyone and every home needs at least something- better than nothing and you never know what could happen!
No we really don’t/
We have both and emergency fund and two savings accounts.
Thanks for the contest.
Yes, I have an emergency and savings fund.
We keep a small emergency amount in our savings account.
We have a small emergency cash fund but I would really like to get a little more prepared in that area.
We have a small emergency fund.
yes we have an emergency fund.
We have some money set aside in case of an emergency.
We do have an emergency fund!
We have been going thru a lot of emergencies in the past year so we have eaten up the emergency fund we had so we need to rebuild it!
WELL.. let’s just say that I have a back up plan with savings.. my GF.. she needs a little help in that area.
Yes, we have an emergency fund and we save specifically for it
My boyfriend and I just started an emergency fun last week! We have pets and we would like to be prepared, for them! haha!
we have an emergency fund.
We have a plan to make a plan. haha. We’ve talked about it and we know we need to do it – but it still hasn’t been done yet.
Yes, we have an emergency fund and savings plan.
We do have an emergency fund. Our plan for saving is to write out a real budget. Every spent dollar is accounted for and we don’t get surprises and can plan better
Yes, we have some savings, but never enough.
No we dont , I wish we did
My only plan is to get my bills paid each month!
Yes we do and we save weekly!
Yes, we have both funds!
Yes, we do have both.
Our daughter being smart is our savings plan.
Between a few unexpected car repairs and some health issues, our emergency fund is gone, gone, gone.
Christmas will be a frugal handmade affair this year.
We do have a fund for “just in case”.
We Do Have Some Savings, We Are Working To Make Cuts To Be Able To Save More.
yes to both!
We do but I admit we should do better with it.
no. I’/d like to, but no extra cash.
I do not have an emergency fund or a plan for savings.
We do have an emergency fund – many times I wish it were more though
We do not have an emergency fund but I am depositing $ into my retirement account. If It comes down to it, I could use that money.
We have an emergency savings account
yea we have a plan for savings
We have an emergency fund that we deposit into on a regular basis.
Yes, we have both.
Yes we have an emergency fund and a plan for savings.
we have an emergency fund and a savings plan
We have an emergency fund along with a savings programs.
No, we do not have an emergency fund and cannot contribute to a savings right now because of a certain ongoing situation in our life.
We have a fund that gets raided every time the car breaks down.
I do like to put as much into savings as I can manage.
Yes. Because shortly after we got married I was diagnosed with a serious health issue so we are always sure to have set something aside.
Yes, we have both.
It is wise to keep an emergency fund consisting of 3-months of earned income. A budget is always wise. If you are living from paycheck to paycheck, you should pay cash for everything because you can easily keep track of how much cash you have on hand. If you use a checkbook, you need to keep the balance up to day or you may overdraft. Using a credit card is very dangerous because it is easy to build up a large debt.
We have an emergency fund, and a plan for savings.
We currently don’t have an emergency fund due to my sister getting a rare eye condition, but we do have a savings plan.
Yes, my husband has a savings plan.
Yes, we have an emergency and savings fund that we don’t touch. You never know what might happen down the road.
we have a bit for emergencies, not enough though.
We have a small fund but could definitely have a bigger one.
Unfortunately, due to financial setbacks, we don’t have one.
We do not have an emergency fund but I plan on starting one.
We have an emergency fund and a plan for savings.
Yes we have both
Yes, we have both.
Yes we have a fund but it is hard not to dip into it
Yes, we have a savings fund that would get us through 6 months of no income.
Yes we have an emergency fund and a savings plan!
I really wish we could. We are working on paying off some stuff so that this is an option for us.
We have a certain amount from our checks deposited into a special savings account.
thank you
No, but it is something that we should establish.
We follow Dave Ramsey’s plan. We have $1000 emergency fund and we are paying off a car quickly.
Yes we do. We are organized and prepared.
We have a plan for savings and we have a small emergency fund that we need to add more savings towards.
We do but I doubt it is enough to get us through a major upset. I need to plan something better.
We had a small fund, but an emergency recently came up and it’s now depleted.
Not as much as I would have liked.
I do have sufficient funds for an emergency. Being retired and on a fixed income it is harder to save money than it used to be. Hopefully my funds will last as long as I do!
No. I wish we did.
I ‘m on Disability, and live check to check , I try to save up a little by the end of the month
We are working on this within our budget.
We have an emergency fund and we are working on our savings
Have a extra savings acct to put in a little money in every month
Yes we have an emergency fund, but no real savings plan other than we are careful with our spending.
We have an emergency fund and a savings plan in place.
Yes but Dental bills are killing it.
We do have an emergency fund and our savings plan is just to put away as much money as we can each month.
I have a savings plan and put money away regularly.
Yes, we have an emergency fund. We are working on a savings plan.
Yes, we have an emergency fund and are always trying to save anyway we can.
Yes – most of the time. I seem to have a lot of emergencies and have to replenish.
We have a small fund, but lately we’ve been digging into it for some unexpected costs. I really need to try to rebuild it.
We have a fund, but it needs to be bigger.
We do not have an emergency fund and no plan to save! Just is not in the budget til we pay off some things!
we have a fudn and we put away savings monthly.