We noticed that our post on savings seemed to be a popular one, so we thought we’d start another discussion on money and investing. Today we’re wondering, dear readers, about your emergency funds: how did you calculate the amount, how do you store it, and how often do you reevaluate the amount and the storage situation? (Pictured: Comme des Garcons Large Zip-Around Wallet, available at Saks.com for $325.)
A caveat, at the beginning: we are not experts in financial advice.
The emergency fund, though, is one of those basic topics that you read about. If you’re in debt, they say, save for your emergency fund first, and then begin paying off debt. If you’re not in debt, they say, save for your emergency fund — and keep it liquid — before you start investing in the market. The emergency fund is supposed to be there as a a cushion in case you or your spouse lose your job, or if some other emergency comes up, such as medical needs or a car accident.
OK, so, fine — great. But how much is it? Some say to figure out six months of living expenses — your mortgage or rent, your school loans, your basic food and living needs — and to bank that. Others say to figure out what your salary is for six months (the higher of two, if there are two) and just save that amount. (We’re guessing the after-tax amount?) Which calculation do you use? In the recession, have you tried to build up more than six months of living expenses? (We have a few good friends who’ve been out of work for more than six months, so it isn’t the worst idea.)
Once you have it, where do you stash it? It should be fairly liquid, so the stock market isn’t the right place for it. But do you go for a high-interest savings account? Do you have them in rolling treasury bills? Do you put them in a series of 6-month CDs, designed to give you access to some of your cash once every month or so? We always used to have them in Schwab money market funds — which at one point had an interest rate as high as 7%, we believe — but it’s now gone down to a sub-one percent interest. We’ve recently found a savings account (using the tools described in this recent NYT blog column) that had about 1.8% interest (through Capitol One), but that’s already down to 1.60%. We suppose this raises another question: How often do you reevaluate your savings vehicle?
Another option for the emergency fund is cash — we’ve heard tales of people burying up to $10K in cash in their backyard in order to have quick access to it should there be some catastrophe in which banks and so forth are not working — does anyone do that?
There are no right answers here, and we’re curious as much as you guys. What’s your take on the emergency fund?
(L-1)
Tagged as:
Comme des Garcons,
emergency fund,
savings,
wallets
Wow, we were not expecting that response to the “how much do you spend on clothes” thread — among a lot of our friends we’re the cheapskate. (We run with a lot of well-dressed ladies!) Keep in mind, however, that we haunt the sales — as we tried to make clear, there’s a difference between what you think a work-appropriate item of clothing should cost and what you’ll pay for one. For example, yes, most of our bags cost around $600-$700 — but we figure out which brands we like, and then stalk the sample sales (both online and in NYC); we’ve also gotten some ridiculously great deals. In general, we end up paying around $200 for a bag. But that’s part dedication, part talent, and part ego, also — we enjoy getting a good sale on things we think are high quality. Pictured: Money, originally uploaded to Flickr by AMagill.
But how much you spend on clothes should, obviously, be less than what you’re saving — for retirement, for a down payment, etc. So let’s talk about this.
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Tagged as:
Investing,
savings
Reader S wrote in, wondering whether she’s spending too much or too little on clothes…
Given some of the comments re: the price of the interesting Tahari dress/suit last week, I thought it might be worth doing a poll on actual price ranges that people think are appropriate for certain items. Sometimes I would like to know where I “stand” amongst women in how I budget my clothing purchases. For example, I try to keep my shoe purchases around $100 or less, even though I COULD spend more, because they get ruined so fast from walking around the city, esp in the winter. But I would spend more on other things. Am I totally normal, or a total cheapskate? How many people buy bags that are over $1K?
There really are no right answers here, but it does strike us as an interesting discussion. There are two kinds of price points to talk about, though — one is what folks expect things to cost (a good pair of work pants), the other is what folks will pay. As we’ve mentioned, we like the sales — but we don’t buy things because they cost “$X,” we buy them because we like them and we think they’re of an acceptable quality for the office. For example — an $8 t-shirt isn’t something, generally, that we would say is acceptable for the office. But we’re happy to buy a $34 t-shirt at $8. So, that said, we’ve listed below (after the jump) the price points that we would generally expect to pay for something for the office. For almost every price we’ve listed here, we would absolutely consider something marked at a higher price, but a) only if they look amazing on, b) we’re acquiring a “name” to add to the closet that we’ve lusted after, or c) … c) would be if we had a specific event to go to and knew that in order to run with the chicks who were there we’d need to put our best fashionista shoe forward. (For example, just for kicks, let’s say we were to have a meeting with Erin Callan or some other CFO who is notorious for wearing amazing stiletto shoes. You can bet we’d be there with our best newly-purchased shoes on.) By the same token, we probably would consider things in a lower price range, also, but only as “need them now” splurges or “I don’t quite know why but this cheap dress looks amazing on me.”) (But we wouldn’t wear them to a meeting with a fashionista.) Pictured: Does “sale” mean lower prices or does it mean “get outta here”?, originally uploaded to Flickr by sylvar.
UPDATE: We’ve been busy with this whole “job” thing but we are told you guys miiiight be misreading the post. All prices we list are the 100 percent price — we don’t actually pay that. Eg. It’s the $34 price — not the $8 price. Further eg: yes, our prices originally have tags that say $600-$800 but we don’t pay more than $200. But then; we’re sales hounds, as we thought we made clear.
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Liking these posts? Follow Corporette on Twitter — this is the edited version of what we’re reading! (We also Tweet if we hear about a good sale.)
- One of our favorite fashion blogs has a new monthly feature: editorial items under $50. Fun! [The Daily Obsession]
- Very interesting profile of the current White House social secretary: the stylish Desiree Rogers, descendant of a voodoo priestess with unparalleled connections in Washington. [WSJ Magazine] Incidentally: The Obamas have a Flickr account? Awesome. [The Daily Obsession]
- The sisterhood of female lawyers: will it crumble as more women become bosses? [WSJ Law Blog] Similarly: is the recession good for female lawyers? [Above the Law]
- Does Wall Street prefer women CFOs? [The Glass Hammer]
- How to find the right CD or money market account. [Get Rich Slowly]
- Mmmn: gummy bears that are good for your skin. [Makeup Loves Me]
Tagged as:
CDs,
Desiree Rogers,
money-markets
Liking these posts? Follow Corporette on Twitter — this is the edited version of what we’re reading! (We also Tweet if we hear about a good sale.)
- Jeri rounds up some seriously cute post-it notes. [Jeri's Organizing & Decluttering News] (Our $.02: We wouldn’t recommend handing your boss a Post-It note with, say, a squirrel on it. But if you’re just writing notes for yourself, knock yourself out. Otherwise, you may want to limit yourself to private fun, like the Post-It dispenser at right.)
- Have you found yourself being derailed by other women in the office? [WSJ: The Juggle]
- 10 Financial Commandments for your 30s. [Kiplinger] (Click here if you’re still in your twenties!)
- A new Blackberry is designed to be easier on your thumbs. [WSJ]
- A lot is written about women’s workplace fashion gaffes — it seems rarer to hear about men’s. Accordingly, it’s very interesting to see MSM weigh in on our new president’s fashion sense at the office. [Racked] The NYT article at the heart of the Racked piece is well worth a read — very interest to compare and contrast Bush and Obama’s work styles. [NYT]
- Finally: we’re officially members of the Sarah Haskins fan club with her latest “Target: Women” piece, on Ann Curry. [Current.com] (Actually — IS there an official fan club yet? We must check Facebook.)
Tagged as:
Ann Curry,
Blackberry,
Obama,
office politics,
office supplies,
Post-Its,
Sarah Haskins
Liking these posts? Follow Corporette on Twitter — this is the edited version of what we’re reading! (We also Tweet if we hear about a good sale.)
- Have you voted for Corporette yet for best quirky blog? We’d be much obliged if you would! [ABA Journal]
- A bargain-hunter’s guide to the galaxy. (We agree with everything Ms. Binkley has to say!) [WSJ]
- The NRDC has some great holiday guides (and gift suggestions) for environmentalists. [NRDC]
- Oooh, handy: a round-up of holiday shipping deadlines for various online stores. [SheFinds]
- If you haven’t checked in with The Simple Dollar’s series, reading and reviewing “the best investing book ever written” – Benjamin Graham’s “The Intelligent Investor” — check it out. [The Simple Dollar]
- Finally, for the lawyers out there, what do you guys think of this post? We’re somewhat conflicted about how to feel about it — is he against women? introverts? Are we just being too sensitive? We’d love your thoughts.
Tagged as:
bargains,
environmentalism,
holiday shopping
