7 Ways to Sock Away Emergency Cash

Not having an emergency fund is the first step into the deep hole of debt.

With the economy forcing people to take a hard look at their finances, more people are realizing that they need to create an emergency fund, but how do you find the money to begin an emergency fund when you are just making ends meet?

Here are seven simple ways to find money to begin an emergency fund, which will allow you to create that all-important buffer for your finances.

Rearrange Your Current Costs

The least painful way to create an emergency fund is to rearrange the way you currently spend your money without actually giving up anything.

Chances are that you are paying much more than you need to be for a lot of the services you currently subscribe to such as cable TV, Internet access and phone service. Calling these services with a competing offer in hand and asking for a better deal will often reduce the amount you are paying while keeping the exact same services you currently get.

The same can be done with home and car insurance as well. It usually costs companies much more money to find a new customer than it does to give you a discount, so they are often willing to give discounts to keep you from going to the competition. You can then take the money you save to begin your emergency fund.

Play Saving Games

There are a number of saving games that you can play to get your emergency fund started. The most common of these is creating a money jar where you empty all your loose change at the end of each day, and collect the money at the end of the month to use for your emergency fund.