Most americans cannot afford a $1000 emergency expense...

its not surprising at all....I barely can, I try to have 1g always available for an emergency...but some times it doesn't work out that way.
 
you guys are all young. Im talking about the majority of americans who have families and office jobs- people i work with who wear suits to work every day. they dont have $1000 in a checking account?

I mean in the grand scheme of your life and finances, $1000 is not that much- its half a house payment, or 3 months of phone, internet, and cable.
 
An emergency cash reserve should be a stash you can instantly access when the shit hits the fan. I have one that I don't touch, I just multiplied my monthly expenses by 6 and saved up. In theory, I could lose my job tomorrow and not care for at least 6 months.

I think it's the first thing you should save for.
 
I'm a college student and I have over 1k cash in my pocket right now, earned on my own, and I am by no means a stickler who saves every penny.

People suck.

/idontwanttoliveonthisplanetanymore
 
exactly. you are young and still building your life.

let me ask you a question. do you think, in 10 years, money will be just as tight? will you be able to afford a $1000 emergency?
 
Me in 10 years

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I'm 19 and a college student. I have $1500 just in case of an emergency. Though sometimes I try to justify to myself that getting skis is an emergency but have yet to go through with it because I know with my luck as soon as I spend it on something like skis I'll run into issues and need the money
 
I'm only 18, studying abroad in Germany. I saved up 3 grand all on my own, well maybe about 400 was scholorship dollars, to live this year on. Especially with the exchange rate being basically 3 euros to 4 dollars, I'd say I'm doing mighty fine.
 
Sorry for the dub post. But not to mention that I had to buy both a American and German insurance plan, my parents paid for the plan ticket, that was about it. I had about 1500-2000 expensive before having the 3k that I have now. Again I'm 18 and saved this all up by myself, bought myself insurance already, and have enough in a backup fund. I have about 800 of that 3 grand in a saving account that I don't want to touch unless necessary.
 
doesnt suprise me, things are really tough, i make what about the average american household income in the us is and i basically live paycheck to paycheck, and thats thanks to mr O keeping me under my parents insurance- couldnt even imagine another 150$ minimum a month less, i couldnt imagine having to pay for kids too, not sure how people do it
 
I have a few thousand stored away for when I get out of college that I have saved up. I feel like its going to go fast though once I'm done.
 
My mom is a elementary school teacher with my sister just out of college and me still in college. We he a nice house and she drives a nice car. She has an awesome retirement plan with plenty of money. Problem is, although that money can be accessed, it couldn't be immediately. I know for a fact that with all her bill , she could come up with $1000 cash in an EMERGENCY. If she had a few days it wouldn't be an issue. That's only speaking for her though, my step dad on the other hand is loaded and probably has triple that in his wallet, sooooooo it's not really an issues.
 
I'm living with a host family, so thats a lot of the costs. Meals and stuff are on me though, not going too bad so far.
 
I have 33,000 in debt and 67,000 in the bank so I'm 34,000 in the black. I usually keep at least 2k in savings and 4k in checking so conservatively I should have a minimum of 3k liquid. Shouldnt have a problem getting 1000 dollars together. In the absolute worst month, i might have to sell some stocks and it would take a few days.
 
Yeah, but who pays your tuition? Exactly. You're highly in debt. Either with the government or your parents.

That being said: I don't believe more than 2% of the people on NS can pay 1000$ legitimetaly out of their own pockets. Most of us are being helped by our parents (tuition, roof over our heads etc.).

And it doesn't surprise me at all. It would be fun to see how these numbers are for people over 30.
 
im 24, been out of school and living on my own for two years. I will aggressivly be paying off college till i am 28, and in the last year i havnt once had less than $3000 in my checking account...and all it would take to summon many more thousands would be an online transfer from my savings account.

I live in the most expensive area in the nation outside of NYC, and make a pretty average salary. I have fun on the weekends and have a few toys(skis, mtb).

How can i have my shit together this well, and people waay more mature than me dont?
 
I'm not going to call anyone out because I don't know anyone's situations but saying you have a bunch of money to your name doesn't mean much if you're not the one who pays your bills. I don't know a lot of 18 to 23 year olds that pay their own rent, cell phone, car payment, groceries, insurance, student loans and all other bills and can still have enough to fork out a grand in an emergency.

Having a bunch of money doesn't mean shit if you don't pay your own bills.
 
Once out of college, i dont know many that cant. the ones that cant seem to be the exception...which is why this stat was so appalling to me.
 
i havent had a problem since college, have made many purchases since then. right now i could probably support myself a year with readily accessible funds, not counting whats put away in 401k for retirement. fwiw i don't consider myself very smart with my spending or handling of money
 
That's pretty good, but then again, you're quite a bit older than most people on here claiming they can 'easily' pay that or whatever.

And I doubt you have an 'average' salary if you can afford all that and are paying of tuition and are living in the second most expensive part of the country. Nevertheless, you seem to got it figured out. Good for you!
 
I could. I know so many kids who have like no money to their name, or spend all of it as soon as they get paid. Never understood why people do that. Just doesn't seem like a good idea.
 
I have way more than a grand for any random occurance that comes up. And yes I pay every one of my own bills. Managing your money isnt as hard as people make it to be, judging from the people I know, if they learned to cook and didnt go to the bars everything would be alright.
 
I'm in college and have 400 bucks to my name. I make up for it by owning several 90s vehicles that don't run
 
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