How to Create an Emergency Fund and Still Live Off Your Income

Increasingly here in America, budgets are becoming tighter and the job market is questionable for many people. Numerous Americans are among the working poor. Those working diligently every day and are just barely above the poverty line. Still, here in North America, being above the poverty line means you still have some luxuries others in the world do not have. Luxuries you may not have thought about include running water in your home, electricity and a refrigerator.

For many of us who work a respectable full-time job but simply cannot find the extra in our budget. How much realistically should you have set apart, outside of your regular expenses in case of an emergency? Three to six months worth of all household expenses is a good start. If your budget seems already stretched to the limit here are three great ideas to add to your emergency fund.

Emergency fund calculator http://www.forefieldkt.com/kt_dt/dt_trns.aspx?xd=Emergency&il=ai

Look for ways to increase your income. There are many ways to increase your income without spending up all of your free time. Record your day for three days. Keep track, of how long you're spending doing everything. Write down if you are spending 45 minutes online everyday, watching two hours of TV, talking on the phone for a half hour each night, are you sleeping over 9 hours a night. Consider waking up an hour earlier. This is over four hours in one day that you could be participating in some type of money making activity.

Second Job.

Find employment that will pay you a base pay plus commission. Investing your time in an hourly rate can only get you so far. Your salaried position may require you to work over forty hours a week, without overtime or additional compensation. Plan to use your additional working hours to make more than flat hourly rate. Sit down and think about your city. Write down all of the businesses that sell high ticket items.

Consider working in a retail position in an upscale store that has a continuous steady stream of customers. For example a man's clothing store that sells high priced suits, shoes, and provides tailoring. This store is attracting people concerned with quality and their overall look, not the price tag. Work at a car dealership, electronic store, any place that you find that offers high ticket items and pays generous commissions.

Create a product or service.

Take time out to asses the needs of your community.

Think about opportunities that do not require a lot of money to start. If you are a stay at home mom, and see several unsupervised children before and after school. Consider providing before and after school care. Charge the same rates as the best daycare in town. Do not undervalue your time. This will attract a quality better parent, who wants the best for their children. This is currently time that you are caring for your school aged children already.

Are there elderly people or extremely busy people that would love to pay you to do their grocery shopping? Talk with several busy office buildings, contract out a space to provide gourmet coffee using a food service booth. Professionals who buy coffee already every morning will gladly pay for a great tasting overpriced latté, conveniently located right outside their office.

People love their pets, but don't want to clean up after them. Current customers of www.poopbutler.com are paying $ 50 dollars a month for a one visit a week, and for customers that need five visits a week are paying $ 180 every month. For one time customers, a rate of $1 per minute is charged. A busy weekend of first time customers could provide $60 in income in a one hour period.

By taking the time to see what you can do to earn extra income is a great step to securing your families financial future. After you secure your rainy day fund, use a portion of this money to pay off debt. Properly investing some of this money into investments, real estate, or a home business is a great way to make your job an option.