Having an emergency fund of at least 3-6 months of living expenses is important to keep you afloat in a financial disaster.  Since your emergency fund will be a large amount of money, you’ll likely keep it in a checking or savings account.

This weekend my car battery died.  Since my car was parked in the garage, I needed one of those battery pack things that tow trucks carry.  It was Sunday and most towing companies were closed.  The ones that were closet to me and open, only took cash and I only had credit and check.  The one I found that took credit was a 30 minutes away from me.  It actually took 45 minutes for the truck to come.  I was kicking myself for not having cash on me.

You won’t always be able to make it to the bank in time to finance a emergency.  So, keeping some cash stashed somewhere in your home is a good idea.  You don’t need much.  Just a few hundred dollars kept hidden and locked away in a safe can save you a lot of trouble.