The Hustle of Sistah Ant

See how close I am to meeting my Emergency Fund goal?  I am only $179.49 away from having the $5,000 starter amount I’ll be comfortable with! 

But you know what I’m not comfortable with?  Not having a goal.  Feeling too satisfied.

Therefore, as I’d already planned to do before, I’m going to change my target for the My Own Home fund.  This accomplishes a few things at once.  First, it gives me more incentive to save, because I like the quest of reaching goals.  Secondly, it keeps me from saying, "Oh, well, I’ve hit my goals, guess there’s nothing left to do now but aimlessly spend the money I make."  And finally, most usefully, it gives me more money to work with regarding closing costs.  

Between now and when I’m employed full-time and ready to buy a house, I will continually push my My Own Home savings goal farther and farther.  The more we have going for us at the closing table, the better!

Since I’m certain that my current job will be finished before the end of this month, I’ve asked myself whether or not I should stop putting my money into my ING account.  If at any point I need that money while I’m looking for another job, I would have to wait a few days while transferring it from my ING account to my checking account.  Maybe I should keep some money right here in my checking account, where access is easy.

But I won’t.  I don’t want the access to be easy.  I want to have to plan ahead for expenses.  I want to have think twice about whether or not I want to go through the hassle of getting money out of my Emergency Fund, which I’m still in the process of funding.  (This is why I still don’t have an ING checking account.)  So, I am still saving at the same clip, still putting my savings in the ING account, and as long as I keep planning ahead, I shouldn’t need to keep my money in my checking account for easy access.