We have some friends who are in serious financial trouble.  They have been experiencing a lot of expenses with their home over the last couple of years.  They had to put in a new central air unit because their old one bit the dust a couple of months ago.  Now, their furnace was cracked and emitting carbon dioxide into their home.  They had to replace it.  As you can imagine, the air conditioner was very expensive and so is the furnace.  They financed the air conditioner and plan to finance the furnace.  But they don’t know if they can stretch their income far enough.

This is a good example of why you need a fully funded emergency fund.  I know I’ve written about that before so I won’t dwell on that.  In this particular case, they didn’t have enough cash to fund either one.

I have offered to sit down with them to work out a budget and I hope they take me up on that offer.  I think I know of a couple of places they can cut expenses.  However, without knowing exactly where they are financially, I don’t know if my ideas will help.  Regardless, they are wonderful people and we will do what we can to help.

Moral of the story:

Financial trouble can hit anyone.  And, if they get hit back-to-back, their emergency fund can be depleted quickly.  Homeowners especially need to save extra dollars for expenses that come up with home ownership.  People who own their own homes can get into serious financial trouble very quickly if they don’t.