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An Emergency Fund

Or should I say, an end-of-days fund. My husband believes an emergency fund means enough money completely liquid to live on for years after a nuclear bomb wipes out half the world. What he doesn't realize is that his precious e-fund will merely be fancy wallpaper or firewood at that point. He reminds me of my grandmother who kept her money in a band-aid tin hidden in her headboard. At least she had the excuse that she lived through the great depression and understood the fickleness of the economy.

So what is his excuse? Well, he went through his own little great depression. After graduating college he tried to find a job during a slow job market and it took him years to get a college-level job. During the 2 years after he graduated he was without a job for long periods and experienced first hand the torture called "job search." This torturous activity scarred him for life and now he is constantly afraid he will loose his job and never find another one, although he is very good at what he does.

While his fear is on the extreme side...It is not unfounded and can be somewhat useful during times like these. Because of his fear we have saved up enough money to pay for 100% of our expenses for 8 months if we both simultaneous and tragically lost our jobs. If only one of us lost our job, we could live for 20 months on the fund worst case scenario. So although I make fun of his dooms-day mentality toward finances, I must admit it makes me feel safe and worry-free to have an end-of-days fund.