Rant: the 3 month emergency fund advice is useless for most of us and I'm tired of seeing it everywhere

Andrew Craig · 2026-10-15T10:25:05.837826+00:00

I get why people repeat it. Dave Ramsey says it, every finance blog says it, my mom says it. But when rent is $1,400 and I'm making $2,900 a month, saving $8,400 before I feel "safe" is a joke. I tried for 14 months and got to $1,100 before my car needed brakes. What actually worked for me was saving $500 first. Just enough to stop using my credit card when small stuff broke. That took me 6 weeks instead of 14 months. Then I bumped it little by little. Is anyone else out there doing a smaller starter fund instead of the full 3 months? How much did you start with?

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Rant: the 3 month emergency fund advice is useless for most of us and I'm tired of seeing it everywhere | Broke to Boss Money Talk - Rigidtalk