About a decade ago when my wife and I got married, we were referred to a travel agent. We went to his office, gave him our budget and a few preferences, and about an hour later we had booked every detail of our honeymoon.

It was a great experience that saved us a lot of time and uncertainty. He also beat the price I had seen on the “Cheap Caribbean” website and had gotten us a free upgrade! 

It is common practice that a typical emergency fund should be 3 to 6 months of essential expenses. Typically 3 months is sufficient if you have a secure job with consistent pay or there are two spouses working full time in the house. Typically 6 months is best if you have inconsistent pay (commissions, bonus, etc) or only one household member works.

However, how much your expenses are in an emergency is much different than how much your typical expenses are…

My 4-year-old is fairly spoiled. Between his Nana, Grandpa, Gigi, Chief, aunties, and uncles, he pretty much has gotten every toy his heart desired. The other day he was watching a show and there was a commercial for a Disney train set.

Without thinking about it, he turned to me and asked if he could have it. I said no. He turned to his mom and tried her. She responded with a little more grace and humor - “Sure. It costs about 25 dollars. Do you have the money for it?” He looked bewildered. And rightfully so - up to that point, I don’t think we had mentioned “money” to him…

The other day my wife and I were driving when she broke a few minutes of silence to ask - “If you had limited water and were lost in the jungle, how would you ration it?” She loves asking me these types of questions because she knows I will struggle to find an answer longer than most.

I gave complex answers about how long the body can go without water and hypothesized about how the humidity levels in the jungle might affect hydration. After multiple attempts, I gave up...