# Can you pay for a $1000 emergency expense without borrowing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 26, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181 "2011-08-26T14:22:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/21 "2011-08-26T16:21:50Z")
We’re borderline poverty level. Sometimes my bank account will only have $5 in it until the next payday. Some weeks supper consists of either ramen noodles or cheerios. We do try very hard to let the kids go places and do things that their friends are doing, so they probably don’t notice it as much as they would if we would be saving more. I have to depend on the bank of mom sometimes, but I always pay her back because I feel guilty. Short answer: I’d borrow the money from mom. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/22 "2011-08-26T16:22:53Z")
> [@Foxy40](#): > > But to have an emergency fund sitting in your checking account? I can sell stocks or bonds within a day and take a penalty for early withdrawal of locked up funds if an emergency arises. I am certainly not going to allow my bank the use of my money for free or very nearly so just so I can go to the ATM and get my money out immediately. So you never let your bank account get to more than $1000 before you take money out and invest it? How long would it take you to get your money from investments? I would assume several days. You’re lucky to get $20 a year on investing 1,000 dollars. That is not much to gain for a loss in emergency cash if you needed it. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/23 "2011-08-26T16:25:23Z")
I certainly could get $1000 from savings, but I’d almost certainly put it on the credit card instead. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/24 "2011-08-26T16:27:29Z")
I could easily today. 60 days ago, it would have to be put on the credit card. Feast or famine around my house. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/25 "2011-08-26T16:33:24Z")
I have $6000 in the bank right now. Just sitting there, being my emergency money. The amount has gone up and down over the last decade or so, I think I was under 2K at one point, but I’ve built it back up again. I’m poor, I’m on a low income, but I also grew up poor and have been on a low income pretty much ever since. I’m an excellent budgeter. I’m naturally frugal. I know how to get by on a low income because I’ve spent my whole life doing it. When things are normal, I save, so that I can buy my way out from under a black swan if one should fall on me. So, at the moment I have 6K in the bank, enough so that I’ve decided I can afford to spend a grand on nice things. 5K is still plenty, and any problem that swallowed up 5K would swallow another grand too if it was there to lose. Want to know my secret? If you can’t afford it, do without. ---
**Author:** ![geneb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e4f/32.png) [@geneb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geneb)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/26 "2011-08-26T16:33:52Z")
I could come up with $1000 if I sold some of my company stock. But if it has to come from checking or savings then I could not. ---
**Author:** ![ecoaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85e7bf/32.png) [@ecoaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecoaster)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/27 "2011-08-26T16:38:56Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > I guess I would have assumed 25-30% of people lived paycheck-to-paycheck. But 64%? > > I have a hard time swallowing that. It is hard to put a statistic on what is defined as “underemployed” or “underclass.” > > I sure do see a lot of newer cars on the road for all these people that are so poor they can’t even save. I agree that 64% does seem high. Surely some proportion of that number are doing dumb things like leasing a new car, or spending money on other vices/non-essentials but beyond that, hard to really know. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/28 "2011-08-26T16:44:17Z")
I do think that with cars, specifically, a lot of people think of a car payment as like an electrical bill: it’s an inevitable part of life and just part of your fiscal reality. And I think this is often generational in nature: people trade up to a new car as soon as they pay their car off because that’s what’s always been done. The slightly more frugal version of this is paying off his car, replacing her car, paying off her car, replacing his car. It’s like I consider myself debt-free, even though I do have a mortgage, because some sort of housing cost is just part of life (and because I have a meaningful asset to offset it–the house). I think a lot of people think of car debt in that category, not as consumer debt. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/29 "2011-08-26T16:46:06Z")
I could put it on a credit card without batting an eye. But if you wanted actual physical cash, it would depend on where we are in the month. If you caught me at the right time, sure, but most of the time I would need 48 hours to transfer it out of ING Direct. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/30 "2011-08-26T17:18:08Z")
Does overdraft count as borrowing? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/31 "2011-08-26T17:26:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Does overdraft count as borrowing? Yes, you would be borrowing the money from the bank. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/32 "2011-08-26T17:31:59Z")
\*More \*money, you mean. I’ve been in a minus for most of my adult life, but I don’t think another $1,000 would earn me a call from the bank. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/33 "2011-08-26T17:33:58Z")
No. I got my land back out of the bank in June, so I’ve got no debts. I got a loan to put the roof on my house - so I’m better off than I’ve ever been - no rent, no loan and … my workplace closed down at the same time as I cleared everything so … no money. :smack: I’ve got around USD$100 in the bank right now. Before all this having no money meant having a buffer of at least $1000 in savings. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_The\_Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Buck\_The\_Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_The_Diver)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/34 "2011-08-26T17:41:11Z")
Piece o’ cake. I have no outstanding loans and bills are paid in full every month. I usually have a couple of grand in my checking account. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/35 "2011-08-26T17:41:18Z")
Yes, but only because of recent refinancing of our home equity loan. If you’d asked a month ago, it’d be No. Fingers crossed we can leave this money in savings, but now my car needs brakes and my daughter’s breaking up with her BF and will need help finding a place. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/36 "2011-08-26T17:44:49Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > Maybe it’s not actually 64%, but I think a significant number of us are struggling even if we’re not going under. Plenty of people who have a steady job _right now_ are still recovering from some disaster that happened in the last couple of years. > > I don’t have $1000, nope. In fact I didn’t go grocery shopping last week because we were out of cash–I paid some bills all at once and it was a bit too much. Our shower door also broke Monday (tempered glass, it shattered while we were gone for no reason anyone can understand) and we can’t afford to replace it, so I’m going to get a shower curtain. > > In the past couple of years we’ve had two serious bouts of unemployment, and one of those came with no unemployment insurance because my husband’s startup went under. We’re working on the debt that piled up during that time. I didn’t earn any money over the summer, but now I’m back at work so that will help. We’re at a little bit of a low point right now and in a few weeks things will look much better, but the debt is still there–we’ve made good progress though. > > Many of my friends are very frugal and careful with their money, and they have decent jobs–but they’re still only barely making ends meet. Probably that’s partly because salaries are so low around here by CA standards–my county has one of the highest poverty and unemployment (and depression) rates in the state. But times are hard all over, and we’re all feeling a pinch. Thanks, **dangermom.** The Other Shoe and I are still digging our way out of the debt we incurred when we both were independently laid off, and frankly, we’ll be in debt for years to come because of the job losses. So the OP’s attitude really got my hackles up. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/37 "2011-08-26T17:55:12Z")
No, I could not. I have less than $2 in my checking account until next week. I’m on disability, I receive $850 a month from the government, $77 less than April 2009. (yes, I know, I’m a burden on society, I get that, thank you) My mother is in the same situation. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/38 "2011-08-26T18:20:23Z")
We _could_ - might NOT do so, because I’m more disciplined about paying down a credit card than I am about replacing money into savings… ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/39 "2011-08-26T18:36:36Z")
Yes, I could, though it would clear out my personal bank account; I’ve been a student the past 4 years and don’t have much money that is “mine”. My husband could without any problems from his accounts (and consequently, the joint account, but I think of it as his money at the moment…yes, I know our financial arrangement is weird but it works for us). ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181/40 "2011-08-26T18:53:20Z")
I can (twice, even), but it’d have to be one hell of an emergency to warrant it. it would be two thirds our cash liquidity average. I’d be more likely to throw some of it at a credit card. As it is, I think people really overstate what constitutes an emergency. Example: Our A/C died last year. We had the repair guy out two weeks ago to get an estimate. It’s been sweltering, but the $1500 estimate was more than we cared to part with. By my statement above, we have the money, but getting out somewhere with A/C during the hottest part of the day has been much easier than dealing with the $1500 ding to out bottom line. (Not to mention, it’s $200 a month we’re not spending in additional electricity.) We have substantially less money than we’ve had in the past, but we’re still doing pretty good…I sure do miss those times where there was $20k between all our accounts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-for-a-1000-emergency-expense-without-borrowing/594181.md?page=3)