Where should I post this money to?

[KiwiJo09]

I sold a textbook online. It sold for $29.70, but I'll be rounding up to $30 for the sake of saving. My question is, where should I put this money?

I have $72 in my emergency fund (recently cleaned out) and $2032 in a car fund. The car fund gets 1.35% in interest. I could put $30 in my EF and bring it to $102. Or, I could put it towards the car and get that to $2062. I could split it between both, which would bring the EF to $87 and the car fund to $2047.

Hubby needs a new car soon, but I don't like not having savings in the EF. What do you think I should do?

[disneysteve]

I think at this moment, your car fund and your EF are one and the same. If an emergency happened tomorrow, you'd be taking the money from the car fund since your EF is depleted.

I think your sole savings focus should be replenishing the EF. Once that is back up to $1,000, then maybe you can add to the car fund, but that depends on whether or not you have any debt.

[solvision]

Is your emergency fund sitting in an account that accrues interest? For example I have 2 accounts, 1 linked and the other with a separate bank. Both are around 6% p.a interest, but compounded daily.

Steve is right though, at this stage about the reality of the situation. If you do in fact have or can get accounts that earn good interest, (and provided your husbands current car still works), why not make your emergency fund $1000 now, and then build up your car fund? It just seems like $70 wont go far if you need it to. When it comes time to buy the car you can always dip into the EF fund a small amount, then top it back up.

[MonkeyMama]

I am not sure it matters.

My car savings fund doubles as an emergency fund. (Meaning, in case of a catastrophic emergency, I'd just buy a more inexpensive car next time).

Is there a reason that your Efund is not earning interest?

Though I personally loosely break out my savings as far as emergency and longer-term purchases (i.e. cars), I keep it all in one place so I can chase higher interest rates. In which case, there is only one place to put it (highest interest rate) and how I categorize it doesn't really matter in the long run.

That said, I think the Efund needs more attention, in your case.

[KiwiJo09]

My EF is earning interest. The interest is so minimal (0.01%) that it isn't even worth mentioning. I think you're right. I think the EF does need more attention at the moment, since it's so low. I want to get it up to $1400 or so before I focus on anything else.

And yes, I have debt. It's around $4900. But I'm currently snowballing it away. I need some real savings though.

[disneysteve]

And yes, I have debt. It's around $4900. But I'm currently snowballing it away. I need some real savings though.

If you are following Dave Ramsey, you should stop the snowball temporarily and rebuild your EF up to $1,000, then resume the debt snowball.

[littleroc02us]

Is that $72 in an EF, a car fund of 2k, $4900 in debt and your hubby will need a car? IMO, I'd beef up the EF asap, buy the hubby a 1k car if need be and then take the remaining 1k and apply it towards your EF. Then start knocking off the debt, like you mean it.

[Frugal]

In my opinion, you could do well to put the money in your emergency fund...selling things online can help you make a little bit of money, but textbooks honestly don't make a lot...I used to do that in college, and hardly made anything on it. Hope that helps.