How much do you having as a 'cash buffer'?

[asdf]

There's probably a ton of other considerations too. For example, if the worst should happen and I depleted a few-months long e-fund, I'd probably just move back in with my parents to get back on my feet. I would have that opportunity. Before that though, I also freelance so I'd have some extra income coming in anyway that would more than likely not stop if I lost my job. I also have no kids and am not married, and live very cheap, besides debt repayment.

About 5k would be plenty for me at my current stage in life, in fact I'm trying to get up to about 6k total as a goal until anything else major changes. That's a very generous 3-months of savings, with entertainment, unexpected expenses, and the unneeded extra debt payments I already apply monthly tacked on. I could easily stretch it out to 6 months if needed, depending on the situation.

I have a great situation in that regard, but I can definitely see that point where if you're single and lose your income, that's all you've got besides basically taking charity from loved ones. (Although I suppose, same situation but with a spouse in the other scenario.) It's really just a difference in who you'd have to rely on if your funds were depleted, and how many other resources you have.

I can agree with this. As I just illustrated in another thread, if you have multiple sources of income this certainly reduces the amount that you need in an EF, since it's more unlikely that all of those sources will dry up at the same time. For most people, that other source tends to be a spouse, but there are other avenues as well, as you just illustrated with family and extra jobs. Just goes to show you that diversifying income has its benefits, although in practice it's difficult for many people to achieve.

[PMMM]

I keep 1 month of expenses.

[Cassius King]

I keep a $1,000 minimum buffer in my checking account.

My F.U. account is directly linked to my checking account for emergency purposes and can be transferred over immediately.