My car repair fund saved me $600 when the alternator died at a gas station

I was filling up at a Shell station in Greenville last Thursday when my battery light came on and the engine just died. Turns out the alternator completely gave out, and the tow truck driver quoted me $800 for a shop repair. I remembered I had been putting $50 a month into a separate emergency car fund for 4 years (weird win, I know), so I paid $200 for a used alternator and installed it myself in the parking lot with a buddy's tools. Has anyone else built up a specific fund for something like car repairs or home stuff, and did it actually save you when something broke?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaret_kim1319d ago

4 years of $50 a month adds up fast, that's $2,400 you could have wasted on eating out or coffee runs. But my question is how did you keep yourself from dipping into that fund for something dumb like a concert ticket or a new phone when you knew it was sitting there? Because I've tried separate savings accounts before and the temptation to treat it like "extra cash" always gets me in the end. Like last year I had a "home repair" envelope with $700 in it and I spent it on a weekend trip to Asheville. Then my water heater broke two months later. What's your secret for actually leaving the money alone until something breaks?

the_tessa19d ago

Read an article saying most people can't cover a $500 emergency without going into debt. That $200 alternator was way cheaper than a tow plus labor at a shop. Smart move setting aside cash for exactly this kind of thing.