Watching the number in my savings amount climb makes me so happy. I have several different savings accounts but I started with an emergency fund. I wanted to save 6 months worth of salary in case Andy or I lost our jobs. Peace of mind is so important to me, especially since we have our own home and two young kids. Regardless of your family situation or whether you own or rent, it is important to have Emergency Savings. Life is messy and unexpected expenses pop up all the time. You could have a pricey car repair or a year when you find yourself in a handful of weddings. It is important to have savings on hand if you are financial able to.

I like to save for different expenses I know will come up. For example, I have a pet savings account and a holiday/gift savings account. We have two cats and a dog and while we have pet insurance for our dog, not everything is covered. It’s nice to know that we have a few thousand dollars saved for costly vet bills. Holidays seem to get more expensive every year so I like to save for them all year long. This way, it isn’t so painful in December.

I also started saving for taxes since we have had growing tax bills each year and that’s another surprise expense I would like to avoid.

Another recommendation I have is to keep an open dialogue about finances with your partner. Everyone grew up differently and has different feelings and sometimes trauma around money. Don’t ignore these conversations just because they are difficult. Trouble with finances is one of the leading causes of divorce so make sure you do everything you can to face it head-on and together.

Currently, we keep most of our cash savings in Wealthfront since they currently have a 5% interest rate.

Join Wealthfront through this link for an extra .5% APY https://www.wealthfront.com/c/affiliates/invited/AFFA-YEOY-RQDH-YK6G

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