Financial Poll: Could You Come up with $2000 Cash in 48-72 Hours?

For an emergency, a true emergency... absolutely. As a matter of fact, for something like hostage negotiation, or an organ transplant... I can pull *millions* out of thin air.

For just something "desired"/ an inconvenience (like a repairs for a car or plumbing, or to help out a friend, or plane tickets, or a piece of sporting equipment, or a lawyer)... nope. I can catch a bus/ dig a latrine & shower at a gym/ toss in a few hundred/ save up/ take out a loan. But do I have it in the bank. No I can't.

For me... I can pull money out of thin air; because it would come from other people, organizations, and institutions. I don't happen to have it in the bank. I have absolutely NO compunction about contacting every charitable, governmental, law enforcement, and media outlet out there. I would beg, borrow, and (yes) steal every single last penny I needed to in order to save the life of someone I love. Very little else constitutes an emergency in my mind. (A few things do, but the list is *very* short)

Yes.

Ideally, everyone should have (or be working toward) having about 6 months worth of total monthly expenses in accessible savings.

Nope, I could not, on my own, come up with $2,000. I could if I were to hit up my family for some money but I HATE borrowing money.
Maybe if I walked the "strip" for a night or two I could come up with a couple hundred!! lol
L.

No...I could not. We are facing a very critical issue right now with an electric bill and they will not make a payment plan with us. I have resorted to selling almost Everything I have that is of any value, the only thing I have not sold is something that basically would not bring much money anyhow but has extreme sentimental value, and honestly IF it would bring more money to the table I would break down and part with it. I have even sold all my books and I loved my books...once we get this bill taken care of we will be ok financially, but I would still consider myself no where near middle class...we are definitely poverty line, usually this does not even phase me, I have never been obsessed with money...but the idea that we are shortly facing having our power turned off makes me feel very sad indeed, truly that I have failed my children.

Yes. We are working hard on building up our savings so that we can have up to 6 months salary at our disposal if needed.

Yes, I could have that as soon as the bank opened tomorrow. I don't think I could sleep at night without knowing that I have a couple thousand stashed here in there in random accounts (not our regular checking accounts) for an emergency.

Yes, my husband and I would have the money if something should come up. The best way to keep Murphy away is a good emergency fund and if he should decide to visit we have that covered.

no. i live check to check. unless i was able to borrow from my dad or put it on a credit card I would be S.O.L.!

Do you want it in tens or twenties?

Simply put, yes. But I could not have done it in my early adult years without asking someone for a loan.

no - my family could not... unless we asked every friend that we knew and family too.

I really hope that's not true. I mean, if you get laid off 2,000 gets spend in less than a month. My husband makes a decent living and I am a stay at home mom. We live under our means are try to live as simply as possible. So yes, I could come up with that money very easily.

Yes, I could go to the bank and withdraw it within minutes.

We keep solid checking and savings accounts.

We are big planners and numbers people. We live debt free.... very well and below our means.

EDITED after reading a comment saying those of us doing well must be living off an inheritance or got rich quick off someone else's misfortune.... NO MAM....we did it the hard way... EARNED it.

Yes, we actually have it and it is in a safe in our home as part of our emergency preparedness. We have a safe that holds important documents etc. And, we also keep a pretty bulked savings acct. We try to live modestly and save for big purchases then pay cash. We also pay off our one and only credit card each month.

Great question

Years ago,,no, we lived paycheck to paycheck and barely made it. We didnt have much, and lived with the worry of an emergency all the time. Now that we are older, and my husband is nearing retirement we have learn lots, and saved lots. He has stock in his company he can sell and we could come up with cash in 24 hours. One thing I have done recently that has helped aside from his income, is use coupons now and then, and use my club card at the grocery store to save when I shop. I decided that everytime I use that card, or coupons, I will keep the reciept and whatever ammonut I saved, will then deposit into the savings acct. If you saved $2 with a coupon, what do you do with it? You probably just spend it later on something else if its still in the check book, or in cash. So, I take those receipts every week or so, and add them up, and then transfer that from the regular acct to the savings acct. I have been amazed at how much and how fast it has built up. I started this on Jan1 of this year and so far I have $1,300 in savings for Christmas. If a big emergency came up, I can take that money and use it. So, even without the retirement, and stocks, and his income, we could come up with a chunk of money right away. How many other places do you "save" money, but never really see it in "savings"? Great question!

We would have it now. If you had asked me that 1 year ago I would have laughed out loud. That's when our view on everything changed and we realized we really needed a steady in flow into savings to help just in case. At this time we have enough to pay our "living" bills (those needed to provide the basics - clothes, food, and shelter) for 2 months if needed. It's been hard work but we are getting better.

Interesting question. My husband and I both work for ourselves and have always had plenty of money and would easily been able to shell out $2000 if needed. We ran into a spot this last year where neither of us could find work to save our lives. We did not have a single bit of income from October until last month. We plowed through everything we had ever saved and even sold a ton of our belongings to include an attempt to hock my wedding ring. If you ask me today, "yes" we could come up with it, but one month ago we were lucky to be able to buy food.

Nope! Sure couldn't but sure wish I could!

I saw that article:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/24/news/economy/americans_la...

(Looks like the link won't display properly.
Search on "Many don't have $2,000 for a rainy day".)

It doesn't surprise me.
I know too many people who live beyond their means.
Yes. We've saved up for various emergencies and our rainy day funds are in the bank.

As a general rule, I make it a point.

Yes, I could come up with $2000 -- it would not be an issue for our family.

However, I listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio and there are tons of folks who live paycheck to paycheck and have no emergency fund. He encourages people to get out of debt and have an emergency fund. You can google his website or catch his national radio show for more information.

No, not without borrowing it, but I just started working again (start full time this week) and we plan on putting $500 a month into savings from what I make, so it will change pretty soon. :)

YES!!

But...would take me time to save up for another emergency...

Scary really how close to the 'edge' ...

Michele/cat

Yes, we could.

(And that's without tapping into our wedding <May 28th> gift money! LOL)

Not wealthy by any means, just try to keep some money in savings...

Yes we could. We are also trying to save up 6 months salary. We're not quite there yet, but we could come up with $2000 easily.

Can you post the link to the article when you do your So What Happened? Just curious about it! =)

Nope. I have a story very similar to Nichole P in Santa Rosa. Only our story includes in about 18 months period of time: emergency removal of wisdom teeth, vehicle rollover, pregnancy, ruptured appendix and 10 months of continuous illness and subsequent dr visits before new diagnosis, placental abruption at 40 weeks with subsequent uterine rupture, cancer diagnosis,surgery, and 7 months of chemo, pregnancy loss of twins, another emergency removal of wisdom teeth, and job loss.

Now our credit cards are maxed, and we have to sell our house to pay off debt or face bankruptcy.

Our plan: sell the house, pay off all debt, I'm working and hubby works from home when I have to leave the house on work related trips so there's no child care costs. We are renting a mobile home for $650 a month. We will stay there, possibly for years, while we build our savings account and MAYBE one day we will consider buying a house again. In our situation, our house COULD be our saving grace as we stand to make a decent profit on it. That is, if we sell quickly.

Yes, I could. I have excellent credit and no debt, and savings, so $2k could come from various sources. Just low income right now...

Yes. My DH keeps more than that in a bank account. I used to til I went freelance, but I have other funds in my name I could tap. I know a lot of people, like my mother, who could not. Her finances were ruined by her loser exhusband and she has never recovered. Technically she could sell things, like her car, but I'm not sure she could raise the funds in that timeframe.

Yes. Until recently I would have had to say no but recently I was able to completely change my financial situation with a new business venture and some adjustments on budgeting and I am so thankful that we are not in the hole anymore. It took me a couple of years but we are there. I am so excited. Sorry to be babbling. ;)

Yes, it would be no problem.

Yes, but my mortgage probably wouldn't get paid for that month.

Yes, thanks to my very frugal husband!

Yes, it's in the bank.

However, I do beleive that the article is correct. I know many people who could not.

Great question. Yes, I could have 2000 in that time. I have just about that much in my bank account, I like to keep three months rent in my secondary account at all times for an emergency. I am working on having 6 months of expenses saved up. I also have a car in my driveway that I don't drive at all....In my head its my get outta town from the revolt, or sell it quick car, and it is worth about 2000 as well:)

EDIT: I also wanted to respond to those that assume people with savings received them from inheritance(although I finally managed to scrape up and purchase my own life insurance policy recently) or family.....six years ago I was homeless, and had been homeless for several years. I was even homeless through most of my pregnancy. I have worked VERY hard to get to where I am now, it was not given to me. I have worked my way up from living on the streets or out of a car to living in shelters to being a college graduate with a professional job. I am not rich my any means(am a teacher), but I am very frugal. I understand everyone has challenges that face them and I am not out to make anyone "feel bad" for the challenges they face. We are all in a different place in our lives, and that is okay.

Well, yes and no. Our bank is on the mainland and we need to talk to a bank representative to withdrawal more than 600 a day from a ATM. So for 72 hours over a long weekend we could not get that money, but if the bank was open and we could call we could get it easy.

Yes, I could.
2 years ago the answer would have been no, but we have been working very hard to 'fix' our financial situation. It feels good knowing we have a cushion to fall back on if we need it.

Yes, we have it in savings.

Yes, we could. We are paying two mortgages right now so things are tight, but we still make our monthly contributions to our daughters college fund, retirement funds and savings. Those things come first. I've been working extra to keep the "safety net" safe. We meet w/a financial advisor twice a year or more if we have a big change coming up. He has been tremendously helpful.

Absolutely! My husband and I work hard and save hard

Only about half that... but we're working on it.

Yes yes yes. We always keep 10k in savings.

This is late, but NO I could not. My CV joints just went out on my van & I have to rely on family member to fix them for me because I don't have the $$$ for a shop. I will be bying hte parts. This is the first time I have asked a family member to do anything for me, but being a one income household with 2 kids & no child support...it may become more frequent. I WILL NEVER ask for money unless someone is dying or similar. I laughed when you said not hitting up the kids savings as if every kid in America has savings. I wish! I have done the best of my abilities & we were fine until the economy tanked & gas went astronomical. I even had my tubes tied when I was 24 to make certain I could give my two boys the most I could without any more "accidents." So considering I would say my situation is more the norm (single income household) & I would have to say there's alot more nos than what responded. Also, ones like me are made to feel ashamed for not planning better or "being able to predict the future" or "doing things the right way", but I do not regret anythig & we will survive, just not as comfortably as others. Also, I find that some of the ones I know that do have savngs etc, it's because a family member died & there was an inheritance..doesn't count in my book...getting "rich" off of some else's misfortune. Won't be that going on in my family either. So in case you're question was to judge, please dont until you have walkd a mile in their shoes. & if you just can't believe people don't have money to put away, pleeeease open your eyes and take good look around....

Yes. That is my baseline in our savings account--the one attached to our checking account (which I also keep a "back-up" $200 in, off the radar, so we won't bounce/overspend due to a mathematical error) for overdraft protection. There is usually more (accumulating monthly for annual expenses like flood insurance, car insurance, vacations, birthdays, Xmas fund, etc) but that can mean just a little more or a LOT more depending on what time of year it is and what has just been paid. I like to pretend that the baseline of $2000 doesn't exist. It is NEVER spend on frivolous things. That is my: "if we need to cover the deductible on a homeowner's policy event" money.

So yes, we definitely fall into the 40% who could. And all legal and legit.

Yes, if one truly needs the money they, every person in the world who is not home-less or living in a shelter, could. They have clothes, they have vehicles they can sell, they have furniture, appliances, yard stuff like lawnmowers and weed eaters, they have wedding rings, as you can see the list can go on and on and on.

When my husband was laid off work in the mid 90's we decided to NOT try and go through the company rehire and relocate with another job. His parents had retired here and we had a pretty established relationship in the community. So we decided to stay. We lost our vehicles, our home, our credit cards and credit rating, just about everything we could lose, we lost it.

He got another job in about 6-9 months with about 2/3 the pay. We started establishing credit again, got cars with pretty good cash down payments, we tried to do well with the income and live within the boundaries. The 2, combined, car payments were $670 a month, the full coverage insurance, both cars, was $1100 every 6 months, the creditors were receiving payments too.

When he got laid off we sold everything we had to pay off what we could, the cars were prepossessed, the creditors just got nothing after the money we raised was gone, we lived on what we could sell. including his comic book collection from his childhood, the guns he has collected his whole life, first edition Heinlein books signed by the author, first edition Stephen King books signed by him, all kinds of special things that meant the world to us. We lost everything but were able to raise the money needed to keep ourselves fed and able to live another day.

It can be done by anyone if they truly find the need to be greater than their love of their things. I would have loved to keep many things we sold at garage sales or book and gun stores, some of those guns were handed down to my husband by his grandfathers. But we needed the money more than the things. We got above the flood and were able to survive by minimizing our possessions and doing what needed to be done.

Yes. My family and friends know that I'm the one to call for bail money. :) That's a joke, but I really would bail them out if they needed it!!!