Most of us would have dipped into all our savings including the emergency reserve money we would have kept for ourselves and borrowed money from friends and relatives to buy our new home. This is the case with most of us. But then it should become our priority to rebuild this emergency fund at the earliest without fail.
Normally it is advisable to keep aside at least 3 to 6 months of total living expenses as surplus cash reserve to be used in emergencies or unforeseen situations like having to go without a job etc.
Inventing such emergency fund into a mutual fund might be the best option for you. It has twin advantages for you to consider. Your first need would be to keep the cash in short-term investments so that you have easy access to the same. Secondly you can get higher rate of interest and returns when compared to saving accounts.
With mortgage payments and your other expenses where do you have the money to set aside for the emergency fund? Seems impossible. But still you can look at cutting down on expenses and spend only on necessities and save every penny to build up this reserve.
Look at your budget. While you may end up spending money on unavoidable things like car repair, medical bills etc, there may be areas where you can avoid or postpone expenditure. One are could be your new home. You can perhaps postpone renovating the place and buying new furniture for a while and save up that money instead.
When you buy a new home and move in, you have a tendency to do up the place and do not realize how much money is spent until your bank account goes zero. You might keep buying new things, gadgets, furniture, or repair the house, re model it or add new extensions. This is true with most of the people.
House-proud people often wish to keep their homes spot less and in top condition. They do not mind spending money on every small repair when they see a small crack or a flaw.
The need of the hour to day is to save up every penny and live within your means and budget. For this you would have to postpone all your grand plans for your home for now. Of course as your income increases and when you are able to afford, you can plan to do up your home.
Refer to various other writing pieces penned by this same author about items such as pressure washer nozzles and fire exit signs.