$$$ Question

Borski2B

How much money do you keep in easy access = no penalty or delay to access?

I guess I'm asking about a balance you keep in checking account(s) for day to day expenses, emergencies, etc.

I know there are a lot of factors in addition to # of family members (# of homes, # of cars, etc.) so feel free to elaborate as much as you want.

I'm just curious if we're keeping too much in "checking" (we actually have regular checking, travel savings and a money market) with our bank and if we should have more invested somewhere... haven't been too motivated with the rediculously low interest rates, and we don't have enough to invest all this in something risky or unstable like the stock market.

PAGAS

I don't drop below $5k in our checking account, it's what is comfortable for me.  Our savings is reasonably easy to get to, if needed for an emergency.

TexasPaige

I don't keep much more in checking than we need in a given month. We can access our general savings account to make a transfer in about two seconds. Paychecks go into checking, and I try to pay bills just from that and not dip into savings if I can help it. If too much is in checking (rare problem!), it gets moved into savings pretty quickly.

 

MrsGoontz

TexasPaige:

I don't keep much more in checking than we need in a given month. We can access our general savings account to make a transfer in about two seconds. Paychecks go into checking, and I try to pay bills just from that and not dip into savings if I can help it. If too much is in checking (rare problem!), it gets moved into savings pretty quickly.

 

 

This. We direct deposit a certain amount from each paycheck into savings as it is (in addition to our investments) and we rarely ever have to dip into it except for vacations really. 

AmyDrinkie

I keep $3500 on hand that we can get to quickly and w/o penalty if we need it.  All expenses (day-to-day and emergency) are charged on our Visa which I pay in full every month.

rayskit10

TexasPaige:

I don't keep much more in checking than we need in a given month. We can access our general savings account to make a transfer in about two seconds. Paychecks go into checking, and I try to pay bills just from that and not dip into savings if I can help it. If too much is in checking (rare problem!), it gets moved into savings pretty quickly.

 

This, sort of. I try to put more than the planned amount in savings each paycheck and see if I can make it work. It rarely happens, so we dip in to savings all the time, but are still within budget. I guess I just like making the effort. 

jen5-03

I don't feel comfortable when it goes below $1k. I don't really keep emergency money in there. I can't really think of an emergency that I would need more than a couple hundred in cash. For most emergencies like a  car repair or sudden plumbing disaster, a credit card will do just fine and I can transfer money from savings within a few days to take care of it.