4 times I’ve needed money fast

No matter what your walk of life is, I’m sure you’ve experienced times in your life that you’ve needed money fast. Perhaps you’re in that situation now? I’ve read that it’s generally a good idea to have at least three times your monthly salary saved up in the bank in case of an emergency. However, many people simply don’t have this, or even any savings at all. So what do you do if you need money fast? Life is unpredictable and sometimes you need cash quickly. I can think of 4 times over the last few years that I have!

1. Buying a house

When we were 19, my husband and I started saving to buy a house. We managed to save a few thousand pounds for a deposit within a few months by saving his salary and just living on mine. We were very fortunate that thanks to family our overheads were very low at the time, so we only really had to pay for essentials like food as well as petrol and car maintenance. However, it got to the point where circumstances changed and we had to buy a house quickly. If we didn’t, we’d have to either live apart, with my parents or rent. We couldn’t imagine being apart once we’d lived together and there wasn’t really enough room to go back to my parents’ house. Meanwhile, my salary at the time wouldn’t allow for us to continue saving money for a house if we rented.

2. Boiler

Inevitably, things can and will go wrong. Unfortunately, this often seems to be when funds are already low such as around Christmas time! We had only been in our house for a couple of weeks when our boiler broke. We spent a couple of weeks making do by layering up, using blankets and putting oil heaters on. However, it was November and still absolutely freezing! It had got to the point where I was pleased to go to work because I would actually be a decent temperature. At a time we should have been enjoying having our first proper home, we were trying to avoid being there. It was clear that a replacement boiler was needed as soon as possible, but of course, they aren’t cheap!

cold comforter cover blanket

3. Fridge

As I mentioned, things will go wrong at bad times. Often, it seems that several things break at once, too! A couple of years ago, our washing machine broke just after Christmas. We just about managed to scrape together the money to buy one. Then only two or three months later, our fridge broke too. It suddenly became very loud and food wasn’t being kept cold enough. As such, we needed a new one quickly, but once again our funds hadn’t recovered to a point where we could really afford one.

kitchen-fridge

4. Car

The year before last, I was in a position where I had booked my driving test. We’d just spent lots of money on our wedding the summer before, it had just been Christmas, and of course driving lessons and tests are expensive. I wasn’t sure how confident I felt about taking my driving test and felt it would really help to have my own car I could practice in. I was nervous about the idea of using my husband’s turbo diesel Skoda Fabia and when we looked into insurance for me it was sky high! Meanwhile, having my own vehicle also seemed a good idea as it would offer me independence and the ability to go to groups when our first child was born later in the year.

So, when have you needed money fast? Have you had similar experiences to me?

When you find yourself in this situation, it can be difficult to know quite what to do. I’ve been fortunate to have help from family and used 0% credit cards in the past. If you need money fast, there is also the option of using a short term credit solution such as CashLady. However, it’s important to be responsible and make sure you’re not getting yourself into long-term debt problems.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post with Cash Lady. As always, all thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

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