This is the cash you should have as a cushion for unforeseen expenses

An important part of the art of personal economics is having the ability to cope with the unexpected. An unexpected expense, a breakdown in an appliance, a necessary reform, a visit to the dentist … all these possible situations may require an amount of money that exceeds the monthly expenses paid by our payroll, so you have to be prepared.

One way to do this is to accumulate a emergency fund, a reserve of money that can be accumulated in any way: from the bank to keep it in our own home. This last method, in particular, can be very useful in case the unforeseen event requires an immediate payment and more if it occurs in amounts above the limit of the withdrawal at ATMs.

So, save money cash, sometimes referred to as ‘under the mattress’, it can be a tool to take into account in the face of those unforeseen events. The creation of an emergency fund, however, must have an amount of a certain entity so that it can meet our needs at those times.

As explained by the specialized portal HelpMyCash, the amount of this fund should be at least between three and six months of common expenses. Having this cash guaranteed to cover unforeseen expenses will prevent them from being a serious blow to our economy.

When quantifying these essential expenses, you must take into account those that correspond to the payment of rent (or mortgage), to the payment of supplies (electricity, water, gas, internet bills …), to monthly expenses in food and, if applicable, the payment of certain installments of goods purchased in installments that have to be paid on a mandatory basis.

If you have this more or less determined amount, the key is organization and commitment to that savings objective. It is not an easy task (some studies claim that 43% of Spaniards cannot save more than 100 euros per month), but there are several methods to at least try it.

Among them, the 50-30-20 method to prioritize expenses and enhance savings or save by giving up a coffee a day, which is known as the ‘Latte factor’, a reference to those ‘ant expenses’, in theory insignificant , which weigh down our ability to save.

The Bank of Spain, for its part, recommends the saver to follow several actions in order to achieve their objectives, among which the planning, the clarification of objectives and budgets or the adaptation to unforeseen changes that can disrupt the objectives stand out.

This is how you should declare the cash from the emergency fund

If the citizen chooses to keep that money from the emergency fund at home, in cash, he will be able to do so without problem. It is not illegal to take money out of the bank account to store it in our home. The only obligation that the citizen will have is to declare said money correctly in the Personal Income Tax (IRPF).

The way to do it is through the Income Statement (if you meet the conditions that make this statement mandatory), indicating the origin of the cash you have at home: income from work, economic activities, real estate or furniture …