No matter how much you plan, sometimes, life just happens.

On Friday night, my hot water heater decided to give up the ghost — spilling it all over my kitchen floor.  On Saturday, I had a plumber come in to install a new one –a significant unanticipated expense.

This is why it's so imoprtant to have an emergency fund.  It takes one stress away from such nasty surprises.  If you don't have savings set aside for unexpected occurrences, try to set aside a bit each week until you have a fund built up.  the hardest part is remembering NOT TO TOUCH IT unless there's a real emergency.  (No, hard as it is to believe, a shoe sale is not an emergency.)