How to Prepare for Unexpected Expenses

Everyone’s bound to get hit by a financial emergency sooner or later. But those who know how to prepare for unexpected expenses are much more likely to handle them without much harm to their financial situation than those who don’t.

Luckily, the basics of handling emergencies are quite easy. The hard part is being diligent and sticking to them long enough to be able to stand solidly. Learn four tips on how to prepare for unexpected expenses, including how title loans can assist you in an emergency.

Here Are Our 4 Tips On How To Prepare For Unexpected Expenses:

1. Set Up An Emergency Fund

If there’s one thing you need to remember and implement, it’s this one.

No “how to prepare for unexpected expenses” guide is complete without this one, and for a good reason – an emergency fund is your most reliable security blanket and cushion if anything happens. A solid emergency fund should have around 6 months’ worth of your expenses (yes, all expenses, including debt payoffs), to be able to cover you through the worst situations – like job loss – on top of regular emergencies.

2. Utilize Sinking Funds

There are certain types of unexpected expenses you can get anticipate happening even if you don’t know when. Things like:

• Medical bills;
• Vet bills;
• Car troubles;
• Home repairs.

These are also the type of problems that could eat through your emergency savings the quickest. So having a few hundred dollars in each of them for routine visits to specialists could help you catch the problem before it hits full-force.

3. Get Good Insurance Coverage for As Many Areas As Possible

When learning how to prepare for unexpected expenses, you’ll find insurance plays a big part in alleviating the financial burden – even if paying for it monthly can seem like a financial burden in itself. Consider good insurance an investment – it may seem like it’s sucking you dry, but in the long run, it will pay for itself (and maybe more).

4. Create A “Scorch-Earth” Budget

Being able to readjust your budget on the go when facing a financial problem could alleviate a lot of trouble.

Calculate what are the very minimum monthly expenses for you (the least money you could spend on groceries/gas/utilities while cutting out any type of non-essential spending) and have that budget ready to go.

When financial trouble hits, being able to minimize your expenses ASAP and redirecting all the freed-up cash towards solving the problem could help you deal with it swifter.

How Do I Deal With Unexpected Expenses, If I Don’t Have An Emergency Fund?

Even if you figure out how to prepare for unexpected expenses, implementing the plan will take time, simply because saving money takes time.

Which means until you’ve got at least 3 months’ worth of expenses saved, you’re still vulnerable to most emergencies due to the simple fact that dealing with a typical American emergency from the paycheck alone isn’t something most people can afford.

So, if you find yourself facing a financial problem without having the means to cover it from the get-go, you need to ask yourself 2 things:

1. Will it get worse with time?
2. Will it cost me more in the future if I delay dealing with it?

If the answer is no, then you should try to save money as fast as possible by rearranging your budget, as well as getting additional income from other avenues (getting a side-hustle, selling something, asking for a salary advance).

But if the answer is yes to either of these questions – then your priority should be getting the cash together ASAP. In that case, getting a title loan could work best for you.

Why Car Title Loans?

Firstly, title loans are easily accessible. There are only a few requirements you need to satisfy – own a car, have that car’s title in your name and lien-free (meaning without any outstanding loans against it), and have a government-issued ID proving you’re of legal age (18+) and the car title is indeed in your name.

Secondly, your credit history won’t be influencing your eligibility, so you can apply for a title loan even if your score is bad (or nonexistent altogether!).

Thirdly, Southwest Title Loans will accept any kind of income you have – so you don’t need to be scared of being denied the loan on that basis.

And last, but not least – title loans are fast. The entire application-approval process takes on average under an hour, and, if approved, you get the money the same day.

How Do I Apply For A Title Loan?

You can easily start the title loans application process online:

1. Go to Southwest Title Loans website and fill out the application;
2. Wait for the loan representative to contact you and set up a meeting;
3. Take your government-issued ID, your car, and the car’s lien-free title to the meeting so that the representative can assess everything and determine if you qualify;
4. Complete the easy paperwork;
5. Get the money you qualified for!

Don’t continue wondering how to pay for unexpected expenses, do what you can today with a quick Arizona title loan. The representatives at Southwest Title Loans, Inc. are standing by to assist you now.

Note: The content provided in this article is only for informational purposes, and you should contact your financial advisor about your specific financial situation.