Rule 14: Always have rainy-day money.
One of the most important reasons why you want to have rainy day money is simply because the best deals come by when you don’t have money or you’re not prepared. So keeping a few dollars back helps you stay ready. Not spending this money on a whim lets you only spend it when you are prepared. I always have an ace in the hole.
The people that do not have rainy day money are people that don’t plan for the future. They are typically not dealmakers either. Not saving extra money is like walking outside without an umbrella knowing that it’s rainy season.
“If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail” — Benjamin Franklin
Saving rainy day money it’s very simple. The old adage is: always pay yourself first. That means putting money aside to save and separating money off for a rainy day. Now it’s important that you don’t get the two mixed up: savings is savings and rainy-day money is rainy day money. It is crucial to know the difference.
I learned this lesson early on in my life and that was I used to spend every dime that I had in my pocket. Until one day while in the Navy a young man had a great opportunity and he needed money, unfortunately, I was not in the place to take advantage of this good deal, so the deal passed me by. But I learned from that mistake, and I started keeping rainy day money aside the next time a good deal came by.
Sure enough, I found a Yashika camera. At the time it was a 35MM camera and that was top of the line, but a young man hard up for dollars just needed money the morning he valued his camera and I was sitting there waiting happily. As it turns out this camera was a very expensive camera and I bought it for next to nothing, I believe like 50 bucks.
Rainy day money varies. You could have rainy day pocket money around $100 to $200 but that depends upon your circumstances. You could have rainy day money and networks up several thousands of dollars depending upon where you sit in life. You be the judge.