Technology

59374 readers

6250 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

Follow the lemmy.world rules.
Only tech related content.
Be excellent to each another!
Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
Politics threads may be removed.
No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

903

Please Don’t Make Me Download Another App | Our phones are being overrun (www.theatlantic.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

226 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Archive link: https://archive.ph/PgtUk

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I disagree strongly that $1k is enough for any one emergency. My healthcare deductible is higher than that. The last two times I've needed car repairs, the bill was $2-3k to get the thing back on the road. If one of our appliances breaks down, we might be able to replace it for $1,000 if it's the dryer or the dishwasher, but if it's the fridge, that's not close to enough.

$1,000 was plenty when I was in college back in the mid-00s, but I was single with no kids. That's just not a realistic emergency fund in 2024, and even less so if you have a family.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

$1k is enough for any one emergency

I never said it would definitely cover all emergencies, but it should cover most emergencies. For example:

car issue - usually $400-1000 - my last FE strut replacement cost $800-900, and that's on the more expensive end (certainly wouldn't handle engine work though)
washing machine/dishwasher/refrigerator dies - new one costs a few hundred, maybe slightly more (my fridge this year cost ~$1300, cheaper options exist)
surprise funeral of a loved one - plane tickets/gas and a hotel for a couple nights should be under $1k

It's not going to solve everything, but it's a nice milestone that means you can weather most emergencies, provided they come one at a time. The goal here isn't to guarantee that you're safe from everything (nobody should stop at this step), but to protect you from most of the small things that would otherwise go to debt.

If we raise the bar too high, people will get discouraged and give up. $1k is a pretty decent goal and can do a lot of good.