Once you have determined how many months of money you need to save, it’s time to figure out the actual dollar amount. You will want to tally up your yearly expenses.
The first step in determining the actual amount you’ll need in your emergency fund is to figure out your yearly expenses. Remember, these are expenses that must be paid. This number will not include discretionary expenses such as gym memberships or dining out. The following are categories some examples of non-discretionary yearly expenses:
Residential: Your emergency fund should include savings for housing expenses such as rent or mortgage, property tax, insurance and utilities.
Personal Living Expenses: This can include anything from household supplies to food.
FICA and Income Taxes: Your taxes will not go away whether you have an emergency situation or not.
Health Care: Be sure to factor in the monthly cost for medical and dental insurance. If you are laid event, be sure to find out if you are eligible to stay on your former employer's health plan for a specified length of time.
Debt Repayment: Your monthly payments for credit cards and other debt should be factored in to how much you save for an emergency fund in order to protect your credit score.
While determining your yearly expenses is somewhat subjective, you will want to arrive at a number that is as accurate as possible.
Once you have added your yearly expenses together, you will want do divide this number by twelve, which will give you the amount of money required to meet your monthly expenses. For example, if your total annual required payments are $98,000, divide this number by 12 for your monthly payments:
$98,000 / 12 = $8,200 (Monthly Required Cash Expenditures)