Here come the clouds. You can hear the thunder in the distance. Lightning strikes are cooking the ground and slowly but surely, you feel raindrop after raindrop. The storm just keeps brewing and getting worse.
All the while normal everyday life goes on. Then, you check your bank statement and realize there just isn’t enough to do what you have to do to get the storm to slack off. That’s when the storms of life turn into tornadoes and hurricanes and there are usually heavy casualties. Namely, what’s left of your savings and your sanity.
Saving for a rainy day has a whole new meaning when you consider that some of those storms can be tragic and not just a reason to use the windshield wipers. Below are three storms that you should always be ready for.
Car Accident
The first and most common type of life-altering storm you should always be prepared for is a car accident. As safe as you might be and think that others are trying to be, things happen. Weather doesn’t always cooperate, people can be careless with drinking and drug habits (not that those aren’t already careless to even partake in in the first place,) and sometimes you just don’t react as quickly as you might need to.
Either way, you need to be prepared. Most times, you will incur vehicle repair and medical bills. There may be court costs and lawyer fees. These things can hit your pocket hard if you’re not already prepared for them. If things really go south, you may need to cover the cost of an insurance fraud lawyer. Not everyone is the honest type and may take you for a ride you didn’t sign up for.
House fire
Our homes are our everything. They are where we come home to after a hard day at work to relax, they are our safe havens when things get too hard in the real world. It’s where we find our family waiting to cheer us on. Face it.
We even look forward to having to clean it sometimes, too, because it means we have a home. Not only is it a place to live and build memories, it holds all of the material things that mean the world to us. From our children’s stuffed animals to precious family photos, our homes are us, or at least a projection of who we and our families are.
If you have ever endured the devastation of a fire in your home, you know the damage it can cause emotional and financially. After handling the stress that comes with losing everything that ever meant anything to you, you face the mountain of bills that follow. These could include water and smoke damage or possibly having to replace your entire home.
You and your family will need clothes, food, and basic toiletries. There are many things in this situation that could do nothing more than add to the stress and loss you feel if you are not already financially prepared.
Divorce
Divorce is one of those curveballs in life. It really could slide either way. Sometimes you see it coming years in advance and other times, it hits you like a ton of bricks. Whether you are the husband or wife in the matter doesn’t matter these days.
Either side can accrue court costs and leftover bills. Then, there is the cost of taking care of any children that might be involved. If you are the spouse on the outs, you will more than likely have to find a place to rent, as well. Now, we are not telling you to have a special savings account set aside just in case you and the love of your life can’t work things out.
That kind of undermines the whole process. However, you and your spouse should have a savings account with enough money to cover your those rainy days you can’t see coming. In the tragic case that this is one of them, hopefully, you can be civil enough to split it down the middle. This will help you both.
Unlike Eddie Rabbit (who loved a rainy night,) there are some instances in life that can sweep us on down the street in puddles of unpreparedness. Make sure to save some for the rainy days that you can’t see coming.