Got hit with a $612 car repair on Tuesday and I'm debating if my emergency fund was a mistake
I was driving to pick up my kid from soccer in Portland last Tuesday when my transmission started slipping and the shop quoted me $612 I didn't have budgeted. I had $800 sitting in a savings account I'd been building for 8 months, and I drained most of it to pay the bill. Now I'm wondering if I should have just put that money toward my credit card debt instead, because at least then I'd have made progress. My wife says the emergency fund saved us from putting it on a card at 22% interest, but I keep thinking about how that $800 could have knocked out a chunk of what I owe. Has anyone else dealt with this tug of war between saving for emergencies and paying off debt?