Life is full of surprises, and despite our best planning, we inevitably find our business or household budget upset by unexpected expenses. Budgeting professionals, however, will tell us that many of these expenses aren’t unexpected at all. Here’s one example.
In the middle of July during a typical hot Florida Gulf Coast summer, we woke up one morning to find that our air conditioner had sadly passed from this world to wherever good air conditioners go, leaving our home feeling like the place where bad people go. HOT! As the temperature in our house slowly crept up to 90 over the next day, I bemoaned this “unexpected expense.” But it wasn’t really unexpected. Our air conditioner was 15 years old, so this expense had actually been anticipated for 15 years. I didn’t know the exact date it was coming, but every year that passed it was more and more inevitable. Had we saved $1 per day for those years that our air conditioner was cooling our home, we could have replaced it without feeling a pinch. $1 a day won’t solve all the world’s problems, won’t keep us forever young, and won’t pay for every emergency expense. But that is how little it takes to begin to make a difference in personal finance for many of us. One snack from the vending machine at work or a couple of fewer cups of coffee a week can make a big difference over time.
