Can it be??  Yes! The Gods of furnace heaven are shining upon us!  You may recall that here I spoke about the furnace breaking and leaving us in the cold.  Today, we finally had the guts to call the repair folks out, being that yesterday was payday.  They began their usual, "You need to sign for the diagnostics and pay a hundred bucks", and we gulped and signed on the line.  Then we heard, " You either pay $650 to fix it or $10,000 to replace the whole system."  Well, obviously, you know what to do - $650 is a ton cheaper than $10 grand, but we didn't want to do either.  $650 or $6 million - they're all the same to me - NOT IN THE BUDGET!

But, as luck would have it, the part that broke was under warranty.  The very same part was replaced just under a year ago.  The ENTIRE job will be completed on Tuesday for FREEEEEE!  Oh blessed heat, I can't wait to feel you again.  Especially in these subzero temperatures (don't worry, we're not without all heat here).  

But all celebrations aside, it does bring to mind the very wise words that one must have a sufficient fund for emergencies.  We have no such fund, so when things do break down, we cringe, we plaster, we tape, bind and make do any way we can until we can no longer pretend that something needs fixing.  Katy at the Non-Consumer Advocate just recently posted about a savings plan, and it got me thinking.  Though experts do not agree on the exact amount needed to be put aside, they all agree that living without a back-up savings account, especially in this economic climate, is a mistake.  So I will be taking an extra hard look at our budget this weekend to see where we can trim a bit more in order to put something aside.  Have you found a creative way to build your emergency fund?  Share it!