For half of the decade, they’ve been calling for a recession. Not 1929 or 2008 style, but a standard cylindrical cooloff.

I never got spooked, however, last winter I noticed large companies were gearing up for an economic downturn. So I started doing the same to my own personal finances and started stacking my cash in my “recession” fund.

This week, I’ve heard of hundreds of people getting laid off. Sectors of industry are canceling plans, and the federal government just threw a trillion dollars into the stock market to prop it up following the coronavirus pandemic.

I’m not going to pretend to be one of those people who acts like he saw something before anyone else or rubs in your face that if you invested in Apple a hundred years ago you’d be rich… but I’m speaking practically.

You’ve still got time to save money.

I’m not sure what my “goal” is, but I know we have over 6 months of expenses in this one account and I’m aiming for a year. I’m not counting out 401k/investments in our scenario, but rather…just the liquidity we’ve got on hand in a moments notice.

Don’t forget… If I hadn’t been paying off my debt for four solid years and cutting our expenses as frequently as possible, I wouldn’t have as low of expenses as I currently do (as to why I can save so rapidly), but I also have a job where I could suddenly make $0 next month.

I depend on rental income to pay the mortgage on my old place, and the friend who rents my basement to help cover my current mortgage. So, I’m stacking cash because my stability is somewhat dependent on three other adults (besides my husband) outside of my control, and the continued stability of my industry.

Your story may not be the same as mine, but neither are your risks.

Moral of the story. If you aren’t considering streamlining your expenses and saving as much as you comfortably can, I encourage you to think about it.

Don’t hoard toilet paper. Hoard cash.