The emergency fund is the building block to avoiding financial calamity. How do you do it? Multiply your take-home pay by 8. This is the minimum amount that should be in your emergency fund! For example, if you take home $3,000 per month, your emergency fund should be $24,000 (8 months x $3,000). Start putting the money into a savings account immediately, even if you can only put in a small amount each month, like $50 or $100 dollars. Each time you get a tax refund, bonus, unexpected money, etc, put it into the emergency fund. Once you reach the 8 month amount, keep adding money to the emergency fund. Remember, the 8 months is a minimum amount that should be in a emergency fund.