If you read financial boards or articles about personal finance, a concept that you’ll come across over and over again is the Emergency Fund. This is a stash of cash that you put away to cover emergencies, or at least unexpected expenses.

The EF is not for routine car maintenance, but it is for the day you timing belt slips. Its not for vacation, but its there when there’s a death in the family and you have to travel cross country with only a couple days notice.

I don’t have the perfect EF. A lot of people think you should have at least 6 months living expenses in your EF, in case everyone in the house looses their jobs. I’m lucky to convince my husband to have 2 months worth of expenses save up.

We also don’t have our EF in a separate account from the rest of our savings. Instead, it all goes to the same place, but I try to maintain a minimum balance in the savings. In some cases, we actually opt for debt over using the money in order to stay more liquid.

So when you read about an EF, don’t get put off by the grand statements of how much it should be, and where you should keep that money. Start simple.

Everything starts with small steps. It does no one any good if they put things off until its perfect. Even finding $5 a week extra to stick in savings adds up.