You want to collect some of your savings and put them into an emergency fund. Before you start working on this financial goal, you should read these emergency fund rules first.

Store It in a Savings Account

Do not keep your emergency fund in cash. Cash may be easy for you to access in a crisis, but unless it’s stashed away in a secret safe, it won’t be very secure. Cash will be difficult for you to track and count. And most importantly, it won’t collect interest sitting in your house.

A savings account is a much better spot to store your emergency savings. A savings account makes your emergency fund easily accessible when you need it. It limits the number of withdrawals that you can make per month, which should stop you from draining your account for non-emergencies. And it allows your savings to accumulate interest over time and grow on their own.

Strive for 6 Months’ Worth of Funds

A general rule of thumb for emergency savings is to strive to collect between 3 to 6 months’ worth of living expenses inside it. Why? The more emergency savings that you have stashed away, the more you can rely on when disaster strikes.

This amount can also act as a reliable safety net in times of financial upheaval—like if you suddenly lose your job. You’ll have enough savings in your emergency fund to cover your monthly essentials as normal. You can direct your energy to other responsibilities like filing for unemployment benefits and searching for new jobs so that you can get back on your feet.

Have Financial Backup Plans

Your emergency fund shouldn’t be your only financial safety net available. You’ll want to have some backup plans, especially when your fund is still new and relatively empty.

What are some backup plans? One option is your credit card. Use your credit card to cover an emergency expense and then steadily pay down the balance through your regular billing cycle. As long as you keep your credit card’s balance low, you should be able to rely on it for these small emergencies.

Another option is a personal line of credit. If you have a personal line of credit with plenty of credit available, you could use it to cover an emergency expense in a short amount of time. After using the borrowed funds for this purpose, you can focus on repayments.

Finally, you could look into cash loans online as a solution. As long as you meet all of the qualifications for an emergency cash loan, you can apply for it. You just might get approved for it. With an approved emergency cash loan, you can use borrowed funds to cover the expense quickly and then follow a repayment plan.

All of these options make for effective financial backup plans when you don’t have enough savings to rely on.

Contribute Every Single Month

You’re never going to reach your ultimate savings goal if you keep forgetting to make contributions. Add to your fund every single month. You need to commit to this process in order to get a strong safety net.

If you keep forgetting about your fund, automate your savings through your online banking. Schedule a contribution once a month. Then you can sit back and let your savings grow.

These rules will help you build yourself a strong emergency fund. Soon enough, you’ll be able to tackle any surprise expense that comes your way.