Savings?

[kindertime]

A good rule of thumb is to put away 10% of your net (after tax) income.

It really all depends on your own situation. Everyone is going to be different. If you work out how much you would need for just the very basic expenses for three months, that should give you an idea of your needs. It also makes a difference whether or not you have some sort of medical insurance coverage for disability, etc. If you can't work for awhile is different than if you have a couple of open spots for awhile.

I am very much a do it myself, kind of person. I would never walk into a bank, say, and talk to a finacial advisor. I would always wonder if they had their own agenda, or try to sell me something. Just watch CBC's Marketplace, yikes! But, having said that, there are people out there who's job it is to help with this kind of thing. I would just watch out for people who make a commission from selling you a financial product, like an RRSP.

[AmandaKDT]

I take the fees of one daycare child and automatically put them in my savings account so that I have savings to pay at income tax time. I also take $100 every month and put it into my general savings (would like this to be more, but it is all I can afford right now). I also budget to have about $50 a month available for daycare expenses (equipment, toys, toilet paper, etc), though I don't necessarily spend that amount every month.