You get a flat tire. Your bike gets stolen. Your dentist discovers 11 cavities in your mouth. Everybody has a bad day once and awhile.

For those inevitable bad days, this tip will be a salve to life's financial bruises.

Start an emergency fund

Dave Ramsey is a huge proponent of emergency funds, and this little secret gives you a pretty useful pot of money sitting around.

How much money goes into an emergency fund?

A thousand buckaroos.

Where do I keep my emergency fund?

Separate is key. You need to convince yourself it's an emergency fund. Some ideas: stash it in a piggybank that you actually have to break. Store it in an online bank. It needs to be easily accessible but inconvenient to use (so as not to tempt you). Our "emergency fund" is my old bank savings account from growing up, so it's separate from our checking account but still easy to use with my old checkbook.

Why do I need an emergency fund?

Emergencies, duh. The stuff you don't plan for: illness, layoffs, accidents, and all those other very unfortunate events. Bad days can end up costing a lot of money outside of your monthly budget, and it's crucial to have a safety net. Bad days happen to everyone, it's just a matter of when (Debbie downer...over and out).

What if I have debt?

Even if you have debt, you should still stockpile a little egg. Think a robin's egg rather than an ostrich egg. Pay installments to your emergency fund of $25-$50 a month if you can't afford the upfront costs due to other debt. It's important to pay your loans, but an emergency fund is definitely a more pressing expense after basic living costs. This prevents you from going further into debt ("Or even bankrupt" says Debbie downer) when times get rocky.

How should I use my emergency fund?

Finance folks will give you different answers, as this is a bit of a "gray area," but at this point in life, use it for unforeseen expenses outside of your monthly bills for rent/mortgage, food, internet, and clothing. My list includes:

Surprise health expenses (cavities? x-rays? a stockpile of airborne?)
Car costs (accidents and issues, not gas or insurance!)
House issues (plumbing work, a tree falls on your garage, the basement floods, blah de blah blah blah)

There you have it. Set up an emergency fund pronto! Shoot for a thousand dollars at this point in your life, and when you have paid off debt try to save a bigger chunk down the road. Store it in a place you won't dip into for non-emergencies. Good luck!