The Heartbreaking Reason My Friend Had to Tap Her Emergency Fund Last Month

When a good friend of mine told me last month that she was headed across the country to see her old roommate from college -- someone she spoke of often -- I knew the news wasn't great. Her friend had been ill for quite some time and had taken a turn for the worse. And, as my friend put it, she wanted to fly out to see her friend rather than fly out to attend her funeral.

The situation was, of course, heartbreaking. But my friend's one salvation was that she didn't have to risk landing in credit card debt to see her friend (whose health was declining by the day). Instead, she was able to tap her emergency fund and make one aspect of that trip a little less stressful.

The importance of having emergency savings

When we think of having an emergency savings account, we often assume we'll need that money for things like home repairs, car repairs, or medical bills. And the truth is that we're often told to amass a large enough emergency fund to cover three months of essential expenses at a minimum in case we're laid off and have to go without a paycheck for a period.

But unfortunately, there's another reason you might need emergency savings -- someone you love could go through a health crisis. So if your personal savings balance could use work, let that be another motivating factor.

You may not necessarily need emergency savings to visit a dying friend so much as to help out a friend or family member following a medical episode. Years ago, my father had quadruple bypass surgery. I spent hundreds of dollars in the days following his surgery to drive into New York City and park my car there just to visit him in the hospital.

My friend's expenses to see her extremely ill friend were a lot higher because there was a cross-country flight involved, and she didn't have a lot of time to make arrangements. Her friend had been very ill for months but went from that to absolutely dire condition in a matter of days. So my friend had to act quickly -- even if it meant shelling out close to $1,000 to fly out on a whim.

She also did not want to burden her friend's family upon her arrival, so she opted to rent a car. And she rented a hotel room because the last thing the family needed was a houseguest. All told, her trip cost her upward of $1,500. Thankfully, she had the money.

You never know what sort of emergency you might encounter

Having to pay to fix a car that won't start or a water heater that won't heat is stressful in its own right. But my friend's situation was well beyond that level of stress. And it's a good thing she had the money to be able to travel when she needed to.

An estimated 63% of Americans don't have enough savings to cover an unplanned $500 expense, says SecureSave. But you might spend well more than that to travel to see a loved one who's ill and needs the comfort of having you there.

So do your best to build up an emergency fund if you're lacking in that regard. Automating contributions of even as little as $10 or $20 a week could go a long way toward helping you build up a financial safety net so that money, or a lack thereof, doesn't have to get in the way of being there for a friend when they need you.