$1000 was a Hmong bride's average purchase price and should be OK

[theking]

..for an emergency fund back in the 80s but not anymore..  :

A man asked Dave Ramsey if $1,000 is enough for an emergency fund in 2023 — his response drew lots of laughter and applause. Here's why

It’s been 20 years since Dave Ramsey’s book The Total Money Makeover recommended that Americans can start an emergency fund with $1,000. That doesn’t mean, though, that the figure was meant as a be all and end all — for now or even back then.

Asked about that threshold number by an audience member on a recent episode of his eponymous show, Ramsey replied: “$1,000 was not enough in 2003.”

As the audience clapped and cracked up, Ramsey continued: “It was never designed to be enough. It’s enough to keep the little things from kicking your butt off the get-out-of-debt wagon.”

At one point, Ramsey recommended using every bit of savings to pay down debt (still a great idea if high-interest credit cards are beating your bank account to death. But this strategy caused some Americans to lose hope, which led him to make the $1,000 tweak as a safety valve for small emergencies on the way to debt freedom.

“So [the $1,000 savings] doesn’t need to be adjusted, because it was never supposed to be enough.”

The question is: What is enough for an American’s emergency fund, qualitatively or quantitatively? The financial guru offered his answer later on during the show. Based on his advice, here’s what you can glean on the way to coming financially clean.

Use monthly expenses as an emergency fund barometer
If you’re following Ramsey’s “baby steps” to pay off debt, he also suggests you pause to set aside money for the unexpected. To calculate your emergency fund needs, first look at your monthly expenses over the last three to six months and come up with your average spending.