How to Rebuild Your Emergency Fund After the Holidays

Christmas markets, family dinners, last-minute gifts, New Year’s Eve plans. December asked a lot from your wallet! And if you’re like a lot of people right now, you probably need to rebuild your emergency fund after the holiday spending spree.

The holiday hangover is all too common: December bills are arriving and your account balance is lower than you expected. According to a 2024 survey by N26, only about one-third of Europeans specifically set money aside for emergencies. And that safety net you worked hard at building or maintaining probably took a hit.

So let’s do a quick check-in and make a plan.

The 2-Minute January Check-In 

Open up your bank app and take a look at your savings account balance right now and compare it to your target number. If you don’t have an official target, use this rough guide:

• One month of essential expenses (rent, utilities, groceries, transport) is a solid starting point
• Three months is better
• Six months is ideal

Now you know where you stand. In any case, here’s what you need to do if you’re in one of three situations below.

Is Your Emergency Fund Still Intact?

Nice, December didn’t break you! But don’t skip this section entirely.

January is actually a good time to ask yourself, “Is my emergency fund amount still the right amount?” If your rent went up, you changed jobs, or your life looks different than it did a year ago, your emergency fund target might need updating too.

• Consider a small top-up. If you got any cash gifts over the holidays or have a bit of leftover budget from January, adding even 50-100€ now keeps the momentum going.
• Set a reminder to check again in March. Put it in your calendar. A quick quarterly review keeps your safety net in good shape.

Did Your Emergency Fund Take a Hit?

If December expenses crept up more than you planned, the key now is to rebuild your emergency fund before another surprise expense shows up.

• Calculate the gap. How much did you have before December? How much do you have now? That difference is what you need to rebuild your emergency fund in the next few months.
• Set up a small weekly auto-transfer. Even 15-20€ per week adds up to 60-80€ per month. In three months, you’ve recovered 180-240€. Set this up through your banking app so it happens automatically.
• Pick one spending category to trim temporarily. Or two if you can swing it. But the idea is to make this as easy as possible, so start with one. Maybe it’s takeaway coffee, maybe it’s food delivery, maybe it’s a streaming service you can go without for a few months. Redirect whatever you save toward your emergency fund.

Don’t try to fix everything in January. A slow, steady rebuild beats an aggressive plan that you eventually abandon in February.

Is Your Emergency Fund Completely Empty?

Oof, December really did a number on you. Maybe it wasn’t even December, maybe it was an unexpected car repair or a bill that landed at the worst possible time. Either way, you’re starting from zero and need to rebuild your emergency fund from scratch.

First things first, don’t panic! This is definitely fixable.

• Start with whatever you can. 10€ a week towards your emergency fund is fine. 15€ is better. But the amount you save matters less than the habit you’re building. Whatever you can save right now is the muscle memory you’re growing by putting money aside, not hitting any target number.
• Aim for one week of expenses first. Forget the “three to six months” advice for now. If your essential weekly costs come in around 200€, that’s your first milestone that you want to try to achieve. Once you hit it, aim for two weeks. Then a month’s worth of expenses.
• Protect what you save. Keep your emergency fund in a separate account from your daily spending. Out of sight, out of mind, which makes it harder to accidentally spend.

You’ve rebuilt from zero before, whether you realize it or not. You can do it again!

What Counts as an Emergency (And What Doesn’t)? 

A quick reminder as you rebuild: your emergency fund is for genuine emergencies.

Use for emergencies:

• Job loss
• Medical bills
• Urgent car or home repairs
• Unexpected travel for family emergencies

Don’t use it for:

• Gifts for friends or family
• Sales you don’t want to miss
• “Treating yourself” after a hard week
• Trips or holidays 

The clearer you are about what this money is for, the easier it is to leave it alone.

What’s Next?

If you want the full guide on how much to save, where to keep it, and how to build while still investing, check out our complete guide: Build Your Rainy Day Fund: Protect Your Financial Growth.

For now, just do the check-in and figure out what your number is. And if December took a bite out of your emergency fund, start the rebuild this week, not “someday.”

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