The $3,000 emergency fund project

So last month I mentioned how I currently pay $10.95 in bank fees. And how much I hate it. Not just because there is a way for me to get those costs waived, but mostly due to the fact that that's a lot of money to pay an institution to hold onto MY money. Because you know, their job is to actually hold onto my money, not bloody well take it away!

Unfortunately, this practice is pretty standard with most of Canada's banks and while there are a handful of free banking options with no minimum required and even accrues interest, the inconvenience of moving my chequing accounts elsewhere is just enough to make me move for the perks.

With that said, the problem of these fees remain a problem.

However, it is also one that I can get waived.

TD will waive the fee if I keep a minimum of $3,000 consistently within the account. That is to say, from the 1st to the 31st, I need to keep at least $3,000 in that account. No, those dollars won't be accruing interest because it will have to be sitting in a non-interest accruing account. But at the same time, it will save me $10.95 monthly, which is more than what I could make with the money in an interest accruing account that isn't my investment account. I could then flip the savings to an account that does collect interest, rather than throwing it away.

Literally.

As a result of this, I want to build a base goal of having a $3,000 emergency fund by the end of the year solely for the purpose of getting those fees waived. Well preferably, I'd rather get that fee waived right now and do have a few ideas and possibilities up in the air for how to do that but ultimately, it will be my emergency fund in whole that will be doing the grunt work here.

How soon do I hope to have this done by?

Well I hope to have at least the $3,000 in which to start the fee waiving in a few week's time when my tax return comes in which will sit in a savings account until it can be moved for the start of May to waive the fee. But in terms of having the money JUST from my emergency fund (and not actually spread out over several funds) ... we shall see. That will have to depend on the money I make, save and spend in the coming months.

I'm hoping to have that money set up sooner rather than later all things considered, but I'm not about to make predictions on my spending and savings before they actually happen either. All will be revealed with time.

Ultimately, when all is settled and done with my emergency fund, I'm really hoping to have $5,000 set aside for my e-fund: $2,000 to cover any costs and the $3,000 for when stuff really hits the fan and it would be cheaper to just incur a $10.95 fee rather than say... pay interest on my credit cards.