These days we have more distractions than ever. A whole world of entertainment and networking is out there on the Internet, just a couple of clicks away. We have phone apps that help us stay organized, monitor our finances, and use sling shots to shoot birds at the pigs who stole our eggs. There’s a lot of good that comes with these advancements, but there’s also a lot of room for distraction and time sucks. Who hasn’t wasted an entire afternoon mindlessly surfing the web when there are real deadlines looming? It’s so easy to procrastinate when we have so many avenues for entertainment.

People tend to choose a mate similar to themselves, according to social psychologists. But when it comes to spending habits, it seems that like does not attract like, even though people think their ideal mate would have similar spending habits. In “Fatal (Fiscal) Attraction,” Rick, Small, and Finkel, professors of the Wharton School of Finance and Northwestern University, developed a survey that measured participants on a spendthrift-tightwad spectrum. The researchers wrote that every person feels a degree of “the pain of paying,” with tightwads feeling too much pain and therefore feeling less enjoyment of their money and spendthrifts feeling too little pain and therefore spending more than they would like. According to the findings, opposites attract. In many cases we look for similar characteristics in our significant others, but that depends on whether or someone likes or dislikes a trait in themselves. The study found that if someone is unhappy about the way they handle their finances, they’ll be more attracted to their opposite. For example, a spendthrift might feel guilty that he blows all of his money and has nothing left for his savings account at the end of the month. Because his behavior makes him unhappy and he dislikes his bad habits, he’s more likely to fall for someone who knows how to manage money responsibly.

If you’ve been following along during our series on emergency funds, you’ve already learned much of what you need to know about how to start saving. Today we’ll talk about how to stay motivated while you’re saving. If you’ve missed the previous posts, here’s what we’ve already talked about: Why an emergency fund is critical Five ways to start saving Five more ways to find extra cash How and where to setup your emergency fund How much you should save By now, you understand the importance of an emergency fund, and you’re well on your way to saving up for one of your very own. But all too often your initial excitement about making positive financial changes in your life begins to wane. It was easy enough to pack a lunch for two weeks or to spend more quality time at home with your Netflix queue, but eventually those things get old. Sometimes it feels like you’re not getting anywhere when you’re saving, for example, $50 a month toward a final goal of $6,000. The truth is that good financial habits are rarely exciting. Just like diet and exercise, getting your fiscal house in order or is about the daily habits – there is no quick fix. So how do you stay motivated when you’re doing the right things, but your financial goal has lost its luster?

Today we’ll talk about how to figure out how much money to save in your emergency fund. This is part of a series on emergency funds, so if you’ve missed anything, here’s what we’ve already talked about: Why an emergency fund is critical, especially if you think you don’t have the money to save Five ways to start saving one Five more ways to find extra cash How to setup your emergency fund, including where to bank your dough Hopefully you’ve already started to think about where you’ll come up with the extra cash and you’ve started checking around at a few financial institutions to find the right account for your emergency fund. But once you have the account and you’ve got a little extra cash to funnel into it, how will you know when you’ve saved enough?

Today we’re going to continue our series on the whys and hows of the all-important emergency fund. If you’re just joining us, here’s what we’ve covered so far: Why an emergency fund is critical, especially if you think you don’t have the money to save Five ways to start saving one Five more ways to find extra cash Today we’ll talk about where to put all that money you’re saving.