It was about 10 a.m. on a Sunday when my car decided it had had enough. I was halfway to a family member’s house for brunch, iced coffee in hand, podcast playing, and then I felt my car hit something in the road. It wasn’t a little bump, or a “drive it off” thump. It was a very dramatic “that did some damage” kind of thump.

I pulled over and saw my front right tire completely shredded. And of course, my car doesn’t have a spare. Just a tiny repair kit that’s basically useless when the tire looks like it was put in a blender.

So I called roadside assistance, hoping they could patch it. The guy showed up, took one look, and said, “Yeah, this one’s done. We’ll have to tow it.”

The tow truck? $90.
The new tire? $180.
The random “shop fee”? $35.

That morning, my emergency fund went from solid to not so great. But on the bright side, it could’ve been so much worse.

A couple years ago, that kind of expense would’ve completely wrecked my week. Maybe even my month. I’d thrown it on a credit card, tried to pay it off over time, and then forgotten about it until the bill showed up.

But this time, I didn’t have to think twice. I had a small emergency account. Nothing huge, just a cushion that I’d slowly built through automatic transfers every week for the last 6 months. It felt like I’d prepaid for my own bad luck.

That’s when I noticed the peace wasn’t from having money. It was from having a system. I didn’t have to move things around, check five accounts, or pause another bill. The money was already waiting for me because I’d told it to be there.

Most of us think financial security means making more money. But it’s really about what happens when something goes wrong. Because something will go wrong unfortunately, it’s just a matter of when.

Flat tires, dental bills, surprise wedding invites. Life doesn’t care about your spreadsheet or your balance sometimes.

Automation, though? It does.

When I first set up my emergency fund, it felt boring. I’m not someone who tends to have a lot of patience when it comes to money. Like, why bother moving $25 a week into another account I’ll probably never touch?

But standing on the side of that road, watching the tow truck driver pull up, I felt like past-me would’ve been proud.

That’s what financial peace looks like. Not huge paychecks, but the quiet confidence that when things go sideways, you’ll be fine.

If you don’t have that yet, start small. Automate a tiny transfer into a “just in case” fund. Don’t wait until you have extra money, you won’t. Just let it run in the background, and forget about it.

Then one day, when your tire explodes or your fridge dies or your dog eats a toy (that’s happened to me), you’ll thank yourself.

Because money stress doesn’t come from expenses, it comes from surprises.

And the best way to beat surprises is to plan for them before they show up.