 TITLE: 6 Steps to Financially Prepare Before Having Kids CONTENT: 2\\. Increase Your Emergency Savings\n-----------------------------------\nOn that note: The majority of Americans lack any significant savings, which makes it easy to slip into debt when unexpected expenses crop up. And kids are full of surprises! Even if you have debt you're working to pay off, try to set aside a little every month so you have a cushion and can handle emergency expenses.\nIt's ideal to save at least three to six months of living expenses in an emergency fund so you don't have to rely on credit cards or other forms of debt if the car breaks down, you or your spouse gets laid off, or any other unexpected events occur. Some banks allow you to set up automatic transfers from checking to savings accounts so you don't even have to think about it, or you could use an app like Digit that automatically moves small amounts of money into savings with the goal of you not noticing it. END