It happens out of the blue... you are hit with a sudden emergency problem that requires you to spend money you can't really afford. Of course, this kind of misfortune always happens when you least expect, and at the wrong moment. You're up to your neck in debt as it is, but now you have to find some way to pay for this urgent issue that's come up. You check your bank account and realize that it's running on fumes. In fact, you pretty much live paycheck to paycheck and don't have enough to cover this unfortunate expense. It's times like these that you wished you had listened to that famous financial advisor on TV that recommended setting up an emergency fund.