Buffer
A small amount of cash held back so that an ordinary bad week does not create new debt.
Smaller than an emergency fund and built first. Often one month of essential spending, sometimes just a fixed modest amount.
Its job is narrow and important: to stand between you and the credit card when something ordinary goes wrong. Without it, repaying debt tends to be temporary — you clear the balance over eight disciplined months, the car needs work, and it goes straight back on.
This is why the usual order is buffer, then expensive debt, then the emergency fund properly. The buffer is not competing with the debt repayment; it is what stops the debt regrowing behind you.
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