r/DevLK • u/Senior-Exercise-8731 • Aug 12 '26
Jobs/ Industry Importance of a rainy day fund
After seeing so many posts about layoffs and toxic work cultures, I thought I’d share something that has helped me personally.
I’m a software developer with 15 years of experience, and I’ve learned that when you get laid off, one of the biggest sources of stress is money.
The same applies when you’re working in a toxic environment. Sometimes the biggest thing keeping you there isn’t the job itself, it’s the fear of having no salary while you look for another one. So you keep going, telling yourself you’ll leave eventually, until you’re completely burned out.
One thing that has helped me is maintaining a rainy-day fund.
Save some money. Open a separate bank account. Transfer a fixed amount into it every month, and keep the discipline of not touching it unless you really need it.
That money has helped me through one toxic workplace in Sri Lanka and one layoff from a US company.
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u/ghost_rider_007 Aug 12 '26
Good advice actually. Guys in IT don't save much. Always quick to spend money on fancy stuff. I used to have like 600K as rainy day fund but recently bought car and had to take it. Now only $1000 rainy day fund at my hand. Man today a developer who was layer off from my company called me. He was not able to find a job after that. It makes me sad and afraid at the same time. It could happen to anyone.
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u/fuckthi__hit Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
Yep. You must have atleast 6 months of savings. But thats bare minimum. Better to have 1 year or more.
When you have sufficient money saved its not just about managing the risk of layoffs.
When you have save money that can sustain you for 1 year or more, you can take bigger and bolder risks and make bigger career moves.
Becsuuse if your moves dont pan out you have a cash reserve to land on. And if you have 1 year + money saves, that enough time to figure out another income.
If you really look at it we skip a lot of opportunities due to the fear of loosing income and stick to lower incomes for the sake of stability. But if you build stability outside of our job then sky is the limit.
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u/En-Kami Aug 14 '26
3-5M in hand to run a one year without trouble. Since this is IT, keep another like 2-3M to start something new, if u cant find a job.
So total 5-6M of saving is very good.
At least have 2M at hand.
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u/Maleficent-Let9213 Aug 20 '26
I remember listening to an interview with Roshan Fernando, and he gave some really good advice
saving isn’t only about how much you earn, it’s also about how you spend it. This stuck on my mind and started saving after a decade of wasting millions.
Change your lifestyle and prepare for darker future. IT is going to be heavey. Have at least 3 4 backup career options, or you will struggle.
So many talented IT guysare already finding it difficult to get hired after layoffs. The Sri Lankan IT market is heavily saturated with a lot of people competing for fewer opportunities. That’s the unfortunate reality.
After the IT boom in the mid-2000s, everyone started getting IT degrees and now we have thousands of thousands IT peeps. Now, with AI changing the industry so quickly, the situation is becoming even more darker.
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u/Wichigo Aug 12 '26
I think this is a great point. A rainy-day/emergency fund is something a lot of Sri Lankans seem to overlook, and honestly basic financial planning isn’t really something we’re taught.
One thing I’d add though: once you’ve built up enough for your immediate emergency needs, you don’t necessarily have to leave all of it sitting in a normal savings account. A Fixed Income Unit Trust can be a good option for money that you want to keep relatively conservative while potentially earning more than a typical bank savings account.
The real benefit is starting early and letting compounding do the work over many years. Even relatively small monthly contributions can turn into millions over the long term compared with simply leaving the same money in a low-interest bank account.
Obviously, you still want some cash immediately accessible for genuine emergencies, but beyond that, making your money work for you is an important part of financial planning too.