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By Kelli B. Grant, SmartMoney.com


REPAIRS FOR A busted water pipe: $300. Cross-country plane ticket to attend a funeral: $600. Emergency engine overhaul of your '95 sedan: $2,000.

In a perfect world, you could easily cover such unexpected expenses by dipping into your emergency fund, which, of course, would contain enough to cover a full six months' worth of bills. The reality? The national personal savings rate (the percentage of disposable income the average American saves) has hovered near zero percent since mid-2005, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Odds are good that in an emergency, most people would be scrambling for cash. But there's no need to turn to payday loans or other high-risk options that leave you in even more desperate financial straits than when you started. Instead, look into these five options to get the extra cash you need - in a hurry:

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