hen Branita Griffin and Maurice Henson got married in, they budgeted for the money they would need for a wedding, a honeymoon and setting up a joint household. But adoption was an expense they hadn't counted on.

The couple had applied for adoption but expected a long drawn-out process. Instead, they were offered a chance within a matter of months. The fee was $5,000. It was $5,000 the Hensons didn't have.

"We had to figure out how we were going to finance this," Branita says. They decided to save 20 percent of the money and to borrow the remainder - half from each partner's 401(k) plan. The payoff was their newest family member, Clifford Stanley.

"It was a wonderful use for our money," Branita says. "I would have paid any amount of money to get Cliffie. He is just a joy.

Like the Hensons, most of us strive to stay out of debt, work from a budget, and squirrel money away for major purchases. But we all face budget busters: putting a new roof on the house, repairing the car, replacing the hot water heater, paying legal bills for a divorce.

It's for this reason that planners tell us to set up an emergency fund. Yet that doesn't always cover the unexpected or the uneven expenditures.

However, a properly planned budget can cover these irregular expenses. Your savings plan can include regular payments into a money market account or certificate of deposit account that's specifically earmarked for these expenditures. For longer-term expenditures like a roof, you probably should look at keeping those funds in something that pays a higher return, like a mutual fund, until a couple of years before you're going to need the money.

You know you're going to buy a new roof in 20 years and a new car in three years. Determine how much you'll have to save to reach those goals in specifically designated accounts. It's a discipline that pays off financially as it avoids putting yourself in debt - and in situations where you're trying to pay off credit cards with interest rates of 18 percent or higher.

Still, even planners face financial emergencies and find that the money isn't always available. Consider Bob Winfield, a financial planner in Memphis. He and his wife, Carol, too, decided to adopt a baby.

One Wednesday afternoon, Winfield got a call at work. It was a young woman they had talked with about adopting her unborn baby. She had been unable to decide. Now she was at the hospital and she wanted to go ahead with the adoption. Winfield had only a couple of days to come up with the money for medical and legal bills, which he borrowed from a bank.

Like the Hensons and Winfields, most of us are occasionally forced to dabble in debt. We should all have a plan in place so that we know what to do when that happens. The first step is to think about what you consider legitimate reasons to go into debt. Make a list. Most likely they fall into two categories: emergencies and opportunities.

For Deena Katz, a financial planner in Coral Gables, Fla., the list is a short one. "It should only include things that your everyday life depends on," Katz says. "Largely that has to do with your home and repairs to it. When you go into debt, you should be creating something that will have lasting value to you."

Add to your list "unexpected opportunities." That would not include the opportunity to enjoy a good bottle of wine. But it would certainly include adoption. Certain business opportunities might go on the list, too. Most people need to borrow if they start their own business, for instance. That would still qualify under Katz's admonition that you should borrow only to create something of lasting value.

Where to go? Most planners say the best place for emergency money is a home equity credit line. Interest rates are low - perhaps one point above the prime rate - and the interest is tax deductible. Jane King, a financial planner in Boston, likes home equity lines so much that she urges clients to set them up instead of an emergency fund. "This is a terrible time to save and a great time to borrow," King says.

With interest rates so low, King prefers to keep assets working in the stock market rather than earning 5 percent or so in an emergency fund. "A home equity line gives you an anchor to windward so you always have that money waiting for you at single-digit interest rates," she says. "And you don't have to keep money in the bank at these insulting interest rates."

When you set up a home equity line, be certain to get a credit line and not a loan. A credit line is available credit waiting for you to tap into. But there is no cost unless you actually write a check on it and make the loan, King says. The time to set it up is now, when you don't need it. If you should lose your job, it would be much more difficult to obtain the credit line.

Of course, you should tap into it only when you need it. And you should have a plan to pay it off as quickly as possible. If you lack discipline, play a game with yourself to get the loan paid off. For example, if you decide to pay it off in a year, make a little coupon book for yourself like you might get with a car loan - with 1/12th of the balance on each coupon - and put it with your bills.

Katz used a similar strategy with a client who came to see her years ago when she had a planning practice in Chicago. The woman, who was wearing a mink coat, told Katz: "I have all my assets on my back. I just can't manage to save a dime." Katz "billed" this client once a month for an amount that she "owed" to her brokerage account for savings. The woman happily wrote out the check when she paid all her other bills.

Remember the rule about paying yourself first? Getting out of debt is part of paying yourself first, so that you can get out from under the debt and save the money you're paying in interest.