Having even a small cushion of savings to fall back on allows people to deal with unexpected expenses, such as medical treatment, without having to sell acow or take a child out of school.
Yes, with all the nonsense about homeopathic treatment for animals although most of them do stop short of having to bury acow horn in the dung pile by moonlight (no, really, there is a wing of the movement which insists that this helps in some manner).