Is it a very precarious place to be if your emergency funds are not where it should be at i.e. 6 months of expenses?

I won't say that it's very precarious - there are definitely worse situations to be compared to not having 6 months worth of expenses saved up.

But that said, it's good to have emergency funds saved. This is especially so if you are a breadwinner in the family, and you are not just saving for yourself, but for a larger family unit.

Additionally, it should definitely come before savings and investments.

Why have an emergency fund?

Like the word says, its for emergencies. Unpredictable emergencies can be life-altering AND usually expensive. Emergency funds gives you the buffer you need to pay out-of-pocket expenses that your insurance cannot cover, so you won’t have to turn to taking loans to cover cash that you need to pay.

Depends on your bills and expenses. These days hard to find iron rice bowl job already. Everywhere retrenchments is very common. That's why savings and emergency funds are a must.

If you are not servicing car loans, housing loans, medical expenses, any expenses that cannot be postponed or waived, then you will need the savings or emergency funds to tide over.

E.g Banks are not going to show mercy on your housing loan if you are jobless and cannot service the loan...