I think we have quite different perspectives on savings here, and I see that you view savings as containing various funds (emergency funds, discretionary funds, and reserve funds). But what I know and have practiced so far is that reserve funds and emergency funds are not included in the list of savings, and I always keep them separate. So, with that in mind, the savings I had (before investing in Bitcoin) were absolutely discretionary funds. That's why I said that savings can also be used to invest in Bitcoin.
But if the context is as you say, namely combining emergency funds, reserve funds, and discretionary funds within savings, I think it's true that the money must be separated first if you want to invest in Bitcoin. But if the context is as I said, I think it's possible to use savings to invest in Bitcoin. Because essentially, it's not a reserve fund, let alone an emergency fund. And my advice is not to combine emergency funds and reserve funds with savings, so you don't have a headache when you have to use them.
Because the way you separate emergency, reserve, and discretionary funds depends a lot on personal discipline, it’s important to recognize how this influences Bitcoin investment decisions. Many people confuse “savings” as a single pot of money, but if those categories aren’t clearly divided, then when an emergency happens they might end up liquidating Bitcoin at the wrong time, which defeats the purpose of hodling.
Even if someone considers their discretionary savings as fair game for Bitcoin, the key is consistency and patience. Bitcoin rewards those who allow time preference to shift from short term spending to long term holding. In that sense, your approach of keeping emergency and reserve funds untouched is sound, because it protects the hodl strategy from unexpected life events....Perhaps what matters most isn’t whether we call it “savings” or “funds,” but whether the money allocated to Bitcoin is truly long term capital, meaning it won’t be disturbed by short term needs. That separation is what keeps the hodler’s conviction strong through volatility.