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Home > Thinking...about Sinking Funds - responses welcome!

Thinking...about Sinking Funds - responses welcome!

January 8th, 2013 at 03:05 pm

I have been thinking about Sinking Funds quite a bit lately and also about expected ‘unexpected’ expenses. I really want to fund so many different things, but I also don’t want to slow down my debt snowball.

Right now, my budget accounts for Sinking Funds in the following categories:

Gas – for extra trips at certain times of year
Gifts – for birthdays & to supplement Christmas (finding money unconventionally for most of my Christmas 2013 purchases)
Pets – vet appointments, ect
Medical – out of pocket expenses outside of HSA/MRA funds
Car - *This is where I am thinking more about expected replacements of tires, brakes, tags, routine repairs, ect
Wedding Season – funds to attend the wedding of 2 good friends this year
Clothes
Home repairs *this is also something I am looking at as I have several projects & expected upcoming ‘deaths’ to certain appliances in the next 2 years

So I am focusing on car & home. I have to expect normal wear & tear repairs. I am working to make a list & look to how long things are supposed to last & plan accordingly.

The main 4 Things I want to work on first are:
-Scheduled Maintenance for car
- ‘tune-up’ for the heating/cooling units
- replacing screens in front & back doors
- replacing the stove

What are some of your sinking funds and how do you plan for planned unpredictable repairs/replacements? I would love to hear others as well!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Thinking...about Sinking Funds - responses welcome!”

  1. twest Says:
    January 9th, 2013 at 02:23 am 1357698231
    1357698231

    I just started doing sinking funds in 2012. I do Home, Medical, Car, Clothes, Entertainment, and Gifts/Vacation. I started this trying to avoid putting so much on the credit card. I always pay my credit cards off each month but some months I would find it tough to pay everything. I definitely didn't want to dip into emergency for "planned expenses." I send 50 to each category with the exception of two of them which I send 100/month. The two that get 100 are the two categories that I know will be needed soon. This is just how I do it and maybe we will hear from others as well.

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    January 20th, 2013 at 06:11 pm 1358705484
    1358705484

    I have found that too many categories makes for inflexibility...at least for us. We have a slush fund where extra cash goes...that isn't necessarily earmarked to anything in particular but would help us pay for oil changes or school fees.

    Our escrow/sinking fund includes auto insurance, and car registrations only at this point. It did include life insurance at one time, but they now deduct monthly.

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