Explaining Our 18 Sinking Funds!

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: sinking funds have been the biggest game changer for our budget. They help us keep track of those "miscellaneous" expenses that used to throw our budget off every month. We currently have 18 sinking funds, and I love how organized it keeps our spending! Let's talk about all of our sinking funds.
Do you use sinking funds? If so, how many do you have?
*My Budget Spreadsheet (Etsy Shop): tidd.ly/3BpiUcn
My budget spreadsheet that I use is in google sheets, and it includes debt payments, savings and investing (which I label "pay yourself first"), fixed expenses, and sinking funds! I love using sinking funds to reduce the chance of "unexpected" expenses in our budget each month. Come budget with me with our real numbers for our household budget!
Sinking Funds Video: • Sinking Funds! The Bes...
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xo,
Lo
**This video is not financial or legal advice. This is just me sharing my own experience with my debt and finances.
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[@katiesieck4588]

I used to have 22 sinking funds 🤣 I recently combined a few like our “yard maintenance and house expenses” are now just “house maintenance” to make thinks a bit simpler. I only have 15 funds now. This is my first month simplifying them a bit, so we’ll see how it works going forward 😀

[@mollyb3406]

My sinking funds are my favorite thing to budget!

[@laurensmoneymindset]

Same!

[@mjarsenault]

Sinking funds are the best! I have several of them that go into one bank account but are tracked on a spreadsheet. I also bought your budget spreadsheet last fall and overall it's been working really well for me. The one thing that confused me for a while was what I considered to be 'variable monthly expenses' (food, gas, pet expenses, etc.) were mixed in with the 'sinking funds' (which I consider to be savings for expenses that only occur once in a while, like home repairs, vacation fund, emergency fund, etc). So what I ended up doing was putting the total amount that I transfer to my sinking funds in the 'Savings' section of your spreadsheet and just continue to keep track of them on my separate sinking funds spreadsheet. I changed the name of what you had down as the 'Sinking Funds' section to 'Variable Expenses' and that made sense in my brain so it's all good 😀 I had started with the Budget Mom's Budget by Paycheque book and that's how they were divided which I liked but I discovered that I wasn't a 'budget on paper' kinda person. Now I have the best of both worlds! Thank you!

[@annamaria1419]

I have 7 Sinking Funds: clothing, beauty/health (I'm living in Germany and we do have health insurance. Health means stuff like vitamins), car insurance/car taxes, Spotify Sinking fund, vacation, gifts and lastly debt snowball payments (every two months I put that money towards my debt) I love the ideas of Sinking funds. Every time I tell my friends about my Sinking funds they haven't heard of this idea😅

[@christinam81]

You got me beat! 😂 Now I need to add more lol

[@laurensmoneymindset]

LOL use however many work for you!

[@Shealynne7]

I have 9 sinking funds. Stuff like grocery and gas I copy over and adjust depending on plans, which actually helps me plan better in some ways. Looking ahead to budget for a dinner or event can keep me on from procrastinating. Auto insurance I do annually as well and save up each month, also getting the discount. One people don't think of often is extra taxes. There are many places where local taxes occur annually, my area has 4 ranging from 10 to 190 dollars each time. It is very freeing to have it set aside in small increments, or a giant chunk if I have an unplanned windfall.

[@syd3724]

My boyfriend saw my ten sinking funds yesterday and was like woooaaah lol i need the organization!

[@laurensmoneymindset]

Lol love it!

[@snapdragon2441]

Your lucky, wish my husband would get on board but he has no interest at all.

[@allthingsalecia]

Hi. Great video. We have 8 sinking funds for home maintenance, bless someone (gifts), Christmas, car maintenance, vacation #1, vacation #2, family bdays and date night.

[@turtlescanfly7]

Idk how many sinking funds I have but it’s definitely a lot, probably around 10. I don’t separate out my sinking funds because I use YNAB so I can clearly see the buckets and how much is in each fund. The only thing in a separate bank account is my EF. I also started keeping a small part of my EF in my checking account as an account buffer after you mentioned doing it.

[@EverTheOptimist37]

We have 20 plus one each for me, hubby, and the 5 kids. We budget in personal money for me and hubby to save us moaning about what each other is buy. I'm so glad I'm not the only one with so many.

[@sparkymularkey6970]

I love sinking funds! I have a single savings account for all of them and I just keep track of each individual goal on a spreadsheet and it's been really working for me. Thanks for this video! It's nice to hear other people talking about how great sinking funds are.

[@laurensmoneymindset]

That’s awesome! We do the same..all in one account and track via spreadsheet!

[@MariekeWorm]

I handle all my bills as a sinking fund kind of, even the fixed expenses. In my budget, I calculate every standard bill into a montly one, even if they only come oce a year (so then I devide it by 12). So every month I put that money in my fixed expenses bank account. That way I always have the money to pay my bills. Then I have another account for sinking funds that are more variable. Like clothing, healthcare costs that aren't covered by insurance, recreation, vacation, home maintenance, pet costs, car maintenance and saving to buy another car when we need to. And then another account for emergency fund and another one for groceries and gas. That way I always have money to get my food and to pay my bills, without the risk to go over budget much. And very important: as soon as we receive pay, the amounts automatically get transferred to the right accounts straight away.

[@christineklemp7852]

Great video! I am also a great fan of sinking funds. I even have a sinking fund for my daughters wedding and she is not even engaged yet! The gift and car maintenance, home maintenance funds are so wonderful. It's such a relief to get needed brakes oil change etc and not worry about it! We need a new fence in our yard and have been saving so this will not be a major ordeal!! Hope you feel better. Thanks for your videos!!

[@SmurfetBaby]

Here are my sinking funds, anniversary, back to school, bae bday, car maintenance, cell phone (paid annually), medical, my birthday, my son birthday, life insurance (paid annually) , Valentine’s Day, travel, Christmas.

[@melanierose9015]

I'm sure in the beginning with more debts you didn't have as many sinking funds. Could you do a video how you sinking funds or spending evolved during your debt free journey. We are having a tough time paying for everything. I mentioned on IG that everything kept breaking as quickly as we fixed something and we just can't get ahead!

[@apmwpny]

@Melanie Rose I can understand your frustration with the current state of your finances. I am hopeful my advise will help you… First of all, I am sympathetic to the fact that your income does not stretch enough as you would like. Taking this into consideration, let’s concentrate on only one sinking fund for you at this time. It will be your EMERGENCY fund. Once you’ve paid all your bills for the month, and have set aside the money you’ll need for variable expenses (groceries, gas, and other necessities) any money left over goes directly to a savings or checking account dedicated only to this fund. This could be as little as $10 per paycheck; but let’s put in what we can so there is the motivation there to continue. I am also going to assume you have some debt… So for every $10 extra dollars you have available (aside to the $10 per paycheck I already mentioned) in your monthly income, send $8 to debt and $2 to your savings fund. This is important because it may not be your net debt that is weighing your finances down, but the interest of that debt is. So, though you are doing as best you can to pay your debt down, you are also concentrating on setting aside a small portion for an expense that may come along and you didn’t anticipate. Please continue with this method for the rest of the year… If nothing else, once Christmas comes around, you may have just enough saved to avoid placing your Christmas gift purchases on a credit card by using this money. But this said, I am sure you understand that an emergency fund is exactly for what it is meant to be: an emergency (like the expenses you’ve recently been experiencing). I hope this input helps you Melanie; rest assured I’m here to help you if you have additional questions. My best wishes to you.

[@ladytlw67]

I love using Ally Bank for sinking funds because they have savings and spending buckets. It makes it easier for me to categorize my money in that one checking and savings account.

[@laurensmoneymindset]

Great tip! I actually just opened an Ally account recently!

[@snapdragon2441]

I have a dedicated bank for my sinking funds, which allows me to split up the amount into separate areas known as Pots. I get interest on all of them and can add or withdraw instantly as needed.

[@amyjones4007]

Sinking funds are a game changer!

[@laurensmoneymindset]

Totally agree!

[@kimberlystokes663]

I have ALOT of sinking funds also, lol. Since I've paid off my debt it's now a combination of cash and banking SF. Trying to figure out if I should consolidate some of them...

[@laurensmoneymindset]

*My Budget Spreadsheet to Tracking Sinking Funds: www.etsy.com/listing/1031721868/budget-spreadsheet?ref=shop_home_recs_1&crt=1 *Use GetUpside to save on gas and get an extra 20¢/gallon cash back on your first fill up when you use code AFF20 with my affiliate link!: www.dpbolvw.net/click-100591851-15018791

[@rachaelsmoneymoves]

I wish I had a sinking fund for car maintenance last month 😫

[@angelamohamed4242]

My husband and I have sinking funds for Emergency, Car Expenses, Bills, Housing, Travel, Taxes , Gifts & Clothing

[@user-uo3wf3hf8p]

Where cash stuffing saved me I was always a paycheck behind and it’s costs so much

[@leomcmlx]

I have three Sinking Funds in the same bank... in order to not confuse them, would you call them Sinking Fund 1, Sinking Fund 2... etc. noting that the bank only use 20 letters & numbers or spaces, I know this might be silly but would value your opinion, thanks.

[@pearlivory3483]

I’m happy with the one bank account

[@tim_9562]

Sinking Fund AKA: (Envelope Method)

[@morganagrom3]

We did away with our miscellaneous fund and we don’t miss it 🤷🏼‍♀️ somewhere in our 16 sinking funds I will find a place for jt hah.

[@JennTheFrugalMom]

I have over 20 envelopes lol

[@MissaLifeStyle]

I feel like that’s completely normal. Every fund you had I have as well lol. I actually have five wallets and each wallet has 8 envelopes. So technically, I think I have 40 sinking funds? Or 40 budget envelopes whichever terminology ppl wanna use lol.

[@laurensmoneymindset]

Love the organization!! Glad I’m not the only one with lots of categories lol