System 15: Sinking funds and savings goals
Known future costs, funded monthly in advance: car repairs, home repairs, holidays, gifts and the annual bills that are only a surprise once.
The system guide
Working guides in this system
Sinking funds and goals A Gifts and Celebrations Fund, Built Monthly A monthly gifts fund that covers birthdays, holidays and celebrations calmly: making the full list, setting a per-person approach, and keeping generosity inside a number you chose. Sinking funds and goals A Holidays Fund: Pay Before You Go How to fund holidays in advance with a sinking fund: costing the whole trip honestly, setting the monthly amount, and handling the first trip that comes before the fund is ready. Sinking funds and goals A Home Repairs Fund: The Roof Rule A home repairs sinking fund built around the roof rule: fund the big known item first, layer smaller repairs beneath it, and keep a simple condition list for the whole house. Sinking funds and goals A Sinking Fund for Car Repairs and Maintenance How a car sinking fund works: what to include, how to size the monthly amount from your own car's history, and how to handle the repair that arrives before the fund is ready. Sinking funds and goals An Annual Bills Fund: Insurance, Licenses and Fees One fund for every once-a-year bill: insurance premiums, licenses, registrations, memberships and fees, listed, totalled and divided into a single steady monthly amount. Sinking funds and goals Goals With a Date and a Picture: Making Targets Visible How to run a savings goal properly: a real date, a concrete picture of the thing, a monthly amount from working backwards, and a visible tracker that does not take over your home. Sinking funds and goals How Many Sinking Funds Is Too Many? How to tell when you have enough sinking funds: the tests a new fund should pass, the signs of over-slicing, and how grouping keeps the system light enough to keep running. Sinking funds and goals Setting Sinking Fund Amounts by Working Backwards The working-backwards method for sinking fund amounts: cost, date, division, plus how to handle starting late, costs that move, and amounts that come out higher than you can pay. Sinking funds and goals Sinking Funds Versus the Emergency Fund: Different Jobs The clear boundary between sinking funds and the emergency fund: what each is for, why mixing them breaks both, and how the two work together across a household year. Sinking funds and goals What Is a Sinking Fund? The Plain Explanation The plain explanation of a sinking fund: a named pot, filled monthly, for a cost you already know is coming, with a worked example and the common confusions cleared up. Sinking funds and goals When the Fund Is Not Enough Yet: The Honest Options What to do when a bill arrives before its sinking fund can cover it: the honest options ranked, what to avoid, and how to rebuild the fund so the next cycle is fully covered.