Comments on: Start A Sunny Day Fund

By: 10 Lessons For New Graduates That They Failed To Learn In School | Frugal Dad

Tue, 26 May 2009 10:01:18 +0000

[...] Save for sunny days. By now you’ve had the idea of saving for a rainy day beaten into you. It’s good [...]

By: Stacey

Stacey — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:20:32 +0000

I loved the 4 Hour Work Week when I read it last year and I love the idea of the Sunny Day Fund! I started two in January with Suze Orman’s endorsed AmeriTrade Accounts because they will put $100 into each after I’ve made monthly deposits all year. I get a higher interest rate at emigrant direct (2.5 vs. 1), but I love the idea of getting “paid” to save. (Now I’m thinking maybe with the higher interest rate at emigrant I am getting “paid” more? Uh oh. I’m not good at figuring that stuff out!) So I have an idea what those accounts are for (one for EF, one for travel, and one for property taxes – which has always surprised us in the past!) – but, like you, I love the idea of making the “subaccounts” because it’s hard to even look at taking money out of the EF fund even though I think it is well funded (with 6 months of living expenses) – I can get kind of rigid, so the subaccounts would really free up my thinking and make me feel more “free” about taking that sunny day! Thanks for reposting this and sharing your thoughts and all the best to you and your mom in this challenging time!

By: Marc Epstein

Marc Epstein — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:17:46 +0000

For some reason my comment didn’t post before, but I was jsut saying that my Sunny Day fund is a vacation fund that I contribute about 300/month to. I feel that if I’m goin to take a vacation it should be worth my while.

I hope to go to Thailand in the summer time.

By: New-Dad-Blog

New-Dad-Blog — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:01:37 +0000

With us everything goes into one savings account. But it would be nice to divide it out.

I guess our sunny day fund would be for our first vacation after the baby is old enough to stay with grandma and grandpa. My wife has never been to Vegas. . .

By: SonyaAnn

SonyaAnn — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 02:30:02 +0000

I’m in the middle of funding my “funds” right now. I do have a fund for vacations and such but now I have a proper name for it. Once again great post!

By: DollarDream$

DollarDream$ — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:15:31 +0000

I just started my sunny day savings account last week. The nickname of that account is US Open. I am a huge tennis fan and for 2 pair of US open tickets I need around $400. If I start now, I will be able to afford the tickets in August.

By: Kristy @ Master Your Card

Kristy @ Master Your Card — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:38:20 +0000

I already have a sunny day fund, though I call it the travel fund. For me, I love to travel and I want to be able to just pick up and go whenever I want to. I don’t tend to take a lot of vacation at work and so I usually roll over the majority of my PTO, which means every two years I end up with almost a month’s worth of PTO. So, what I plan to do this year is use my days off as effectively as possible and try to take a trip probably in November to L.A., but save my PTO for next summer when I plan to take a couple of courses to study abroad. Now, to do all that means I need to reach my goal of keeping $5k in the travel fund, so that’s where my extra money is currently going to.

I like this concept a lot because I think we often focus on the negative aspects of finance much more than the positive. I know I’m terrible about that. I worry that my emergency fund doesn’t have enough in it constantly. I consider the ‘doom and gloom’ scenarios and how I would react. While it’s good to be prepared, it’s also good to live your life. Sunny day funds are just the ticket!

By: marci

marci — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:47:21 +0000

Camping, clamming, fishing, hunting trips. Being able to take an extra day off work for grandkids’ field trips is also special

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:18:02 +0000

As a military history buff, one of my dreams has always been to fly in a WWII-era plane. I recently discovered that at the Reading PA Air Show, held every June, you can hop a ride in a vintage B-17 for about $400. Quite a splurge, but I’ve got an envelope in which I’m putting $10 a week; by the time June rolls around I’ll be within $50 of the fee, and can just throw in the rest without feeling too pinched, rather than having to come up with it all at once.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:08:05 +0000

I call my sunny day fund my attitude adjustment fund. I know me and I know that sometimes when life blows, or I am cranky a little retail therapy works wonders. That kind of “therapy” can really run the train off the tracks when one is trying to get out of debt so I plan for it now. I put a set amount in the account and I can use it for whatever I want–big ticket items, cheap crap…whatever! Although the one drawback (if you could call it that) is that since it is in the bank and earning interest I sometimes don’t want to spend it and keep it in the bank.
I also have a vacation fund I make regular deposits into.