Comments on: Sinking Fund Eases Strain Of Annual Expenses

By: Rainman DotCom

Rainman DotCom — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:34:06 +0000

Bunch of idiots. Just don’t spend what you shouldn’t be spending, Stupids. Then the $ will be sitting right there in the account that you use for writing checks, when you need it.

By: Funny about Money

Funny about Money — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:32:27 +0000

Interesting! I didn’t know there was a name for this habit. I always called it “the monthly set-aside.” Once your mortgage is paid off, you have to come up with the money to pay the hefty annual property tax bill, plus the homeowner’s insurance and the astonishing auto insurance and the annual hit for car registration. I put a single amount aside each month to cover all three of those costs.

By: Best Personal Finance Practices of 2009

Best Personal Finance Practices of 2009 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:06:14 +0000

[...] a.k.a. Frugal Dad says: For us, the best practice was to use sinking funds to start saving for big, annual expenses. We’ve talked about doing this for a couple years, [...]

By: Getting Out Of Debt Rewards Plan | Frugal Dad

Getting Out Of Debt Rewards Plan | Frugal Dad — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:42:49 +0000

[...] want to do is celebrate paying off debt by charging a trip for the family to Six Flags. Instead, create a sinking fund in a dedicated checking or online savings account, and move some money out of each paycheck there [...]

By: YYC27

YYC27 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:15:16 +0000

This is a great post for people who have troubles budgetting for those big annual expenses.

I do something similar. I don’t have a separate account for it, though. I just keep track of it all in an excel spreadsheet. Every paycheck is allocated to various budgetted spending categories, or set aside for expected bills. As I spend the money, it’s deducted from the allocated ammounts. I make sure my allocations always balance out with my account ballances. It’s a pretty anal system, really, but the accounting student inside me loves it .. heh.

I also find budgeting for things bi-weekly, as paychecks come in, keeps me honest during those two three-paycheck months a year. Instead of blowing the third paycheck on beer and popcorn, my regular ammounts for bills, etc., are still allocated out.

By: Rajeev Singh

Rajeev Singh — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:42:22 +0000

Sinking fund is very similar to teh depreciation fund being used by large corporates. It works on the same principle of saving regularly for replacing the high ticket purchase item like machinery etc. It is an important concept in accountinga nd works very well.

By: Final Review of My Mvelopes Trial (a.k.a. Finicity) | Fiscal Fizzle

Final Review of My Mvelopes Trial (a.k.a. Finicity) | Fiscal Fizzle — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:13:28 +0000

[...] also easy to plan for irregular or unexpected expenses with sinking funds. We’ve set up envelopes for each of our irregular expenses, including insurance, health, and [...]

By: Self Employment Tax Lessons Learned | Frugal Dad

Self Employment Tax Lessons Learned | Frugal Dad — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:01:36 +0000

[...] things a bit, I set aside 30% of my self employment income (freelance writing, ad sales, etc.) in a sinking fund at a designated online checking account. When the time comes to make quarterly estimates, I [...]

By: DavidK

DavidK — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:42:26 +0000

“Note, I’ve changed the amounts to keep you guessing…”

Haha, yea you did change those values. You don’t take vacations any more FrugalDad.

By: Frugal Dad

Frugal Dad — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:49:12 +0000

@Jimmy: Though I didn’t mention it in the post, your example of estimated taxes is another great use for sinking funds. I siphon off a percentage of my online earnings into this account to pay quarterly estimates on top of my regular earnings. I was not as good about this last year and it’s making April look quite painful this year!