It’s almost that time of the year again. Meeting family and friends. Not forgetting the food. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I’m sure that you already have an idea about what I’m talking about. Don’t you? The festive season.
Before I go on, do you already have something saved up for the festive season? No, well don’t worry.
In this article, we are going to go through how to save up for the festive season by setting up a sinking fund.If you have already saved up, good for you. But stick around. You might just learn one or two new things.[convertkit form=1733451]
Let’s get into it. Shall we?
Sinking funds, ever heard of the term? No.How to achieve financial goals
What is a sinking fund?
In personal finance, a sinking fund is money that you save for a one time known expense. This money is kept in multiple savings account.
Where can you save sinking funds?
For the disciplined people, you can save up in a savings account, piggy bank, m-shwari, and so on.
For the not so disciplined people, you can save in the money market fund or simply somewhere you can’t easily access the money.
The importance of a sinking fund?
1.Helps you to avoid cashing in on your emergency fund .
An emergency fund account is a type of savings account where you have 3 to 6 months of your living expenses. It is used to cater for rare, unknown expenses like loss of a job. This amount is often kept in a high yield savings account.
2.Aids in preventing you from going into bad debt.
If you have not adequately prepared for the festive season, there is a high possibility of getting a loan or two to offset bills. A sinking fund will help you avoid this.
3.Prevents you from siphoning your savings.
If you had saved up intentionally for the festive season, well and good. Cash in your savings. Otherwise don’t. your normal savings intended for other financial goals should remain intact even as the festivities go on.
4.To keep you away from squeezing your budget.
A sinking fund will help you avoid foregoing some expenses on your budget. As one of my mentors says, cutting back is never the solution. Rather plan for that expense and increase your income.
Types of sinking funds.
There are several types of sinking funds.
The type of sinking fund primarily depends on the purpose of the fund. If you are saving up for Christmas, then you will have a Christmas sinking fund. Saving up for a wedding, then you have a wedding sinking fund. If it is a car, a car sinking fund, and so on.
The bottom line is that you can save up for anything. You can save up for furniture, the latest phone, your birthday, and anything else.
How to set up a sinking fund.
Now that you know what a sinking fund is, the benefits of setting up a sinking fund and the types. Let’s learn how we can set a sinking fund to help us save up for the festive season.
1.Know what you want to save up for.
Remember that a sinking fund is for a predetermined expense. For example, Christmas. We know that it comes around once in a year
.2.Set a target amount.
Here consider all the expenses.
In our example saving up for Christmas. We need to consider Christmas gifts, travel expenses, food, and so on. Take everything into account then sum up all the expenses. This will be your target amount.
3.Decide how many months you want to save.
For instance, it is two months to Christmas.
4.Divide the target amount by the number of months.
This is to help you come up with the amount you need to save each month.
5.Set up automatic contributions.
Tip:
Have an accountability partner. It always helps to have someone who will track your progress. In conclusion, enjoy the process of saving up. Feel free to download the sinking fund template and watch the video. Happy festive season. Yeah, it’s still early but why not.