Top Sinking Funds That Will Get You Huge Results

What are sinking funds you might ask? They are funds you set aside in your budget for certain things you want to save for later down the road. How this looks is you will sink any extra funds you have into certain “funds”.

This post is perfect for those of you starting out on your debt-free journey. If you are

Wedding

The average cost of a wedding in 2024 is over $30,000! Not that you will spend this much as a couple, but with the venue, catering, photographer, cake, hair, etc, it can get out of hand fast! According to this site, some weddings even cost up to $100,000. Granted, there are a lot of people who don’t even come close to spending $10 or $5,000 on their wedding.

However much you plan to spend on your wedding, this is a must-have sinking fund for you.

Down payment on a house

With the ever-increasing prices of houses and interest rates, it is vital to put this in as a sinking fund for your budget. We bought our house in 2020 so we got lucky with the price and the interest rate. If you’re already in a house, thinking about setting aside money in a sinking fund for taxes and insurance, or of course repairs!

(Dream) Vacations

Taking your dream vacation as a married couple is a lot easier than if you wait until you have kids. Trust me, I know! My husband and I didn’t get a chance to take a honeymoon when we got married, so we are planning on an epic vacation soon to celebrate our anniversary.

Getting rid of previous debt

It’s probably inevitable: when you are solo, you might have built up some debt, whether it’s college, vehicles, or other personal loans. Getting these paid down (or off completely) prior to starting a family is a great goal to have regardless if you want kids or not. This will give you a lot more cash to put toward those bigger sinking funds.

New vehicle(s)

Vehicles are not cheap, never really have been, but more than before! This is like saving for a wedding, the average cost is astronomical (almost $50,000!), but depending on if you get new or used it could be under $20,000. This is on our sinking fund list to get me a replacement since my car is on its last leg (eek!).

Retirement

It’s never too early to save for retirement! The sooner you get a jump on it the better it will be for you as well! You’ll have more in retirement if you start saving for retirement when you are 20 than if you were to start when you’re 30. Plus, you’ll have more money to put aside if you don’t have kids yet!

Final item: starting a family

Babies are expensive, kids are expensive so it’s always a good thing to get ahead of the curve! Usually, kiddos means a bigger house, bigger car, etc. These are already on this list of the best sinking funds to have so you will be off to a great start!

If you already have a family, check out this post on great sinking funds to start as a family.