24 Valuable Sinking Fund Ideas For Your 2024 Budget

Sinking funds are a great tool to have in your budgeting arsenal. They are essentially a pot of money that you save with the intention of cash flowing either a pre-determined or foreseen purchase. You can incorporate them into your budget a bunch of different ways and for an unlimited amount of reasons. To get some ideas going, here are 24 sinking fund ideas for your 2024 budget…

Christmas 2024

It’s never too early to start saving for Christmas! If you celebrate, this is an expense that crops up at the same time every single year. So get organised early. The sooner you start putting money away to cover your crimbo expenses the less you have to save each week to reach your goal. A good place to start is by looking at how much last Christmas cost you and estimating whether this year will be the same, less or more expensive. Once you have an idea of how much you think you’ll need, work backwards. Divide the amount by how many paydays you have left and that is how much you need to add to the pot.

Gift Fund

Birthdays, weddings, moving house, anniversaries, new job – gifts are always cropping up. Be organised and set up a gift fund so you are covered when the expense crops up. You can look at it in two different ways, either you add the same amount every month and what you don’t spend rolls over. Or you plan month by month and the months where you foresee more gifts you add more and visa versa. I would keep this separate to your Christmas fund to stay even more organised.

Car Maintenance fund

Cars are very unpredictable and you never know when the next big maintenance bill is coming so be prepared. Incorporating a car maintenance sinking fund into your budget could be the difference between being able to face a bill with confidence or major financial panic. It’s also a good idea to use this fund (or a separate one if you’re super organised) to save in advance for the predicable car bills like insurance, tax & MOTs.

Education Fund

Education doesn’t have to stop when you leave formal education. Courses, workshops, mentorships, ebooks – there are tonnes of ways to keep learning each and every day. Maybe 2024 is the year to get intentional about this by factoring an education sinking fund into your budget.

Travel Fund

Whether you want to get into the habit of putting money aside regularly for future travel or already have a trip in mind and need to save for it – if travel is a goal of yours set up the sinking fund.

Tech Fund

Have a laptop on the edge or a smashed up phone that you are avoiding replacing? It’s probably time to start a tech sinking fund so when the time comes to replace or repair you are ready.

Little Splurges Fund

I love the idea of this sinking fund! Plus it doesn’t have to be a big allocation in your budget. It would be great for that treat cup of coffee or a cheeky takeaway. Think about what you think of as a little splurge and dictate your sinking fund amount from there.

Beauty Fund

If you are the sort of person who gets regular beauty treatments done having a beauty sinking fund would be a smart budgeting technique. Put money away each month to cover the expenses when they arise so it doesn’t hit your budget that month so badly. This is also a good fund to have if you are planning on bigger, rarer beauty treatments so you can start saving in advance.

Summer Holidays Fund

This one is probably more important if you have kids who you’ll need to entertain for the summer holidays. Putting a little bit aside each month now will help prepare you for the added expenses and entertainment costs of the summer holidays.

Book Fund

Massive bookworm like me? Maybe it’s time to start a book fund. A pot of money dedicated to complete guilt free book spending. Having one of these is a rich life dream of mine but I’m currently embracing free/cheap book acquisition.

Home Repair Fund

Recently moved or have home projects in mind? Get organised and factor it into your 2024 budget with a home repair sinking fund.

Tax Fund

Self employed, do freelance work or have a few side hustles? The tax man is going to want her fair share. So get organised by incorporating a tax fund into your budget. This is something that I recently incorporated into my budget and I feel so much less financial anxiety surrounding tax season.

Clothing Fund

Want to get more intentional about your clothing spend? A sinking fund could be the way to go. Pre-determine an amount from your budget that you are prepared to spend and then transfer this into pot for some guilt free clothing spending.

Charity Fund

Setting aside a set amount or percentage of your budget into a pot dedicated to charitable donations is a great sinking fund to set up. This way you can either factor in regular monthly donations or you can let the pot build up and make a larger donation if and when something crops up. This is a sinking fund that I want to implement into my budget this year.

Fun Fund

Spontaneous? Maybe you need to incorporate a fun fund into your budget so you can still keep living your life without breaking the budget. Having a pot of money on the go that you can tap into for those fun things that crop up is a great way to stay on track but still feel like you can have fun.

Pet Fund

Pets are expensive! Food, toys, accessories, poo bags, pesky vet bills – it all add ups. If you started a pet sinking fund which you added a set amount to each month, you would have the money ready to go when one of these expenses crops up. Also good if you pay for pet insurance in an annual payment as you can factor this into the set amount.

Home & Occasions Decor Fund

Love decorating your house for fun holidays? Well it’s expensive. In 2024, be a little bit more proactive about this expense that is foreseeable and start a home & occasions decor fund to cover those expenses.

Side Hustle Fund

Want to start a new side hustle but it has an upfront cost? It’s time to start a side hustle fund! Plot out what costs are associated with your side hustle idea and set a goal and timeline. Then start adding to it.

Garden Fund

Summer is just round the corner and maybe you see yourself sitting outside in one of those fabulous egg chairs? Well you best get saving so you can live your summer dreams.

Furniture Fund

Moving into a new place? Your first place maybe? Or just want a new couch? Maybe you should start of furniture sinking fund in 2024. This could be a targeted fund if you already have plans to buy a specific item. Or a more general savings pot that you add to here and there.

Special Events Fund

Weddings, baby showers, big birthdays – sooo many special events crop up constantly. Try to look ahead a little bit and plan for any upcoming special events on the horizon. Saving for them well in advance gives you a head start and will hopefully limit the financial anxiety of the event.

Self-Care Fund

Having a pot of money on hand to cover self-care is a very intentional way of putting yourself first in 2024. Self-care looks different for every single person – I’m more of a night under a blanket with a good book and a cuppa person than a spa day person so my fund wouldn’t need to be as big. Brainstorm what self-care means to you and set a monetary value on it, then make a conscious effort to add money to the pot for guilt free spending.

Health & Wellness Fund

I am unlucky enough to have terrible vision so I have to factor eye care into my budget. Plus, I can’t stand wearing my glasses so I have to account for the cost of contact lenses every couple of months. Hence a sinking fund for these types of health & wellbeing expenses comes in handy! Depending on your personal situation, you could add to it monthly or just as and when you foresee a big expense coming up.

F*ck it Fund

My personal favourite sinking fund! A F*ck it fund is a pot of money to have on hand for those moments where you say F*ck it even though it might not be in the budget that month. Now the best thing about this fund is that the amount and rules are up to you. I like the idea of having a £500 f*ck it fund on hand at all times but whenever I hit that milestone something comes up and I end up spending a chunk of it – but that’s the point right! The last two big purchases that came out of f*ck it fund were a new phone and a spontaneous tattoo.

So there you go, 24 sinking fund ideas for your 2024 budget! Do you use sinking funds? Do you already have some of the ones suggested?