Our goals for 2015 are pretty basic, but important. This will be our first official year of putting our finance together as a married couple. So, we hope to be able to achieve these goals well before the end of the year – based on how we are doing so far.
#1 Become debt free except the house - $4,044.24
#2 Fund our sinking funds - $6,814.00
#3 Save enough money to refinance our house - $2,000.00
We completed goal #1 on January 26, 2015. We had an attorney from my husband’s custody case for visitation with his daughter from a previous relationship. After that case taking two and a half years (insane!!!!) he paid his attorney over $9,000.00 in total. We had $3,800.00 left at the beginning of 2015. His attorney told us that she would accept $3,000.00 as a payoff amount! He owed $214.24 to the courthouse for that same case, which he thought he had already paid but hadn’t. We owed a gal that did a class for us before we got married (it was required) $30.00. We took that class in August of 2014 and as our finances weren’t combined at the time, we both thought the other had paid it. Once I realized she hadn’t been paid I delivered the $30.00 to her home in person. So, all of that was paid in January of this year. Debt free!!!
Here is a list of our sinking funds for this year:
1. Personal Portfolio $2,000.00
2. Christmas $500.00
3. Vacation $1,000.00
4. Phone Plans $1,000.00
5. Car Insurance $520.00
6. Car Registrations $200.00
7. Kids birthdays $500.00
8. Clothing $500.00
9. Summer lessons $80.00
10.Vehicle Maintenance $300.00
11. Sports/Dance/School Pictures $180.00
12. Software for taxes $34.00
TOTAL $6,814.00
We have already paid out $645.19 out of our sinking funds account, which leaves us with $6,168.81 unpaid. Sitting in our “sinking funds” savings account right now is $2,920.18, which then leaves us with only $3,248.63 to save. We are hoping we can have everything saved for our sinking funds before June and then we can save the $2,000.00 for the refinance over the summer.
There are a few items that we forgot to include in our “sinking funds” account. Those funds are family pictures, pets (shots and grooming), gifts for people outside of our home (birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, etc.), and holidays (Halloween costumes, fireworks for the 4th of July, etc.). I figure that after we add all of that in our “sinking funds” amount would have been around $8,000.00 for this year. We will add them in for next year, and don’t worry, our kids will get to dress up and go trick-or-treating, the dogs will get their shots and groomed, and other couples will get their wedding gifts. We simply forgot them this year. We will probably handle them just as we do the other sinking funds, but we may not finish funding the account that extra $1,200.00 until after we do the refinance.
Is the total amount of our sinking funds insane or what?! Do you have sinking funds?
2015 Financial Goals & Sinking Funds
February 17th, 2015 at 05:00 pm
February 17th, 2015 at 06:18 pm 1424197081
February 17th, 2015 at 07:39 pm 1424201951
February 17th, 2015 at 08:19 pm 1424204354
BTW, it's a good idea to review car insurance rates a month or so before renewal to make sure your coverage is appropriate to the KBB value your vehicles and actual house replacement in your community.
February 17th, 2015 at 09:05 pm 1424207114
We just make our sinking funds our first priority of the year and use one account, so all of our monthly surplus or bonuses go to the sinking funds until it's funded. They would be funded now if it weren't for that last $4,000.00 worth of debt we have paid this year. I guess we feel like it's easier for us to do things like save for a car, etc. down the road with one focus at a time. I love seeing you guys both have some sinking funds as well!
February 18th, 2015 at 02:09 pm 1424268571