I saw someone put a full bottle of laxative into someone's drink so they could shark a referral...
It was insane.
(Not to mention, they ruined a perfectly good public restroom.) But I get it, they're after that $10K cash prize and dinner with your's truly. I'd do some truly gnarly stuff to have dinner with me.
Don't worry though, it's not to late to join. Just hit that link above and get going.
Remember, the top 5 referrers get to fly out to Austin to meet the team and check out the office.
But only ONE of you gets to go home with 10K...
So good luck. And may the odds ever be in the favor of you NOT getting disaster pants before a big meeting.
Quick quiz. What’s your insurance premium? When’s it due? What do tires cost for your car? What are you spending on Christmas?
If your answer to any of those was a shrug, you’ve got a sinking fund problem.
Your emergency fund is for the stuff you can’t see coming.
Your sinking funds are for the stuff you absolutely CAN see coming and keep pretending you can’t.
Christmas is not a surprise. It’s on the calendar. Same date every year since forever.
Your car needs tires. Cars have always needed tires.
Your annual premium hits the same month it always does, and every single year you act like a stranger walked up and mugged you in a parking lot.
A sinking fund is stupidly simple.
Take a known future expense, divide it by the months until it hits, save that amount every month. Nine hundred bucks in tires nine months out is a hundred a month. Done. No drama. No credit card. No 26% interest on rubber.
Three rules.
1) One fund per goal.
Christmas money and tire money are not the same money. If they live in the same account they will merge, and then they will vanish.
2) Keep it out of checking.
Money in your checking account isn’t savings. It’s bait.
3) Automate it on payday.
If it requires you to remember, it’s not happening. You’ve met you. (This makes it easier, and right now it's 20% OFF Annual.)
Where you park the money matters too.
If your sinking funds are sitting in checking earning nothing, you’re donating the interest to your bank as a thank-you for holding your own money.
Don't want to hand money to your bank like a simp?
Then MoneyLion has a savings comparison tool that lets you line up high-yield savings accounts side by side and check APYs, monthly fees, minimum balance requirements, and withdrawal limits. They also offer a savings account of their own through their banking partner. Takes no time at all, and it could help you keep more of your money. SUUUUPER worth it.
Rates move constantly, so whatever number you see today is not a promise anybody made you. Read the requirements. Some accounts want a minimum balance before they’ll give you the rate they advertised. An extra couple percent on $900 buys you a decent dinner. Having the $900 at all is what keeps you off the credit card in the first place.
Taquitos,
Caleb “Sinking Fund” Hammer
P.S. Think you've got a particularly frightening financial fiction?
