Are their items in your home you need to replace? Maybe a large appliance is on it’s last leg? Do you want to invest in a Deep Freezer? Had your eye on a generator for the next time the power goes out? Take a moment to make a list of all the big purchases you might need to make within the next year and write an estimate of how much it might cost you.
Once you know how much you need for these items, it’s time to figure out how to pay for them. You definitely do not want to find yourself in a situation with a dead appliance and no way to pay for it without draining your emergency fund or charging it on a store credit card.
Here are a few ways you can build these purchases into your budget:
- Decide on a date when you want to purchase the item. Count how many months are between now and then and divide the cost of the item by that number. So if it is 6 months from now and the appliance is $600, you would need to save $100 a month. Write this amount in as a bill on the Budget Worksheets. When you pay the ‘bill’, put the amount towards the cost of the big purchase.
- Apply any remaining balance from the Miscellaneous Fund to the amount you need for this big purchase. So if it is a $600 item and you budget $50 a week for your miscellaneous fund, you would take whatever is left at the end of the week and apply it towards your goal. Do you best not to spend anything out of the miscellaneous fund until you reach your goal.
- Set the big purchase as the goal for Your Fund. You don’t have to use the saving principles to save for Disney World or other vacations. You can use them to save for big purchases that you need to make.