If you’ve been around for any length of time, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of sinking funds. I’ve repeated many, many, many times that money needs to be set aside for the un-glamorous expenses of life, i.e. property taxes and insurance premiums.
Today, I want to remind you that sinking funds should also be used to fund your hobbies. After all, your hobbies are those activities that bring you joy. When you’re doing them, you’re happy. There’s a certain contentment that comes with these activities. And that’s great.
However, hobbies generally cost a little bit of money. So you should have a sinking fund for them. If you haven’t already done so, open an account that’s just for your hobby-money and set up an automatic transfer to contribute money every time you’re paid.
I’ve been an amateur gardener extraordinaire for the past few years. I have a few simple rules. If it’s going in the ground, then it has to be a perennial. Getting down on my knees isn’t as easy as it used to be so I use waist-high planters and various containers for my annuals. Every year, I buy another couple of containers to add to my growing collection. And I like to try different annuals each year too. They’re not cheap. (And I’ve not yet started any seedling projects but I think I will have to put that on my to-do list at some point.)
Annuals are not inexpensive where I live! I routinely spend several hundred dollars every year, but I don’t mind. Those littel flowers bring me joy for several months! I love seeing which ones are more vigorous, which ones have the biggest blooms, which new colour combinations are most pleasing! Then I can spend the long winter months planning the following year’s floral arrangements.
I digress….
Again, buying annuals every year isn’t easy on my wallet. So I have a sinking fund for my flower gardens. Even when I get free plants from family members, I rely on the money in my sinking fund. This year, my cousin gave me many little iris plants. In turn, I bought her a bag of worm castings. Most people might not be thrilled to get a bag of worm poop but gardeners understand just how wonderful a treasure such a bag can be for the garden!
And I don’t buy every single annual from the fancy greenhouses either. Most of my stalwart plants are from the grocery store or the hardware store, where they simply section of part of their parking lots and sell plants. I do buy some stuff at the greenhouse, but only the more tender stuff or the fancier versions of what I can get in the aforementioned parking lots. Even when each plant is only $3.99, that adds up quickly. ‘
On top of the plants, I need the worm castings, the fertilizer, the root booster, and generally some compost. Every few years, I replace my gardener gloves or buy another trowel. Hoses don’t last forever either! And since I prefer container gardening, I treat myself to a couple of new containers each spring… which allows me to buy even more annuals!
Gardening isn’t inexpensive. Yet, flowers make me happy so I use a sinking fund to pay for the expenses that come with my hobby. I shop then I buy, then I withdraw money from my sinking fund to pay my credit card bill.
Whatever your hobby is, you should be doing the same.
After all, once your necessities have been paid, the next best use of your money is spending it on your hobbies. You work too hard for your paycheque to waste it on the things that don’t bring more joy into your life.