I started using sinking funds long before I knew what a “sinking fund” was. I just thought of it as “setting money aside so Future Jill doesn’t get stressed out.” It wasn’t until I worked for Jamila Souffrant that I heard the actual term. She was explaining sinking funds and I remember thinking, Nope, never heard of that. And then as she kept talking I thought, Ohhh… I’m already doing that. I just didn’t know it had a name.

Budget wise, November was calm. After October’s surprise brake repair bill, it felt nice to have a month with no big, unexpected expenses. We also had some extra income come in through Mike’s work, which helped us rebuild our checking account buffer and cover some areas where we went over budget this month.

Unless you’re planning to sell everything you own, moving across the country isn’t cheap. And even if you did sell it all, you’d still spend money on transportation and new belongings when you arrived at your destination. Any way you slice it, you’re inevitably going to have some move related expenses.

October kicked off with a fun surprise: a ~$1,900 car bill for brake repairs. Starting off the month with a big unexpected expense seemed to open the floodgates for everything else, we found ourselves thinking, “Well, we’re already over budget… what’s a little more?”