How to prep for Winter Expenses

Blog Contributor: Callie Ward
USU Extension Assistant Professor, Garfield County

Fall is here and it is amazing! The weather is gorgeous, the canyons are lit up with gold, oranges, and reds, and some of the best activities and food (hurray for pumpkin spice!) are here. There is however an uneasy feeling Fall brings too…gone are the days of summer, late nights, and carefree fun. Also gone is yard work, I have mixed feelings about this one! Fall is a reminder that Winter is coming and so are the extra expenses that come with it. 
Preparing for Winter sometimes brings expenses you do not think of: 

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• Winterizing RVs and/or Camper Trailers
• Taking out A/C Units
• Heater Updates and Maintenance
• Final Yard Care
• Pesticide Application

These kinds of expenses can be budgeted in each month under your “Home” fund or you can open a revolving savings account. This account is specific for irregular expenses. How I like to operate my revolving savings account is in automatic deposits, however, you can make deposits any time!   Unlike a normal savings account, that you set up and is not withdrawn from regularly, a revolving savings account is used as needed. This type of savings account can be used for so many things, such as car registrations, birthday gifts, or the irregular expenses that come with the changing of seasons. I even like to use this account to pay my car insurance bi-annually rather than monthly, saving me $100+ each year! Any type of savings account can be used as a revolving account and if you search around, some banks may have accounts created specifically for revolving savings.

Something to remember is that this account is not your emergency fund! Anything coming out of this account is already planned, but the expenses don’t happen each month like your utilities, house payment, or phone bill.
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Steps for a revolving savings account:

• List out irregular expenses. Use this worksheet to help you!
• Once your items are listed, divide this by 12… 12 months in the year
• Your answer will give you an idea of what you need to save every month.

A revolving savings account personally helps me stay on top of those random expenses that could break your budget!