Glossary
Sinking fund
A sinking fund is money set aside gradually for a known future expense. Instead of treating car insurance, holiday travel, annual subscriptions, or home repairs as surprises, you save a smaller amount each month before the bill arrives.
A sinking fund turns irregular expenses into planned monthly contributions. If a yearly insurance bill is due in twelve months, you divide the expected amount by twelve and save that portion each month. The same idea works for property taxes, gifts, travel, car maintenance, medical deductibles, and other predictable but uneven expenses.
The value is cash-flow stability. Without sinking funds, large bills can make a normal month look like a budget failure or force the expense onto a credit card. With a fund in place, the spending is expected and the money has already been assigned before the due date.
Sinking funds are different from emergency funds. Emergency funds handle unknown shocks. Sinking funds handle known obligations. Nethaven's savings goals can keep those targets visible next to everyday budgets and recurring subscriptions.
Use this in Nethaven
This term connects directly to how people review money in the app. See savings goal calculator for the related workflow.
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Cash flow is the movement of money into and out of your accounts over a period of time. Positive cash flow means income exceeded spending; negative cash flow means spending, debt payments, transfers, or investments exceeded incoming money.
50/30/20 rule
The 50/30/20 rule is a budgeting framework that splits take-home income into needs, wants, and savings or debt payoff. A common version assigns 50% to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings, but the ratios are best treated as a starting point.