Picture the scene (no doubt some of you will find this a visceral experience).
You’ve spent a ton of money on summer camps over the school holidays, you’ve had to buy new uniforms for the kids and the pay for Afterschool in September.
You’ll spend months catching up on those outlays only to face Christmas costs and a massive energy bill in January.
These expenses come on top of an already-stretched household budget, and despite their predictability they still manage to knock many of us sideways.
That’s where the transformative power of sinking funds comes in according to Anita Collins, a maths teacher from Co. Limerick who runs the popular Instagram page @efficientfamilylife.
On this week’s Better With Money podcast Collins gives a detailed explanation of how you can manage your finances more effectively by creating separate pots of money for specific costs, resulting in less stressful budgeting and more guilt-free spending.
One example is the Property Tax.
“I pay just seven euros a week into [the sinking fund]. That doesn’t feel like much… But when that bill comes, I won’t give it a thought.”
Thanks to fintech apps you can manage multiple sinking funds at once depending on your needs, though Collins recommends starting small.
“Set up a couple, then get out your spreadsheet or your pen and paper and ask yourself how much do I need for sinking fund A? If I need 600 euros for it, then I need to put away 50 a month.”
The mum-of-three got into the habit, popularised on social media, after moving home from a long stint abroad and having limited access to credit.
[ What will Budget 2026 have to help young families? From income tax to childcareOpens in new window ]
Now she has multiple Revolut ‘pockets’ on the go to pay for bills like home insurance in one lump sum, ending her reliance on monthly payments that work out more expensive because of interest.
“Once you’re a year in, it gets easier. Once you’re two years in then I mean, ultimately, you’re going to be wealthier if you’re not relying on credit.”
In this episode we also hear from consumer affairs correspondent and Pricewatch editor Conor Pope who looks ahead to Budget 2026, to be announced on Tuesday October 7th.
He explains the signals the government has been giving families as to what they can expect.
Spoiler alert: no energy credits or other one-off payments to alleviate the cost of living.
