How to Set Aside a Fun Fund

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: October 19, 2020 References

You work hard and try to save responsibly, but still feel like you never have enough cash to have fun. Spending time and money on yourself and things you enjoy will help you de-stress--as long as figuring out how to save that money doesn’t stress you out even more!^{[1]
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Research source} Decide how much money to dedicate to your “fun fund” and how to store it up, then enjoy watching it grow bit by bit every month. Then finally, it’ll be time to withdraw it and treat yourself--you’ve earned it!

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Saving Money for Your Fund

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Put aside a percentage of your paychecks. If you’ve already made a budget, you’ll already be able to tell what percentage of your checks go towards bills, living expenses, savings, and so on. Now it’s time to make a little room for your fun fund. At a regular interval, like after every paycheck or when you look at your total monthly earnings, set aside a percentage for your fun fund.
- Don’t worry if you can’t set aside a lot of money every time. Even putting aside just 10%, 5% or even 1% will help your fun fund grow over time.^{[2]
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2
Save a specific amount each pay period or month. An easy way to pad your fun fund is to deduct a flat dollar amount from each paycheck or your monthly earnings. Try to be consistent with this technique. If you’ve decided to save $50 from each check, make meeting this goal a priority. It may be hard to set aside that money every time, but you’ll thank yourself later when you’re relaxing on the beach or enjoying a new videogame.
- Don’t be discouraged if you can only save a small amount from each paycheck. If you set aside $10 from a weekly paycheck, you’ll have saved $480 by the end of the year. That’s enough for many domestic flights, so start planning your vacation!
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3
Cut expenses and save the difference. Ride your bike when traveling short distances instead of driving your car to save money on gas. Challenge yourself to not eat out for a few months. Use a library card to check out books, TV shows, and movies instead of paying for Netflix or cable. Funnel this money right into your fun fund.^{[3]
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- To figure out how much you save by not doing activities, like not eating out, determine how often you do the activity and how much you usually spend. After a month of going without, deposit the average you would have spent into your fund.
4
Build your fund with windfall money. Maybe your bank account got a bump from your birthday gifts, or your tax return arrived. Deposit some of the money from these windfalls, or unexpected good fortunes, into your fun fund.
- You can apply the percentage or the flat amount saving techniques to windfall money, or you could invest the whole thing into your fund.^{[4]
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Pool loose change to build your fund. Get a change jar or a piggy bank and toss your loose change in it at the end of the day. Make it a rule to never remove money from your loose change reserve until you are ready to spend it on something fun. This is an easy and satisfying way to see your fun fund grow right in front of you.^{[5]
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- Over time, your loose change will grow into a considerable amount, but if you’d like to speed up this process, you might consider putting $1 bills in your jar along with your change.
- Keep an eye out for change that’s been dropped on the sidewalk. Loose change is frequently dropped and lost by passersby.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Storing the Money for Your Fund

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Set a goal for your fund. As the saying goes, money can burn a hole in your pocket. You may find that you spend your fun money before it builds up enough to be useful. In this case, setting a goal for your fun fund will stop you from spending it too soon.
- For example, you might make it your goal to travel to Italy. Figure out how much you’ll need for flights and accommodations and don’t spend your fun money until you get there! It’ll all be worth it when you’re licking up gelato in Rome.
- Your goal doesn’t have to be trip or vacation related. Major family fun expenses, like a new trampoline or snowmobile, are also great goals.^{[6]
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Keep your fund in a normal checking account. If you put money into your fun fund regularly, or if you use your fund often for small treats, like dining out or small shopping sprees, you can store your fun money in a normal checking account to make it more accessible.^{[7]
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- Spend carefully from your fun fund account! Keeping your fun money in a regular checking account can make it easier to spend and harder to save.
3
Earn extra with a high-yield savings account. Many high-yield savings accounts will protect your principal investment--the first fun money you deposit--and pay out higher interest rates or annual percentage yield. These accounts are often available through online and brick-and-mortar banks and credit unions. Shop around when looking for an account to find the right one for you.
- Pay close attention to the different rules and procedures offered at different banks. Things to keep in mind: the required initial deposit, minimum balance, rate of interest paid, setup and maintenance fees, required additional accounts, number of allowed transactions, method of deposit, and access to funds.
- Be sure your account is FDIC insured if it’s with a bank or NCUA insured if it’s through a credit union. This insurance will protect your money up to $250,000.^{[8]
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Invest your fund in stable markets that pay dividends. Make your fun fund multiply on its own by buying shares in dividend paying stocks or a dividend ETF, which invests your money in common dividend paying stocks.^{[9]
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- It might be difficult to quickly liquidate money invested in stocks or bonds. If using this technique, you may want to charge fun expenses to a rewards card and, soon after that, sell shares to pay off the card.
5
Stash some fun cash at home. Keeping a bit of your fun money at home, in cash, can be useful since some establishments or activities only accept cash payments. It also might be the easiest way to pay, like if you’re splitting a bill with friends, and can protect you from identity theft if you use it while you travel.^{[10]
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- How much money should you keep at home? Totally up to you. Even if you feel better storing most of your fun money at the bank, think about keeping enough money on hand for a fun dinner out, or a night out with friends.
- The downside of storing cash at home is that it can put you at risk for theft. Buy a home safe or tuck your money away in a hidden spot. The last thing you want is your fun fund drained by not taking precautions.
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Using Your Fun Fund

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Take a spontaneous trip. Check different airlines regularly, because under-booked flights will sometimes drop their prices at the last minute. Set an alert for cheap flights with an online flight tracking service, like Google Flights, Kayak, or Airfare Price Alerts. These flights might not offer you much time to get ready, so be packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice.
- If you have a long holiday coming up, you might make a plan to try to take a spontaneous trip. Set your alerts for flights for your time off, and wait patiently for the right deal. Be alert and ready to pounce when a new deal pops up!
- Even using alerts, you’re not guaranteed to get your flight. Desirable destinations at high volume travel times rarely have cheap flights.
- Save even more money by price checking 5 to 10 locations that typically have reasonably priced airfare. Use one of these locations as your destination when buying your ticket.^{[11]
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- Being flexible can improve your odds of finding a flight. Head to the airport and take the first cheap round trip flight you can afford.
- Come up with a backup plan in case no flights drop low enough. Don’t be discouraged! You can always try to make a spontaneous trip again. In the meantime, use your free time to take a “staycation”. Use your fun fund to go to a sports game, visit a local spa, or head to the pool. You’ll still have fun and relax while saving some of that hard-earned fun money for another time.
2
Upgrade your entertainment. Use your fun money to upgrade a media service to a premium account. Build your fun fund until you have enough to afford a new TV, speakers, a game system, and so on. Buy yourself a new pair of nice headphones and feel free to jam out.
- Buy a device like Chromecast or Amazon Fire to transmit videos and music from your phone and enjoy them on your TV instead.
- You can make your fun money last for a year--or more!--when you invest in improved entertainment systems and accessories.
3
Revamp your wardrobe. A shopping spree can make you feel like a new person! Desirable window items might be outside your budget normally. Make one of these your fun money goal, and buy that article of clothing you’ve long wanted. You saved your hard-earned money to be this fashionable, so wear it with pride!
- Visit your favorite stores and peruse their selection. Return to the clothier where you saw a trendy suit jacket and use your fun fund to buy some stylish new threads.
- To prevent overspending, set a price limit on shopping sprees. You don’t want to spend your whole fun fund in one trip to the mall!
4
Invest in your hobbies. Hobbies are the gifts that keep on giving! Make a long-term investment in fun. Buy a new set of hockey pads that will last for years, or pick up some board games and get competitive with friends and family. Spend a few hours leisurely assembling models. Other hobby ideas include things like:
- Acting
- Calligraphy
- Poi
- Chess
- Drawing
- Magic
- Bird Watching
- Camping
- Ultimate Frisbee
- Geocaching
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Experience something you couldn’t normally afford to do. Go rock climbing at a local rock climbing gym. Challenge a group of friends to play paintball. See the world from above by going skydiving. These usually-expensive activities will be within your reach, thanks to your fun fund, so give them a go!
- The experience you choose doesn’t have to be physically demanding. You might use your fun money to pay for an architectural tour of a local city, for example.
- Other ideas include SCUBA diving, taking a boat tour, getting a museum membership, signing up for a cooking class, and more.
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Warnings

It’s OK to put your fun fund on hold when an emergency or unexpected expense crops up. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you have to skip a couple of planned deposits, or need to draw a bit out to make rent one month. Get back to saving whenever you feel you’re able to.

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