What’s a home maintenance fund?
A home maintenance fund pays for the continual maintenance of things that we have right now. This includes things like pest spraying, weatherproofing the deck, having the chimney swept, replacing furnace and air filters, replace worn-out carpets, and so on. How much will that cost? I’ve heard various recommendations, but we’ve settled on putting away 1% of the assessed value of the house and land annually into the account for home maintenance. This means that an amount equal to 1/12th of 1% will be pulled out of our primary checking each month into that account (for a $200,000 house, that means $166 a month), and then when home maintenance issues occur, we’re free to tap that fund to get the lawnmower fixed or replaced, to buy sealant, and so on. OK, what’s a home improvement fund? Over time, we’re going to want to upgrade a few things around the house. We haven’t even moved in yet and my wife is talking about planting a small row of fruit trees along the farm-facing edge of our proper
