The F*ck It Fund

(No, I am not starting a new venture fund that doesn’t care about making a return on its investments – but great name for that!)

I wanted to share the story of how I came to create my own personal Fuck It Fund, which is a cash reserve that is setup for when things go wrong and you don’t want to blow a gasket getting mad or stressed about things.

A quick example to bring this to life;

Imagine you have to make a last minute change of a flight and you are hit with that annoying change fee – Fuck It, just take the $$ from your reserve and don’t get mad.

Hit with a luggage fee right at the gate to check a bag? Fuck It, just take it out of the fund.

Car rental ends up being an astronomically higher price than you expected? Fuck It, just take it out of the fund.

Some may call this a “rainy day fund”, but I feel like that is for when things go wrong and it is savings for something else.

The name also comes from a special place and I wanted to share the origin.

Taking a step back, the name was presented to me from a close family friend who is probably the most polite and put together person that I know. She heard me complaining about one of life’s fees that can cause that unwanted stress and anxiety – and she proclaimed:

Just take it out of your Fuck It Fund!

I stopped in my tracks as I don’t think I have ever heard her curse before, let alone talk about financial dealings with such earnest and clarity.  You see, she had done exactly the same throughout her life with her family, and used it as a way to diffuse situations that would otherwise be taxing on the her family.

I thought the idea was genius and have had one setup ever since.  In my case, I setup a CapitalOne360 account (however switching to Betterment because of yield!) and have an auto deposit every month for a set amount. This accumulates all year so I don’t “feel” it, and its low enough to cover the costs of when things go wrong.

There is something comforting about having the Fund setup, because it works like a security blanket when things go wrong.  Every now and again something will creep up on my family and make us want to take from the Fund.  By keeping calm during one of these situations, everybody wins.

The Fuck It fund has also saved me on a few customer service calls, where I brush off the ridiculous fee(s) thrown my way.  I think customer service agents are surprised when I take their “gotcha” and “surprise” costs with ease, and it makes their lives a little better too. This can be anything from a hidden fee, or surcharge, to anything else that can rack up a bill.

I have shared this story enough times to write about it publicly, and I hope it inspires others to do the same as its definitely made me handle things in stride.

Bonus fun fact: Calling something your “Fuck It Fund” has messed with a few platforms (especially startups) so be careful using curse words in your account names:)

Tags: Savings, The Fuck It Fund