diff --git a/vim/.cache/vim/.gitignore b/vim/.cache/vim/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..72e8ffc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vim/.cache/vim/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+*
diff --git a/vim/.cache/vim/backup/.gitkeep b/vim/.cache/vim/backup/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/vim/.cache/vim/swap/.gitkeep b/vim/.cache/vim/swap/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/vim/.cache/vim/undo/.gitkeep b/vim/.cache/vim/undo/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/vim/.vimrc b/vim/.vimrc
index 8efdcb5..13799d7 100644
--- a/vim/.vimrc
+++ b/vim/.vimrc
@@ -37,3 +37,9 @@ autocmd Filetype markdown setlocal textwidth=72
 
 " Remove trailing whitespace, always.
 autocmd BufWritePre * :%s/\s\+$//e
+
+" Keep backup files etc out of the way
+set undodir=~/.cache/vim/undo " vim will not create this directory.
+set directory=~/.cache/vim/swap " vim will not create this directory.
+set backupdir=~/.cache/vim/backup " vim will not create this directory.
+set viminfo+=n~/.cache/vim/viminfo