the big three

Sproston

If I transfer spending money to a different account, then my current becomes my billing account. This might be the best solution to begin with as I'm also overdrawn so my overdraft would pay itself off without me knowing, with the extra amount. I could bill myself the overdraft repayment and then that could turn into savings when it is paid off.

Does it make any difference in the long run whether you have wages into a current and transfer money to a billing account, or whether you transfer spending? If it does, I guess it's only psychological? :think:

It's been an added complication that I've been paid weekly although this will be changing soon.

BWZN93

I use a similar system to Johannamse. Firstly, I worked out my budget to see what bills I have and the cost per month.

I get paid no later than the 22nd (usually around the 20th) and have two linked accounts with RBS and I check them every morning. As soon as the pay hits, the bills money gets transferred - which includes a full cc balance (which is never over £150).

As I dont spend it all in a day, I have a s/o set up to go to my ISA on the 23rd (so I know I will have been paid already) which is with a different bank and is passbook operated so I would have to physically go in and get it out. (Incidentally - I work for my ISA provider so I wouldnt withdraw from it because of the shame factor I would feel!). This means that everything left in my current account is mine.

Any big purchases come next (e.g - furniture - ive moved into an unfurnished flat and im slowly furnishing it without credit). I then work out how long it is until the next payday (this time it will be only 3 and a half weeks) and split the remaining balance by weeks and go with that.

It sounds complicated and long winded but I literally look at it in the morning to see what has gone out (and would also catch fraud etc early), transfer x on payday to the bills, make a couple of bill payments for council tax, credit card and next account, and the rest just gets taken by the companies as needed, or spent by me from my current account. Food budget is £150 for the month (2 people & 1 cat) and that gets paid on the cc. Ive also overbudgeted the bills account by about £10 per month to cover a bill being a little higher etc - but i never go overdrawn because I open my bills when I get them and mentally see if they are higher than I anticipated.

Finally - my ISA is my little bit of sanity - if I work an extra day then it goes in, tax back - random cheques - you name it - it goes in. Its lovely knowing that there is a little safety book in my locked filing cabinet with a home made (and free avery) sticker on it saying, 'in case of emergency, use this'.

HTH

Jo xx

Rafter

The key is to keep it simple and manageable to you.

You will never get to the point of knowing day by day how much money you have but each month you should know how much you have to spend and how much you have spent.

The best thing is to analyse a few months bank statements.

From that you will know how much you spend each month on regular bills, roughly how much you spend on essentials (food, petrol etc).

Now on pay day you know how much your account will go down in the next four weeks for bills and essentials. What you are left with is your 'disposable' or 'discretionary' spend or the amount you can use to save or pay off existing debts.

So say you get £1500 paid into your account each month. £1000 goes out on bills, mortgage and essentials.

You want to save £100 a month for emergencies, annual holiday or christmas.

This leaves you with £400 a month or £100 a week for all the rest. Keep a track in your head of this. If you spend more than £100 in a week on clothes, non-essentials, entertainment, gifts etc you know you are slightly over, if you spend less you know you are on track.

At each pay day look at what is left in your bank account before you are paid (less any increase in your credit card balance if you use one). You can then see in a particular month whether you have saved or not.

I'm not sure any system will tell you on a day by day basis how you are doing, a monthly check and knowing how much 'discretionary' spend you have per week though goes a long way to keeping you on track.

R.