money 'pots'

u751904

I've used martins budgeting spreadsheet. I thought my existing version was good but this is much better. Its been really helpful. I've decided to create 'pots' or reality savings accounts for each area and just do a standing order into it. Like I've got a pot for birthday and christmas money. I bank with first direct so online banking which makes it very easy. They had no problem with me creating multiple 'pots' or accounts for this purpose. unfortunately I can't name my multiple saving accounts so I've named the standing orders something meaningful so I can see what that pot is used for. Silly really a small thing but I am feeling much more positive. Does anyone else do this? I believe nationwide have something along these lines where you can create pots for different reasons. Zoe

Bella79

Im with hsbc and ive opended a few flexi savers with them for this purpose, the dont let u name them (boohoo) so in my filofax ive got the acc number and what each one is for

Ive tried not to make it too complicated ive got one for big one off spends like christmas,car tax,service,mot,holidays its all in there as one lump sum but in my diary i know the seperate amounts, so for car tax i just dvide the total over the months left then i know thats what i need to put in monthly

Ive got another for "emergency fund" stuff like car broke down,washing machines got bums up stuff i would have usally used my credit card for

Then one more jst regular savings , the only money i leave in my current acc is my spending money food shopping,petrol,and £20 a week for me to do what i like with

phew hope all that makes sense lol but it does help loads i find and makes me feel positive about saving

the only thing im thinking is what i should do about birthdays,weddings ,christenings etc dont really wanna open another saving pot for that

u751904

I really hadn't thought about budgeting for birthdaysuntil I did martins spreadsheet... christmas I knew I should but usually failed. Actually when you think of it, it can add up if you aren't careful.

shadydaz

Hi,

I have a similar sort of set up for our budgeting.

Acc 1. My personal acc. Wages get paid in and go into different accounts leaving me purely my spends.
Acc 2. Direct debits. Rent, CT, gas, water, elec, tv lic, sky, loan etc. The amount I put in monthly is just more than enough to cover the average monthly spend which all calculted on a spreadsheet. This is rebudgeted every April in line with increases.
Acc 3. Car. Everything to do with running car. Tax, petrol, Mot, servicing/maintainence and insurance. I trawled a years worth of bank statements while setting this account up and calculated a years "running costs". I added a further 10% and rounded it to the nearest whole round number. Tax, Mot and insurance are all equally 4 months apart enabling me to build up savings to pay for each lump wihtout it crippling me. It has worked very well.
Acc 4/5. (ISA) Savings. A set figure monthly otherwise i spend it on blurb. (my wife also has one)
Acc 6/7. (BS Saver) Saving over ISA threshold (my wife also has one which next years Christmas budget is going into)
Acc 8 My wife manges the rest but am in the process of helping her set up some more accounts to help her divide her money into pots. The next account will be a joint account for shopping money (set budget paid in weekly so we don't overspend week to week.) I will have a card too in case she wants me to pick stuff up on way home from work.
I would like her to have anothe seperate account that she pays into to cover; childcare, schools/clubs, birthdays, haircuts (four gilrs!!) etc leaving just her money in her account.

Seems extreme and over the top but has perpetuated slowly over time and has been a gradual development rather than a head pickling overnighter. She is seeing the light and especilly the benifits of me having seperate accounts for seperate areas of spending.

I know which card is which because they are in a certain order in my wallet and generally bank online so know which acc number is for what. It helps having banked with the same institution for 20 years.

courtney22

I bank with barclays and they let you name accounts, as i have one for emergencys,car,holidays and house deposit. think it really does help to save if i have any left in current acc i add that on top of standing orders. ( even though i think i save too much for holidays!!) i have managed to save more using different named accounts.

Bella79

I find it really intresting to read how other ppl budget there finances , (or am i jst nosey) lol

tiff

Yeah, I find it interesting and helpful too. It's the sort of thing people dont really talk about in real life, but its taken me years to learn how budget properly.

I have 4 or 5 accounts at the moment, 4 with my usual bank and 2 with another. All are named which is great, we are still paying debt off but once that is done standing orders will go to these accounts every month.

Danstar_2

With NatWest you can assign names to your accounts online to make it easier.

cottager

Danstar wrote: »

With NatWest you can assign names to your accounts online to make it easier.

They're making changes to online banking soon, and could be introducing 'pots' or something similar, though it's hard to know till they do it.

Coming soon to online banking...
Exciting features including new credit card services, a savings tool and more. Set up and track savings goals.

New kitchen? Dream holiday? Get help towards your goal.
It's easy to set a goal: whatever you're saving for.
Track progress against your target.
Link your goal to an existing or new account.
Play with different scenarios to see the impact on your savings.

stclair

cottager wrote: »

They're making changes to online banking soon, and could be introducing 'pots' or something similar, though it's hard to know till they do it.

Coming soon to online banking...
Exciting features including new credit card services, a savings tool and more. Set up and track savings goals.

New kitchen? Dream holiday? Get help towards your goal.
It's easy to set a goal: whatever you're saving for.
Track progress against your target.
Link your goal to an existing or new account.
Play with different scenarios to see the impact on your savings.

Im looking forward to this new saving goals feature (little things please little minds)

sscott5581

stclair wrote: »

Im looking forward to this new saving goals feature (little things please little minds)

Natwest - Its live from today . . . . RBS website updated last week