Best current account for budgeting

bigbeff

Hi,

I am trying to sort out my finances and I want to open a current account to put my monthly spend in. I don't want to transfer all direct debits etc, just have an account I can transfer £250 a month so I can control my spending. Which bank is best? Are there any good cashback details?

Appreciate your help

Rafter

Have you thought about the 02 card or something similar?

You charge it up with your £250 and then use it like a normal debit or cash card.

Every time you use it you get a text message telling you your remaining balance so you can keep an eye on it.

Sounds suitable in your case if you don't need direct debit or transfer functionality but just want it for monitoring spending?

R.

bigbeff

Thanks for that, I have never heard of it....I shall try and do some research. As I say, it is just to monitor my spending. Thanks

Wednesday

Wow, I've never heard of that before but it sounds like a great idea. Do you need to have an O2 mobile to get one?

elfen

Rafter, that's a really good idea. bigbeff, the o2 one is free (I think) if you're with o2, and there are other prepay cards available, but the o2 one does look like the best one (especially as you get texts and you can see how much you have left)

bigbeff

what if you are not on O2? What other ones are there?

Thanks for all the advice

Rafter

Here is a link to a list:

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/prepaidcards/

The 02 one is the cheapest but looks like the 'escape' card might work for you if you get cashback from supermarkets rather than using an ATM and mainly plan to use the card for purchases?

£9.99 up front fee to start with but given that it promises free SMS messages that might be a price worth paying.

Otherwise just get a SIM card from O2!

Good luck

R.

Wednesday

The Paypal one looks interesting too, and I'd guess they're more likely to stay afloat thanks to their connections to eBay - does anyone have experience of using one? I take it these would be accepted by most supermarkets etc without problems?

heloid

I think you'd be fine with any bank account that supports faster payments? (unless unauthorised overdrafts are an issue and you want to be declined when you run out of funds?)