Bank Account allocation

IWillBeRich

I saw a wonderful TV programme last week where one individual used a budgeting system for all of his money. Each month he would allocate a pot for all the expenses he is likely to incur. For example he would allocate £20 a month to go into a dentist pot, £x to go on white goods replacement and so on.

I love this idea as you would only buy things that you have allocated money to. You could even have a emergency pot.

My question surrounds how easy this is to manage. On the programme he was using a spreadsheet but I'm thinking is there any bank accounts that would have the facility to do this. i.e An account that has many sub - pots to move the money around. The money would all still be in one account, the benefit being budgeting would be so much easier and you would be able to track how your funds are spent.

I would be willing to change accounts if this was the case, managing a spreadsheet is an idea but I need dedication to update. The other idea is to open several accounts for different pots where Direct debits are automatically set up.

Does anyone use a system like this, if so any ideas would be gratefully received.

Tupperware_Queen

I have a very simple system.

Main account - receives wages and pays out DD and SO
Petrol account - receives SO from main account and used only for petrol
General account - receives SO from main account and used for day to day expenses, food, cash etc
Internet account - receives SO from main account used for internet purchases to limit risk of fraud
Credit Union account - receives SO from main account - saving for emergencies, and annual bills such as house, car insurance, car tax etc etc. Also do a Christmas saving account attatched to it.

I have a little notebook I keep in my bag to record every expenditure from the general, internet and petrol accounts. Works like a dream, I reconcile with internet banking every night (but that is just me being finicky!)

p00hsticks

I don't use this system myself, but the Nationwide allows you to set up a number of e-savings accounts which you can link to a single flexaccount so that you can move money across immediately online, and you can then rename them to indicate which 'pot' each one represents.

From the Nationwide page here
http://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/instant_access/e-savings/managing.htm;

Q. Can I have more than one e-savings account ?
A. Yes, you can have multiple e-Savings accounts attached to your FlexAccount. This is very useful if you want savings accounts for different purposes.
You can also give each account a meaningful nickname e.g. “holiday”, “new car” or a child's name. You can change savings account names by selecting the 'Preferences menu' on your Internet Bank screen or by selecting the “a” next to the account number on the 'My Accounts' page.

Tupperware_Queen

forgot to say the accounts are all with the same bank and all visible on internet banking.