how to set up/organise bank accounts?

hereigoagain22

I got myself into a mess with separate accounts. I actually found it hard to keep track of them, I was constantly dipping into my savings accounts and transferring money between accounts to keep them above the overdraft limit and then things were bouncing on each account.

I now have one single basic account. All my direct debits/bills come out on the same day my salary goes in and whatever is left when the final DD is out goes to overpay a debt. I get tax credits weekly and use this for my spending money and again anything left is overpaid to a debt.

rising_from_the_ashes

365days wrote: »

Can u apply online? I may strike while the iron is hot!!

Depends on the bank - I applied online (RBS - but same should apply for Natwest), had my account number / sort code later that day ... online access by that night!:D

Card & PIN arrived within a week - it really was very simple

I think a lot depends on whether they can do the ID checks online or if you need to send supporting stuff to them

Brallaqueen

I am giving the separate accounts thing a go too, to see how I fare. Technically I should have enough money but it never ends up that way so hoping this works...

Halifax reward acct - this is where my weekly wage goes, and all my dds come out of. Have opened this recently for the fiver. I get paid fridays so have a s.o setup for 40 quid to my smile acct on this day.

smile acct - was my old acct, now my spends acct. forty quid is the initital amount in an attempt to keep my spending under control. It's a real rigmarole with Halifax to set up s.os so that will help dissuade me from playing with it.

co-op acct - this is where my lodger money goes. I have put the card to this account away for safe keeping as want to stay away from it so that I get some emergency savings under my belt.

Good luck with what ever way you choose!

365days

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Depends on the bank - I applied online (RBS - but same should apply for Natwest), had my account number / sort code later that day ... online access by that night!:D

Card & PIN arrived within a week - it really was very simple

I think a lot depends on whether they can do the ID checks online or if you need to send supporting stuff to them

Thanks for that, Now have a natwest basic account. Simple as!

Delree

I have just one account (well two but I don't use the other) and manage my money by spreasheet instead.
I list my outgoings in order of when they are paid (some DD some transfer from me) and include in my outgoings food and booze money which everytime I dip into I mark on the spreadhseet which then takes the corresponding amount from my available balance in the F&B budget.

At the same time I have a savings account with its own spreadsheet that always looks one year in advance and all major expenses I am likely to make in that year are plumbed into it so I can plan for them and not commit to something that later down the line that turns out to be too expensive.

Lastly I used to manage my account down to £0.01 each month (all spare money is earning me interest, meagre as it is) but now that figure is £100.01 I call this my virtual overdraft. If I'm on a nightout near the end of the month and need to dip into extra funds I can use my virtual overdraft and replace with money from savings next time I'm online. This is great because I used to have a real o/d which was £1 per day, now I still have a £100 o/d but I don't charge myself fees or interest.

In short go with what works, this system I use has evolved into the behemoth it is today, it is not the product of a single idea at one point in time. I've added to the spreadsheet loads and am constantly improving it. Whatever system you use I'm sure you'll do the same.

mildredalien

I have a few accounts that I use to keep track of my money, plus a couple of spreadsheets. I never got the hang of having a ton of accounts for every possible spend so this is what works for me:

Main account: pay goes in, all direct debits go out. All my general everyday spending comes from this account, I keep track of it regularly using online banking.

Secondary account: with the same bank for easy transfers, this holds my budget for some non-essential spending e.g. presents, haircuts, clothes. Money I might want to access fairly quickly but don't spend regularly.

Savings account: this one holds money I don't need regularly and will be able to plan for like car expenses. It's easily accessible through e-transfer, but with a different bank. I've separated this stuff to try and get a bit of interest as my current accounts don't accrue me any!

I also have an ISA and regular saver, both linked to my main account so I can easily see where that money is. I've found that as long as I check my bank a few times a week and keep my spreadsheets up to date I can keep track of my daily spends with just one main account. The main thing I needed to do was separate money I budgeted for irregular spends e.g. car tax, MOT and a new pair of glasses every 2 years or so. I never used to save this anywhere so would just have to 'find' the money from my monthly income!

As for spreadsheets I have two. One is a budgeting sheet which tracks intended/budgeted money in and out, and also has a column for actual spends. It tells me how much money I have left at any given time, and how much is projected to be left if I stick to my budget. I also have a 'virtual pots' spreadsheet where I track the money I send to my secondary and savings accounts. It's all lumped together in the actual accounts but on the spreadsheet I have pots for car, hair, clothes, presents, emergency and medical and can see how much I have for each.

Delree

mildredalien wrote: »

It tells me how much money I have left at any given time, and how much is projected to be left if I stick to my budget.

That's the same with me, I find it to be a good motivator to keep within budget if you can see further down the line what rewards there are.

Sunshine22_2

Hi

I have three accounts in all:

Current account for all bills / spending. I spent a day once harrassing every company I pay money to in order to set my direct debits to the 1st of each month. I then budget from there for fuel / food bills for the month.

Easy access savings: Used to sweep any money into at the end of the month from the current account. I have also recently set up a standing order to pay into this account the money I was paying into my loan account (on the 1st of the month of course!!

Bonus savings: Used for my Christmas expenses, small regular standing order into this account to cover the cost of Christmas. Higher interest for months no withdrawals are made so ideal for Christmas saving.

Sx