Bank account with different pots?

forsya

Hello

Martin Lewis advises to have different 'pots' for your savings/spendings and I really like the idea of doing this as it would help me with organising my money.

Do I have to open several different bank accounts or are there any bank accounts which have the facility to allow you to put your money into a 'holiday' pot or 'car' pot?? I have tried searching but have not come up with anything yet and wandered if anyone new of any?

Many thanks

opinions4u

Halifax, Lloyds and BoS would require different accounts.

But as an easy access savings account takes about 20 seconds to open online for an existing customer it isn't a problem.

FireWyrm

Natwest stardard current account allows you to open as many sub-accounts as you want. Each one has its own account number and sort code which you can BACs to if you want....

All accounts are accessible and viewable from within mobile banking. You can easily transfer money between each one and you can have savings 'goals' set up for each.

Does this help?

forsya

Thank you yes that does help.

I have been with HSBC all my life, but I guess changing wouldn't do any harm?

I would like to change the account details on my online food shop to another account but when I try it says to put in card details, I guess with pots I won't be able to have a food account unless its my main card account, which is annoying! Does that make sense?!

FireWyrm

I bank with HSBC. This is how I run my life...perhaps something similar would help you.

HSBC accepts my salary on last day of the month and pays out all DDs.
I have SOs from HSBC to the following :

1) £400 to Natwest for food and fuel (no OD, no cheque book, just a card)
2) £150 to Co-Op cashminder for 'incidental adhoc spends' such as perhaps a McDonalds out etc, shoes for the kids, a new coat etc.
3) £150 into a Tesco Online Saver - Xmas

Natwest has 4 sub accounts under the main one. One is for 'Emergency Fund' and is funded with anything left out of the initial £400 deposited every month. One called 'Insurance' which takes a SO from HSBC direct which is for forward planning on insurance such as cars, house, life etc. These insurances are paid in full every year out of this.
One sub account is labelled 'Garden' for funds to do my garden and is topped up as and when
The fourth was actually a mistake and I wasnt sure what I wanted this for, but I might make this an 'adhoc/dont know' savings account for winter fuel payments going forward.

I use my card at Natwest to pay for ONLY food and fuel per month. I cant access the sub-accounts using that card, but I 'could' if I wanted transfer funds between them within seconds. So, I could decide I want to move my garden fund into the main account to pay a contractor for instance. Movements between internal accounts with Natwest are instant. As I said, each sub-account has a distinct account number and sort code, so there is no reason why you cant have multiple standing orders from your main HSBC account into those for various reasons...this gives you those pots you were after.

forsya

Thank you so much, that has helped me loads!! That is definitely similar to what I now plan to do. I will keep my HSBC account open for salary. I have just opened a Natwest account : ) once this has been finalised I will sort out my pots and direct debits. I will use his card for my food shopping.

Thanks for helping me see it all a bit more clearly!! Feel I can get it sorted now and this will work for me.

Many thanks

FireWyrm

I must say that the very best thing I EVER did was to open the Natwest account for food & fuel. Essentially, this meant that I could see clearly what was being spent throughout the month and closed all avenues of overspending since the HSBC card never leaves the house, there's no reason for it to. HSBC receives salary and pays almost all the DDs on the first of the month. There are one or two that go out at odd days, but mostly, everything comes out on the first including the SOs to other accounts.

All I need to remember is that if it's food or fuel, it goes on the purple card and if it's 'naughty/sneaky/not exactly budgeted for' it goes on the Co-Op card. It should be noted that neither account has a OD of any sort - they are very simple and there isnt much scope for making a mistake.

The sub-accounts cannot be tapped except by conscious effort on my part, so I cant 'accidentally' spend the money in there. All I have to do is forget they exist and hey presto, insurances are paid in full in the new year. I chose to isolate the Tesco account completely for Xmas so that it couldnt be accessed for any reason other than outright emergency. We've just come through Xmas this year with a discretionary spend of £700 via this method and I didnt feel the least bit guilty about it either.

Mint1955

Nationwide does online banking and I have various 'pots' and I can even name them whatever I like lol

Moving money between them is simple and instant.

susan1105

I have an account, where you it has pots that you can set targets for

http://www.principality.co.uk/en/Savings-Accounts/Everyday-Savings-Accounts/e-Saver.aspx

very useful