A separate bank account for DD ?

susieanne

I am a nightmare with money i keep going overdrawn or panicking about my direct debits just wondered if opening a new bank account would help me and this new bank account i could have all my direct debits going out of it .
I am rubbish at sorting things out any advice welcome

stclair

I have two accounts one for normal spends and one for DDs.

I just set up a standing order from one to the other for X amount a month to cover all my bills.

susieanne

I think this will work for me to so i can have all my dd set for the end of the month then pay X amount of money into my new dd account .

I have a slight problem though because due to entering into a IVA very soon i doubt whether any one would let me open a new current account with my credit rating

What about basic account ? could i have direct debits & standing orders with a basic account ?

Anthorn

Most if not all basic bank accounts allow direct debits.

I do the same and fund the account by standing order and it works very well for me. But you must understand that if you have all your direct debits in one account and the standing order which funds it fails the charges for overdrawing and paid/unpaid items could be substantial. So you still have to check that the account has in fact been credited to avoid a nasty surprise.

GooliesOfFire

Two accounts as well. One for monthly payments and one for shopping and some other expenses. There is always enough to pay all DDs and SOs that way. No stress

pmduk

Just spend a few minutes each week ensuring that the funds are in place for at least the next week's (perefably fortnight's) payments.

Check your bank's rules, many require funds to be in place at close of business on the working day before the debit is presented.

FireWyrm

I have a main account with full OD, DD, chequebook and all the trimmings. It takes my salary and pays out DDs. Some of those payments out are standing orders to several other current accounts that are just basic with no additional OD facility.

These secondary accounts contain a budgetted amount per month for food & fuel. The other one is a discretionary spend account for stuff like shoes and clothes. I have also several savings accounts pots which take SOs from the main account and are never touched until needed, so, tax, MOT and insurance for my cars are paid out of these each year.

I've made it so that almost all DDs from the main account are executed on the first of the month. Whatever is left after that date is 'overage' and at the moment is paying off an overdraft.

No stress, no bother, no fear of bouncing a DD. There is always money and all I need to remember is to use the correct card for the correct reason. If it's food or fuel, one card, else the other.

It doesnt get much more simple than that.