how do you divide up your pennies?

Mozette

I've got a few online accounts with Nationwide. I work out how much my bills tend to come to in a year, then put an equal amount in one for bills each month (and hope all my bills don't come before I've put enough by!) I also have one I intend to put savings in - not a lot in that one... yet! There's one called 'empty' because it is, and I don't even remember what that was intended for!!!

Callisto

I have an ING Direct online savings account, with 10 seperate 'pots', car tax, holiday, Christmas/birthday presents etc and have an ISA, also with ING Direct which is where we put our wedding savings. I also save £2 coins which get put towards the wedding and 20p coins which we use as spending money for days out/holidays etc.

As someone else said, ING savings don't have the best rates available, but being able to name all of your accounts with what you're saving for is fab, plus it takes a couple of days to transfer money from savings to current account, so I never get tempted to dip into my savings.

pinkfluffybabe

I have different online savings accounts that I put into each month when I get paid - for holidays, car and others.

I use vouchers/points from pigsback, consumer pulse, my voice, nectar etc for Christmas and Birthdays, plus any ebay money goes towards this.

My £2 coin collection gets added to the Christmas fund (I bank it as soon as I have a bag worth to get interest, such as it is).

My copper coin collection gets added to the birthday fund.

I pay for everything with my Egg money to get cashback and then transfer across from the relevant account when the bill arrives.

Any quidco money goes into my holiday fund.

brown615

I can't rave enough about piggybanking. I've been doing it since October last year (since discovering this site) and I don't think I've been into my overdraft since! It's so nice already having the money sat there in my account when birthdays, xmas, holidays etc come round. My car insurance, MOT and breakdown cover are all due this month but I've already got the money set aside for it all.

I only use one savings account (plussaver linked to my A&L account - not great interest but very easy to transfer money between my A&L current account and my savings account). I use the Excel spreadsheet which I found on here somewhere (!!!) so I can see how much money I have in each 'pot' but all the money is actually all in the same account. I think I'd find it too confusing having lots of different savings accounts!

So my advice is get piggybanking!

moanymoany

dubgirl wrote: »

Hi folks, I wanted to know what everyone does in term of putting aside pennies for car tax, MOT, holidays (if you have them), birthdays etc. I was trying to put a set amount aside in a saving accounts, but ended up just dipping into it and frittering away the money. I heard some other dfws talk about putting set amounts into different pots - are we talking about pots, jars etc in a literal sense ie a glass jar and how do you stop yourself from dipping into these. I feel I need to get a better handle on this as having just paid the car tax we only just managed to scrap the money together and I dont want us to keep going on like this every year.

BUT, you are going to have to learn the lesson. There is not one suggestion that means your money is 'untouchable'. If you have no self-control, can someone else deal with your finances and just dole out pocket money to you? Good luck anyway.

pollyanna24

I didn't like the idea of having loads of little savings account on the net, so just have one called Bills Pots which is an e-savings account attached to the joint account. I then added up what I call "non-monthly" bills, divided them to work out how much they would cost if there were monthly bills, and then dump this in the savings account. Bf can't get hold of it cos he doesn't have the first clue about internet banking and I'm too penny-pinching to go near it unless I need to!

Quarterly bills Amount Per month
TV Licence 35.14 11.71
Worming/fleaing of pets 44.19 14.73

Bi-annual bills
Contact lenses 150.00 25.00
Dentist 42.00 7.00

Annual bills
Services on car and bikes 480.00 40.00
Birthdays/Christmas
(£30 each on 8 people) 480.00 40.00
Car insurance 400.00 33.33
Gardening allowance 240.00 20.00
Buildings/contents 226.00 18.83
BF's bike insurance 180.00 15.00
My bike insurance 150.00 12.50
Car Tax 205.00 17.08
Yearly vaccinations for pets 60.00 5.00
BF's eyetest 24.00 2.00
My bike tax 15.00 1.25
BF's bike tax 15.00 1.25

Monthly amount 264.69

Quite a lot really, and bf kicked up a fuss cos he couldn't see where the money was going, but he knows it makes sense now when he wants to insure the car and I'm not moaning about where to find the money!

Gemmzie

I have lots of savings "jars" with IF. I can move the money into my current account when I need it.

I have car tax, car insurance, bills, car loan, xmas, birthdays, clothes etc.

Then I know what's left in my current account is mine to spend!

RedBern

Hi,

Similarly to others on here - I put aside money each month by Standing Order into an Abbey account - for food shopping. You have to be disciplined but it does get easier.. I then use that card ONLY for food shopping. I can check at the cashpoint how much is left - there's no o/d facility and it won't let me draw out what's not there. So that means we can eat all month at least. Bills go out from a TSB account, all by DD or SO count up how much they are and add £20 for good luck. Then, when the gas and electricity are in credit (which they sometimes are) you have a minor windfall.

Also, one of my colleagues in work did a Christmas club and held a building society account that required 2 signatures - we all gave a cheque depending on what we could afford and then had it back in December each year. That was fantastic 'cos you couldn't get your hands on it early.

postingalwaysposting

well my accounts/money goes like this... bill account, spending account, isa (for my 3* wages), ing account (xmas savings), ing account (car bits ~ once i have a car :rolleyes:) and ing account (touring savings). I love having things in each pot/account makes things easier. If i only had one current account and one savings account i would get so confused.

welshog8

Well just to put a different spin on things, I save using Post Office savings stamps. Once you have bought them you cant cash them but you can use them for everything from Car Tax to the Phone Bill. I know that if theres money in my account I will spend it!
I have also got two giant Whisky Jars - one with copper (you really dont miss it) and one for silver (generally anything less than 50p that I am left with at the end of the day). :j :j :j