Trying to save but accused of being a terrorist /fraudster :-(

sitesafe

Seen_the_light wrote: »

Hi hoolooovoo, re query about not having enough - for the first year I worked out when the bill was due and divided this by how many months there was in between. Once the bill was paid, I then divided by 12 months, which was clearly easier. I did get caught out with my 'Birthday' pot 1st year round - had quite a few Birthdays in the first part of the year, so hadn't built up the float, so to speak (luckily I had some extra money that I would have put into savings).
Lesker - I use Nationwide. It it possible to have 4 flex accounts (not that I would recommend having 4 flex accounts necessarily as this means 4 debit cards etc) and then multiple e-savings accounts can be opened on-line attached to the flex account - no jobsworth! LOL!

Hi, seen-the-light - mine are with Flexaccount too. With regard to hoolooovoo's question - I do the same as you - work out a year in advance what the bill will be (I usually know from previous bills) and divide that by twelve and set up monthly transfers from current account into e-savings account.

vman

Hominu wrote: »

Considering you don't have a debit card for each account, that means you need to do a manual transfer from the correct account to your current account. I see several problems with that.

1) Internet banking goes down. You want to buy your shopping, but can't access your groceries savings account. The bank can't help as they have no idea which is your "groceries" savings account. You can try quoting account numbers, but considering you have 18 of them, quoting the wrong one is easy.

2) You can see the transfers, but you can't see WHY they were made. Say you used more food than normal so you borrow £20 from your petrol budget. In a few weeks time when your petrol budget is empty will you remember that?

This is where proper software excels - it doesn't just show the transfer, it shows the category and reason, so you'll get a total budget, total expenditure, and the reason for each transaction.

Several=2?!

1) Internet banking goes down. Well, no it doesnt really does it? And it doesn't work like that any way. You buy the groceries with your debit card then move the money into your debit card account when you get home, or if you pay with your credit card you just need to transfer the money sometime in the next month.

2) You wouldn't typically borrow from your 'bucket' accounts, the current account is the feeder so thats where the funds come from.

vman

redcard wrote: »

You need to remember your 18 user IDs and password.

I think number of bank accounts someone is is inversely related to the amount of common sense they have.

Why? they are all at the same bank so its one user with one id.

vman

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Sounds like nothing a simple spreadsheet cannot do. It just doesn't offer the flexibility of a spreadsheet. Though a consumer will only see this if they want to see it.

Your intransigent (at times bordering on aggressive) defence of your spreadsheet system is bizarre. Some people have a system that is better (for them) and you seem to be taking it as a personal slight on your character that they won't adopt your ways. There really isnt a need to get tetchy about this.

vman

robin58 wrote: »

So Basically the OP is using the 18 bank accounts as a LIVE excel programme. :exclamati:doh::exclamati:doh::doh:

So how hard is it to do on a computer or paper notebook

Good Grief.!!!!!

Just LAZY!!!

I'm assuming that everybody adopting the lazy line have all thrown away their calculators and do all their maths on paper? (and have thrown away their TV remote controls, etc.)

vman

Archi_Bald wrote: »

You know, I could get angry with you.You have not even tried the link I posted. It has nothing at all to do with Excel. The link I sent you does things in real time.

Please do try, or don't bother people.

No it doesn't, you have to manually enter the transactions into the spreadsheet.

vman

Seen_the_light wrote: »

Hi hoolooovoo, re query about not having enough - for the first year I worked out when the bill was due and divided this by how many months there was in between. Once the bill was paid, I then divided by 12 months, which was clearly easier. I did get caught out with my 'Birthday' pot 1st year round - had quite a few Birthdays in the first part of the year, so hadn't built up the float, so to speak (luckily I had some extra money that I would have put into savings).
Lesker - I use Nationwide. It it possible to have 4 flex accounts (not that I would recommend having 4 flex accounts necessarily as this means 4 debit cards etc) and then multiple e-savings accounts can be opened on-line attached to the flex account - no jobsworth! LOL!

I started my birthday pot one December after getting caught out by my families batch of November birthdays. The following year I was ready :beer:.

Seen_the_light

Thanks vman, feeling slightly more vindicated by my electronic 'piggy banking' approach - never really felt the need to defend my approach until people started to bully others about it!

If anyone else is interested in how I make this work for me here goes
I use Nationwide
Wages get paid into flex account
Direct Debits go out in the first couple of days after wages come in
Once all these have gone out I transfer all the small amounts into various e-accounts (named by me online i.e. Birthdays, Holiday, Credit_Card) and the remainder into an e-holding pot, leaving a small balance in my flex account.
I then spend on either my credit card (which earns me cashback) or from my flex account.
At a convenient time for me (usually the same day) I re-top my flex account from a relevant pot (or just from the holding pot depending on what the expenditure is) or
If I have used my credit card I transfer whatever I have spent on the card to the Credit_Card e-account meaning that this account always mimics the money I have spent on my credit card and is there earning interest until it is time to pay the credit card bill - which because it is a Nationwide Credit Card, I see see all the details of on line and pay easily by internal transfer.
Any spare in my holding e-account at the end of the month I transfer into my ISA.
Few observations from other comments
I don't believe this system takes me any longer than it would to log on to a spread sheet
I never have to reconcile a spreadsheet against bank accounts
I usually have money for things I need / want or regular expenses in readiness and don't often get caught out (when I do I learn from it and I just set up another e-account ready for the following year)
I don't need to remember multiple PIN numbers etc
I only go into a branch to pay cheques / money in (i.e. Rarely) so don't cause a queue
This system changed me from an out of control spend-aholic into a bit of a canny saver! And whilst it might seem basic and simplistic to some, it works for me (and clearly some others).

Hominu

vman wrote: »

1) Internet banking goes down. Well, no it doesnt really does it? And it doesn't work like that any way. You buy the groceries with your debit card then move the money into your debit card account when you get home, or if you pay with your credit card you just need to transfer the money sometime in the next month.

Let me get this straight:

You buy groceries on your debit card and then login to online banking and move the funds from your grocery account when you get home.

How is this different from:

You buy groceries on your debit card and then move the funds from your virtual grocery account when you get home.

To me, the first requires more work and has more reliance on other things such as your internet access working, your online banking functioning, and the bank not screwing up your banking (as Natwest did on Monday due to a 'glitch')

The work required for the second in comparison is a double click on an icon on the desktop and everything is displayed, in as many pots as you require. You know exactly what you can spend and what is reserved for other things.

Uxb

leskerr wrote: »

PS: With electronic statements, the cost to the banks of maintaining these additional accounts is minimal (unless they are on antique systems...)

The 'marginal cost' to a bank of an extra account is indeed small - but the overhead cost of having the infrastructure to support the ability to service these accounts including the online presence is huge.

So if you are running a business and someone comes along and wants something which requires you to load up some special gizmo into the whatsit and press a few buttons - do you charge for 5 minutes of your time: No, you will go bust very rapidly.
You are charging for the cost of buying/maintaining/upgrading the special gizmo in the first place plus your knowledge in making it all work.