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

Gromitt

sitesafe wrote: »

Generally I pay mortgage, gas, electric, water, broadband and mobile by direct debit as I know what they are going to cost

Is there a reason you don't pay for your TV License by monthly direct debit?

Archi_Bald

LeeLoo wrote: »

In scenario 1. If I can't access online accounts I can simply say, ca n you please withdraw £200 from one of the accounts with about £200 in it. If they get the wrong one, the online banking will be working within 24 hours max then I can shuffle back.

In scenario 2 the accuracy of this is dependant on your maintaining the spreadsheet. The downfall of my system is that I can't make notes etc. The downfall of the software method is that if for some reason the figures were not manually updated then THE WHOLE THING IS WRONG and therefore useless.

I am really sorry now I tried to help you because you appear to be determined to turn down anything and everything that you haven't thought of first.

I also notice that you asked basically the same Q a month ago and by the looks of it did ignore everything anyone posted back then.

I am out now - got better things to do with my time.

Good luck with your approach. :wall:

Hominu

LeeLoo wrote: »

The downfall of the software method is that if for some reason the figures were not manually updated then THE WHOLE THING IS WRONG and therefore useless.

So what you are basically saying is that

You are not disciplined.

You don't want the responsibility of looking after your own money.

Instead, you prefer someone else to do it for you, but they can only do half of it as they only have half of the information.

I have savings pots of my own, but they are all virtual in my finance app. I know what I have and what I can afford, but when I spend money it all comes out of one account. Whenever I buy something (fuel, clothers, dinner out, etc), I keep the receipts and enter them into the app later on. If one of the accounts turns red, I've over spent.

sitesafe

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.

Hi, if it was me I still have money floating around in the current account so would use my debit card for this and then transfer from the additional account once the online banking was up and running. The current account is the main account and the other 18 accounts are part of it. In my case I keep things like petrol and groceries in the main part of my current account so I can either withdraw cash or use a debit card

LeeLoo_2

Hominu wrote: »

So what you are basically saying is that

You are not disciplined.

You don't want the responsibility of looking after your own money.

Instead, you prefer someone else to do it for you, but they can only do half of it as they only have half of the information.

I have savings pots of my own, but they are all virtual in my finance app. I know what I have and what I can afford, but when I spend money it all comes out of one account. Whenever I buy something (fuel, clothers, dinner out, etc), I keep the receipts and enter them into the app later on. If one of the accounts turns red, I've over spent.

I used money engine for four months and entered every expense down to the 20p I put in the parking meter. From that I determined my REAL budget vs my ideal budget.

We live in a consumer driven era and are confronted by 'professional sellers' everywhere we look, even if you are just walking down the street. I am more disciplined than many, but obviously not as disciplined as you. By having a pot called 'lunch at work', and another called glasses I was able to buy the more expensive frames I wanted because my lunch money was limited and I would have a jacket potato instead of a tesco meal deal and those £3 savings added up. I would not bother to update a spreadsheet every time I bought a coke or a starbucks, but physically separating the money works for me.
If that is letting 'somebody else' manage my money so be it.

No, I do not want to spend 5 minutes each day hunched over receipts and notebooks. I have enough chores as it is. I want to be able to look online and see what I ACTUALLY have.

LeeLoo_2

sitesafe wrote: »

Hi, if it was me I still have money floating around in the current account so would use my debit card for this and then transfer from the additional account once the online banking was up and running. The current account is the main account and the other 18 accounts are part of it. In my case I keep things like petrol and groceries in the main part of my current account so I can either withdraw cash or use a debit card

That's exactly what I do. My main account also has an (unused) overdraft, so in a worst case scenario I would go into that.

sitesafe

Gromitt wrote: »

Is there a reason you don't pay for your TV License by monthly direct debit?

It's set up to come out of my account once a year. Every calendar month money is automatically transferred from main to the online attached accounts. I used to do monthly d.d but there was a reason why I stopped - it was a few years back.

Any reason why you ask? Am I missing out on a better deal?

LeeLoo_2

Archi_Bald wrote: »

I am really sorry now I tried to help you because you appear to be determined to turn down anything and everything that you haven't thought of first.

I also notice that you asked basically the same Q a month ago and by the looks of it did ignore everything anyone posted back then.

I asked about a product called 'smartypig.com' which is available in Australia and USA but not in the UK and if there is anything similar. Seven people including your good self made comments, including be more disciplined and use spreadsheets.

I did not ignore the responses. I considered them and the TWO suggestions were;

ING account - no longer available
Principality Buliding society - the maximum number of savings pots you can set up is five, not enough for the system I am using.

sitesafe

LeeLoo wrote: »

This is exactly what I am talking about. Oh my goodness, apart from the insurance and tax those are the exact categories I have, I even have one called optician/dentist/perscriptions lol.

Please can you tell me a bit more about how you set this up.

Hi - I have Nationwide Flexaccount which allows for online accounts to be attached to it. Like yourself I rarely go into the branch other than to pay cheques or cash in. I think they are trying to get people onto other accounts such as Flexdirect but this, although it pays interest, is purely online and would not suit me. I can have as many online accounts from my current as I like as as far as I am aware. If anything these kind of accounts stop me from going to the bank and creating a queue

I also have a great spreadsheet that is all set up for the year ahead which I've only just discovered on Microsoft Works Spreadsheet tasks (I can't stand 'Works' generally but don't have Excel any more so have to use it) - however it is all set up for a year. I have just changed the headings as it's meant to be for a student to plan their finances with but actually it's perfect for someone who just wants to enter the figures each day/week or month. but it does mean I have to keep a written record until I do so - especially if I leave things for more than a day as it's easy to forget what you spent after a day goes by. It's all new to me right now writing stuff down, but it's interesting to see where my money is going.

LeeLoo_2

Hominu wrote: »

So what you are basically saying is that

You are not disciplined.

You don't want the responsibility of looking after your own money.

Instead, you prefer someone else to do it for you, but they can only do half of it as they only have half of the information.

I have savings pots of my own, but they are all virtual in my finance app. I know what I have and what I can afford, but when I spend money it all comes out of one account. Whenever I buy something (fuel, clothers, dinner out, etc), I keep the receipts and enter them into the app later on. If one of the accounts turns red, I've over spent.

What finance app is this? the only definite suggestions I have had here are MS Money (which is no longer available), a notebook, and a tutorial on how to use google spreadsheets.