The 'What's the best bank for piggybanking /jam-jar accounts?' Great Hunt

MSE_Helen_S

Martin's "stick to your budget" system relies on PiggyBanking, where you use multiple accounts for bills, shopping, Christmas, holidays etc separating your cash as soon as you get it.

We want to know whether you do this? And if you do, which bank accounts make it easiest to do? Please share your wisdom.

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molerat

Why use loads of accounts, I use my Santander 123, a spreadsheet with loads of columns and get 3% interest which goes into savings.

Biggles

I'm with molerat here, life's complicated enough without making little pots of money all over the place for little special purposes.

innovate

Given that almost nobody is without a smartphone these days, how about encouraging people to use 21 century technology?

Plenty of great apps about, e.g http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/the-10-best-personal-finance-apps-7707377.html

KazLA

I have had separate accounts for years. I use a spreadsheet to keep track of the main account, but the others I just forget about. A standing order for varying amounts automatically goes into each account when I get paid and I don't need to know about it - until car tax is due, then I just transfer awaiting money from my car account, at Xmas all my present money is sitting waiting, transfered in over the year.

Barclays was always good for lots of accounts, but if you went into branch things got complicated as they could only see the account numbers, not names.


Now with Halifax and they really limit what you can have. I have just about got round it with a mix of different types of accounts.


We are currently wanting an extra joint account with a debit card and have struggled to open one. In branch they couldn't understand why I would want another and say limit is 2-3 current accounts each, we currently have 2 each, plus 2 joint (plus all the various pots). We don't use an overdraft, so it's not like we're asking for credit. I don't understand the limit.

Ravenshade

It's not necessarily which accounts it's which has the best usability. In which case it comes down to which provider. LloydsBank has a great intuitive internet banking system that I heartily approve of.... and since Lloyds keep forgetting to delete the old accounts while setting up new higher interest accounts for me I can split my money almost endlessly. That said if you're like me and when your money comes in the first thing you do is pay off all your bills for the month ahead... then the endless splitting doesn't work so well. In fact nowadays I tend to use the extra accounts simply to allocate to different budgets. Rather useful.

Elizabeth_71

I used to use separate envelopes to keep to budgets including Christmas, birthdays, hairdressing, car and monthly shopping, until my new partner persuaded me to get internet banking!!! It certainly helped when money was tight and have been debt free for a few years now with a healthy pot of savings. Would recommend this to everyone!!

FallenArcher

I do this piggybanking, works really well for me. Really helped when we were tackling debt and now have some savings for house buying. I use natwest for my piggybanking, they seem to allow endless online savings accounts do I just have them named things like "Christmas", "presents", "holidays", "car expenses", "health", "clothing", "haircuts","house savings", "baby savings" etc and drop the money in by standing order at the start of each month. When I need to spend from a pot I then just transfer it over. My main account is then just used for groceries and going out, and my wife's HSBC one is used to cover petrol, we have a separate bills account with Halifax.

Paxie86

2 Christmases ago my partner and I joined an online bank called Think Money. It's fantastic!! Your money gets paid in, and they holdback the money you need for bills in a salaries account ( weekly, monthly or whenever you have money going in, which we have twice a week and once a month), and then the rest will go onto your card account. It's fantastic. All my bills are paid as they set up everything for you. If you're not fantastic with money (or even if you are) it's perfect. I highly recommend.

Devonian_Rodders

KazLA wrote: »

I have had separate accounts for years. I use a spreadsheet to keep track of the main account, but the others I just forget about. A standing order for varying amounts automatically goes into each account when I get paid and I don't need to know about it - until car tax is due, then I just transfer awaiting money from my car account, at Xmas all my present money is sitting waiting, transfered in over the year.

Barclays was always good for lots of accounts, but if you went into branch things got complicated as they could only see the account numbers, not names.


Now with Halifax and they really limit what you can have. I have just about got round it with a mix of different types of accounts.


We are currently wanting an extra joint account with a debit card and have struggled to open one. In branch they couldn't understand why I would want another and say limit is 2-3 current accounts each, we currently have 2 each, plus 2 joint (plus all the various pots). We don't use an overdraft, so it's not like we're asking for credit. I don't understand the limit.

My wife and I have several accounts (not joint) for various purposes which include general household bills. Since we share the bills, it is easy to track payments, particularly if banks make errors.
I have kept ALL details on spreadsheets so that at a glance, I can tell if the bank statement is correct.
Since we have Council Tax and other payments which are payable for just TEN months, the end of year balance is considerable and welcome !!
Although initially very apprehensive of Direct Debits, they do save a lot of hassle and of course carry a guarantee.
The other bonus of spreadsheets is you can check your figures (say monthly) and if there is an unexpected dip in total balance, you are able to compare easily.

Archi_Bald

Paxie86 wrote: »

If you're not fantastic with money (or even if you are) it's perfect. I highly recommend.

I can't speak for people who are not fantastic with money but I can speak for myself. I find it quite easy to keep a written track of my finances, and I wouldn't dream of paying someone like ThinkMoney £14.50 per month (or £21.25 for joint accounts) to do something I can do better than they can. £174 (£255 joint) a year sounds a massive waste of money.