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Where do you keep yours?

After skulking around the forums and looking at advice being offered to others (which is fantastic by the way) I took on board the whole "you need an emergency fund" thing. So I started building up a little E Fund of my own on paper though the fund itself is sat in my current account along with all my other money and I am basically telling myself to not let the balance drop below the E Fund value.

Naturally I have discovered that this is not the best place for an Emergency Fund and I am now looking at my options on where I shall move my E Fund to in order to prevent it being swallowed up in amongst my other money. (Currently leaning towards a separate bank account with a new bank)

Which has now led me to ask the question...Where do you keep an Emergency Fund?

My mother has a separate purse she keeps hers in while my neighbour keeps hers in a tin at the back of her pantry. My Sister says she uses her overdraft :eek: as hers and a friend of mine keeps hers in an account of its own with the cash/debit card frozen in a tub of orange juice as she has spending issues of her own. (on asking why orange juice she replied with "You seen how sticky that sh** is when its melting? Only pure desperation will drive me to dare go near it" and I see her point :rotfl: )

So help out a newbie who can't make a decision on this and share where you keep yours?

Mam x
DFD - 12/2016 with 6.7% paid as of 07/14
£ saved = 168.16 lbs lost = 4
Weekly Spend Challenge(7/9) £20/£0
Sept GC - £78.11/£300 Sept NSD's = 4
OS Weight Loss Challenge - 0lb/5lb
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Comments

  • mum2one
    mum2one Posts: 16,279 Forumite
    Xmas Saver!
    With my main bank account I have a isa and a saving account with that, I can transfer the money straight across from my current account, with my parents they put there in a seperate bank, with DD I have set an emergency account with a different bank she has from her main account, xxx
    xx rip dad... we had our ups and downs but we’re always be family xx
  • SOMam wrote: »
    ... the fund itself is sat in my current account along with all my other money and I am basically telling myself to not let the balance drop below the E Fund value.

    Naturally I have discovered that this is not the best place for an Emergency Fund ...

    Works for me.

    Anything else is just a faff.
  • Mine is in an ISA in a different bank, I had previously had it with the same bank but found it was better for me not to be able to see it when I signed in for online banking to reduce the temptation to use it for a non emergency which I'm ashamed to say I had done most months until recently when I got my budget under control. Last month my emergency budget stayed intact for the first time ever :)
    Emergency Fund Challenge #26 £250/£1000
  • SOMam
    SOMam Posts: 102 Forumite
    mum2one I am definitely thinking bank account as I think having cash in the house would be too much of a temptation for me :o

    joe mcclaine I wish it worked for me, unfortunately I am both absent minded and an impulse shopper and am finding it hard to keep my Emergency fund as funds for an emergency hence my search for a new home for it :D

    Toomuchtodo Ahh hitting the nail on the head for me there and I agree not having the Emergency Fund staring you in the face when checking your accounts would be a great bonus

    I'm still weighing my options at the moment and I'm refusing to rush the decision as I always decide too quickly on something without weighing the pro's and con's and usually end up making a mess of it.

    Thanks for your replies guys and more advice is always welcome!!

    Mam x
    DFD - 12/2016 with 6.7% paid as of 07/14
    £ saved = 168.16 lbs lost = 4
    Weekly Spend Challenge(7/9) £20/£0
    Sept GC - £78.11/£300 Sept NSD's = 4
    OS Weight Loss Challenge - 0lb/5lb
  • benten69
    benten69 Posts: 366 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Mine is in s separate savings account that I can access online, so should I need money I can transfer to my current account any time, anywhere, even with the mobile app on my phone.
  • Puzzcat
    Puzzcat Posts: 4,200 Forumite
    I am with nationwide and have many saving accounts alongside my current account, 1 is named emergency fund....
    Christmas 2020 £109
    I love my dmp started in Nov 13 with SC. Self Managed 2016 57% done
    £60062/25384.84 - 13222.60k UE

    MY DIARY
    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4768685
  • I have mine in a Credit Union account. It's easy to put the money in (standing order) but it's a right faff to get it out, as I have to go into the office and sign to withdraw it. It means it easily saves up and I'm unlikely to go dipping into it on a whim.
    ::: Total Paid Since LBM (27/05/10): £4639.85 Official Debt Gone!! :T :::
    :A
    That money talks, I don't deny, I heard it once, it said "Goodbye"
    ~ VSP2011: #104 ~
  • Using a personal accounts program, I can make it appear as though emergency funds are separate. In reality though, such funds go into the same account as my tax payments, in a single account which is touched once a year by HMRC and (hopefully) for no other reason.

    I would not use an cash ISA for emergency funds (or tax payments for that matter) as it wastes allowance although I guess this is only important if you max it out over a year.

    As always with finance, annoyingly, it depends on personal circumstances and level of personal discipline.

    Key things with emergency funds...accessible at extremely short notice, in cash, 6 month salary minimum and...hands off the money unless you are faced with eating supernoodles in the local park for months on end.

    Regular savings accounts around 1.5% AER are available, I just keep switching around to avoid as much influence from inflation as possible.

    NB: Unless your current account is interest bearing (Santander etc), then having it sat there is a waste.
  • Mort
    Mort Posts: 552 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    SOMam wrote: »
    ...Where do you keep an Emergency Fund?

    I have a savings and current account with the same bank, both have online banking. Transfers either way can be done within minutes of logging on via a PC or using the mobile app. Phone banking may be another option but I have never had to try it.
    SOMam wrote: »
    a friend of mine keeps hers in an account of its own with the cash/debit card frozen in a tub of orange juice as she has spending issues of her own. (on asking why orange juice she replied with "You seen how sticky that sh** is when its melting?

    Love this.
    Proud to have dealt with my debts, became debt free on 03/11/2011. Repaid £54,723.41 LBM May 2006.
    Debt Free Roll Of Honour #504
    Mortgage Free from October 2019
  • Mine's in my bill paying account.

    Each month, a SO transfers an amount, from my main account (into which my salary has gone) to the bill paying one.

    The amount transferred is sufficient to cover all my DDs, plus it is rounded up to the nearest £10, meaning my EF is growing by a few pounds, each month.
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