Am i managing my acccounts right?

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum!


I'm curious as to whether I am managing my accounts "right" or whether there is a better way


I have:


Natwest CC - use this for every day purchases (cashback) - paid in full every single month.


Halifax Reward Account 1 - This is my "main" account where my money goes and my direct debits get paid. I've then set up various standing orders into other accounts (see below) - inc in my S.O's is a £100.00 to my savings account and £165 to be split into my 2 children's accounts (The money coming from CSA payments).


Halifax Account 2 - This is solely for grocery shopping. £200.00 a month gets deposited in here. What ever is left at the end of the month gets transferred into my savings account


TSB Account 1 - This is my savings account, I get interest from this account


TSB Account 2 - This is my "yearly" bills. What I've done is use my CC to pay for something (and gotten cashback) - car tax, House insurance etc for example - then what I would "normally" pay by monthly Direct Debit I have transferred into this account from Halifax 1. Again I get interest on this account.


What I also have in TSB Account 2 is my "others" - This is things like Christmas, birthdays, clothes, MOT etc.


What ever is left, from TSB2 at the end of the year just rolls over - I'm wondering whether this should be going into my savings?


Am I running this right?

grumbler

Define 'right'.
Depending on the amount of savings for me this would be simpler to do with just 2 accounts:
Santander 123 (and/or Halifax Rewards) - all DDs, spending,
TSB 5% - savings, yearly bills.

I know, for many people it's simpler to have numerous 'pots', so it's very subjective.

bolzano

I'm not sure that there is a "right" way, but what you are doing sounds organised and sensible to me.

To potentially optimise things further you could consider paying your direct debits from a Santander 123 account for the cashback (+some interest if you ever have over 1k there).

You might also want to consider a First Direct 6% regular saver.

enjoyyourshoes

How do you reconcile your main account ?

Do you do it daily and include all your CC purchases plus DD.SO, ATM, Cheques, etc ?

TSB 1 & 2 will incur interest so as long as they don't exceed the £2K limit then maximise them to generate as much interest as possible every month.

You can do a cash flow for TSB 2 to ensure what you are putting in meets the payments when they are due and does not exceed the £2K limit for interest. If it does just more the excess to TSB 1 if it has spare capacity.

Echo the comment on Regular savers, Halifax does Kids account and HSBC advance all on 6%.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Thank you for the replies. Answers below, If I've missed anything please let me know!

grumbler wrote: »

Define 'right'.
Depending on the amount of savings for me this would be simpler to do with just 2 accounts:
Santander 123 (and/or Halifax Rewards) - all DDs, spending,
TSB 5% - savings, yearly bills.

I know, for many people it's simpler to have numerous 'pots', so it's very subjective.

Yes I know what you mean, I used to have 2 pots but was getting confused with just how much I was spending on things, like shopping, so this is the first month trying this out. Hopefully it will be a way to monitor the spending and reduce my out goings

bolzano wrote: »

I'm not sure that there is a "right" way, but what you are doing sounds organised and sensible to me.

To potentially optimise things further you could consider paying your direct debits from a Santander 123 account for the cashback (+some interest if you ever have over 1k there).

You might also want to consider a First Direct 6% regular saver.

I don't have that much savings to be honest, around a grand stashed into the TSB account. I transfer the minimum into the other TSB and back again to get the interest in both accounts. Would the First Direct work out better? (Sorry, I'm really dumb at interest!)

enjoyyourshoes wrote: »

How do you reconcile your main account ?

Do you do it daily and include all your CC purchases plus DD.SO, ATM, Cheques, etc ?

TSB 1 & 2 will incur interest so as long as they don't exceed the £2K limit then maximise them to generate as much interest as possible every month.

You can do a cash flow for TSB 2 to ensure what you are putting in meets the payments when they are due and does not exceed the £2K limit for interest. If it does just more the excess to TSB 1 if it has spare capacity.

Echo the comment on Regular savers, Halifax does Kids account and HSBC advance all on 6%.

I reconcile my account daily BUT I do not include my credit card. What I have done is seen the "average" spend - which is around £800 a month (This is shopping, petrol etc) and pay £200 a week back to the CC to cover this. As mentioned ^^ I've been over spending on shopping so opened the other account to check what I spend. The plan is to use CC then transfer the money straight away so I have a up to day log of what I have left for the month instead of guessing.


I haven't exceeded the £2k limit, I've not been saving for very long so the TSB was my "starter" - I'll be saving a year in July which was when I was going to look at doing something "better" with the (little) I have


My kids are already with the Halifax - They have a "Regular" savers account with the 6% and also a "young" savers account which is at 3%


The regular matured in July this year so the balance was put into a young savers then I've reset the regular to get the 6% (I hope I've explained that right!)