Best way to organise money

andyfromotley

greensalad wrote: »

Why? I use a prepaid card for all my weekly expenditure and top it up once a week.

Because they charge for something you can easily get for free.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-cards

greensalad

andyfromotley wrote: »

Because they charge for something you can easily get for free.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-cards

What's the free alternative? Just opening many bank accounts?

I don't see the problem personally. Optimum card cost me £5, and 20p to change the PIN. I've saved far more than £5.20 by not dipping into more than I should by owning one. It's a great solution for those not wanting to dip into their OD's regularly and wanting to keep spending budgets.

getmore4less

Simple solution is budget and stick to it.

easier said than done, but if you have a budget and track that you only spend to that budget the money should be there.

do you have a budget and spending diary or just spending money because it is there?

Often the other simple solution(for those that spend what's there) is to pay yourself first, take out the money needed for the planned future spends and stick it somewhere else and ignore that untill it is needed for one of the future planned spends.

prosaver

you can have 2 cards from one bank.
I did at barclays, it was a card for gambling(scheme went down the pan).
see if you can arrange a direct debit, to pay in your second card(savings)

January2015

getmore4less wrote: »

Simple solution is budget and stick to it.

easier said than done, but if you have a budget and track that you only spend to that budget the money should be there.

do you have a budget and spending diary or just spending money because it is there?

Often the other simple solution(for those that spend what's there) is to pay yourself first, take out the money needed for the planned future spends and stick it somewhere else and ignore that untill it is needed for one of the future planned spends.

I agree, in principle, have a budget and stick to it. That's what we do now - but when there are 2 people accessing the money and 1 is not always as diligent about keeping to the budget it becomes more difficult. That's why we got separate accounts and my hubby only has the money he can spend in his account.

YNAB tracks all our money together (on budget) but hubby doesn't use YNAB and doesn't 'get it'. We have to do what works for us

Willowpop

I use cash a lot and an envelope system...
So on payday,I take out the money that I need for the month.
I split it into envelopes in a box...groceries, kid's clubs, petrol, oyster card, birthdays etc etc.
Then I spend through the month from there.
Bills are paid by DD from my account and anything left over in my account is 'savings' that pays for stuff like car breaking down etc etc.

At the end of each month, I empty all my cash envelopes and anything left over (never very much as I know my budget pretty well) goes into a pot and when we have enough in there for a takeaway, we treat ourselves.
I find seeing the cash there really helps me concentrate on what we are spending.
I didn't get on with YNAB, just couldn't work it out, but I know lots of folk love it.

Jacko_amz

I have one main bank account and about 8 online saver accounts all with different headings eg car maintence etc, each month money gets put into correct account. I use a spreadsheet to keep a tally of whats going where.

I also use a envelope system for petrol/food shopping/treats etc and this has worked wonders

really work out what you need to budget for and a way that is suitable for you.

andyfromotley

greensalad wrote: »

What's the free alternative? Just opening many bank accounts?

I don't see the problem personally. Optimum card cost me £5, and 20p to change the PIN. I've saved far more than £5.20 by not dipping into more than I should by owning one. It's a great solution for those not wanting to dip into their OD's regularly and wanting to keep spending budgets.

2.95% Cash Transaction fee:eek:
£5 Cancelletation fee.
£5 replacemnt card fee.

They can be an expensive way to control your spending. A basic bank account w/o overdraft is a better option.

teekay_tk

I just had a look at Pockit card. Anyone got opinion about it seems to be just £0.99 one time for the card.

Puddylove

I have a current account, and have 6 savings accounts for various purposes e.g. One for new car (car repairs in there too), one for emergency, one for horses' stuff, a Help to buy ISA for a house deposit, and so on.

Helps me keep it clear in my head. All online so I can transfer from and to my current account as needed.