Savings "Pots"

scaredofdebt

I'm putting this in budgeting as although it is about savings, it is really about budgeting.


Is there a savings account or a mobile phone app, that lets you save money into "pots". For example, I want to save towards Christmas (1 pot), put money aside for car maintenance (pot 2) and also for emergency expenses (pot 3) and so on.


Is there anything with this kind of facility?


Thanks.


David


(Feel free to move this is appropriate.)

jen49

Can you open several savings accounts with your bank and name them? My online banking app allows this although I haven't done named mine or even tried TBH

MikeWhite

The Monzo account has a "Savings Pot" feature. It's not a savings account, though.

Rich1976

We have 3 separate savings at another bank so completely separate to our current account. They allow you to rename them so have done Car, Holiday and Home. I like pots of money being separated as you can see how much you have saved for each purpose.

Or you can just keep a spreadsheet which would be more manual

colsten

B (from Yorkshire Bank) offers pots: https://www.youandb.co.uk/banking-app/savings-pot/#/

Unfortunately, the interest rate is terrible (1% AER currently). You can get substantially better interest rates - up to 5% AER - if you go after the best paying accounts. You could manage your savings as virtual pots, by allocating the total savings to individual sub-categories (which is the approach B actually employs). A simple spreadsheet, or just pen and paper, will help with managing the virtual pots.

The other option you have is that you keep your money in physically separate accounts. E.g. up to £2,500 in a FlexDirect, up to £1,500 in a TSB Plus etc.

How much do you want to save in each category? How many savers are there, are you after sole accounts or could joint accounts play a role? How long can you put your money away for?

lindens

I have a nationwide account that has an app and i can open multiple pots and name them what i want, and easily transfer money between them either as one off or regularly.
I also have a monzo current account with a debit m/c. It is app only and is really great, esp if friends/family members also have one. you can add notes to purchases, group purchases like a spending diary. Have multiple pots, set limits/goals etc. Also useful for going abroad as no commission fees.

fanheater

Starling does this. I have half a dozen savings pots with them. The rate is 0.5% so better than Monzo but worse than B.

BooJewels

I have a Reward current account with Halifax and this allows 5 associated savings accounts and you can apply for these on-line and they're live within minutes - and you can rename them whatever you want.

I use these as pots to allocate money to and they're all visible in your on-line banking and you can easily move money between them instantly. If I need to spend something out of one of the savings pots, I just transfer it into the current account and use the debit card to pay for that item - like I did last week with the car road tax.

Although they don't earn much, I like that I can budget and allocate spending to particular pots and it keeps it out of the current account- where I might be tempted to dip into it and it's slightly more vulnerable than being buried a layer deeper in a saving account with no card access.

colsten

BooJewels wrote: »

Although they don't earn much, I like that I can budget and allocate spending to particular pots and it keeps it out of the current account- where I might be tempted to dip into it and it's slightly more vulnerable than being buried a layer deeper in a saving account with no card access.

They don't just earn not much (at 0.2% AER), they are actually losing you money as inflation is considerably more than 0.2%. You can easily get 6+ times as much interest in instant access accounts which, by definition, keep your money separate from your current account. Not to talk about those non-Halifax current accounts that would pay you up to 25 times as much interest as your Halifax pots!

BooJewels

colsten wrote: »

Not to talk about those non-Halifax current accounts that would pay you up to 25 times as much interest as your Halifax pots!

The current arrangement suits me - personally - for my particular domestic organisational requirements.

At the moment I couldn't meet the opening requirements or operating criteria for such accounts.

colsten

BooJewels wrote: »

The current arrangement suits me - personally - for my particular domestic organisational requirements.

They might suit you but they are anything but MSE.

BooJewels wrote: »

At the moment I couldn't meet the opening requirements or operating criteria for such accounts.

Standard instant access accounts neither have opening requirements beyond a £1 initial deposit, or operating criteria. Moreover, meeting the operating criteria for the likes of the FlexPlus or TSB Plus are very easily met by anyone who actually has even small savings. Shuttling money between accounts by standing order is very simple to set up, or if you prefer doing it manually, it's an easy, once a month, and not very time-consuming job to do with Faster Payment.