Ditching It

SpendingPennies

Just moved into Tier 4 😟 I guess the only consolation is that we will probably spend less in the next few weeks / months. Luckily we still have loads of food and Booze left over from Christmas, and a couple of new games we can play too. 

jenni_fer

Happy new diary!
Sounds like you have made a sensible plan, we very much started off paying into a savings account and then paying off a lump sum when we were sure we could afford to part with it.
Good luck!

SpendingPennies

jenni_fer said:

Happy new diary!
Sounds like you have made a sensible plan, we very much started off paying into a savings account and then paying off a lump sum when we were sure we could afford to part with it.
Good luck!

Thanks @jenni_fer that’s reassuring to hear. 

waterplate

SpendingPennies said:

Ah ok thank you. Multiple accounts might be the way to go. I will revisit my SOA and see how best to portion things up. Just starting to realise what a big lifestyle change this is going to be. Luckily I love a challenge and can’t wait to get started. 🥳

I think we're going to need to sort out multiple current accounts as well.  We could definitely do with separating all the essential from the non-essential spending as I suspect while we are relatively sensible on things like getting good deals on utilities, I think we are a bit unclear about how much we spend other than that. Getting another account set up will be a bit of a faff but it sounds like others have found it is worth it.  How are you planning to organise it?  I am thinking keep the DDs coming out of the existing current account but then get a second one which we transfer a set amount to each month for all food and discretionary spending.  Then I'll know if we are having an expensive month by if, or how quickly, I have to top up the discretionary account.

South_coast

I have one current account and then multiple savings accounts set up with the same bank, one for each purpose. I can name each one with my bank (Santander) so I can see at a glance what each account is for. HTH

SpendingPennies

waterplate said:

SpendingPennies said:

Ah ok thank you. Multiple accounts might be the way to go. I will revisit my SOA and see how best to portion things up. Just starting to realise what a big lifestyle change this is going to be. Luckily I love a challenge and can’t wait to get started. 🥳

I think we're going to need to sort out multiple current accounts as well.  We could definitely do with separating all the essential from the non-essential spending as I suspect while we are relatively sensible on things like getting good deals on utilities, I think we are a bit unclear about how much we spend other than that. Getting another account set up will be a bit of a faff but it sounds like others have found it is worth it.  How are you planning to organise it?  I am thinking keep the DDs coming out of the existing current account but then get a second one which we transfer a set amount to each month for all food and discretionary spending.  Then I'll know if we are having an expensive month by if, or how quickly, I have to top up the discretionary account.

Yes I am thinking of doing exactly that. I popped into our bank yesterday and asked about opening an additional account(s). Got to start the process online but it can take about three weeks whilst they carry out ID checks, and we might have to pop in to bring some proof,  even though we’ve had our main account with them for 30 years! So I’ve filled in the form online to start the ball rolling. I thought about opening an account with another bank, but would prefer to be able to see all accounts together in the same app. 

SpendingPennies

South_coast said:

I have one current account and then multiple savings accounts set up with the same bank, one for each purpose. I can name each one with my bank (Santander) so I can see at a glance what each account is for. HTH

Hi @South_coast from another South Coast resident. Thanks for your post. I will see if we can name our accounts. It would be great to have one for mortgage overpaying, one for holidays etc.

Honeysucklelou2

I have a main current account which my main salary goes into. Linked to that account I have 5 separate savings accounts that I can name. In addition I have my emergency fund with NS and I, mainly because it’s instant access allowed but does require posting a form off, so I find when I use that pot, it is a considered move!

Exciting plans to get your mortgage gone, well done!

SpendingPennies

Honeysucklelou2 said:

I have a main current account which my main salary goes into. Linked to that account I have 5 separate savings accounts that I can name. In addition I have my emergency fund with NS and I, mainly because it’s instant access allowed but does require posting a form off, so I find when I use that pot, it is a considered move!

Exciting plans to get your mortgage gone, well done!

Thanks for the encouragement @H@Honeysucklelou2 I am definitely looking into setting up different accounts for our needs. I should have done it years ago 😩 but hey it’s a new year and a new start. 

waterplate

I've opened a second current account with Virgin and set up a standing order from our existing current account for the amount of my salary over and above our bills and direct debit every month.  We'll use the debit cards from the new account, which comes with some handy budgeting tools, for food, petrol and day to day spending. DH's smaller salary will stay in the existing current account and if we need to top up the new account (which I'm sure we will most months until we get a hold of where we are fritters going cash) we can do it from that.
The new account also has a linked savings account with separate pots, so I'm setting those up for mortgage OPs, holidays, annual expenses like car insurance, and Christmas/birthday funds. It is amazing how good it feels to be getting on top of all this!