Setting up a "Pocket Money" account

timay_2

Hi,

I'm new to the site & am looking into ways of managing my finances a little better.


I have just managed to clear both of my credit cards, so all I have outstanding is my mortgage and a car loan to pay off.

After looking around the site, I can across the Piggybank suggestion.

Currently I only bank with HSBC & have: Current Account, ISA, Mortgage and Loan with them.

My salary is paid into my Current Account & all my bills go out of this account. I have a monthly direct debit to transfer some money into my ISA (which I use as a holiday/big item savings account)

What I am thinking of doing is setting up an additional account for my monthly "spending money" this would be the money for food, petrol, clothes and other general spending. My thinking is that I pay a set amount (around £500) into this account, and once this money has gone, that's it for the month- if there is any money left at the end of the month it will stay in there, as a bit of a "bonus" for the following month.

Does this sound like a good idea? If so, can people recommend the best account for doing this?

Hopefully I have posted this in the right place & have made my thoughts clear.

Thanks
Tim

emma396

can u ask HSBC to open another account for you? seems like the most logical thing to do as you have all your other products with them?

timay_2

Yes, that's a option too.

I just wondered if anyone knew of any good current accounts around at the moment that I could benefit from and also if it is a good idea or not.

Thanks for the reply, I guess a good starting point would be to go and talk to HSBC

skyrider007

How about Halifax?

WorkingHardDFW

Hi I can only add comment based on my experiences.

We've got four current accounts all with the same bank.

• One where our salaries go and where all the fixed bills come out of.
• One where we pay a fixed amount across each month and we pay variable bills out of this eg childcare, kids activities, haircuts etc
• one each for our our 'spending' money
• One where our expenses income goes and where we pay petrol from

Having them all with the same bank allows us to move funds about easily if necessary.

This works well for us so I can only recommend.:cool:

CatB_2

I'd agree with the post above. I have 3 accounts with the same bank, money comes into a relatively high interest account (or at least it used to!) every 3 months and a set amount is transferred once a month into the other 2 accounts, one that all my bills come out of and the other that I know I can do as I like with. When I opened the accounts the advisor was very unimpressed and said I was just making it complicated but it's worked for me for 4 years.

Having them all with the same bank means that if there are any large or unexpected payments to be made money can be easily transferred between the accounts. You can also see everything that you have on one screen doing online banking and know exactly where you stand.

timay_2

Thanks for all the replies.

I like the idea of being able to manage all my accounts from one place, so I am going to see if I can setup a new account with HSBC.

I think this will help me manage my finances a little better than I am doing at the moment.

Thanks again.

timay_2

Just another quick reply to say I have opened another account with HSBC over the phone this morning- had to pop into my local branch to sign a form, but that was it.

Lady on the phone was very helpful & I even opened up an online savers account which offers a higher saving rate for any spare cash I may have.

All accounts now appear on 1 page when I log into my internet banking, so keeping track of things is going to be really easy (hopefully.

I was rather surprised at the speed the accounts appeared on online banking- 1 very happy customer here.

skyrider007

Hey Timay

Can I ask what kind of account apart from online savers you opened with HSBC for pocket money keeping?

Thanx

timay_2

I already had a Current Account, ISA, Mortgage and Loan with them, oh and a credit card.

I opened up an additional current account and an online savers account (as it was free & the interest rate was good, so long as you don't take money out each month)

The main thing I wanted was an additional current account- all my bills come out of my main account & I wanted an additional account for my daily spending, so I could limit myself easily to how much I had to spend. I am going to be paying £500 a month into my new account for my daily spending- petrol, food, going out, etc

Hope that helps

chappers

Having both of your current accounts in one place makes sense as transfers between the two should be instant but I would seriously look at your brand loyalty to make sure you can't get any better rates elsewhere( not saying you can)
There may be another reason for maybe keeping your ISA or savings there though, you may be able to set up a payment to sweep any remaining money from your spending or bills account on the day before pay day into one of yoursavings accounts.