How much money do you feel comfortable keeping in your current account?

[absolutelyincandescentwithrage]

Let me start by saying that I do not intend this to be an "I'm considerably richer than you" thing, nor to be insensitive during a time when so many are struggling.
I was just wondering how much you generally keep in your everyday current account on average. I try to keep it as low as possible after having my card cloned and being wiped out as there was more than I needed to be in there. (Got the money back thankfully, but it was a ball ache). So I tend to keep just enough to cover any direct debits in, plus a couple of hundred. Anything else I stick on a credit card and pay off in full at the end of the month.
However, despite my gentle nagging to do the same, my husband also had his card cloned just before Christmas, and he had his account cleared of quite a bit.
I just think that with so much card fraud my way is safer, and wondered what other people do.

You first.

I have two "current" accounts, one being the "main" current account where wages are paid in and direct debits paid etc., etc., which has quite a large balance because it's an interest paying account with a good interest rate (several few thousand). I never take the debit card out with me, so there's very little chance of it being stolen, lost or cloned.

My other account is what I call my "cash" account, which has an average balance of a couple of hundred pounds. When I notice it decreasing (or know I'm going to spend a lot on it), I top it up by doing an online transfer from the main account. I use it for small random purchases, under £100.

Big purchases (over £100), and weekly supermarket trips and clothes shopping goes on a credit card which is paid off in full every month.

Best to use a credit card for purchases over £100 as you get purchase protection from the credit card provider. Under £100 is best on debit card as credit card doesn't give protection on small purchases. You can also get credit cards with incentives such as cash backs, points, etc.

So, "best" is 3 cards, 2 current accounts and a credit card account. Each has different uses.

I keep my current account at the minimum to pay all the bills that month (I keep a spreadsheet of upcoming bills & direct debits). At some point in the month my current account will be below £20.
The rest goes in a savings account that pays interest. I use credit cards to pay for everything.

Usually around 200 or so.

This is why I refuse to pay by card, cash all the way.

Without being specific let’s say I keep 11% of my money in current account and the rest in savings.

Current account is just bill money that goes pretty much as my wages go in. So it rarely has much in it.

Anything 'spare' is transferred to a monzo account, and allocated to 'pots' (clothes, hair, car, Xmas) which can't be accessed other than via an app. Probably about £200 is left in the main monzo for spends.

So if anyone got me, they'd get about £200 max.

I've been cloned before and list an entire month's wage (about £1.8k) a few years ago and it was awful. I am VERY cautious now.

Those of you who have had cards cloned - didn't the bank return your money?

I'm just happy if it's in positive figures.
Cancer, being made homeless and cost of living increases have stripped all my savings and assets.

Same. I have less than £900-1500 in current at any one time. The rest is put into various savings accounts. Not MUCH of the rest, it has to be said, but I get paid and then things are diverted automatically into bills- holiday- christmas account- school fees account- tax account (Self employed so i need to divert tax immediately).

I hope 2023 is a good year for you

The equivalent of around 3 months earnings (I’m a freelance contractor but my income is generally fairly stable)

We have a separate bill payment account for bills (Monthly SO into it which covers all monthly and annual bills).

Then we pay everything else by credit card (that then gets paid in full automatically by direct debit at the end of the month). Can't remember the last time we used our bank account cards.

So depending on where we are in the month our current account could have anywhere between both our monthly salaries to a few hundred quid in it. I always make sure there is more than enough in it to pay off the credit card each month, anything above that is transferred to a savings account.

Once I’ve paid all my bills and cleared my credit card every month, anything left at the end gets moved into an instant access savings account. I find that the best way of staying in control day to day as I can be sure there isn’t more going out than coming in. It’s also an easy way to save for holidays and treats, and if I go a bit mad one month I can top up from the savings account without feeling guilty. I can also keep track over time of whether I’m moving more or less each month.

Uh oh, OP. So far, so good, on the whole, but...

To answer the question, though, I only keep in the account the money for any bills coming up in the next few days. When I have money in my current account it's easy to feel "rich" and as though the money is there to be spent.

A month’s pay which gradually gets spent over the month then whatever’s left gets moved to savings accounts when I get paid again.

@Iwanttoslowdown I already said if you read my post - a couple of hundred pounds. The direct debits that go out are for my phone bill, Tate membership and the amount that goes to the bills account so around £800. Any excess is put in savings.

@uhOhOP Yes, I understand the feeling rich thing, richer than you are in reality! I find out of sight out of mind works well with me. I have been terrible with money in the past, but thankfully have now got my act together, particularly with impulsive spending.

I have two current accounts and almost all of my direct debits go out of one of them. I never use that card anywhere (even online). My other account is linked to my Paypal and I keep the debit card with me, it's my "shopping account" - only ever have a few hundred in that account at any one time. I also have a credit card I never take out with me and only use for online shopping. Business account (I'm self-employed) is separate again and that card also never comes out with me. Hopefully this set up means I would only ever lose a small amount if any of the cards got into the wrong hands.

I keep enough in to pay my rent and bills, then transfer the rest over to a savings account. I then just transfer what I need whenever I go to the shops. I have 2 credit cards for emergencies.

From this article: www.insidersedge.co.uk/savingmoney/how-to-stop-your-bank-cards-being-cloned/

Provided you’ve taken reasonable measures to protect your card you should get every penny back

In the past we (joint account) used to often be overdrawn. But a while ago Martin Lewis warned that banks had changed the rules to make overdrafts way more expensive, so we now always keep a float in there of £1k. Interest rates on savings are not brilliant still so I don't feel that we are losing out. And it makes us feel more secure somehow, its not leading us to spend more, we still can save.

@YellowHpok Same here with the being cloned, I lost a full month's wage. My daughter was rinsed right up to her overdraft limit when it happened to her - I don't have an overdraft limit now as I'd never used it in over 20 years, so after all this I suspended it.

I don't think there are any good savings accounts available where I live so I don't have one.

@watchfulwishes - am aware of the stuff in the article. I was just surprised that a number of people seem to be suggesting they've lost money permanently through card cloning and that is why they keep the bare minimum in their current accounts - so they don't lose too much.

When it happened to us our bank didn't hesitate to refund us. In fact it was them that alerted us to the cloning in the first place.