How many bank accounts do you have?

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I'm about to move out of marital home so my finances will be tight. At the moment I have my business account which also has a tax pot and my current account which also has a savings account.

I'm thinking about opening another account specifically for paying bills.

Is this a silly way of doing things? I just find it so much clearer to have a bank account for each thing. But would 5 accounts be over kill?

I’ve got 5 accounts, one I don’t use at all, but I don’t see any point in closing it.

If it works for you go for it. The ones you have right now make perfect sense, opening one more won’t make any difference. The general approach to segregating your finances is a good idea.

No I think it's quite normal these days OP (not that it matters if it's normal!) I just mean there's a big way of thinking / money organising around having different accounts / pots / whatever for your money to be separate and that it makes it easier etc to do it like this - go ahead and do it in the way that feels best for you I say!

Do you not want to use your current account for bills?

If you did want to switch you could look up the cash offers on at present, usually £175, but they'd require you to shut down your current current account (if that makes sense!).

Sorry didn't answer the question, I bank with 3 different banks.

I have one main current account plus multiple savings accounts.

What I do have is a spreadsheet. I record everything which goes in/out of the accounts. On a separate tab I have the upcoming payments so that I can plan how much needs to be in the current account on any given day.

I understand there are some accounts which allow you to segregate 'pockets' of money.

Ones my main account
2nd one is savings
3rd is my toddlers savings
4th is toddler spending

I have 4. My pension gets paid into one, my lump sum is in another, I have an ISA that was for my daughter's wedding and another for paying for holidays and stuff for the house etc

We have multiple current accounts, one for bills, one for childcare and kids spends, one for fuel and food, one each for personal spends, plus some savings, one is specifically money set aside for house and car. Each month I move the money as per the budget into each pot. It’s much clearer then which areas we’re spending what and where we need to cut back, and exactly how much we have left for the rest of the month. .

I have two but the other one is literally for eg the kids gaming or something else where if we were scammed we wouldn’t lost the whole paypacket!!

I have 2, a joint one for household expenses and a personal one (which also has a savings account attached, so I guess that’s 3).

We have 2 joint current accounts, one for food/bills, one for house/vehicle/holidays. Then we each have our own separate current accounts.

Oh I have loads. Easily over 20. Most of them are empty. Always do a bank switch, I've exhausted most of them now, but I've gained over £1000 from these.

I'd always recommend a separate account for monthly DDs, an account for spending and an easy access savings. Really good to see where you are financially. Chase is really good for this. You can set up DDs on a savings account so you could get 4.1- 5.1% interest on your money whilst it's awaiting to be paid out to suppliers. You could also get 1% cashback on your debit card spends.

Every bank account I use pays me £.

• Santander lite123, £8.50pm cashback. (£10.50 cashback less £2 fee). All my DDs are paid from here to mortgage/ utilities etc.
• Chase current: 1% debit card spends, DH and I have one each for our personal spends.
• Halifax 3x £5pm rewards accounts, this involves a bit of money cycling.
• Chase savings 5.1% all money kept here until needed for above accounts.

Just one. Most banks let you have separate pots within a single bank account. That's potentially better for avoiding accidental overdrafts.

I have joint account with DH. All our income goes in there. We then transfer out a set amount to our individual accounts for our own spending. We both then have saving accounts that we add to from our individual accounts. Plus we have a joint savings account. We then both have ISAs. I like moving my money about as it’s easy with Barclays online banking- I can do it from my app. So that’s 5 . Do whatever works for you.

Why not look for an online back account with pockets?

Munzo for example you have all your money in one place and can have pockets for anything you like - holidays, bills, savings etc and it’s easy to keep an eye on

I've ended up with my money spread across accounts with multiple banks as a result of the time when banks and building societies were offering interest on current accounts if you fed so much money per month through them. I hasten to add I don't have a lot of money but try and make the best use of it I can without tying it up for too long . This method has given me access to savings accounts only open to existing customers.
I use the account I have had for many, many years as my main bank account for the majority of standing order/direct debits and as the hub for the satellite accounts.

So i think it's perfectly reasonable for you to open another bank account. Do whatever helps you organise your finances best.

1 current and 4 savings but one's empty.

2 joint current accounts.
DH salary is paid in to joint account number 1 and all direct debits are paid from there. We don't touch it otherwise.
My salary is paid into joint account number 2. All food, petrol/diesel, home improvement, clothing and holidays/treats are paid from this. However this is indirectly because we use a credit card for everything and then pay off in full from this account.
We use the predicted balance to sweep any surplus money in either account to the linked savings account.
We also have an ISA each, premium bonds each and 2 "rainy day" savings accounts with a building society.

Six. One my day to day stuff. Two savings accounts for my kids. One for work (self employed) one for different work. One for family estate (my siblings) stuff. Oh and one that was for school fees but now for university. So seven.

I have 6 current accounts in use. I also have things like plum and revolut.

Do what works for you, and what you are comfortable with. It is always very useful to have a dummy account with a couple of direct debits going out and then you can take instant advantage of switching deals.

Accounts with 'pots' like monzo and starling are great but a monzo pot isn't a good place to hold larger amounts due to lack of interest.

I've got 6 accounts.

One for childcare and children's spending. Child benefit goes in there, plus we transfer childcare funds and £100 per month to cover any spending.

One for bills so all the direct debits go out of that account. We both get paid into that account and then transfer spending money and savings out each month.

One for groceries.

One for personal spends.

One for family spending.

And a savings account.

I am thinking of doing my first switch. Do most of them expect it to be the account my wages go into?

I changed last November (after reading martin lewis email) and it's been really helpful.
I have a santander account with a linked savings (can only get interest on £4000). I have all money paid in here. Then I keep what I need for my monthly dd plus £100 in there (which then pays for annual bills tv license, house insurance etc). I then transfer some to a chase account (1% cash back) which is my everyday spending account the rest goes into a chase saver (5.1% I think). Its really helped me see what I'm spending and know what I've got left after bills each month.

No, they don't check that. I'd recommend you don't use your account that salary goes into, just in case for whatever reason the CASS goes wrong. If they need money to go in as a term of the switch offer, just transfer it in and out. Rarely do the terms ask you to keep money in the account.

No, some of them want you to pay in £1000 now. Don't do it with the account your salary goes into. Set up a separate account that will be closed as part of the switch.