Different savings "pots"

[MATB1]

DH and I save a decent amount each month but it all goes into one savings account (once ISAs are topped up). We then pay for big things out of this (furniture, holidays, Christmas, insurances, mot/car etc) but we'd like to divvy it out better so we've got, say, a Christmas pot, a car expense pit, a holiday pot.

Do I just open a gazillion savings accounts with our bank (Nationwide) or is there another way to do it?

Nerf's "envelopes" method : check through the big debt threads - numbers 1 and 2 I think she explained it

One savings account and then a spreadsheet with an overall running total and then separate columns for the different pots within the account.

This is the reason I opened savings accounts with ING Direct, because you could open different accounts and give them names, so one called 'Christmas' one called 'Holidays' etc. Literally called that as the account names. They got taken over by Barclays though so I don't know how it would work for new customers. I now have 'Direct Access Issue 2' accounts, but they do have 'Christmas' and 'Holidays' as kind of sub headings iyswim.

I'm with nationwide and run a selection of savings accounts for Xmas, car, house, etc

do you actually need the money to be in different pots, or just to have it allocated to different things?

have a look at you need a budget - it's a brilliant money tracking program (and app) :)

I do 'envelopes' - one savings ac and track individual envelope balances on a spreadsheet

We have different savings accounts

1. House/car/Christmas

2.Holidays

1. Long term savings for retirement- mainly premium bonds and isas
2. dc savings

would get muddled with one

I do have a spreadsheet that shows monthly what we've got to spend out for but psychologically I'd prefer to see the money for each of those big expenses separated out.

Haven't been on mse for a while so will get back over there.

interest is pitiful at the moment, but you can earn a bit with current accounts so perhaps that will help you get over the psychological hurdle.

that 'bit' is over twice what you get in savings accounts, sometimes more.

I'm with nationwide and have a load of online savings accounts where £10 goes into this one £5 that one etc etc
Not the best interest rate but it's easy to manage

I second ynab, it has revolutionised my finances and the peace of mind I have from using it is huge, despite there not being much money.

The developer advocates having just one account. And use the software to budget money into categories. (You name your own categories according to your priorities.) Not only is it software but it gave me a different method of budgeting. Worth every penny.

It depends whether the amounts are big enough to make a material difference to the interest.

I think I have five. A couple for saving and a couple just for income so i can easily keep track of money coming in

I third YNAB - we have saved thousands since starting earlier this year.

And you can allocate different savings 'pots' within it without needing to have different accounts.

It took a bit of getting used to and learning how to operate , but it's simple and effective once you do.

I tried the multiple pots but found it didn't work as I might end up with money in my Xmas pot say, but short in my car pot and would have to transfer out if the Xmas one for car things then never/not fully top it up again, for example.

Now I go with ISA, instant access and 'never touch'. Top up the ISA as much as I can, instant access for putting money to the side for things that will come up in the short-medium term and never touch is to squirrel away bits of money (less in this at the min but more long term).
I do this with both joint and personal savings.
The thing that works is having a spreadsheet with deductions coming out against the relevant months- either recurring things like Xmas, one offs planned DIY, holidays etc. That means we can see whether we'll have enough by that date and if so funnel the money off elsewhere (ISA/never touch).

Thanks again. I'm going to look at YNAB tonight... How much does it cost after the free trial?

I think we paid 60 dollars - but I subsequently saw people on MN say they had it much cheaper via special offers (something called Steam I believe).

Even 60 dollars is money well spent IMO - we have saved thousands !

I'm a week into the YNAB trial - it's a bit of an eye opener eh???

I've always had a spreadsheet going to forecast stuff and keep track but it didn't allocate funds to anything specific, only general headings of "savings" etc.

It's good but makes me feel more skint now!