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Original poster

Two current accounts?

17 replies

Hunkle · 20/09/2017 06:59

Does anyone use two current accounts?

I have all my direct debits, wages, food, & petrol going in/out of one account.

Do I need two? I think I should keep food, petrol & leftover cash (never much) seperate from bills.

I cant think of another way.

OP posts:

McDougal · 20/09/2017 07:02

I have two. One for bills and one for spending. Works well and I know I'm not spending bill money

elspethmcgillicuddy · 20/09/2017 07:04

The app and website youneedabudget (YNAB) will help you with this. I can't recommend it highly enough. It has totally changed the way we handle money. I can't imagine not using it now.

You separate the money into different categories every month and then you know how much you have to spend on... whatever!

It takes quite a bit of work to set up but once it is up and running I go through it once a week which takes about 30mins in front of the telly on the iPad and keep it up to date.

KittyOShea · 20/09/2017 07:05

Yes I use 2- my pay goes into one and all direct debits come out of that. I have no bank card for this account.

On pay day my 'spending money' for groceries, clothes, nights out etc transfers to the second account and savings to a savings account. I transfer a bit less than I can so I have a buffer if I need it for anything extra. If needed I transfer the buffer money on online banking near the end of the month otherwise I put it into savings.

It works really well. I haven't run out of money at the end of the month or gone into overdraft in years.

Original poster

Hunkle · 20/09/2017 07:06

Yes, I have to think "whats coming out next week"

Sometimes its only £15 coming out but its enough to put me in my (free) overdraft. Its annoying. I would like to be in credit!

My current bank has said it will take 40 minutes to apply on the phone.

OP posts:

Littlepond · 20/09/2017 07:08

DH and I have 5 accounts between us! Joint for bills, current account each for spending money, savings account each. DH is terrible with money and I had to give our lives a financial overhaul about 5 years ago. Never looked back. We have finally paid off debt and easily live within our means every month now. Not missed a single bill payment in years and I don't feel guilty spending money from my bank account cos I know bills are already sorted.

Original poster

Hunkle · 20/09/2017 07:08

elspethmcgillicuddy Is there a monthly charge for YNAB?

OP posts:

ShatnersBassoon · 20/09/2017 07:10

We have two. One is for bills, the other for spends. It helps us to keep track of the disposable money.

ofudginghell · 20/09/2017 07:23

We have a few.
A joint account that we both transfer a set amount into or change the transfer amount for anything extra that's needed. This account covers bills,petrol,car house insurances,food shopping etc etc.
We have our own current account each that we get paid into and what's left after the household transfer in our individual accounts is ours.
Anything extra like school uniform and birthdays for dc etc we pay half each out of our personal accounts.
We also have an individual savings account t each and I transfer some into that each month and more if I can.
I also transfer a bit into each of the dc trust funds per month.
We have just opened another account jointly to each transfer a monthly amount into as we want to do some work on our garden next summer so will both pay an amount into that each month.

Works brilliantly as we have our own money as well as family money and all bills are covered. We don't always manage to save if we have had lots going out like the last four months we've had three dc birthdays and a school uniform bill so savings get put on hold till it quietens down abit.
Eldest ds is now in the working world from October so will be paying keep monthly which we will put mostly into savings.
We started doing this about a year ago as dh is crap with money and too over generous and I was getting frustrated being the one who sorts finances out so now if he wants to blow what he has left after bills that's his choice
I also feel that no adult whether married or not should be nagged at or told how not to spend their own money.
My fil still gives mil housekeeping money weekly and that's all she has
Not allowed to use any other joint money at all which I think is terrible.
I've always earnt and supported myself and been financially independent and that's the way I like it

specialsubject · 20/09/2017 08:05

You should have at least two with completely different banking licences, so when one system goes down you can still access money.

You can scrape a pittance of interest doing this still, e.g with tsb and Santander.

No need to pay for budgeting apps, OpenOffice spreadsheet is free.

BarbaraofSevillle · 20/09/2017 09:06

My current bank has said it will take 40 minutes to apply on the phone

Well it may, so I would just open one online in about 5 minutes. I don't bother with budgeting apps either as I CBA logging multiple transactions. But we are fortunate that we have a reasonable disposable income and fairly modest tastes so don't need to 'budget' as such.

We do our day to day spending (food, fuel, meals out, everything really) on a cashback credit card and pay it off in full every month, treating as another bill. I just look once a month to make sure there is enough for the next month's bills and then don't really touch the current account apart from letting the direct debits drip out.

But if you don't want to use a credit card, the two account system outlined by McDougal sounds like a simple system and easier not to overspend. Using one current account for everything sounds like a recipe for disaster and stress if you spend money needed for direct debits later in the month.

MinkyWinky · 20/09/2017 09:18

I have two and have for years. One does all the bills - we have the budget worked out for this - so it has enough money in it each month. The other is my spending money. DH has his own current account too.

Original poster

Hunkle · 20/09/2017 16:43

I applied earlier today with my bank. It took 20 mins.
So I now have 2 current accounts & 3 old savings accounts with them online.

I will see how it goes, I will transfer some each month into a current account for food, petrol and school money etc.

OP posts:

somewhereovertherain · 20/09/2017 22:02

Currently run 5 with money moving between them for various bonuses. Time to switch a few again.

LonginesPrime · 20/09/2017 22:11

Is there a monthly charge for YNAB?

There is (about £35ish per year), but if you can afford it, it's worth every penny - it has revolutionised my relationship with money, got me out of debt mostly and has improved my financial situation massively.

AdoraBell · 21/09/2017 10:24

I have two with different banks.

DH has separate current accounts and we have joint current accounts too.

OurMiracle1106 · 21/09/2017 10:57

I have 2 accounts. 1 my wages goes into and one for bills etc. I transfer from my wages my bill money every month and a bit extra for emergencies and then what's left not that there's much I can spend

OurMiracle1106 · 21/09/2017 10:58

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