Wondering if anyone uses an envelope system for savings, but with actual savings accounts? There are tons of things I want to save for (kids college x3, next car, car repairs, home repairs, land up north, health fund, etc) but I don't that amount of cash sitting in a safe. I want to do it by savings accounts, but I would prefer all individual accounts like an envelope system.
Can you even open this many accounts? I would like to have them all hooked up to my checking for easy cash flow dividing. Right now we have one hooked up to our checking that is our EF and home down payment nest egg. We also have another at a credit union for Christmas, and another at another credit union for 3-6 months our income.
Let me know what works for you. I would feel kinda embarrassed I feel wanting to open a bunch more savings accounts. Does anyone else do this and how does it work for you?
Hi there: rather like Reader99, I have just one active savings account, linked directly to my current account (into which all my regular income goes) but I keep pen-and-paper records of how much is in each individual "virtual" savings account within that pot.
This means that there is more sitting in one place and with our system, that means the bank pays a teensy-weensy bit more interest than it would on a few smaller accounts: and every little helps.
This isn't my only savings account: I have various sums deposited in various bonds and such like, but they are not to be touched except in dire emergency (which, thankfully, I haven't had for quite a while). This all-in-one account is for money I can set aside, to be used for specific purposes later on.
I used to do that with ING, which is now Capital One 360. I had around 6 savings accounts earmarked for different things, and I could easily transfer between accounts there or between each account and my checking account at my regular bank. Eventually I got tired of moving money, so I collapsed them into one account and just keep track of the individual categories on my spreadsheets.
Capital One 360 usually offers new account bonuses around holidays for new customers, so if you're not already a customer and want to try them out, I'd wait for Labor Day and see if they have any specials.
I have tried the spreadsheet method for me, and it was too easy to dip into others savings. Which isn't a huge deal, but I know I can be stronger than this. I also need to get the kids college funds into 529s I believe they are called. Or something similar.
Plus i'm a little OCD when it comes to our finances. lol
I had everything in one money market account. I tracked it all in a three collumn ledger book and that was my "envelopes" I had separate sections for each category and treated each like a check book ledger. If you added the balances in each category... the total was the total in my money market account.
Edited to add that I used post-it tabs to separate and lable the categories.
Some banks let you virtually divide your account into categories. I don't know which do, though.
I use a savings account hooked my chequing for sinking funds, with a spreadsheet to keep track of what I have and what I need. My FFEF is through a tax free savings account. I can send money there, but to get it out I need to go to the bank. I can have multiple tfsa's throuh my bank account.
I think I'm going to go with the Capital one 360 program. It lets you open 25 accounts" and has them all linked to a primary checking account. It also appears I can keep my regular checking account, which is a big bonus. I will keep the kohler savings for our 3-6 months of income. I will keep the direct linked savings as our emergency fund and home nest egg (as that will be gone next year), and set up seperate accounts for things. Now I gotta make a list of what.
The only problem with savings accounts linked to a checking or to each other is that you are limited to 6 free transfers between accounts a month. It doesn't matter which direction you transfer either. We just hit the limit yesterday for this month. I don't remember what the fees are. They may be different for each bank/CU. I can't remember if this is part of the Dodd-Frank bill or Obamacare but it is a law that went into effect in the last two years.
I just have two accounts, one for the common expenses and the other one for emergencies. I also monitoring my expenses and will not spend over what we can earn.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Frugal Village Forums
1.8M posts
47.5K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to the frugal lifestyle and the enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about simple and green living, cost effective tips, life hacks, debt reduction, recycling, gardening, other homesteading techniques, and more!