Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ah. Setup automatic transfers, OP. That way the money isn't there to spend in the first place!

This. I'm a big advocate of having Bills and Emergencies money on a completely different debit card than the Groceries and Going Out money. It really simplifies your budgeting.

Right now I have one checking account and one savings account that are connected to each other. That is one more account than I am comfortable having. So I am definitely hesitant to go opening a third account. My bills have to be paid out of my checking account. And my ATM card is connected to the checking account.

Why is more than one account uncomfortable? I have several, plus investment accounts, and there's no downside.

Because I've got a lot of learning disabilities and one of the things I do to work around them is to keep things as simple as possible. The less to keep track of the better. The fewer things to remember, the better. I'm not an impulsive shopper, and have no problem at all with being told something like "each time you get a paycheck, immediately move $700 of that to the savings account" or whatever. That's one instruction, it's simple, I understand when to do it, I understand how to do it. If I had several savings accounts I'd be forever screwing up which one is for which purpose.

OP, here's how I do it, more or less, when I am on top of it! I've tried to simplify it a little for you.

Checking is for the monthly bills, and I try to keep a cushion there of $1000 or so as extra just in case bills are higher than expected or for small "emergencies." Then everything else that doesn't go to bills gets transferred into some form of savings each month. So for example, if my bills are $3000 a month, and my monthly take home is $5000, then I'm aiming to transfer about $2000 monthly into my different savings accounts. And after bills are paid, and the savings transfers happen, I am comfortable having that $1000 sitting in checking at all times.

On the savings side, it it isn't hard to have multiple accounts if they are all within the same bank. When I log into my bank's website, I can see my checking account and several savings accounts all right there on one screen, and it's easy to either set up auto transfers, or you can do it manually if you prefer that. And my bank lets me nickname these accounts, so I have one called "Emergency Fund" one called "Life Happens" (per Michelle Singletary from The Post), one that's called Home Repairs, New Car fund, etc. Just start with one or two and then if you think you need more you can add them as you go. If you worry that you will dip into the emergency fund too easily (if that's a temptation), then put that account at a separate bank. That will be more of a mental block for you and you'll be less likely to touch it. And in that case, it would be good to set up an automatic transfer each month from checking to deposit into that account. If you need to, set up the auto transfers and then write it down somewhere so you can remember what is going where. I hope that helps.

For more info on the "Life Happens" savings account idea: http://www.michellesingletary.com/

Anonymous wrote:Another solution is to use old-fashioned cash as a way to help you slow down spending and speed up savings. Have your paycheck auto-deposited, and then take out cash needed for your budget purposes (other than listed Must-pay bills). Just spend those piles, when they are out, they are out. Debit and credit cards make spending too easy. And wait a day on any impulse-like purchase. 99 percent of the time you won't buy it the next day.

Right - that's exactly what I tried to write out in my original post that I want to do. I was sort of trying to ask if it sounded logical or if I was missing anything that would screw up the system.