Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

How do you do it?

Right now we have a savings account and a checking account. The checking account is linked to the debit card so I feel like we pull more out of that account than we should. I am thinking of opening another account for just spending money...putting the same amount into the checking account each week for ONLY bills and still putting a bit in the savings each week (which we try not to touch.)

Id love to hear how you guys do it. Do you just take cash out on the side for spending or do you use your debit card for every day buying? We are going through so much money and it HAS TO STOP!

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

I've been trying to figure this all out too. I'm the WORST with budgeting. Thank you for asking this. I'm interested in what people have to say. If you end up doing this please let me know how it works out. I think it's a good idea.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

What do you consider something that requires "spending money"? I would total the weekly amounts up and put that cash aside. Do you need that debit card for every day purchases? If not, keep it at home.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

We have 2 separate checking accounts. one has the debit cards, one does not.

One account has my paycheck and the other had DH's- both accounts have both of our names.

The one w/ my check- we use that to pay for daycare (I get paid weekly, so on payday I withdraw the $ and pay daycare) and the rest is spending money (gas, groceries, incidentals, etc).

The bills are paid electronically from the acct where DH's check goes. The remaining money is our "savings" so to speak.

We've only been doing this for maybe 8-9 months. What I like is that it's easier to "see" what silly things we're wasting $ on! Also, we've not had one late payment and have been paying ahead. DH is paid bi-weekly and I've been paying next month w/ this months $. KWIM?

ETA: DH is bad with too much cash on hand and I seldom carry cash. We use our debit card for almost everything.

Message edited 10/28/2010 11:54:54 AM.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

Believe it or not, we do not have a debit card. Any purchases we make are cash or credit card (mostly credit). My paycheck is direct deposit into our checking account, DH still gets a check and he goes through our bills every two weeks to see how he should deposit his check (savings or checking). And we pay all credit cards in full. It works for us.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

Good ideas, thank you!

Its rough here because we are only dealing with ONE paycheck. I am a SAHM so it's on my husbands. I try to break it down as much as possible but its not working. We are spending out of the account thats used for bills...

By spending I mean, gas, food, any extras we need that month (clothes, household items, etc). Thats why I think we need JUST a spending account. Separate it so we dont tap into the bill money.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

First thing we did was write out all expenses and set up a budget.

Every single thing we purchase is put on the credit card, even if it is $1.

We pay the bill in full each month and go over what we have spent, probably every 5 or 6 months we notice that we are getting lax in an area (maybe eating out too much, or frivolous purchases) and we reel in the spending.

I am also a SAHM, I have a business out of the house, but our income is half what it was when I was working so our budget is tight. We are very careful of want vs. need, we seek out sales, and find deals (like buying a years worth of oil at once instead of paying per delivery).

For us budgeting and managing money encompasses all aspects of spending, starting with how we spend. I never thought we could make it on what we have, but we do it.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

By next month I think I will have 95% of our credit card debit paid off. Once that is done I think I am going to open another checking account like you mentioned and use that for spending. Right now we use amex which believe it or not I hate doing. I feel like I can't keep track even though I can log on.
I am also a SAHM with only DH working.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

I have posted about my own little method before but it works so well for me that I am sharing it again.

I take 10% of my paycheck out of the cash machine each week and use it for spending money on whatever I want. When the money runs out, it runs out and I dont buy anything (baring some sort of emergency) until the next paycheck.

It works for me because the percentage is an amount I am willing to spend without tracking and because I budget and track the other 90% of my paycheck ruthlessly.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

my coworker came up with a good saying, she says "pay yourself first". I find that if we do not force ourselves from time to time to transfer a little bit of money into our savings account then we never will.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

Its not easy - I bought quicken ($29) to help me out

Our first bank account is a checking acct where I depost my entire salary - neither of has a debit card and there are no branches so neither of us can take money out of that account unless its an internet transfer. That account is used to pay our mortgage only and anything extra is savings.

DH's check gets deposit to our other checking account which we use to pay other bills and for general spending.

It's not easy since he gets paid every 2 weeks, but with quicken you can look at the calendar and see what's due on what date and it makes it alot easier

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

I still have a debit card but I gave up using it unless it was an emergency. Now I allot myself a certain amount of cash for each week and I take it out when DH gets paid. When its gone, it is gone. I have found I spend much less money now on silly little trips here and there and really stick to my grocery list.

We have 1 checking and 2 savings accounts. One savings I never touch, I only add too and the other is what I call "working" I use it to pay our taxes, vacations, etc.

Budgeting is so hard to stick to, but like you I am a SAHM and it really is a necessity for us.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

DH and I have our own seperate accounts. Pretty much we sat down, listed all our bills that we pay each month (not counting credit cards because only DH has credit cards- I refuse to have them after digging out of debt).

I use my debit card which is linked to my account. Pretty much if a bill needs to be paid, DH gives me a check in the beginning of the month to cover his share of the bills. With his credit card bills - if it's something that I charge I give him the $$ for it, if it's something that he charged he pays.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

We have one checking account and one savings account. Both of our checks are deposited into our checking account. Every other week a set amount is automatically transferred to our savings account. It's important to pay yourself.

We each take a set amount of cash out of checking each week for spending money. Once it's out, it's out and there's no taking more out. We use our credit card for most purchases (gas, grocery shopping, clothes, etc) because we get cashback on it. The credit card is paid off in full every month.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

Posted by NinaLemon


Every single thing we purchase is put on the credit card, even if it is $1.

We pay the bill in full each month and go over what we have spent, probably every 5 or 6 months we notice that we are getting lax in an area (maybe eating out too much, or frivolous purchases) and we reel in the spending.







Thats what I have done since I first got a credit card, and I feel that it works well.......DH doesn't agree and is pecking us to death at the ATM and with the debit!!!

THEN HAS THE NERVE TO GET UPSET OVER MY HIGH CREDIT CARD !!!! ok mini-vent over

Hopfully he will see the light soon!

Message edited 10/28/2010 9:43:14 PM.

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

1st Step is to track all of your spending for a month or two. Then you can see exactly where your money is going so that you can create a budget. Break it down into Fixed expenses and Variable expenses.

Fixed (mortgage, student loans, car loan, insurances, Heating Oil/Gas, Electric, Water, Tolls, Bus, Train)

Variable (Groceries, Car Gas, eating out, clothes, inconsistent splurges)

Once you have that in place. you can do one thing that is simple and effective.

Limit your withdrawal of CASH to a fixed amount of money once a month. That represents a part of your variable expenses. This will be the ONLY CASH you spend on variable spending (nonessentials). Do NOT withdraw any additional CASH that month.

Limiting your trips to the ATM/Bank will limit the frivolous spending. We stopped impromptu trips to the ATM 2 years ago. Last year we budgeted $400/month and thats all we had for the month. It was hard at first but then as we got used to it we became more savvy and frugal. This year we got it down to $200/month... so far so good.

We budget an additional $1300/month of Credit Spending for gas, groceries and additional variable expenses.

Another good tip is to keep a portion of your income in an account that is not readily accessible; ie internet bank. Then keep the debit card for that account at home. Don't keep it in your wallet where you can access it easily.

We do this for my wife's paychecks. They get direct deposited into a Internet bank and used for Mortgage, Student loan, LIPA all which are electronically debited from the account.

Keep a portion of the money out of arms reach and you will tend to save it. A little forced discipline.

Good Luck

Re: Managing Money..savings, checking and every day spending..

We have a MMA, Mutual Fund, Savings, and checking. All accounts are liquid.

MMA and Mutual Fund just have savings which we haven't added to since I stopped working almost 3 years ago. Savings has an emergency stash.

DH's checks get deposited into our checking account and that is what we use for bills, allowance, etc.

We take out $200 cash every other week. That needs to cover any meals out, playdate expenses, etc.

Food shopping gets debited from our checking account as well. But I only go food shopping twice a month. We are a family of 3 and I cook dinner 5 nights a week. 1 night a week we are at my inlaws and 1 night we are at my parents. My food shopping budget is set for $400 per month ($200 every other week). I am usually under budget by a minimum of $75 a month). I shop sales, clip coupons, and make meals that are cost effective and easy to double.