I’m a big fan of keeping things simple.
And one of the things that helps me do that is having 3 separate bank accounts.
1. Main Account. This is where your salary goes, I’m a big fan of standing orders and automatic savings which I talk about quite a bit. So the day after pay day have standing orders leaving your main account for bills, savings and investments. And leave enough in here for your spending money for the month, using the remainder for your day to day spending.
2. Bills Account (or accounts). If you’re an expat you may have bills accounts in the country you live in and the country you're from. I myself have accounts in the UAE and the UK. This is also where my monthly investments come from, for things like retirement and University for my sons.
3. Savings Account. Then I have a savings account, a fixed amount goes into this every month, this is my emergency pot, for example, my boiler gave up in January which cost me £4,000 and because I had the cash already available, it wasn’t an issue, don’t get me wrong, it hurt me forking out £4k but at least I didn't have to rely on credit cards or a handout - the money was there.
And if you want nothing stops you having multiple savings accounts for different purposes; holiday fund, emergencies, christmas, new car etc. One of the great things about Lloyds, and I’m guessing most banks will do the same, is they let you nickname your separate bank accounts so when you login online you see holiday fund, house account, emergency pot, christmas account so on so forth.
So there you have it. The simplicity of 3 bank accounts. Salary and Spending. Bills. Savings.
Thanks for reading,
Comments