[galba]

Hi everyone

Well after the thread about financial goals for 2013 I've decided that we need to get organised. I feel as though we have accounts everywhere (HSBC, Westpac, CBA) but I don't seem to be very sure about what's happening and when.

We are moving into our new house in Feb/March and we're currently renting. The home loan comes out of another bank with an offset too, DH's salary goes into one bank, mine into another - and direct debits are coming out here, there and everywhere! I spend a few hours a month moving money around

So this is what I need help with:

1. 4 x school fees for 2014 - I'd like to save for this monthly. It's too large an amount not to have it in the offset but then I'll lose track of it if I do put it in there. Should I put it in the mortgage account and then redraw it?

2. Pay the bills out of one account but have sub accounts (is this possible) for things that need to be paid quarterly.

3. I need an account for school uniforms/booklists/shoes/swimming/dance etc for 4 kids

4. I'd like DH and I to have access to an account where we can have spending money, a set amount per month - not much but once it's gone it's gone.- at the moment he'll call/text and ask which account has money in it

5. Just realised some direct debits are coming off the credit card too. No debt though.

6. I can't keep everything in the same account - we were even more disorganised when we did that.

Is there a bank that can offer lots of little bank accounts to help me get organised? Sub accounts? The home loan and offset will need to stay with the CBA but apart from that I'm willing to move.

After some checking most of the accounts that we have seem to be charging fees - so we're wasting money that way too.

We have no other debt apart from the home loan.

Any ideas/suggestions would be most welcome.

[Cherish]

We have 3 bank accounts.
DH has one that we put money into for him alone. He can blow as little or as much as he likes.
We have a bank account we don't have a card too. All direct debits come out of it and all bills are paid from it.
I have an account that FTB goes into fortnightly. I use this to make the house payment and buy groceries.

[GlitterFarts]

Your Westpac can have e-saver account if your main account is an already signed account. They are online savings accounts, in and out with no fees - love them, I have like 12! There is no limit to how many you can have and they are free!!! (as long as you already have one main account)

I transfer in for weekly savings, monthly savings, annual savings, then in and out regularly for monthly bills, quarterly bills, car, christmas, house, holiday - whatever I need

This post has been edited by Freakypet: 31/12/2012, 10:55 PM

[jessietroy]

We have our accounts with Westland because that's who we went through for the home loan, so in your case i would try and stay with cba. Usually you can have some online savings accounts that don't cost you anything. I would go into cba and tell the, what u want and they should be ale to accommodate some if not all of your requests

This post has been edited by jessietroy: 31/12/2012, 10:55 PM

[lsolaBella]

We always had home loan offset account being account where all salary was paid.

The DH and I get a set $ amount each fn paid to our own individual accounts which we can use for day to day cash items and/or save for presents special items.

We then use spreadsheets to manage our offset account. That way we know if we are saving appropriately etc. credit cards are direct debited in full each month from the offset account. Any other direct debits come off the credit cards.

So three accounts for us. One joint offset with most money ( only accessible online no ATM cards - security for fraud) the one account each for day to day stuff which we each manage. Credit cards are joint.

Eta we have a substantial offset account balance so the interest really does make an impact.

This post has been edited by lsolaBella: 01/01/2013, 10:24 AM

[middle]

our homeloan is also with cba and we paid an extra fee for a package which gives us heapsof discounts including fee free accounts. i have one bill account which everyones wages goes into and direct debits comes out and i have the direct debits set up on internet banking so if i need to change them i can. we have a seperate account for spending money and and accont for school fees/ books etc and an offset account.all of my bills i pay fortnightly by direct debit ie phone, elecicity, rates etc so when the bills come they are already in credit. for the car regos/insuarances they are both due in december so i put that extra money each fortnight into the offset account to cover those bills and then draw it out in dec when they are due

[Mozzie1]

Our system is quite simple. We have done a budget and know how much we get each month to blow, and how much is needed for bills/mortgage/savings.

Each month when we get paid, we keep our spending money and the rest of our pay goes into the offset account (this also works because we both get the same spending money, no matter who is earning more).

All direct debits, bills, groceries etc... Come out of the offset account.

At the end of the month, I simply look at how much we owe on the mortgage and ow much is in the offset account (our net mortgage) to check that we are on track with our savings goals.

[klbseb]

We have five accounts:

1) Working Account
2) Income & Bill Payment Account
3) School Fees
4) Savings - to pay off debt
5) Savings - Christmas & Birthdays

My pay covers the mortgage and school fees, plus a little extra for savings.

When my husband gets paid, I work out the bills due in the next fortnight and either pay them, or put onto the credit card to cover them. I then put aside the the funds for groceries, tickets (train for work) and petrol, savings. The balance (usually $250 per fortnight) is ours to spend however we want to.

We have transaction fee free accounts (previously due to the age of our mortgage and now because DH works for the bank), so any transactions are free.

I transfer just enough to cover the groceries budget each Saturday when I shop, and enough to cover petrol whenever I need it.

What's left at the end of the fortnight is shared amongst our savings accounts.

It's difficult at first, but I've been doing it for years now and it's second nature.

[haras1972]

Most credit unions offer the ability to have multiple accounts....

However, with an offset account, you really will be far better off in the long run with everything consolidated to the one account.

Also, any interest on any of those little accounts you will pay tax on... really, spend some time working on an excel spreadsheet, consolidate every income, dollar, direct debit etc to the one account, and track via Excel, and save yourself years and thousands in interest.

[KT1978]

Why have extra accounts? It must cost hundreds in fees?

We have always put everything into the mortgage. We use our credit card then pay off once a month.

The other alternative is that you set up an auto redraw of $x per week for groceries and petrol. That way you have a fixed budget of $x. Leave everything else on the mortgage and just pay bills as they come up. If you only redraw "extra" for bills then I don't know why you need to track savings for it.

We always found the redraw built up quickly because our disposable spending was limited to say $300 week and bills were no issue.