Do you split your savings in different accounts or keep it all in one account?

Question

What are your savings strategies? Tips?

Do you have different sub-accounts that you label for example... travel, gifts, emergency, etc... ?

I heard it was good practice to keep different accounts but isn't it hard to manage, keep track of it and know how much to allocate in each ones?

Answer 1

We have 2 main Accounts, then 2 savings Accounts off them, which we try not to touch. Those examples you gave, I'd put all in 1 savings acc, which you gain interest if not used for a period, then use it to pay for the extras. Use main account to pay all the regular bills. You can't split them all, it is too hard

Answer 2

What SAVINGS....Retired and working and we live in the high costs of CALIFORNIA, with Gasoline and Electricity consuming nearly $830.00 a month. That is almost half of my husbands pension check, plus we do have a mortgage. (My VW Super Beetle, and the Hubbys F150 Truck, 2500 sq ft house, all electric, pool &Spa solar heated by the sunshine and filtering only 1 hr each day just to keep it from turning green, plus chemicals, all new ENERGY EFFICIENT (what a crock) appliances, also, for the 19 years we have lived here we have only had a Pot Belly Stove insert in the Family Room for heat, and no Air Conditioning (We are not consuming the Electricity there that is for sure.) I cook nearly every meal so we dont spend extra money there. What little we do save goes for the $3800.00 property tax every year. Then of course stuff happens, and all the rest of the bills, and then food, telephone, prescriptions etc.......!! Those that can save Congratulations......and dont move to Calif, your savings will disappear in the wonderful sunshine. POOF.....

Answer 3

We keep a Savings and a Checking together for bills. But we keep enough in our checking to pay bills and buy groceries. We each have a sub-savings account to buy gifts and what not. This year has been tough so the sub accounts are at zero. We just opened the account together this last couple of months. We have had seperate accounts for years. I thought we could maximize our savings this way and equally combine bill paying.

Answer 4

You are absolutely right, tracking it is the key. So regardless of how many accounts you have, you must track them. So, I'd suggest for you to either get a personal finance book, a personal finance software or your personal accountant (don't have to be a professional) to help you track your savings. By the way, congratulations! All rich people begin with savings and knowing where the money went.

Answer 5

I would say keep all in one account, but you chose to separate it, you should keep it all in the same bank. Like ING. Which lets you
make "sub-accounts", hopefully you will be earning the same amount of interest while separated, as you would together. I would go for ING cause they are the bank with the highest interest rate out there, and it deters you from spending the money on impulse cause it takes about 3 business days to have the money transfer back into your bank account.

Answer 6

Different accounts. One is the emergency backup money. The other is for normal usage