Should I open separate checking accounts for bills and spending?

I

itsakiltcorpus

New Member
I've been thinking about using multiple checking accounts—one for bills and one for spending. We're trying really hard to control our spending and stick to a budget. We're making progress, but things still don't always line up. Has anyone tried using separate accounts? Did it help?
My husband isn't sure about it.!He's worried we'd just end up transferring more money over, like we sometimes do with savings. Has this approach helped with that, too?
 
Yeah, we've got it set up with bills, savings, and spend accounts. Each week when we get paid, we fund the bills account it's based on our regular monthly bills multiplied by twelve, then divided by fifty two, and we round it up a bit for a cushion. Savings!gets a fixed weekly amount. Whatever’s left just goes right into the spend account. Here’s the thing: the bills and savings accounts don’t have a debit card or checks attached. All our bills are on auto draft you can tweak the due dates if you need to or we use the bank’s bill pay. And if we ever need to pull from savings, it has to be transferred to a different bank, which takes a couple of days. Honestly, that little delay really cuts down on any impulse spending.
 
You have three accounts now. One for fixed bills, one for variable costs, and one for the car loan. They are all part of your budget.
 
Wow, I've been trying something new opening a bunch of different accounts and savings! It's been about a month now, and honestly, it's making such a big difference for me. I'm even splitting my direct deposit into each one, so I've got separate spots for fixed costs, savings for all sorts of goals, and more. It feels amazing to see it all come together!
 
I gave that a shot, but it felt a bit too much for me. I keep just two separate savings accounts at a different bank from my checking since it takes a few days to transfer money out, I’m less tempted to dip into them.

I use those savings for bigger stuff, like fixing up the car or taking care of the house.

Honestly, what’s worked best is giving every dollar a job and keeping an eye on my spending on purpose, but also cutting myself some slack when I need to shuffle money between categories. Life doesn’t always stick to a tight budget, and that change in thinking has really helped me out.
 
I always wanted separate accounts. I never thought my bank offered them. I put all sinking funds in my savings account. It links to checking. Balancing it is work. Setting up auto transfer is easy too.
 
Back
Top