twinmami30
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Post by twinmami30 on Jan 17, 2013 23:10:37 GMT -5
I have two savings accounts and one checking. My checking account is mainly for bills, shopping, needs etc.. Savings #1 is building my emergency fund and Savings#2 is saving for my house. Im curious to know how much do you guys keep as extra in your account to cover your bills etc?
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Jan 18, 2013 0:10:11 GMT -5
Honestly, I don't keep extra in checking. I know how much my bills are and pay them as soon as payroll hits. Then I take out my allotted spending money in cash. I have this all budgeted out in advance on a spreadsheet. So after I have done the bills, transferred to savings, and removed my spending cash, I may have $10 on tge checking account until next payday. I don't use a debit card, but do use a convenience credit card for the rewards points.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2013 8:28:01 GMT -5
Depending on the time of month, we have between $1000 and $6000 in checking.
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InsertCoolName
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Post by InsertCoolName on Jan 18, 2013 8:35:20 GMT -5
Next month's expenses. With maybe $200-300 buffer.
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Sam_2.0
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Post by Sam_2.0 on Jan 18, 2013 9:49:30 GMT -5
We have three checking accounts. Yours, Mine, Ours. All are linked so we can xfer $ if needed. Each payday 1/2 of the monthly bill total is deposited into the "Ours" account. Bills are set up to auto-pay. All I need to do is check it a couple times per month to make sure everything goes where it was supposed to. That account has $500-$2000 in it at any given point depending on what's been paid or not. I try to keep at least $100 cushion in there, and the monthly bill amounts are rounded up to provide a bit more leeway. In the Yours and Mine checking, DH and I can spend however we want. Its for gas, food, clothes, etc. Doesn't really matter who pays for what, but this way we only need to keep track of our own debit cards and no worries about miscommunication on purchases resulting in overdrafts or anything like that. Those accounts are anywhere from $500-$5 depending on how close we are to payday
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jan 18, 2013 10:31:38 GMT -5
Like Archie - between $1000 and $6k or $7k, depending.
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twinmami30
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Post by twinmami30 on Jan 18, 2013 12:55:26 GMT -5
Like Lucy I too would like to have one month cushion or at least $500 just to have peace of mind. After countless checking accounts and mismanaging my funds I want to avoid service fees and overdraft fees so trying to find balance.
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mak
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Post by mak on Jan 18, 2013 13:56:25 GMT -5
We have one month of expenses in ours. Basically the money we make next month is what we spend next month. We budget out all of our expenses for the next month one we have received all of our paychecks. We worked towards this about 1.5 years ago and we started last year this way. It is nice to know that the bills are covered and that we know what we can spend.
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sarcasticgirl
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Post by sarcasticgirl on Jan 18, 2013 14:10:50 GMT -5
I don't keep much in the joint checking, just what is budgeted for the month. I don't like carrying a high balance in that account. or any checking account really.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2013 14:11:50 GMT -5
About, $ 1000.00 extra cushion for unknown. Hopefully, never have to use it.
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HappyCat
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Post by HappyCat on Jan 20, 2013 3:48:01 GMT -5
I am paid bi-weekly. I pay the bills and try to keep $275-$300 for gas/incidentals in the checking account until next payday. This is my account only...not the joint bill account which is handled differently. My goal for 2013 is to monitor and drastically reduce spending so that at the end of the two week period there is $$ left. Then on the following payday, I will transfer that to savings and start over for the next two week period.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2013 6:03:56 GMT -5
Never less than $100 (minimum required to not pay a fee).
Usually between $500 and $2,000 (I get paid weekly and my wife bi-weekly).
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sbcalimom
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Post by sbcalimom on Jan 20, 2013 14:03:17 GMT -5
My DH gets paid monthly and I get paid bi-weekly for my "real" job and monthly for my freelance stuff. We use the YNAB philosophy of using last month's income for bills so I usually just account for all the bills at the beginning of the month. Then, after that, I set aside what I budget for food/utilities/misc and transfer the rest to savings. If it is in my checking, it gets spent so I keep very little in there above what we need. I try to keep $100 extra at all times in case my math is wrong but by the end of the month there is usually not much more than $100.
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Peace77
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Post by Peace77 on Jan 21, 2013 12:35:55 GMT -5
My credit union pays the same interest for checking and savings accounts. So, I keep about half the EF and the amount needed for this Month's bills in the checking account.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jan 21, 2013 12:38:25 GMT -5
today I have $10k in it. I guess I should pay some bills.
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Jan 21, 2013 12:43:49 GMT -5
Screw the bills... you should pay me!
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jan 21, 2013 20:29:45 GMT -5
Usually between $4k and $9k or so, depending on what bills have paid/how much we've spent that month. We charge just about everything on our CC, and pay it monthly from our checking account.
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krr627
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Post by krr627 on Jan 22, 2013 13:46:44 GMT -5
We keep $1000 as a bare minimum (sort of like a mini-EF). Usually there is $2,000 - $4,000 in the account, depending on the timing of paychecks/bills.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2013 20:31:53 GMT -5
We use YNAB (save this month's income for next month's expenses) and keep most of our sinking funds in checking, so rarely does the account balance drop below 5K. Right now it's at about 14K.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Jan 26, 2013 21:56:06 GMT -5
We do YNAB also, so the total of the three checking accounts we use doesn't generally drop below $8,000. There's another $5,0000 in local savings accounts. One of our checking accounts actually pays more interest than the savings accounts, so that's another reason we keep more in the checking than the savings.
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grits
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Post by grits on Jan 26, 2013 22:03:49 GMT -5
Usually, around $4k. I have had to have emergency medical procedures before, and they demanded a partial payment up front. Also, I live in hurricane alley. Sometimes, you have to flee for well over a week. Also, I keep my emergency fund at the same bank. I can automatically transfer money from the savings to checking by a touchtone phone. When we had to flee hurricane Rita, it was a lifesaver to have it set up that way.
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Ombud
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Post by Ombud on Jan 27, 2013 6:14:53 GMT -5
Uhh. Normally more than the $3.19 currently in it. But it has free overdraft from the savings so it's fine. Savings pays .35% interest
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ilovedolphins
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Post by ilovedolphins on Jan 27, 2013 10:42:47 GMT -5
I used to keep my checking close to 0 but I am trying to build it up for emergency purposes only. I have cash at the house in case of an emergency but in case my kids need any transferred to their accounts for an emergency I want to have some in there.
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❤ mollymouser ❤
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Post by ❤ mollymouser ❤ on Jan 31, 2013 18:46:02 GMT -5
We average about $1,000 in checking once all checking-account paid bills are paid ... with the rest in savings. (Our credit card gets paid off monthly from our savings account.)
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Mar 6, 2013 11:07:17 GMT -5
Depending on the time of month, we have between $1000 and $6000 in checking.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Mar 6, 2013 11:10:49 GMT -5
Last week, I had $0.00. And then I overdrafted. I guess I wasn't watching it very closely. These auto-bill pays sometimes don't line up correctly. All my bills are paid on a specific date in the month, but I'm paid every other Friday. So my mortgage and a couple other bills get paid on the 28th, which was Thursday. I got paid on Friday.   'oh! If I was still paying them by hand, I would have waited another day to pay them.
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Waffle
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Post by Waffle on Mar 6, 2013 11:28:38 GMT -5
Overdraft ?! Say it ain't so. That's very un YM of you.
I generally keep between $1000 to $4000 in checking.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Mar 6, 2013 23:55:04 GMT -5
My checking account usualy has around $2000 in it after bills are paid and money is transferred to savings. Maybe a little less this month as I had to write a hefty check for my PT last week for PT scheduled this month and next.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Mar 7, 2013 6:07:09 GMT -5
I generally keep about 2 months of avg bills + $500-1000 in the account (depending on the time of the month). I do have a money market account that is local so if the poop hit the fan it is VERY easy to adjust or write the 'nasty' check from there. Just paid my semi-annual realestate taxes from the mm account.
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ses
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Post by ses on Mar 7, 2013 12:45:25 GMT -5
I have two checking accounts and one savings account. All money is auto deposited into my savings account and every month I have $1800 (monthly expenses) automatically deposited into my checking account on the 25th of each month. Between the 25th and the first I deposit $600 into a checking account at another bank that is used only for taxes, insurance, medical and a few annual bills. I call it my "escrow" account. It usually has a balance around $2,000. I generally have between $200 and $300 in my checking account after bills have cleared. I like doing it this way because I can pay bills in the specific date I want and not have to work around income arriving on different dates. This system also allows me to build my savings almost with out thinking about it. Whenever it tops $10,000 (my EF) I skim off some to invest.
I also have what I call my "house" account. I always keep the amount of one mortgage payment (for repairs and such)and $5000, my insurance deductible for a major storm claim.
This seems complicated but I have never had a major financial disaster since I have started following this system. It also allowed me to pay off my mortgage early.
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