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The money shuffle

Since I created two new accounts (bills and travel) the dashboard on my internet banking is starting to look a little unwieldy.

ASB
Cheque
Fastsaver (me)
Fastsaver (T)
Visa (plus a true rewards card, on which I accumulate points – it shows up as its own account)
Bills account
Travel account

Raboplus
Savings (high interest)

Every Wednesday I make sure there’s enough in checking to cover rent and other autopayments which go out Thursday (I’m paid alternate Fridays, so this could possibly be streamlined when we move, and if our rent day changes. This used to work well enough when I got paid on Tuesdays). I work one paycheck ahead, so I pull 400 from savings into checking for the week, and sweep my full pay back into savings when it’s deposited – that then comes out later on to cover the next two weeks’ worth. It makes sense to me in my head, though it might not quite come across that way…

I put a set amount into the bills account every week, and my travel account is funded solely by my side job. If that ended, well, I guess that fund would too (or at the very least, go on hold).

I’m happy with how my system’s working, BUT I want to move the majority of my money to Rabo, as the interest rate is slightly higher (3.5% vs 3.15). I need to strike a balance, though – once I figure out how much I’m comfortable having tied up (no instant access) versus on-call in case of emergency, then I can make the transfer. I’m thinking $2000-3000 would be a suitable amount to keep on hand. All up, I currently have enough to cover three months of living expenses. Woohoo!

Thoughts? How much would you want to keep easily accessible just in case? (Bear in mind I don’t keep a cushion in my cheque account).

3 thoughts on “The money shuffle

  • Reply Revanche January 24, 2010 at 08:56

    Due to the poor interest rates, I actually keep less than half my cash (~20K) in my accessible B&M account in cash and CDs at Citibank, and the rest tied up in savings and CDs at an online only savings. That means about 10K is accessible if I go to the bank and withdraw but only about 400 of it is immediately accessible for bill pay online from the checking accounts.

    I’d like to reduce my accounts to 1 B&M and 1 online savings bank only instead of 2 B&Ms but so far the one I would eliminate has too many free perks.

  • Reply 20 financial milestones for your 20s – how I stack up « Musings of an Abstract Aucklander December 17, 2010 at 14:57

    […] 3 – Automate paying your credit card bill in full I’m a big believer in automation, but my version of automation involves a lot of manual transactions. What can I say? I’m a control freak, and I like flexibility. I pay mine every week, by the […]

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    […] don’t include the full amount of savings. That’s because I handle cashflow in what T calls a ridiculously complicated way. To which I say, hey, it’s worked for me for […]

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