Comments on: My Financial Check-Up: Introduction http://www.studentscrooge.com/2008/08/07/my-financial-check-up-introduction/ Fri, 29 May 2009 08:29:40 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: Bookmarked: Carnivals and More - August 24 | Student Scrooge http://www.studentscrooge.com/2008/08/07/my-financial-check-up-introduction/comment-page-1/#comment-524 Bookmarked: Carnivals and More - August 24 | Student Scrooge Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:05:17 +0000 http://www.studentscrooge.com/?p=186#comment-524 [...] Plan hosted the 165th Carnival of Personal Finance: College Football Edition, which included my post on beginning my own financial check-up. Thanks for [...] [...] Plan hosted the 165th Carnival of Personal Finance: College Football Edition, which included my post on beginning my own financial check-up. Thanks for [...]

]]> By: Richard http://www.studentscrooge.com/2008/08/07/my-financial-check-up-introduction/comment-page-1/#comment-484 Richard Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:43:32 +0000 http://www.studentscrooge.com/?p=186#comment-484 Nice suggestion, karla. I think you're right that having a separate account or two for different savings/spending goals can be a good idea -- personally, I would lean more towards using an extra ING Direct sub-account for holding that money, but perhaps you're right about using some of the dormant accounts. I'll have to reconsider whether or not I might be able to find a use for them instead of closing all of them. Nice suggestion, karla. I think you’re right that having a separate account or two for different savings/spending goals can be a good idea — personally, I would lean more towards using an extra ING Direct sub-account for holding that money, but perhaps you’re right about using some of the dormant accounts. I’ll have to reconsider whether or not I might be able to find a use for them instead of closing all of them.

]]> By: karla (threadbndrO http://www.studentscrooge.com/2008/08/07/my-financial-check-up-introduction/comment-page-1/#comment-396 karla (threadbndrO Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:06:29 +0000 http://www.studentscrooge.com/?p=186#comment-396 One strategy you might consider is to use one (or more) of those extraneous checking accounts or the new proposed ING account for a specific purpose. I have two checking accounts - a main household one that I pay all the bills from and a second small one that gets my overtime deposited to it. That one is totally unbudgeted funds for those "indulgences" that crop up - hobbies, concerts and so forth. This does two things - even though I can count on at least an hour or two of OT every week, I don't include it in my 'regular household' budget, so if/when the opportunity for OT goes away, it won't hurt so much. And there's a fairly steady stream of income coming to me for those things that might otherwise tempt me away from my budget. You can have the best of both worlds (local and internet) and two accounts with their associated savings accounts isn't a lot to keep track of. I've set up simple net worth and cash flow/budget statements in Excel to track everything. I would, however, close out some of the totally inactive accounts. They've served their purpose, and it seems from the way you describe them, they are becoming a drag on your record keeping. One strategy you might consider is to use one (or more) of those extraneous checking accounts or the new proposed ING account for a specific purpose.

I have two checking accounts – a main household one that I pay all the bills from and a second small one that gets my overtime deposited to it. That one is totally unbudgeted funds for those “indulgences” that crop up – hobbies, concerts and so forth.

This does two things – even though I can count on at least an hour or two of OT every week, I don’t include it in my ‘regular household’ budget, so if/when the opportunity for OT goes away, it won’t hurt so much. And there’s a fairly steady stream of income coming to me for those things that might otherwise tempt me away from my budget.

You can have the best of both worlds (local and internet) and two accounts with their associated savings accounts isn’t a lot to keep track of.

I’ve set up simple net worth and cash flow/budget statements in Excel to track everything. I would, however, close out some of the totally inactive accounts. They’ve served their purpose, and it seems from the way you describe them, they are becoming a drag on your record keeping.

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