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Budgeting New to this Place Suggestions Anyone

January 25th, 2009 at 08:43 pm

Hello I'm new to this site and the whole "real world" handling finances thing. I have a few questions just curious all suggestions are welcomed. How many Checking or Savings accounts should one have. Also is it feasable to save money while paying off debt or to dump all funds into debt and than save. Just curious.

15 Responses to “Budgeting New to this Place Suggestions Anyone ”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1232919009

    Welcome! I personally think it is wise to have some money saved up in an emergency fund before paying extra on debt. It depends on your income and comfort level. You could begin with $200, $500 or $1K. Once you have a little cushion, you can put everything you can towards debt payoff. If something comes up, you use the cushion or emergency fund rather than adding more to debt.

    The fewer checking and savings accounts the better. It is just easier to balance and keep track of everything. That is just my opinion.

  2. Ima saver Says:
    1232919157

    Welcome, glad you joined us. I agree with setting up an emergency fund before you really tackle the debt in full force.

  3. Smiley2009 Says:
    1232919440

    Thanks you guys I have $500 for a rainy day but I think i'll make it $1,000 and than tackle my debt completely

  4. homebody Says:
    1232921009

    Welcome Smiley! I agree, an emergency fund, then tackle the debt. Our comfort level is $10,000.

  5. Smiley2009 Says:
    1232921088

    Thanks Homebody I don't think $10,000 is possible for me at the moment lol because I don't have a huge tremendous amount of debt a few medical $1,000 should do well.

  6. Ralph Says:
    1232921222

    Welcome! This is a great place to start - there are plenty of people with great experience to learn from.

  7. Smiley2009 Says:
    1232921281

    Thanks Ralph I'm looking forward to learning from reading other people's blogs here. This site Rocks!!!

  8. whitestripe Says:
    1232922067

    welcome smiley
    even if you dont have a tremendous amount of debt, a sizeable EF is a good idea especially in these times.

    on the number of account question, well at the moment i have a main account, four savings accounts, and two credit cards. the four savings accounts are all fee free, and the interest is calculated 'as one' so i dont miss out on that. the credit cards dont carry a balance, one is fee free and one is a fee-carrying reward card - i earn more rewards than the fee so its feasible for me to have it. the only fee account is my main account, and i have to have that one because thats where my loan is linked to.

    in saying all that, its about to change in the next month when DF and I combine accounts and buy a house.

    i guess what i am saying is that everyone is different. you may want just one main account and one savings account, or you may want to have several savings accounts.

  9. Smiley2009 Says:
    1232923454

    Thanks White Stripes it makes sense and now that I've sat down to review my financial state I have a lot more work than I thought. I will concentrate on building that EF fund how much would you say is a reasonable amount. I guess I'm asking what number should I base off 1 or 2 months of living expenses.

  10. Blue Eyes Says:
    1232929653

    Welcome...glad you joined us. I agree also that an EF of at least $1,000 is a good place to start, then work on your debt.

  11. mooshocker Says:
    1232933558

    Welcome to the board. As stated above, get a grand set aside, then snowball those debts. By that I mean, take the lowest amount due, pay it off, then take that payment and add it to the next lowest amount due. Others might say hit the highest interest rate first, but this way, you can actually see your progress faster and that alone is a huge motivator. God bless you.

  12. baselle Says:
    1232951358

    Welcome - tell us more about yourself. Knowing a little something about you means we can give you more tailored advice.

    If one of the things you are aiming for is simplicity, or you have a tendency to misplace or hate to reconcile your accounts, then one checking account.

    If you are running a small business, might be necessary to keep your business separate from your personal - then two checking accounts.

    Savings accounts - again it depends. For an emergency fund - just one, and if you are in the US, FDIC, FSLIC, NCUA insurance is a must. For projects - you would need to decide whether you want subaccounts (ING is useful for that), or separate accounts.

  13. Koppur Says:
    1232987490

    Welcome to the blogs! A lot of it is personal opinion. I don't have much to add besides what everyone else did. Nice to meet you, though! Smile

  14. toyguy1963 Says:
    1232992532

    Hi Smiley, welcome to the site. I think a person only needs one checking account unless you run a business. Then you would have a separate checking for the business. As far as savings accounts you can have whatever you want. As long as they are fee free as someone said. I like to have a regular savings account just to save for WHATEVER in the future. I also have various other savings accounts for things like a new car , Emergency fund, Travel fund and stuff like that. I think I have 8 savings accounts.
    And the advice everyone else already gave you is gtreat.

    Take care.

  15. Tech Support for Lenovo Says:
    1526776866

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