New Year bills.

I read an article by a top London banker! who said he does not and would not use online banking, he has a sub account that he puts a minimal amount for when he really has to pay by card, another sub account for bills etc and takes anything remaining in his wages the account and moves to the many savings accounts with numerous banks and other places ! His reasons being that if a banks system collapses you will be left with no money in the interim to buy food also as he said, you have no proof that you have any money in the bank, if their computer makes a mistake you are done for.

Couldn#t exist without internet banking ...although with all these hackers about I do worry ! not that there is ever any money in our bank accounts ! OH, like yours, following two strokes is not allowed to carry money ,,OR credit cards as he racked up bills of over 8,000 one year ...took me a considerable while to clear it ..so now, unless it is an absolute emergency and I don't have enough ready cash, not a lot goes on the credit card (unless also it is a big purchase where I can save a bit by buying it here on the UK card ..although now the virtual collapse of the exchange rate following Brexit makes it not a lot cheaper after bank charges etc !! I check my bank every day so that if anything untoward has occurred I can action something immediately ! So far (fingers crossed) I have not had a problem, In my French bank, If I purchase anything online they send me a code to my mobile phone to input in a space on the retailers website and I have a special code to alert them in case of a problem ....well remember the days working in London when half of Friday lunch time was take up queuing in the bank to get cash for the weekend and following week ..and each cheque was charged for ! Our bank here is very different .. each branch is autonomous, like in Spain, which makes paying in at a different branch quite difficult and involves about five sheets of paper each with a signature ! you can pay it into a machine in the branch which holds your account ,,,,,I used to find the UK easier when you could simply use any branch of your bank ..I still use my old bank in the UK wherever I am ! Hate this time of year when I have so many big bills to pay there is nothing left ! Thank goodness for the freezer which is full of stews and things to tide us over until after the bills ...which will not be in the foreseeable future with electricity first winter one (and after the strokes the DH feels the cold so has to have the heating at cooking levels) then the first instalment of the income tax and some insurance ......I am going to hibernate ......

\happy AND PROSPEROUS/ New Year all !

Don't spend it all at once Marieeliz

Had a "good news" letter in the post today £10 per annum rise in my Occupational Pension from January!!!

DH is anti internet banking even though it is me that sorts the finances

However I use 24 hour telephone banking, which is very simple to use
Bills go out on direct debit through our home management account
Can get balance on all accounts 24 hrs.

Both DC had money for Xmas which I transferred straight in to their account on xmas day.

But I am feeling like you Ruby as I have to renew car insurance and home insurance.
Which means hours surfing the computer.
I paid my credit card this morning. Trying to start New year with finances sorted.
If there is such a thing

I'm sure that internet banking is fine and that you don't have a moments worry(UNTIL you have a moments worry!) I just hate the thought of something going wrong and it all being withdrawn/stolen.We live about 8 miles from a bank ( not far) and because we have set up direct debits for all the bills, we only need to go into the bank every now and again, when we would be in town shopping anyway.Otherwise, we use any handy ATM to withdraw cash.

I'm reluctant to offer advice but I think I would ask my son for the large note back and happily represent it in much smaller denominations. Being a parent is testing from beginning to end, eh? Hope all goes well for you.

i so internet banking - so easy to keep track.
and i pay for EVERYTHING monthly so there's the same coming out of my account on the same day every month - no need to worry if there's an electricity bill coming out when there's no money in the account.
mind you having three "pay days" [state pension, work pension and dla] a month there's usually a little overlap in the month when there's not enough in the account but it'll be there the day after [or two days after] and it'll get paid manually - no worries!!

Get him checked out Helmsley one of the first signs of a problem is constant forgetfulness. My H who could normally have told you what he had in his wallet and checked his current account to the penny lost that ability. Now he has no idea of our finances and thinks all his pension is in the local branch of his bank. We obviously live on fresh air and the good fairies pay our bills. Seriously though keep an eye on him.

I love internet banking and do it on a app on my moblile phone .Its a boon to me ss im on it most days as i findy dh has lost his gripp on our fiancess and ive hsd to take over.Hes has causex us load of overdraft fines recently.Hes 66 and hes getting forgetful.

Money is a worry and I have to help my family a lot. They have a severely disabled child and so many worries caused by that.

I can't bear the thought of internet banking and have reached the point now, where I don't read statements, I just check the hole in the wall machine to see if I am overdrawn.

There is only so much worry to go round , same as money, we just have to get on with it best we can.

I love internet banking and never had a moment's worry - I pay everything by DD and do have an overdraft facility just in case anything should go wrong, in which case I just transfer immediately so no O/D fees - only happened once in 3 years when my landlords took a £94 monthly remt payment knowing well that they owed me over £500. The only time I ever have to go into my branch is to pay in cash.

I'm a fan of internet banking too - like some others, we live far from the nearest bank. My friend and her husband won't start it - prefer to wait for the monthly paper statement.
Before we could use the internet I had a separate account for regular bills ( utilities etc.) As soon as our pay was in the bank automatically transferred an amount into the other account. We worked out annually how much we would need.
The worst time here for bills is October.
For various reasons we don't spend much extra over Xmas and New Year.

I agree Pittcity and it has to be a bill within the last 3 months.

I agree about the convenience of internet banking which we have had since it began with no problems at all. I run an Excel spreadsheet for all our finances which gives me a forecast for the year to come. I like to know where I am from day to day and to be able to plan for treats and holidays. I cant recommend internet banking highly enough- couldn't face queueing in the bank again.

I only ever set foot in a bank to pay in cheques and I do that using quick pay envelopes. Otherwise it is all online. The only problem is when someone asks to see a bill as proof of address as we don't have any!

I couldn't manage without internet banking because we live six miles from town and two miles from the nearest post office. I manage all our financial stuff since DH's stroke and it's so easy to keep track of everything.

I agree with others about internet banking makes life simpler but setting up direct debits saves all that hassle of having to pay bills it saves all the worrying.

Still a few Luddites around Anya of which I am one.My D keeps urging me to set it up bit I think that is more for her benefit than mine.?.
Since she has been a single mum she occasionally needs a helping hand/loan.

mcem and Anya I am also with you on this one. How did I ever cope without it? Something banking related can pop into my mind at any time and within minutes I know the answer- so easy.

In real life I know very few people who bank on line, I appear to be a rarity. They do not know what they are missing.

rubylady I would not give your son a penny- has he heard of that 4 letter word called work?

I'm with you on that mcem and I thought everyone used internet banking these days.

It's at times like this that I find internet banking a boon. Checking balances, transferring between accounts, paying bills - even if waking at 2am in a minor panic it's possible to sort things out immediately.
I know there are critics and that tight security is essential but I wouldn't be without it.

i am with you Rubylady. I wasn't sure about the date my pension from work would been paid into my account due to the Christmas break, so the Thursday before Christmas i transferred an amount from my savings account to my current account equivalent to my pension so that any direct debits going out would be covered.
When i go to town tomorrow i will check and if pension has been paid in i will transfer the said amount back in to my savings. I never go overdrawn on my current account and it would have worried me in case i did.

I'm not getting tetchy about it, but I did wake up this morning at silly o'clock thinking that as our electricity tariff is about to come to an end we have to look into finding a new one or we will be paying more. Why can't I wake up in the early hours and think of something nice for a change?

rubylady what age is your son ?