I’ll make my current checking account my “recurring expenses” account. All of my income will be deposited here, and I’ll keep enough money in there to cover the expenses that I know are coming each month and that don’t change (rent/phone/utility/etc.). I’ll set up a new checking account at another bank for all of my discretionary spending… The spending that varies from month to month. Since I know what my recurring expenses are each month, any money over that amount can be transferred to my “discretionary expenses” account. (I’ll leave myself a buffer to cover any unexpected one time fees or things like that…). This way I’ll know that I have the basics covered each month, and I’ll have a clear idea of how much I can or can’t spend on other things. I’ll also pay anything that I possibly can with the debit mastercard on the new account. This will leave a paper trail so I won’t have as many questions about “Where did the money go?”. (Haven’t discovered a terrific strategy for dealing with cash yet, other than trying to keep receipts… One thing at a time I suppose.)

My hope is that this system will force me to be more conscious of my “money in and money out”. I’ll also be forced to plan ahead for my purchases from the discretionary account, because I’ll have to leave time for the check I write myself from the primary account to clear.

At the very least it’s something new to try. The old way was definitely not working for me.