I agree with a previous poster that whether you wish to have several actual sub-accounts or one all-purpose account that you keep separate via your own accounting methods (Excel spreadsheet, Quicken, or an old-fashioned ledger book, which is what I use
) would depend on whether you are charged service fees on the multiple accounts.
We have things we save up for that need to paid every so often (like gifts, vacation fund, car repairs, medical bills) and then things we save up for that we may only access a couple of times a year (property taxes, life insurance, etc.)
So we have two accounts: a secondary, interest-bearing checking account (no fees, but not much interest, either) we use for the stuff that needs to be paid more frequently, like the gifts, and an ING savings account (with a higher interest rate) for the stuff we only pay a couple times a year, like property taxes. I keep the sub-accounts separate from one another in my ledger book, but don't have multiple actual accounts to do it.
I have set up automatic withdrawals from my primary checking to go to both the secondary checking and the savings account monthly. When we need to pay for something from one of our funds, we either write a check for it from the secondary checking acct. (like if we're buying Xmas gifts), or I transfer the $ from our savings acct.
I also find that I'm far more accountable about $ when I operate electronically rather than in cash. The trick to any successful form of money management is finding a system that works for you. Hopefully, you've gotten plenty of ideas on just how varied those systems can be.
Guin
