Bank - joint account

[Guest2]

Any recommendations on a join bank account which will be used by me and my girlfriend?
Money going in will only be £400 a month and it'll primarily be used for food
We want alternatives to our current bank account (me Nationwide, her Santander)
I remember seeing there were some alright benefits for some account like join and get x amount of money / gift or interest rate is high even if the amount in the account is quite low

I expect in future we will be put more into the account in future to save for holidays and stuff

 

[Raymond Lin]

Starling

 

[Daaaavvveee]

Starling

+1, apply on the app, simple!

 

[Diddums]

Starling

And post #2 is the correct answer!

 

[Martynt74]

Out of interest why do you want alternatives to your existing account?

Also i don't think £400 going in would be enough to get the free monies from most banks. Unless you transfer more in and then back out again.

 

[Martynt74]

On a high jacking nature.

With Starling. Can you name accounts? My first direct account has about 7 different accounts. As a combination of joing, savings, spending etc. But without being able to allocate them a name it gets confusing to know which is used for what.

 

[touch]

Most of the incentives like free money are for switching your current account, not opening a new account.

 

[DaleTheWhale]

Me and my girlfriend used Nationwide, filled in their form online and had 2 cards sent to us within 2 weeks. Only chose them as we have our mortgage with them, so kept it all together but was a seamless process.

 

[robfosters]

I’m trying to choose between Monzo and Starling for a basic account with no overdraft.

I like saving up for things, so features for savings goals and things like that would be very useful.

 

[Semple]

I’m trying to choose between Monzo and Starling for a basic account with no overdraft.

I like saving up for things, so features for savings goals and things like that would be very useful.

There's not a massive amount of difference between Starling and Monzo when I looked at opening one:

https://www.finder.com/uk/starling-vs-monzo

A couple of different limits, and how you can pay into the account. But everything else is pretty much the same.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Any recommendations on a join bank account which will be used by me and my girlfriend?
Money going in will only be £400 a month and it'll primarily be used for food
We want alternatives to our current bank account (me Nationwide, her Santander)
I remember seeing there were some alright benefits for some account like join and get x amount of money / gift or interest rate is high even if the amount in the account is quite low

I expect in future we will be put more into the account in future to save for holidays and stuff

Why do you need a soerate account t to buy food?

Why not just stick £400 cash in a jar?

Also you want get anything for opening a new account and interest rates are non existent. So you will get a grand total of 2p for £400

 

[montymint]

Why do you need a soerate account t to buy food?

Why not just stick £400 cash in a jar?

Also you want get anything for opening a new account and interest rates are non existent. So you will get a grand total of 2p for £400

Me and my partner have 3 joint accounts - one for our direct debits, one for savings and one for food / fuel. It means we put our fair share in and ensure we are contributing evenly. It's been that way for a decade now and we're both happy with that.

We retain solo accounts for being paid into and managing our own extra cash after we pay into our joint accounts.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Me and my partner have 3 joint accounts - one for our direct debits, one for savings and one for food / fuel. It means we put our fair share in and ensure we are contributing evenly. It's been that way for a decade now and we're both happy with that.

We retain solo accounts for being paid into and managing our own extra cash after we pay into our joint accounts.

that doesn't make any sense.

why can't you have a single joint account for everything then 2 solo accounts for what is left over? then have your own savings accounts attached to that?

so you have 5 bank accounts between the 2 of you? that is overkill. you can still do it evenly with 3 accounts.

 

[montymint]

that doesn't make any sense.

why can't you have a single joint account for everything then 2 solo accounts for what is left over? then have your own savings accounts attached to that?

so you have 5 bank accounts between the 2 of you?

Frankly when we first got together, we were both in our early twenties and not great with cash. I personally prefer an account for all DD because it's 100% foolproof in terms of not accidentally overspending and being short on commitments.

Yes, we have 5 accounts - which I'm comfortable having.

It works for me. Might not be for you, but each to their own

 

[peige]

Getting a joint account is a great idea for couples, first with food and then with rent and house stuff as your life becomes more intertwined. I personally think its a mistake for couples to just stick to each have there own accounts and split bills in a you pay for this and I pay for that. Far better is to say that you need x amount of money a month to run the house or pay the food than then split this as a dd from each of you into a joint account.
All the DD's come from the joint, everything house gets paid for from it. Worse case you each have your own account and the joint can be frozen, best case you have a straightforward way of controlling house finance.
My wife and I worked out what we needed to run the home and then both dd the same percentage of our income into the joint to make this amount up. We each have our own money to do with as we please and all the bills are paid.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Frankly when we first got together, we were both in our early twenties and not great with cash. I personally prefer an account for all DD because it's 100% foolproof in terms of not accidentally overspending and being short on commitments.

Yes, we have 5 accounts - which I'm comfortable having.

It works for me. Might not be for you, but each to their own

I take it still has extra money in it though as some direct debits can fluctuate. Energy. Phone bills.

I have set all my main direct debits to come out on the first of the month. Therefore impossible to overspend as you can then see what you have left for the month.

 

[Chris Wilson]

DON'T use joint accounts, not now, not if you get married, not EVER. Relationships these days cause at best a tenuous grasp on what's yours, don't make it easier for her to fleece you. If you think **** never happens, you need to smell the coffee The lawyers will grab enough, keep a tight rein on your dosh, ALWAYS. Misogyny comes with age, trust me

 

[montymint]

I take it still has extra money in it though as some direct debits can fluctuate. Energy. Phone bills.

I have set all my main direct debits to come out on the first of the month. Therefore impossible to overspend as you can then see what you have left for the month.

Yeah, it actually gains a little over time, which I scoop out once it gets over £300 (and I take it back to £100).

Most of the DDs are on or just after we are paid, but a couple are in the middle of the month. When we first set up the account, it was all over the place. Years have made me much better and tbh, we could probably reduce to the 2 accounts (main and savings where we both get paid into the one account). But I'm happy with how it works and until I move banks again (which will probably when we sell up our current home and move next year), I probably won't change things.

 

[Sui]

We have a joint account, £1k each in on payday and all joint bills come out of it and anything which is for our joint benefit gets purchased through this. It's a Natwest rewards one (gives rewards based on utilities/supermarket shops I think), have had it since September and have accrued £50 so far so we'll get to treat ourselves to something.

I know Starling is good, but if you have these bills you might as well use an account which actually gives you something back.

 

[booyaka]

Why not use a charge card (Amex etc) - put your food on that for the month, then it's a single direct debit to clear it at the end of the month. Way less hassle than getting another bank account just for a food bill.

Also gets you points etc for future purchases/flights etc