What does work for me

Hooray for auto-savings transfers.

The following system may seem absurd to some people, but it works for me.

I have accounts at ING Direct. Multiple accounts. I have them labeled for different purposes: taxes, gifts, insurance, house, car, medical, hobbies. Every one of these accounts has an auto-transfer set up either monthly or bi-monthly. It's counted with the expenses on my monthly budget sheet.

Where I've always gotten to trouble in the past is not planning ahead. So when anything not on my monthly budget sheet came up, I'd be screwed.

So I tried to put the money for all those different things in my savings account. But I would always screw it up - an overdraft from checking or me taking "just a few dollars" a few times. It was all a big pile and I was never sure how much was saved for any one thing.

Now when I log into my ING Direct account, I can see immediately how much I've saved for any one purpose. So it stays there. Because it's accounted for. Plus the auto-transfers mean I don't have to actually *do* anything.

Also, even though I love them, this isn't a plug for ING Direct. I use them because they let you create as many savings accounts as you want.