Debt Dumpers 2026

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I've been thinking about my goals for 2026, and I really want to make them achievable. And specific. Not just pay off all debt. Or not just more exercise. But actual numbers. So after some thought, here goes.

Financial
- Stop the late fees!
I was paying all bills before their cutoff dates and not when they were actually due. I thought it was fine because I was paying before stuff was cut off (electric and internet). However, I was around $50-$60 in late fees every month. So my first goal is to everything on track, stop paying behind and quit paying late fees.
- Keep adding to my newly created Fidelity retirement plan!
I opened a Fidelity account in December, and I made my first contribution of $25. I would like to keep adding $20-$25 per paycheck (mine not DWs) to keep pushing the total up. As of right now, I'm 50, DW is 43 and we have less than $50k in our combined 401ks. Trying to convince DW that retirement needs to be a point of emphasis.
- Building our EF to $2k!
This seems simple enough, but when you're constantly paying behind and paying late fees, it's not possible. So after getting all bills up to date, I would like to add to an EF to get it to $2k. I open an account at Ally in December for this goal. We've been using an extra checking account, and we just transfer money back and forth as we need it. So hopefully having it at Ally will help not use it freely and whenever we need it.
- Set up sinking funds!
Would like to start sinking fund envelopes for car/auto (repairs, registrations, inspections, oil changes, routine maintenance, stuff like that), birthday/special (7 of the 8 members of my family have birthdays in July, plus we have Christmas stuff and that usually hits hard), medical (this is for when we need to go to urgent care or the doctor unexpectedly or when we need to go get prescriptions), hair/nails (DW gets her nails done the weekend after her paycheck on the 15th, and I get my haircut every 2 months, so want to start a sinking fund for those items).

Personal
- Continue to meal plan!
We've started doing meal plans on Sundays and then go to Walmart on Monday to buy groceries for the week. We seem to do better about not wasting food when we just buy one week at the time. We still need to try and find something we can get for grab-and-go breakfasts as that seems to still be our biggest time to eat out.
- Eat out less!
This has GOT to be an achieved goal. We spent nearly $10k eating out in 2025. I have to eat out 1-2 times a week at work. But we're going to try and cut back to just those couple of days then maybe Sunday after church with friends. That will help tremendously. Also, cutting out the little expenses (like buying a $3 tea at Chickfila for lunch, or a side of fries for $4 at Cane's cause I don't have chips or a $4 breakfast sandwich ... those littles add up quickly).
- Step, step, step!
Right now, my step goal is 4k steps per day. I'd like to push that to $5k or possibly even 6k per day. I don't have much help at home on my exercise goals, so this one will be harder. I have to basically hide it from DW because she thinks it's stupid.
- Attend more card shows and buy to flip.
Over November and December, I decided to start attending card shows to buy cards just to flip. And I was able to make money. Not much in November, but I made quite a bit in December. I've got that money set aside to buy more cards to flip. And I keep track of all buys and sales on a spreadsheet. Would like to start making enough to make it a side hustle.
- Read the Bible completely through!
I have a bible app, and I'd like to try and read the Bible completely through. I've never done that, and I think it would be a neat idea. So I've downloaded a 365 day plan to read the entire thing.

Home
- Purge items not used!
We opened a storage unit in July for $50. But they were up to $90 in December. So we canceled it. I've decided to start going through and getting rid of stuff. Would like to sell what I can and use the money to pay down debt. I'd like to donate what we can't sell. Just have to find the best way to sell since I'm not big on Marketplace (scared to meet people in public).
- Get the green thumb going!
I did a bucket garden last spring, and it didn't take. So I'd like to try again. Just minor stuff. Cucumbers, carrots, small things. I think it'll help our grocery budget (about $600-$700 per month). DW doesn't eat veggies, so I don't want to grow too much and end up wasting stuff. Also, I'd like to remove the rose bush in the front of the house and put a magnolia bush (this is what DW wants since her grandmother had them in her front yard). Also would like to freshen up the front yard (trim back a tree, week the flower bed, etc).
- Just do what we can!
There's not a lot we can do as we rent. But I'd like to do what I can in purging stuff, gardening, keeping the yard and flower beds up, stuff like that.

 

[barkley]

(electric and internet

one thing that helped us tremendously when we were working on our debt that we still do to this day is utilize what most electric company's call a 'balanced budget payment plan'. if you've had utilities under a company for a year or more you tend to meet their eligibility criteria-they look at your total usage for the past year, figure in their anticipated increases for the next year and come up with a monthly payment-THE SAME PAYMENT EVERY MONTH so those months of high usage don't come as a financial hit to your budget. at the end of the year they set you may have a balance owing (they are very good at estimating though-we've never owed much if any) OR a credit balance which they will apply to the next budget year (or if you opt out-to your next month's bill).

way easier for us to budget when something is a fixed monthly cost,

We still need to try and find something we can get for grab-and-go breakfasts as that seems to still be our biggest time to eat out.

just got one of these for my son-the entire household has now tried it out over the past week. I was doubtful but DANG it's quick, easy, no mess and so much less expensive than buying (we've done it with canadian bacon and sausage patties-both worked great). if you don't like runny yokes you can whisk the eggs to make them scrambled, it's crazy how fluffy they get-

 

[Nettlelondon]

I've been thinking about my goals for 2026, and I really want to make them achievable. And specific. Not just pay off all debt. Or not just more exercise. But actual numbers. So after some thought, here goes.

Financial
- Stop the late fees!
I was paying all bills before their cutoff dates and not when they were actually due. I thought it was fine because I was paying before stuff was cut off (electric and internet). However, I was around $50-$60 in late fees every month. So my first goal is to everything on track, stop paying behind and quit paying late fees.
- Keep adding to my newly created Fidelity retirement plan!
I opened a Fidelity account in December, and I made my first contribution of $25. I would like to keep adding $20-$25 per paycheck (mine not DWs) to keep pushing the total up. As of right now, I'm 50, DW is 43 and we have less than $50k in our combined 401ks. Trying to convince DW that retirement needs to be a point of emphasis.
- Building our EF to $2k!
This seems simple enough, but when you're constantly paying behind and paying late fees, it's not possible. So after getting all bills up to date, I would like to add to an EF to get it to $2k. I open an account at Ally in December for this goal. We've been using an extra checking account, and we just transfer money back and forth as we need it. So hopefully having it at Ally will help not use it freely and whenever we need it.
- Set up sinking funds!
Would like to start sinking fund envelopes for car/auto (repairs, registrations, inspections, oil changes, routine maintenance, stuff like that), birthday/special (7 of the 8 members of my family have birthdays in July, plus we have Christmas stuff and that usually hits hard), medical (this is for when we need to go to urgent care or the doctor unexpectedly or when we need to go get prescriptions), hair/nails (DW gets her nails done the weekend after her paycheck on the 15th, and I get my haircut every 2 months, so want to start a sinking fund for those items).

Personal
- Continue to meal plan!
We've started doing meal plans on Sundays and then go to Walmart on Monday to buy groceries for the week. We seem to do better about not wasting food when we just buy one week at the time. We still need to try and find something we can get for grab-and-go breakfasts as that seems to still be our biggest time to eat out.
- Eat out less!
This has GOT to be an achieved goal. We spent nearly $10k eating out in 2025. I have to eat out 1-2 times a week at work. But we're going to try and cut back to just those couple of days then maybe Sunday after church with friends. That will help tremendously. Also, cutting out the little expenses (like buying a $3 tea at Chickfila for lunch, or a side of fries for $4 at Cane's cause I don't have chips or a $4 breakfast sandwich ... those littles add up quickly).
- Step, step, step!
Right now, my step goal is 4k steps per day. I'd like to push that to $5k or possibly even 6k per day. I don't have much help at home on my exercise goals, so this one will be harder. I have to basically hide it from DW because she thinks it's stupid.
- Attend more card shows and buy to flip.
Over November and December, I decided to start attending card shows to buy cards just to flip. And I was able to make money. Not much in November, but I made quite a bit in December. I've got that money set aside to buy more cards to flip. And I keep track of all buys and sales on a spreadsheet. Would like to start making enough to make it a side hustle.
- Read the Bible completely through!
I have a bible app, and I'd like to try and read the Bible completely through. I've never done that, and I think it would be a neat idea. So I've downloaded a 365 day plan to read the entire thing.

Home
- Purge items not used!
We opened a storage unit in July for $50. But they were up to $90 in December. So we canceled it. I've decided to start going through and getting rid of stuff. Would like to sell what I can and use the money to pay down debt. I'd like to donate what we can't sell. Just have to find the best way to sell since I'm not big on Marketplace (scared to meet people in public).
- Get the green thumb going!
I did a bucket garden last spring, and it didn't take. So I'd like to try again. Just minor stuff. Cucumbers, carrots, small things. I think it'll help our grocery budget (about $600-$700 per month). DW doesn't eat veggies, so I don't want to grow too much and end up wasting stuff. Also, I'd like to remove the rose bush in the front of the house and put a magnolia bush (this is what DW wants since her grandmother had them in her front yard). Also would like to freshen up the front yard (trim back a tree, week the flower bed, etc).
- Just do what we can!
There's not a lot we can do as we rent. But I'd like to do what I can in purging stuff, gardening, keeping the yard and flower beds up, stuff like that.

Clear, achievable (but requiring effort) goals are always the best. Make sure you have some sort of step tracker on you at all times and try to sneak steps in at random times - in the UK boiling a kettle for tea is a regular task during the day which gives a few minutes to pace around the kitchen whilst it boils. I can get about 300 steps in that way each time. I used to go to work by train and would walk up and down the platform whilst waiting for the train. Thanks to the poor punctuality I could often get 2000 steps in. Walk on the spot whilst cooking dinner? Climb the stairs during ad breaks in TV shows?

One of the things on my 60 before 60 list is "60 days of Duolingo". There was no requirement for them to be consecutive but once I wrote the goal in the book on Wednesday I have done a session each day - somehow having to write it down in the book means I want it to look nice by being consecutive.

I doubt I will achieve that with the "eat 5 fruit and veg a day" goal though - I normally manage one or two a day so the idea of 5 is a real challenge for me and I don't see that being done regularly! But a challenge is not menat to be easy.

I have also determined that my goal of 60 hours of volunteering was way too low - I have already done 24 since October 6th and as there are still 21 months to go I think I need to up that one. Partly because DH was persuaded to help out at a charity event for 2 days in November and he decided to drag me along too. And then his dad had a medical appointment on day 1 so DH only did 3 hours that day, I did 8! I am still trying to work out what happened there!

 

[mmbrad02]

Our NYE/NYD were pretty chill which was definitely needed after the two weeks prior. My dad was in their local ER on Thursday, Dec 18 with chest pains, but stable. Stress test on Friday showed abnormalities and was transferred that evening to a larger hospital for a heart cath. DH and I made the unplanned trip to the town with the larger hospital and stayed two nights - at the time it didn't matter, but now that things have settled down - I am very thankful for my travel credit card points as it covered both nights hotel expenses. My parents are about 3 hours from us.

Dad's heart cath showed 3-4 blockages at 50-60% and they want him to see a cardiac surgeon but felt he was fine to go home with meds in the meantime. That appointment takes place on January 22. My mom has earlier stages of dementia and that adds stress to the situation all together Christmas doesn't seem restful for anyone but it definitely added to our load!

Then on the way to my parents post Christmas to celebrate, DH hit a dog with my car. it was a dark country road and he locked the brakes up but there was no way to avoid it. My car grill has some broken pieces (though you have to get down low and know what you are looking for, to even notice it) and the dampers on my transmission are messed up. It's drivable but has a knocking noise. This is the one we were planning to trade this year but this snafu may move that up a bit. We haven't found the time to do any research or test drive anything but I have a feeling it will happen more in the first half the year verses the latter half like I had thought.

In brighter news, DH and I both got promotions (his in November, mine in December) that had both been discussed but neither of us felt extremely confident they would go through. So that will help offset some of these financial goals!

 

[piglet1979]

Our NYE/NYD were pretty chill which was definitely needed after the two weeks prior. My dad was in their local ER on Thursday, Dec 18 with chest pains, but stable. Stress test on Friday showed abnormalities and was transferred that evening to a larger hospital for a heart cath. DH and I made the unplanned trip to the town with the larger hospital and stayed two nights - at the time it didn't matter, but now that things have settled down - I am very thankful for my travel credit card points as it covered both nights hotel expenses. My parents are about 3 hours from us.

Dad's heart cath showed 3-4 blockages at 50-60% and they want him to see a cardiac surgeon but felt he was fine to go home with meds in the meantime. That appointment takes place on January 22. My mom has earlier stages of dementia and that adds stress to the situation all together Christmas doesn't seem restful for anyone but it definitely added to our load!

Then on the way to my parents post Christmas to celebrate, DH hit a dog with my car. it was a dark country road and he locked the brakes up but there was no way to avoid it. My car grill has some broken pieces (though you have to get down low and know what you are looking for, to even notice it) and the dampers on my transmission are messed up. It's drivable but has a knocking noise. This is the one we were planning to trade this year but this snafu may move that up a bit. We haven't found the time to do any research or test drive anything but I have a feeling it will happen more in the first half the year verses the latter half like I had thought.

In brighter news, DH and I both got promotions (his in November, mine in December) that had both been discussed but neither of us felt extremely confident they would go through. So that will help offset some of these financial goals!

I am so sorry about your dad. I know it can be stressful. I am glad that you were able to spend time with him. My dad lives 5 hours south of us. He called on December 4th to tell us that he had to have bypass surgery on the 16th. I am so grateful for mine and DH's jobs. Neither of us really have PTO left this year (it was a rough year) and both of our bosses didn't hesitate when we said we needed to go. DH worked the whole week from the hotel (we splurged a bit and got a suite that had a seperate living room and small kitchen. This gave us room to work and not eat out every meal). and I worked about 19 hours for the week. It was a long stressful week but glad I was able to be there. My one brother couldn't get out of work. He delivers for DHL and there is no way they would allow anyone to take off the week before Christmas. My other brother was only able to come down for about a day and a half. I was able to stay for 5 days which gave my step mom some time to rest and I got to leave when he was doing better. Thankfully we have been saving for a new house so the money came out of there and didn't hurt us any.

 

[disney-inspired]

Happy New Year, Dumpers!

My only financial goal this year is to pay off all this dumb credit card debt I acquired in 2025.

I already moved my biggest one to a no interest for 12 months credit card.

Card	Percentage Paid​
Apple	0
Target	21.9
Citibank	0
Chase Freedom	0

Personal Goals
- Get back into walking - I've taken the last few weeks off because of travel and just not feeling like it. I don't want to lose all that I've built since I started walking in May 2024. I'll be back to it this upcoming week. We're having some nice weather too.
- Find and start attending a church regularly - I moved here in Sept, was without a car until November and then it was freezing and I had zero warm clothes. December ran through here like it was being chased so now I'm back in my apartment and ready to get into my routine. I've found a couple I want to check out, including the one my sister's family is attending so I'll be starting that this weekend.
- Make friends? - this feels weird to type as I'm a mid 30s woman but making friends was always hard and I usually ended up with a handful that were really close - now we've all up and moved to different states so we can't see each other regularly. I'm hoping finding a church home will help with that. I'm also looking into things I can do within my community.
- Travel - I'd like to make a few road trips since I'm almost in the the middle of the U.S. I'm interested in historical locations, so want to go remember the Alamo for sure

 

[pblack]

This is more an end of 2025 update, but thought i'd post it here anyway. The treadmill I purchased was delivered on 12/6 and since then i've worked out 14 times (13 treadmill/1 exercise bike already owned). I've been definitely trying to keep with it since I told myself I needed to use it if I was spending the money on it. I did not exercise yesterday which i'm giving myself grace for, but I did workout on NYE. I also just finished a workout today. I hope to continue with this motivation!

I also made one last donation of 2025 to my charity of choice on NYE and I made the first of 2026 yesterday. I read somewhere once about someone choosing to end and begin their year on a good note and I liked that idea.

Looking forward to making more progress this year and reading about everyone else's progress as well!

 

[Tygerlilly]

I had a little bit of extra spending money this week thanks to Christmas. Decided to see what kind of post-Christmas sales were going on and hit TJ Maxx and Ross.

I hit the clearance jackpot on everything I was wanting. I wanted a new purse (the zipper on mine broke a couple months ago and I just made do) and found one I love for $18. Since I doing the walmart delivery job my phone battery dies pretty quickly during the day. On longer deliveries I can charge while I drive but if I have several back to back quick ones it doesn't have time to charge. I scored a Velvet Caviar mag safe charger, a ring holder, beaded wrist holder, and pouch for $30 (the charger by itself is still for sale on the official site for $60). I also stocked up on a ton of clearance press and glue on nails. I LOVE having my nails done but going to the salon is a pain and it's so expensive. I just grabbed 8 sets for less than what it would have cost for me to go get them done once. Most of the boxes I can get 2 uses out of with the different sizes included and each time I put them on I get 2-3 weeks out of. So about 8 months worth of nails for about $40!

I'm sitting down tonight with my planner, meal planner, and budget binder to get set for success this month.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Make friends? - this feels weird to type as I'm a mid 30s woman but making friends was always hard

Making friends in your 30s is so hard. By that age it seems the friend groups have all known each other for years and it's hard to join in. Especially if you're somewhere new. Hopefully once you find your new church home the friendships will come easily.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

one thing that helped us tremendously when we were working on our debt that we still do to this day is utilize what most electric company's call a 'balanced budget payment plan'. if you've had utilities under a company for a year or more you tend to meet their eligibility criteria-they look at your total usage for the past year, figure in their anticipated increases for the next year and come up with a monthly payment-THE SAME PAYMENT EVERY MONTH so those months of high usage don't come as a financial hit to your budget. at the end of the year they set you may have a balance owing (they are very good at estimating though-we've never owed much if any) OR a credit balance which they will apply to the next budget year (or if you opt out-to your next month's bill).

way easier for us to budget when something is a fixed monthly cost,




just got one of these for my son-the entire household has now tried it out over the past week. I was doubtful but DANG it's quick, easy, no mess and so much less expensive than buying (we've done it with canadian bacon and sausage patties-both worked great). if you don't like runny yokes you can whisk the eggs to make them scrambled, it's crazy how fluffy they get-


View attachment 1034988

Dh makes these on our griddle. I'm not an egg eater but I think his are more omlet looking than this pic. He also makes them with sausage, egg & cheese. He puts everything in a glass food prep container and packs the English muffin separately. He has a toaster & a microwave at work to heat it all up.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

In Dave Ramsey world, step 0 is getting current on all bills. I know recently you mentioned you were paying several bills late and getting monthly late fees. To me, this is the MOST important goal. Get to the point where this isn't happening. Have the buffer in your accounts to prevent this. THEN save the $1,000 emergency fund. Forget about sinking funds for now. You're trying to do too much at once, which is really the point of the Ramsey way- get gazelle intense about the ONE step you're on.

After that, what's your current debt situation? What did you have left and at what percentage of interest? I'd really try to get rid of that before worrying too much about sinking funds.

I agree. It's hard to start a sinking fund when you're trying to save up an EF and/or paying down debt. Once debt is eliminated, one can see all the leftover $ after payday and can then start directing it to savings. Any gifts to be given, clothes to be bought, etc. means the snowball gets hijacked toward spending instead of paying down debt, getting current, etc. Sometimes that might be necessary but hopefully not very often nor for impulse spending.

 

[barkley]

Dh makes these on our griddle. I'm not an egg eater but I think his are more omlet looking than this pic. He also makes them with sausage, egg & cheese. He puts everything in a glass food prep container and packs the English muffin separately. He has a toaster & a microwave at work to heat it all up.

I held off for the longest time b/c I thought the thing was going to be messy but i'm amazed by it. my youngest is on the spectrum and has his 'stuff' he likes to eat but is fearful of using our gas stove (understandable-allot of people not on the spectrum are fearful of gas appliances) so he was given this as well as an electric hot sandwich maker and an electric quesadilla maker. dh and I have not been called up to make him his favorite traditional stovetop foods in over a week

 

[Willow Ufgood]

Now that we're in a new year, I'm thinking about my budget, finances, etc, what are some good sinking funds to have? I've got 4 checking accounts, one is our main account, a second is for food/gas/tolls, a third is for bills to be paid and the fourth is our EF. On pay day, I figure out what bills will need to be paid, and I move that money over to that category. I figure up about how much we'll need to have for food and gas/tolls, and I move that to that category.

As far as our budget, we have bills, gas/tolls, eating out, groceries and extras. In our extras category, I have car/auto (so like oil changes, registration/inspection, any maintenance like tire rotations, new tires, etc), birthday/special (this also includes holiday stuff, so like gift gifting), clothing/jewelry, hair/nails, health/beauty, home goods, medical (doc visits, prescriptions), sports cards, entertainment and other.

I'm thinking about starting sinking funds envelopes for car/auto, birthday/special, hair/nails (I get my hair cut every 2 months, DW gets her nails done on the 15th of the month), medical (for doc visits, etc). Anything else I should make an envelope for?

I really want to focus on finances, getting out of debt and getting things back on track this year. I'm 50, DW is 43, so we're really getting older. We basically have no EF, and we don't have much in our retirement. And I don't want to be working until I'm 75, and I can hardly get out of bed, lol.

I know it's really too late to start, but I figured something is better than nothing at this point.

I agree with previous posters. Your budgeting system sounds needlessly complicated. I like Dave Ramsey's How to Make a Budget as a very loose guide on how to start.

What purpose does your "main account" serve? Is it just a receptacle for paychecks whereby you funnel cash to the various other accounts? I find that the more accounts you have, the harder it is to tell where your money is or where it went. Not to mention that many banks require that you maintain a minimum balance in order to avoid monthly fees. My bank just went from a $100 minimum monthly balance, which it had for years, to a $250 minimum monthly balance starting in 2026.

I also want to point out that waiting until payday to "figure out what bills need to be paid" is backwards budgeting. You should know what those bills are because you did budget for them. Rent. Electric/Gas/propane/oil. Cellphone. Cable/internet. Credit cards. Car payments. Student loans. Insurance. They're all examples of bills that are (or could be) static from one month to the next.

There are free budgeting worksheets that you can access online. They're very helpful when you're trying to establish where your money must go, where you expect it to go in the long run, and where you would like it to go in the future. We are in the process of re-establishing our budget after having sold our business effective Jan. 2 and some other life changes on the horizon. I've hybridized several of those worksheets into one that should work for us based on our new income. It will take a few months of tweaking before it becomes a permanent working budget but it's a start and it gives me peace of mind knowing that we have a solid framework to work within. And that's my goal for 2026...to establish a budget that works with no additional tweaking by July 1.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I agree with previous posters. Your budgeting system sounds needlessly complicated. I like Dave Ramsey's How to Make a Budget as a very loose guide on how to start.

What purpose does your "main account" serve? Is it just a receptacle for paychecks whereby you funnel cash to the various other accounts? I find that the more accounts you have, the harder it is to tell where your money is or where it went. Not to mention that many banks require that you maintain a minimum balance in order to avoid monthly fees. My bank just went from a $100 minimum monthly balance, which it had for years, to a $250 minimum monthly balance starting in 2026.

There is no minimum balance on any of the checking accounts. I've never even heard of a minimum balance on a checking account. I have savings accounts, but not regular checking. The main account is where our paychecks go. We then move money around to the various categories. We keep a small buffer amount in there. Then when a bill is debited out, I'll move that money from the bills to be paid category. Or when we have to get gas or pay tolls, I'll move it over from that account. It's really pretty simple. I'm big into numbers, so it's fun for me. DW could not care less about banking, account, what our accounts look like, etc. As long as we're not negative. I basically take care of everything.

I also want to point out that waiting until payday to "figure out what bills need to be paid" is backwards budgeting. You should know what those bills are because you did budget for them. Rent. Electric/Gas/propane/oil. Cellphone. Cable/internet. Credit cards. Car payments. Student loans. Insurance. They're all examples of bills that are (or could be) static from one month to the next.

We budget based on a 4-week system because that's how my paychecks fall. I get paid every 2 weeks, so it's easier to do a 4-week system instead of the 1st-last day. We set the budget for the month before the first check of the month hits. So, I know exactly where and when each bill is going out, where and when we'll get gas/tolls, etc. Everything has a purpose before the month starts. I can't wait until we get paid to figure that out. It's all done on a spreadsheet. I tried DR's Every Dollar, but I didn't like it because you can only go the 1st through the last day. And that doesn't fit us well.

 

[Willow Ufgood]

There is no minimum balance on any of the checking accounts. I've never even heard of a minimum balance on a checking account.

I'm surprised that you have never heard of these because they are very common, especially for checking accounts. Banks are okay with you keeping less than that minimum balance. They just charge you a fee for falling below that line. Sometimes they waive those fees if you have direct deposit or maintain a savings account with them that has a substantial balance.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I agree with previous posters. Your budgeting system sounds needlessly complicated. I like Dave Ramsey's How to Make a Budget as a very loose guide on how to start.

What purpose does your "main account" serve? Is it just a receptacle for paychecks whereby you funnel cash to the various other accounts? I find that the more accounts you have, the harder it is to tell where your money is or where it went. Not to mention that many banks require that you maintain a minimum balance in order to avoid monthly fees. My bank just went from a $100 minimum monthly balance, which it had for years, to a $250 minimum monthly balance starting in 2026.

I also want to point out that waiting until payday to "figure out what bills need to be paid" is backwards budgeting. You should know what those bills are because you did budget for them. Rent. Electric/Gas/propane/oil. Cellphone. Cable/internet. Credit cards. Car payments. Student loans. Insurance. They're all examples of bills that are (or could be) static from one month to the next.

There are free budgeting worksheets that you can access online. They're very helpful when you're trying to establish where your money must go, where you expect it to go in the long run, and where you would like it to go in the future. We are in the process of re-establishing our budget after having sold our business effective Jan. 2 and some other life changes on the horizon. I've hybridized several of those worksheets into one that should work for us based on our new income. It will take a few months of tweaking before it becomes a permanent working budget but it's a start and it gives me peace of mind knowing that we have a solid framework to work within. And that's my goal for 2026...to establish a budget that works with no additional tweaking by July 1.

I personally wouldn't use a bank that charged a fee for a minimum balance. It was more common when I was a teen in the 80s but there are too many free options these days to be stuck with that crap. I'd close my account and move on, and tell them exactly why I was closing it.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I agree with previous posters. Your budgeting system sounds needlessly complicated. I like Dave Ramsey's How to Make a Budget as a very loose guide on how to start.

What purpose does your "main account" serve? Is it just a receptacle for paychecks whereby you funnel cash to the various other accounts? I find that the more accounts you have, the harder it is to tell where your money is or where it went. Not to mention that many banks require that you maintain a minimum balance in order to avoid monthly fees. My bank just went from a $100 minimum monthly balance, which it had for years, to a $250 minimum monthly balance starting in 2026.

I also want to point out that waiting until payday to "figure out what bills need to be paid" is backwards budgeting. You should know what those bills are because you did budget for them. Rent. Electric/Gas/propane/oil. Cellphone. Cable/internet. Credit cards. Car payments. Student loans. Insurance. They're all examples of bills that are (or could be) static from one month to the next.

There are free budgeting worksheets that you can access online. They're very helpful when you're trying to establish where your money must go, where you expect it to go in the long run, and where you would like it to go in the future. We are in the process of re-establishing our budget after having sold our business effective Jan. 2 and some other life changes on the horizon. I've hybridized several of those worksheets into one that should work for us based on our new income. It will take a few months of tweaking before it becomes a permanent working budget but it's a start and it gives me peace of mind knowing that we have a solid framework to work within. And that's my goal for 2026...to establish a budget that works with no additional tweaking by July 1.

From what he's saying, it sounds like he is using other accounts so that he doesn't accidentally spend money that is earmarked for other bills. It's similar to DR's envelope system but using checking accounts instead of envelopes.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We budget based on a 4-week system because that's how my paychecks fall. I get paid every 2 weeks, so it's easier to do a 4-week system instead of the 1st-last day. We set the budget for the month before the first check of the month hits. So, I know exactly where and when each bill is going out, where and when we'll get gas/tolls, etc. Everything has a purpose before the month starts. I can't wait until we get paid to figure that out. It's all done on a spreadsheet. I tried DR's Every Dollar, but I didn't like it because you can only go the 1st through the last day. And that doesn't fit us well.

Most bills are monthly so that's why people budget for a month at a time.
It's what makes a 3-paycheck month feel like a bonus!

 

[Willow Ufgood]

I personally wouldn't use a bank that charged a fee for a minimum balance. It was more common when I was a teen in the 80s but there are too many free options these days to be stuck with that crap. I'd close my account and move on, and tell them exactly why I was closing it.

• A. I've banked with them for years and have never had a problem keeping the minimum balance.
• B. They have a branch that is literally within walking distance of my home.
• C. Pretty much every brick and mortar bank in this area charges monthly fees unless you have direct deposit or maintain a minimum balance. This bank has the most friendly terms.

So, no. I won't be closing my account and moving it elsewhere. But you do you.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My account is an old one that started as a student checking account and was rolled into other ones as time went on. I won't voluntarily close that account because it's been going on for 19 years. However, mine doesn't have a minimum balance requirement It does have either a direct deposit at $X amount OR something like 10 non-ACH, etc type debts from it (transfers from accounts don't count) rule.

My husband and I have a joint money market account (with the same bank as the above account plus my husband has his own checking account plus I have a credit card with them-started out as a student credit card when I was 18) which also has a fee attached unless the combined accounts from the primary account holder (which we have changed a few times switching between us over the years) is at a minimum amount (I want to say it's $5K total something like that between the accounts). That account also used to go dormant after 13 months of no activity forcing a stop into the bank but they've since removed that requirement. That account was used when we built our house because in our county the property tax bill for a new construction is delayed. I believe we didn't get our bill for about 1 1/2 years after the house was built. At closing you pay an estimate and then because property tax values are re-done every January 1st it took a while. Once we got the bill it was like more than $4K we owed and what we had done was put money from both of our paychecks in there each month. When we got that big bill it was very easy to then pay into our escrow account the shortage. After that the account has just been used as the escrow shortage account (or the rare time we had an excess check).

A savings account is actually more prone to fees but it does depend on the bank and the person's account and their history. I had a savings account when I was 11 and on but when I was going to college and they messed up my loan disbursement I needed to take money from that account, it dropped below $250 and thus would have incurred fees. I did end up closing that account (the interest rate had already been reduced fairly big drop when I turned 18).