A building society account just like my piggy bank

Well, more precisely like my little savings tin:



I've always liked to know which money is allocated for what task - I can never quite get the hang of having everything in one place and remembering or listing what's what. With my main bank, I get round this by having three current accounts, but savings have always been trickier, particularly for little sums that I want to tuck away for special reasons, treats etc.

So I was delighted to learn that the Principality has an online account that gives you five 'pots'. It's all treated as one account from their point of view, but you call apportion it between different savings. You can even add a target total with a target date.

As well as a general pot, I've set up two pots for me and two for joint money. Mine are "Piggy Bank" (eg proceeds of piggy bank emptying especially £2 coins, and used to save for non-essential treats like a new camera or PDA or - something I really fancy - a glass fusing kiln) and "Future Tax Bills" (being self-employed the bill comes twice a year, so it's better to set the money aside as I earn it). Ours are "New Barny" to tuck away money for our next car (our last two cars have been called Barny, so why break a tradition) and "Funny money", for odd little sums that would otherwise just disappear into a purse - winnings, car boot sale proceeds, joint piggy bank funds etc. The idea is that the funny money will pay for something slightly extravagent, like new patio doors that will look nicer and open easily instead of requiring a frustrating fight with awkward bolts.

The Technomage has pots for his own funny money, saving for new gadgets and some general savings. He also has two of our pots - one for the £19 a month we save by not subscribing to Sky and one for new gadgets. We try to allocate 20p whenever we use things like the Wii or the toasted sandwich machine. That way, if they break we can decide whether they've had enough use to justify a new one - and pay for it painlessly!