Hi FF36.
Don't know how thorough your company is with your six monthly reviews.
Speaking personally I have never been asked for official proof by way of bank statements etc, I simply send the form back when it comes in, as accurate as I can make it.
If it is the same with yourself, then I don't see the need to be concerned. What I would say, is that I can understand your reasoning in trying to be frugal with your finances, but from an administrative point of view it surely makes no difference as at the end of the day you still have to declare living expenses, car expenses etc irrespective of where you keep the actual cash for all of these things !

A.D. you're right, it doesn;t matter where it comes from, it's just easier for me to deal with cash because when i use debit card i lose track of what i've spent and it takes a day or two for the debit to show up on bank statement, suppose if i keep reciepts thats the same thing though. I'll just need to get used to a different way of dealing with these things.

Don't worry FF36, whilst they may well ask for bank statements it won't matter whether you are using mainly cash or mainly debit card. The bank statements are mainly to check income or any large transactions etc.

Maybe open a second account for the infrequent types of expenditure FF36?

There's some obvious risks to keeping a steadily growing amount of cash around the house.

I just take a reasonably large sum out every week and all my fuel money out at start of the month. I then budget my weekly money for everything. Looks at bank statements then only shows 5 or 6 transactions a month but its all accounted for. I am not breaking it all down and using debit here there and everywhere to show my income and expenditure. I like to know exactly how much I have and deal in cash only.

Had enough of dealing with banks this week...but might open another one once I'm more settled into things.
Thanks for the advice.

Hi FF36,

I am at the same stage as yourself, I have opened 2 accounts with no problems. One with Nationwide which I have my salary and all d/d and standing orders come out then I withdraw a small amount for misc items during week. The other is with Co op which I transfer a set amount each month for any non mthly bills like car tax, repairs clothes that way hopefully I wont get caught out if something unexpected comes up. Its all trial and error just now and getting back to basics using cash more as like you I lose track if I keep using my debit card.

Good Luck on becoming protected! when is your 5 weeks up? Mine is 1st January. It cant come quick enough!!

Have a good xmasxx

5 weeks are up on 10th January...Can't wait to start the new year without money worries. Good luck to you too.

I used to do the umpteen different envelopes but soon got bored of it so just paud everything with delta and anything left over just before payday got transfered to Yorkshire bs savings account.

Paul

Hi FF36,

I don't see a problem if you wish to work your finances in this way if it helps you keep on top of things.

The first couple of months when someone enters into a Trust Deed or even Sequestration or the Debt Arrangement Scheme can be the hardest as previously someone had credit to fall back on and maybe didn't pay that much attention to over spending etc. Not having that as a safety next can be very worrying and difficult to adjust to for people.

In time things should start to get a little easier and you will become much better at budgeting. People who have completed their Trust Deed's normally say that it's also helped them learn to budget. If you find that things are tight each month sometimes changing the places you shop or when you do you shopping can also help free up some of your budget.

As Kevin has pointed out, don't worry about transactions on your bank account. We look at these to see if there have been any really unusual transactions.

The 10th of January will be here before you know it.