I have noticed that there is a “Targets” feature which allows you to keep an eye on how much you are spending and in which category those purchases fall into.
However, I have an idea for those who get paid on a monthly basis which is similar but a bit more strict for those who find it difficult to stick to a budget (or target).
Lock your monthly wage and set up a weekly “wage” to be released to you so that you are forced to stick to that weekly budget rather than trusting yourself to not overspend.
How I imagine it could be implemented.
With Mondo I imagine it’s possible to point the app to a certain deposit arriving into your account from a certain Account Number just like it can tell where your money is going when you purchase something.
You might be able to flag this deposit as your monthly wage and the app would then keep an eye out for deposits from this account and flag them automatically.
You could then tell the app that you would like to lock your bank balance and set up a weekly wage (Snappy marketing name TBD) which would be unlocked to you on a day of the week that you choose.
If you have an emergency payment that extends beyond your weekly wage you can easily unlock more funds using a passcode or some other method. If you are on a night out or craving a chinese and you see you only have £20 left for the week you might be less inclined to unlock the other funds as it makes you think about it for a bit before unlocking it.
If needed you could possibly unlock certain amounts, kind of like going to an ATM rather than unlocking the entire amount stored in your account.
Just a thought. Please let me know if I’m just dreaming about something that already exists or is totally impractical
(I love this whole project by the way, so amazing to have a community driven bank)
I had a similar idea for when you become a full bank. When your salary is paid in, all your regular monthly payments are “set aside” and unavailable to spend and then the bank pays the payments from this fund. Anything left over by the time you are paid again could either roll over or go into a separate savings account.
I have three current accounts - one for all my direct debits, one for food and one for “spending money”, as well as a couple of savings accounts - one for saving to get things for the house and one for a longer term “rainy day” fund.
When my salary hits my main current account, the money gets divided and I then have a fixed amount that I know I can fritter away on nights out, clothes and gadgets etc!
This money is now being transferred across to Monzo.
Since I get paid every four weeks on a Friday (13 times a year) it would be nice to be able to set this frequency in the Monzo app, so things like the monthly spend can track between these strange pay periods rather than just calendar months.
Once Monzo has its restrictions lifted, it would also be good if I could set up multiple accounts or buckets, as I described above. Just doing this revolutionised my personal finances and made it far easier for me to stick to a budget.
I’ve just started using Squirrel and I’ve got to say this is a game changer for me. Getting paid weekly really changes my spending habits. I have to think hard about everything I choose to spend on. Also knowing all my bills are taken care of really takes away any worries.
I’d love it if Monzo could incorporate something like this. Or maybe Squirrel can integrate via the marketplace.
