Finance - Is it possible to split my income before it hits my bank?

[icedance47]

I have a big salary. Enough that if 1k were filtered out of it on the way from my employer to my bank each month no-one would notice.
However, that's not the case and it currently drops into a shared account with my wife. This means when I want to shuffle out 150quid for a punt I need a story to justify it.

Is it possible for my employer to split my salary across two accounts? With most of it looking normal as it drops into our shared account and my fun fund dropping into a secret account.

[daverfc]

Oh, thats a tricky one.  I was gonna say, just say to her you didn't get as good of payrise and siphon out the real payrise into a punting account before you put it into the joint account but then re-read it and see you put it straight into the join account.

So you'll have to come up with a reason why you need a seperate bank account and want it to be put in there first before you dump the main lot into it.  So excuses like you want to suprise her with gifts and don't want her to know how much you are spending etc.

I don't have the issue you have as I get my pay into my account and then I put in whats needed for bills into the joint account and then a set amount into savings each month.  The rest is my money to do as I see fit.

[Colston36]

I have a big salary. Enough that if 1k were filtered out of it on the way from my employer to my bank each month no-one would notice.
However, that's not the case and it currently drops into a shared account with my wife. This means when I want to shuffle out 150quid for a punt I need a story to justify it.

Is it possible for my employer to split my salary across two accounts? With most of it looking normal as it drops into our shared account and my fun fund dropping into a secret account.

Yes; but depends on how obliging your employer is.

[PaulRuff]

Separate bank accounts with cash being transferred to a joint one to cover household expenses - meaning I spend my cash on whatever I want.

Best thing ever. 

[mr.bluesky]

I have a big salary. Enough that if 1k were filtered out of it on the way from my employer to my bank each month no-one would notice.
However, that's not the case and it currently drops into a shared account with my wife. This means when I want to shuffle out 150quid for a punt I need a story to justify it.

Is it possible for my employer to split my salary across two accounts? With most of it looking normal as it drops into our shared account and my fun fund dropping into a secret account.

You can transfer 1k into my bank account. I'll look after it for you 

[Vic69]

Why don't you apply for a credit card, and have the "balence" paid off by direct debit out of your shared bank account each month.  You could then withdraw the credit from the bank or ATM.

[Jumping Jack Flash]

How have you managed it before? You have 14 reviews, what has changed?

[Jayj]

Acquire an expensive hobby, golf or triathlon something that you can spend money on, then buy things second hand cash, the other upside is you now have a reason to disappear for several hours playing golf or training swimming cycling running etc.

I was seeing a couple of SP’s for several years I paid them via a bank transfer their accounts were named as a (made up names ) “personal trainer - AB Golf Pro” “Tri Training” in addition I needed some counselling again another payment going out of my bank.

Sometimes it’s easier to hide in plane sight.   

[Fuzzyduck]

How have you managed it before? You have 14 reviews, what has changed?

All those reviews seem to be sub £100 punts. 2 punts a year is loose change, unless OP is holding back on us. Stepping up to a grand a month is a very different ball game. A senior guy at my old work tried to do that (he had a divorce on the cards) but firm said no. Still worth a try, though.

He could try moving to a more cash-orientated model to pay for things so justify ATM usage, then skim off the top. Not at a grand a month level, though.

[Sibiu]

Mistake number one - a joint bank account. Wife and I have always had separate accounts, both been earners, no issues. Looks like you need to convince your other half you need a separate wank account.

[lamboman]

Surely if you need a story to justify £150 going out your partner will notice there's 1k less a month going into your joint account so this doesn't add up.

[mexicola]

Just set up your own bank account, get paid into that and then a direct debit, minus the difference, into the joint account every month. That can happen on the same day too.

[southcoastpunter]

first thing is to ask your employer if they will split the payment between two accounts (as suggested above) - i suspect they won't do that.

another option for you is ......open a new bank account (all paperless) and ask your employer to pay your money into that (ie for them its a change of bank account -often happens for a variety of reasons) then set up an automated transfer from that new account to your joint account of however much you want it to be. if it varies month by month and you need to decide each payday how much to transfer and how much to keep, just remember to do it manually. Transfers, these days, go through almost immediately (within minutes).


edit - just seen mexicola's comment above - pretty much the same. And have to agree with Lamboman too

[big-al93]

The only problem being the change in payment type and origin.

Would have to set up bacs transfer rather than faster payments. I know you can choose the payment reference with faster payments,but not sure if you can with a bacs payment (to make it look like it came directly from your employer)

As others have said, it's highly unlikely that your employer is going to want to help you with this.

[Adoniron]

Mistake number one - a joint bank account. Wife and I have always had separate accounts, both been earners, no issues. Looks like you need to convince your other half you need a separate wank account.

We had a joint account when I was married. I put the money in and she spent it and had the nerve to query my spending although I didn't punt in those days. Never again.

[PaulRuff]

We had a joint account when I was married. I put the money in and she spent it and had the nerve to query my spending although I didn't punt in those days. Never again.

Exactly the reason I went separate bank accounts, didn't take her long to realise she HAD been spending my money on her shite when all of a sudden she didn't have enough cash to pay for it all...

Massive bonus for me suddenly having more cash to spend on my shite!

[Steely Dan]

I have an PAYG debit card which is like a bank in that it has a sort code and an account number.  The clever thing is, it is not fully part of the big bank network, so my main bank did not check the account name when a standing order was set up.  So I have a monthly standing order that is payable to Aviva pension (not this but similar) on my bank statement. It actually goes to PAYG card in my name. My main bank (joint account) has been paying £300 per month into that account for the last 2 years. If you have a fair income, you must have loads of standing orders.  One more wont be noticed if you choose wisely.  Frequent cash withdrawals of £150 are more noticeable. And if it is ignored in month one, it will be ignored for all time.

[Moby Dick]

How Big is your Salary? How much do you earn?
What sort of interest are you getting on your joint account?
Surely with £1k/month spare you are squirrelling some away into higher interest accounts (instant access for emergency), stock ISAs and Pensions?

If you don’t want to / can’t pay YOUR earnings direct from your employer into a sole account then set up a Standing Order from the joint account into your sole account that she does not have access to.

If she asks why? Say you have done it to get the better interest rate, or cash bonus for switching banks, or the higher interest rates on linked regular savings accounts.

The more bank accounts and credit cards you have the harder it will be for her to check, plus don’t give her access to login/passwords.
HBOS, Lloyds, Santander all pay interest on current account balances, plus you can get other perks.
Chase gives 1% cash back on spending, and 1.5% on easy access savings.
You can get more interest on regular savings:
FIrst Direct 3.5%
NatWest 3.25%
Nationwide 2.5%

Pay for all legit stuff on 0% credit cards, and stash the cash in any of the above to pay off when the 0% intro rate expires.

With £1k a month spare and £1k a month on daily spending you will soon have £20k across multiple saving accounts earning circa £300 -500/yr in interest/cash back to pay towards/hide the money spent on punts and gambling addictions.

[mills_and_bhuna]

Tell the missus you need to pay £1.1k into an account each month for a golfing holiday in Bermuda with guys at work.
When you're supposed to be going to Bermuda book a caravan at Whitley Bay for the two weeks instead.
Then you can get in a couple of punts in Newcastle while you're at it and a couple of sessions on the sunbed.
Just tell her Greggs had opened up a branch in Bermuda to explain the weight gain

[m4rmite]

Set up a new account and have your wages paid into that.
Then move all but the 1k on a monthly transfer into your joint account.
If she asks tell her you get better interest this way

[Markus]

Separate bank accounts with cash being transferred to a joint one to cover household expenses - meaning I spend my cash on whatever I want.

Best thing ever. 

This.   Joint bank accounts is a recipe for disaster.   Too late now as it will cause suspicion but you could ask the company to provide you with a cash advance which they deduct from your salary. Depends how obliging your employer is.

[MissWolf]

Surely if you need a story to justify £150 going out your partner will notice there's 1k less a month going into your joint account so this doesn't add up.

This   

[JontyR]

Does your employer allow for payments to be made to a credit union? This exactly as you suggest "strips" some cash to your account there.

You get a dividend rather than interest. But its ethically minded and allows for those who have difficulty budgetting or accessing credit to do so safely without resorting to pay day lenders or loan sharks.

Credit unions are happy generally to support any company that wishes to provide benefits to its employees. 

[Gordon Bennett]

Just open one or two separate current accounts to aid budgeting and access linked saving rates. Start with Chase.

I have 4 current accounts - it's completely normal nowadays. In fact. One of them keeps offering me a second account to assist with budgeting too.

If anyone queries things with me I just say I have my main account, an account for online purchases, an account to fund contactless payments on my phone and a fourth one for hiding money from the wife, the tax man and DWP in.

If you think about it, it's very reckless if you and Mrs just use one account. What if it gets hacked or that bank's IT crashes?