Diana Clement: Tools that can help you save money

Make the most of the tools your bank offers. Photo / 123RF

If you're a spender and you want to change, banks have accounts and tools that can help channel your inner spender in the right direction.

When I say "bank", that includes the big five banks, smaller ones such as SBS, TSB, Co-operative, and Heartland, as well as credit unions and building societies, which offer banking-like services.

The first indispensable tool for spenders is being able to open multiple accounts with the same bank to separate savings, bills, groceries, goals and spending. Some banks call them buckets. Only spending from the allotted account and stopping once it's empty limits spending for many people. Splitting the saving into short, medium- and long-term savings accounts makes sense. Switch banks if you're charged for multiple accounts.

Have your pay divvied automatically into these accounts by the bank. Kiwibank's PayStream, for example, automatically splits your pay into your chosen accounts as the money goes in. That way you can't spend your bills money by accident. Westpac has Salary Splitter. The recently renamed Unity Money, a credit union, has a separate account for bill payments, which can be broken down into weekly, fortnightly or monthly, automatic payments, instead of one big direct debit, which does put some people at risk of overdrawing their accounts.

If your bank doesn't have a pay-splitter-type facility, it should have text or email alerts to let you know when your account balance falls under a certain level. This can be a wake-up call.

I'm a fan of Kiwibank's Sweep facility, which sweeps money out of your current account into an account that pays interest when the balance is high, and sweeps money back from multiple accounts if necessary when you get below a certain level. You do need to avoid allowing money to be swept from savings accounts for this purpose or it becomes too easy to fool yourself.

One great way to stop yourself spending is to have in-your-face access to your budget on your phone. Most of our banks' apps really don't help for that, although Westpac's CashNav app, which is separate to online banking, does show customers at a glance how much is left in each budge category, which might stop spenders in their tracks.

Accounts for saving that make withdrawals difficult are a great idea. Notice savers lock money away. You can add deposits to these accounts at any time, but need to give 30, 60 or 90 days' notice to withdraw money. Heartland Bank, Rabobank, Kiwibank and Westpac offer notice saver accounts.

Some accounts such as BNZ's Rapid Save and various bonus saver accounts give you higher interest or charge for withdrawals if you make more than one per month/quarter/year. They only work for spenders if the punishment is greater than the desire to dip in.

Christmas saver accounts can be good for this. Your bonus is paid in December and January usually, meaning there is a motivation not to spend the money. The NZCU Auckland Christmas account pays 2 per cent interest currently, which is a lot more than bonus saver accounts. It has a $100,000 maximum deposit - because of this relatively high interest rate.

ASB has a way that you can stop withdrawals from your own accounts by hiding them. Until unhidden, money can't be transferred out of the accounts.

All banks have Visa/Mastercard debit cards, which allow online shopping, but not credit. EFTPOS is a simple alternative if attached to the spending account only, not others. It can work well for spenders who would otherwise be tempted to use credit.

On the mortgage front, spenders should never have revolving credit mortgages that allow them to dip into the mortgage for day-to-day spending. On the other hand, having a mortgage that allows you to make extra repayments when you get bonuses or other money, makes sense. Out of sight, out of mind with this money.

All of these tools are only as good as the motivation of the person using them. They make it easier to layer new habits and change your ways. If you choose to.