This online banking service will change your life

The days of managing multiple account details are over. Now, our new online banking service allows you to see all your transactions in one place, with one log-in. Here are seven ways you can benefit.

The recession has been a depressing experience for many of us, to say the least. But it has, in fact, brought some positives.

Believe it or not, research from Selftrade has revealed that the recession has encouraged many of us to start managing our money better and take control of our outgoings. In fact, a whopping 67% of us have changed how we manage our money since the recession hit. And that has to be good news!

So if you're planning to take more control of your finances this year, let's take a look at how you can do so.

1) Online banking can help you take control

Checking your bank account on a regular basis might sound like an obvious way to manage your finances, but it's amazing how few of us bother to do it.

However, according to research, since the recession started, around a third of us check our bank account more regularly.

Luckily, the days of managing multiple account details are over. Nowadays, you can check all of your bank accounts and credit cards at once, simply by registering for online banking right here at lovemoney.com. This will allow you to see all your transactions at a glance and you can then categorise your transactions so you know exactly what you are spending your money on. And because everything is in one place, with one set of details, you don't need to manage multiple usernames and passwords. We're one of the first websites in the UK to offer this service, so we'd encourage you to register today to get ahead of the crowd.

2) Online banking can help you to budget more effectively

Budgeting is also becoming a bigger priority for many of us. Again, our online banking service will help you to do this! Because it shows you all your transactions in a categorised pie chart over the past month, you can see at a single glance what you're spending your money on.

Then you can see use the information about your monthly outgoings and earnings to create a budget, using a statement of affairs calculator or this budgeting calculator from the FSA. All you need to do is enter your figures in the boxes provided to view an instant snapshot of your household budget and personal balance sheet - perfect for helping you to take control of your finances.

For further tips, read How to budget in five simple steps.

3) Online banking can help you to make cutbacks

According to Selftrade, a whopping 42% of you spend less on luxuries than you did before the recession. Again, I'd encourage you to analyse your spending using our online banking service, because it allows you to easily see your largest category of transactions. For example, if you're spending 20% of your income 'eating out', then it will tell you - and you'll know immediately where you can start to cut back.

I like this because it motivates me to stop spending, even when each transaction is small, because I am much more aware of how quickly it all adds up over the month. So instead of buying that expensive M&S sandwich for lunch every day, I might try to make my own sandwich and take it into work. Similarly, if you buy a coffee from Starbucks every day, why not invest in a flask and make your own coffee at home to drink on the way into work? Finally, if you know you rarely use your satellite TV subscription or your gym membership, get rid of them!

4) Online banking can help you to spend less on credit 

Because our online banking service breaks down your credit card spending by category - for example, 'clothes and shoes', 'entertainment', 'interest owed', and so on - it's easy to see what sort of spending is taking you into debt each month, and exactly how much it's costing you in interest.

Hopefully this will motivate you to spend less on credit. After all, if you can't afford to pay off your credit card bill in full each month, you're much better off simply leaving your credit card at home and not using it.

Once you've analysed your credit card spending using our online banking service, you'll know exactly what type of spending is causing you to get into debt, which should in turn help you to feel more confident about your ability to destroy your debt.

If you're not sure where to begin, it's well worth adopting our goal: Pay off credit card debts. Then watch this video: Slash your credit card debt in four easy steps.

5) Online banking can help you save more money

We're always banging on about the importance of saving at lovemoney.com - and it's even more important when times are tough.

With our online banking service, you can see all your savings accounts at a single glance, and get a summary of how much you're saving and how much interest you're earning each month, across all your different accounts.

So you'll know exactly how much different saving those pennies can make to your finances. But if you're struggling to get into the savings habit, don't panic, because there are other ways lovemoney.com can help! Simply adopt this goal: Build up your savings and watch this video: How to save when you've got no money. You may also find it useful to read Five ways to save when you're skint.

And if you're looking for a place to invest your money, you can compare a wide range of accounts at our savings comparison centre.

6) Online banking can help to get the best deal

Getting into the habit of shopping around is a great way of saving money and boosting your finances. Again, our online banking service can help by breaking down the different amounts you spend on things like home insurance or car insurance or gas and electricity, so you can easily see how much they are costing you each and every month.

That way, you can easily tell whether a new deal offers better value when it comes along, or whether it's just a cheap marketing ploy to get you to switch. 

7) Registering for online banking will improve your finances

Finally, bear in mind that if you register for online banking, you also register with lovemoney.com. (Remember: even if you currently get our emails, you won't be registered unless you specifically sign up with us for an account.)

So what are the other benefits of registering at lovemoney.com? As well as having access to a whole host of articles tailored to your financial circumstances on your personal homepage, you'll be able to ask questions on our innovative Q & A tool to seek advice from other lovemoney.com readers, and adopt goals to help you manage your money better. You'll also have access to product reviews, videos and blogs - all of which will help you to learn more about your money. And you can easily adjust your email settings, too.

Be one of the first in the UK to register for online banking at lovemoney.com

What other lovemoney.com members have said about online banking

"I find your online banking very easy to use and it saves me lots of time. It means I don't have to struggle with several different banking webpages in order to check my accounts."  dozyrosie

"I've been using it for a couple of days now. There's fantastic potential here to solve the age-old problem of a simple way of keeping on top of finances together with some really cool extra things." gilgongolm

"Think this service is useful and has a nice logical and user friendly interface." mark1

It's free to register and free to use - so what are you waiting for? Register now

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