So as you can see this post is sponsored, but I was happy to be able to share this company with you if you don’t already use them or aren’t familiar. Specifically, I want to share with you my number one tip for handling irregular bills and holiday expenses: save up all year.

That might seem like common sense. For me, it was what I always tried to do, but if I just tried to save the money in my checking account I’d very likely end up spending it. Or if I put money in savings I wouldn’t know what I should be using the money for, or I’d use it on something else if it came up.

When one of my coworkers told me about CapitalOne360 a few years ago, I had that feeling like I had finally found the exact thing I never knew I needed. You can create as many different savings accounts as you want, and there is no minimal balance. And you can rename all the accounts so that you know exactly what you’re saving for. Right now we have accounts for: emergency fund, HOA fees, auto service, Christmas, vacation, miscellaneous, and fun money for both my husband and me. Sadly not all of those accounts have money in them, but you can see we have goals!

So what we do is treat those things like monthly bills. So for Christmas, for example, we figure out our budget and divide it by twelve. Then on the date that we decide that bill is “due” I transfer the money to the savings account from our main checking account. It takes about three days to transfer either way, and everything is completely free. With the money being in these separate accounts, it’s just far enough out of reach that we usually don’t pull it out for anything other than what it’s designated for. Life changing, I tell you.

You can see that I love their savings accounts, but they have other great programs too. Check out their Black Friday sale; now is a perfect time to get started! At the very least, I super recommend the 360Savings account.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.