I love this concept. If you are trying to get ahead, setting up an automatic transfer whether to pay off your debt or increase your savings, is definitely the easiest and often most successful way to help you reach your goals. The automatic transfer minimises the chance that you will forget your goals and spend your savings on a short-term fix.

The drawback of automatic transfers is when you set-up a transfer that is for an irregular amount such as a phone bill. Unless your spending plan is up-to-date and you stick to it, these irregular payments can find you without enough money for the other bills, or worse, overdrawing your account and paying extra bank fees.

Next time when you are asked to set-up a direct debit, stop and make sure you allocate the amount in your spending plan - even if this means slightly overstating the amount. You can always add the leftovers into your savings at the end of the month!