Banking on a first-name basis

Recently I opened a new checking account to get free money from the bank. Since I had the option to give the account a name I called it "Home," as in "a home of my own."


Did that really make a difference?


You bet it did. When I look at the account I get a mental picture of a bungalow with a southern exposure that will let me grow vegetables. This inspires me to think about other ways to pile money into the Home account: manufacturer's rebates, cash from occasional babysitting gigs, the $50 bonus I'm getting for filling a vacancy at the apartment building I manage.


In other words, it got me fired up. I've even started picking up soda cans on my daily walks. Prices for recycled aluminum are currently low so I'm getting only a dollar or two per week. But the longest journey begins with a single step, right? And since this new checking account came with a $100 bonus, I figure I'm already $100 ahead. (Yes, I know I will owe income tax on the bonus. It's still pretty good pay for the few minutes it took me to open the account.)


The money won't actually stay in the account, mind you. I'm going to transfer it to an online bank account to earn at least a little bit of interest.


Some readers of the Smart Spending message board play the name game, too. "Sjprof" has an account named "Kitty" for future veterinary expenses and "Zoom" for a car; the "Sabbatical" account will, with luck, allow the prof to take a year away from academia. "Hootieman" has a retirement account named "Freedom."


Reader "SC CDF" suggests a further refinement: Create passwords for these accounts to reinforce your goal. For example, set your Home account's password to include the zip code of the neighborhood in which you'd like to live some day.


A woman posting as "Lynn D" has funds named "Contingency" (aka the emergency fund), "Vacation," "Freedom Account" (infrequent expenses such as car registration or insurance), "New Car Fund" and "Home Down Payment Fund." Some of these can't be labeled online but she labels them on spreadsheets.


"I think if I had just one account with no nicknames it would be easy for me to spend that money," she writes, "because it's not tied to a specific goal."


How about it, readers? Do you name your accounts, and does this help you envision specific goals? Post your comments below or on this message board thread.