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An illustration of stacks of dollar bills
An illustration of stacks of dollar bills
An illustration of stacks of dollar bills

Budget better by bucketing your money.

updated august 2024

Take organizing your finances to the next level.

Whether you’re starting an emergency fund, saving for a big trip, or budgeting for your bills, opening a separate account for each goal — “bucketing”— can help you stay on track.

You can bucket both savings accounts and checking accounts. Getting started is easy. Follow these three steps.

1. Map out your money goals.

It’s time to pull out your budget to see where your money is going.

From there, you can decide how much you want to save or how much you want to designate for gas, groceries, or your fun funds.

Need help getting started? Check out our online budget tool.

2. Let the bucketing begin.

Start by deciding what kind of savings account or checking account is best for your bucket.

Next, open a new account. You can do this using our free STCU mobile app, online banking, or at a branch. *

Once it’s open, you can rename it and start putting money toward your goal. 

3. Fill your buckets automatically.

Set up automatic transfers so you never have to worry about forgetting to move money into its designated bucket.  

You can set up those transfers yourself on our free mobile app or on a computer using online banking. Find more transfer support here.

You’re always in control of your buckets. It’s up to you to decide how often money goes into them and how much.




Not a member?

*No problem! Joining is easy. You can learn more about STCU here.