A work mate had over 30 grand saved and still lived at home (40's) then after an operation died, lol. Before he left work for the operation he heard me saying that I was going to borrow his little electric heater (middle of winter) so just out of spite he packed it away in his car so I couldn't use it. HA HA, IT'S GOING TO TAKE A LOT MORE TO WARM YOU UP NOW..... GIT, I feel better now.
I think the fact that he had the security, rather than going day by day worrying about money, is good. I know you cant take it with you, but living without the worry, makes death easier anyway. Im sure it will go to family in a will anyway, so no biggy. I would deffo prefer to die rich than live a life of money worries. However thats not going to happen . Oh well.(with my income) Then again in the uk, the less you have, the more you get given. Thats a bit mean about the heater, but i would never wish harm on anyone.
I've found that putting X ammount away each month and saying right I've got X to spend per week really helps me save money. Talking of savings, I've got some money saved up and I'm just wondering where would be the best place to put it so its not just stting in my bank account getting like 0.5% intreast? Somewhere safe ideally, are ISA's worth it?
If you can do it, yes ISAs are definately worth it. I would say only cash ISA though, i dont like the idea of investing in stocks/sahares for the other part of allowance nowadays. They are a pathetic rate now, but the fact its tax free on the interest, its best to make use of your allowance rather than loose it. My pocket rather than the Tax mans. I reember when i first wanted to save, interest rates were around 12% i think it was, a little better than the 0.000000001% etc thats available now. I do love the trickery type sales promotion for savings accounts now though, so always read the small print guys, or as the sales clarks would call qualifiers. (Its small print) not qualifiers, that really annoys me.
Yeah i do feel for you matey. Youngsters do have it tough, well it was tough for oldies like me also, but i cant see how anyone is going to be able to afford a house deposit etc etc etc, jobs are pretty scarce now, which was never an issue for me when i started work, if i lost a job, could get another within a day easy. Also our hobby is not the cheapest hobby in the world either. The fact that your considering to save is a good sign and gives me hope for younger people stepping up and wanting to work and save is commendable. You can get slightly higher rates if you invest for longer, which for you is possible as i believe you are very young, but long term for older people is less off an option. Then your get interest on the interest and so on.
15 mate. I've benn saving for a few months now, and the cash has built up fairly quickly. I've been lucky really, there's not much more I've needed for my current PC while I've been saving, so the money hasn't really drained too quickly. What I want to focus on now is looking to get into a part time job- on top of my internet money- and how to travel there.
Put it somewhere that is fantastically difficult/lengthy to make withdrawals. I have a Post office ISA (can take up to 8 days to transfer money to a pre determined account). Also have recently bought some premium bonds, as you are aware no doubt no interest is accrued, but each £1 you save gets you entered into a draw to win prizes (all cash and tax free). It's quite a length ordeal extracting money from there too. Online savings accounts are ok, but it's easy to get to your money. With mine I can have the money in my current account in a few clicks! I have fantastically bolloks self control, imp a 'live (and therefore spend) in the moment' kind of guy, the fact I may have to wait a full working week to get my money does curb most of the impulse buys. Also if you have credit cards, cut them up/put them in a lockbox out of sight. Since may last year i have squirreld away about £4000! Good luck : )
Long-term fixed-rate bonds offer a low-risk return, and you don't get the interest until the term is up. That's a pretty good incentive to keep it there. Obviously, if you're planning a holiday later in the year, this isn't for you, but if you want to keep up the savings habit afterwards, go for it
+cash isa - I've got several full ISA's and move each of them every year to benefit from the best rates, you should always be able to get 5% if you shop around. It also gives you a nice target, you can currently stick around £5-6000 each financial year in an ISA, I've filled one every year for the last 10 years and will continue to do so until I retire. -premium bonds - the current rate of 'wins' is actually below a nominal interest rate, and all the top prizes have been frozen since the downturn in the economy. Premium bonds were great 5-10 years ago, now they are a complete rip-off and to be avoided.
You can 't even find 5% if your prepared to put your money in a 5 year fixed rate. I do agree in regard premium bonds. Even if your a top rate tax payer with all your ISA allowance gone they don't make sense.
Yes you can, you have to negotiate - it's like buying any other service in life, the price is entirely negoiatble. I've currently for several 6% cash-isa's with Virgin Money and they gave me £250 for moving to them. In fact I've currently got an 8% normal savings account with First Direct right now - which any premium account holder can open, no negotiation required. You can easily make more than £500 a year just by opening and closing accounts, Halifax give £100 for opening a new account, Co-op £200 for opening, First direct £100 and then £100 again if you leave (that one seems mad to me), Santander give you £100. The list goes on and on, including the dozens of online banks doing similar...and then you can usually sign up 6months later and do them all again. I then stick the money into matched betting and make a few free thousand each year and use it for my annual holiday. It's very little effort (I quite enjoy it), but matched betting is another story as it isn't technically ethical.
Fixed cash ISA's you opened 3 years ago? The various bonus for switching current account falls into the same category as match betting. Time consuming, rewarding but most definitely not a form of saving. If you opened a normal ISA/bond with no pre-conditions in the last year with a rate over 5% please tell me the name of that bank.
Indeed. Ideally, you want an ISA that outpaces the rate of inflation or at least gets as close as possible to it. Of course, choosing the most suitable one takes a bit of research to find.
Defiantly go for ISA mines currently at 3.70% which isn't to bad, I have had Premium bonds since I was born and all I have won in 21 years is £25 pounds. I wouldn't bother with them altho my grandma seems to win every other month so maybe I'm just unlucky. Two years ago I started dabbling in stocks and have made a small profit of about £1000 however there are risks obviously.. I curse the day I invested in HMV with hopes of a similar situation to JJb sports. Arch http://www.moneysupermarket.com/savings/cash-isas/
I am in an odd situation where my living expenses are quite low, and I have to impose frugality in order to maximise my savings potential so I can afford a deposit on a decent place in a few years. The best method I've found of doing this is to set up a standing order into a bond or savings account that is hard to get at, to take away a sizeable chunk of your regular income (after bills) on payday say, 70% of your disposable income. This forces you to live on lower means without fooling yourself into thinking you're rolling in it and spending it on crap you don't really need.
Ah refreshing negativity. Nation Wide are currently advertising 4.25% no fixed term, easy access, on-line right now. I offered to move my current ISA's and was offered 5.25% total. Easy. Okay so not everyone has existing savings to bribe the bank with, but 4.25% off the bat is good, and I'm sure if you go in branch you could get 4.5 or 4.75 easily without having other savings. do you actually try talking to people when you open these things? Also there's are plenty of apps that do the matched betting for you, as there are account switching programmes out there. It's usually fear or laziness that stops people doing these things, it's a nice way to earn extra pocket money once you get past your initial few times. Oh and you failed to mentioned anyone can open an 8% savings account with First Direct, there are no costs or catches, you only need to earn more than C24,000 a year, which is below the current national average salary.
