Saving for a House Deposit

midgetgem_101
midgetgem_101 Posts: 2 Newbie
in Savings & investments
Hello all,
I'm new to MSE Forum and looking for some advice on making our savings grow. :)

My partner and I are in our early 20's with no children and looking to save up for a house deposit....eventually.
We've recently moved from rented accommodation into his parent's house to help save us more money.
Obviously, I don't want to stay under their feet for any longer than we actually have to so we are looking for current accounts/ISAs/savings accounts or anything that will make what money we can put away earn as much interest as possible.

Neither of us earn much more than £1000 a month so we can't put away too much money at a time. Neither of us have a credit card or even a credit score (we don't know much about this either?!). I also work shifts so need a solution in which I don't have to keep going to and from a branch to sort out account stuff e.g. accounts that can be managed online or by phone, etc.

Any advice on where to start or what to do would be very much appreciated as neither me or my partner have any idea what we're doing (they don't teach us anything useful at school anymore!) :rotfl:

Kind regards,
midgetgem_101

Comments

  • _CC_
    _CC_ Posts: 362 Forumite
    Have a look into Help to Buy ISA which I think are being launched this December

    That's £400 per month you'll be able to get 25% return on.

    If you have more to save after that then I'd look into the higher interest current accounts, such as those offered by Lloyds and TSB.
  • Eco_Miser
    Eco_Miser Posts: 4,708 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Start with a TSB Classic Plus, earning 5% AER on up to £2000, plus TSB Monthly Saver earning 5% on £25-£250 each month.
    Then another for your partner, and one jointly between you.
    After that, there's Nationwide, Lloyds, Bank of Scotland, Tesco and Santander.

    Don't touch ISAs, except the Help-To-Buy ISA when it becomes available.
    Lots of posts and articles on the site to read.
    Eco Miser
    Saving money for well over half a century
  • inspireme247
    inspireme247 Posts: 188 Forumite
    First Direct 6% + £125 if you switch to them.
    You will only fail to learn if you do not learn from failing.

    Save 2015 - #097 £600/£7000
    CC Outstanding #1: £2544 02/2017 #2: £398 09/2015 #3: £363 08/2015
  • _CC_
    _CC_ Posts: 362 Forumite
    inspireme247 wrote: »
    First Direct 6% + £125 if you switch to them.

    Or, Help-to-Buy ISA 25%...
  • Archi_Bald
    Archi_Bald Posts: 9,681 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    _CC_ wrote: »
    Or, Help-to-Buy ISA 25%...

    It could even be HTB and high interest current accounts / regular savings accounts. But no need to wait for the HTB ISA to become available. Start today.

    Eco Miser's post is spot on.
  • _CC_
    _CC_ Posts: 362 Forumite
    Archi_Bald wrote: »
    It could even be HTB and high interest current accounts / regular savings accounts. But no need to wait for the HTB ISA to become available. Start today.

    Eco Miser's post is spot on.

    Doesn't the Help-to-Buy ISA become available from Dec 1st?

    You can pay a lump sum upon opening one, so if they're only able to save < £400 per month then they may be best waiting as most their funds would be in the ISA not in the current account.
  • Eco_Miser
    Eco_Miser Posts: 4,708 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    _CC_ wrote: »
    Doesn't the Help-to-Buy ISA become available from Dec 1st?

    You can pay a lump sum upon opening one, so if they're only able to save < £400 per month then they may be best waiting as most their funds would be in the ISA not in the current account.
    Still should have a TSB current account for day-to-day use and saving for short-term goals.
    Eco Miser
    Saving money for well over half a century
  • midgetgem_101
    midgetgem_101 Posts: 2 Newbie
    Thank you all for your suggestions!

    We have heard of the help to buy ISA and were considering it in addition to whatever we could get out of a current account.
    We also heard that after a set amount of time we have to get a mortgage with it.....but what if we can't save what we need in time?

    May just be a horror story we heard but not sure what the catch is....find it hard to believe we'll get money just from putting money away - especially as I'm not unemployed and popping out babies!
  • Sam_J12
    Sam_J12 Posts: 253 Forumite
    Hi Midgetgem.

    To answer your question about the help to buy ISA, I don't think the government has currently set any time limit in which you have to use the money. If you don't manage to save the maximum £12k in the HTB ISA by the time you want to buy a house, you can get the 25% bonus on what you have saved. If you choose not to buy a house at all, you can just withdraw the money as you would a normal ISA.

    I would say investing in the Help to Buy ISA is the best idea. You can put in a lump sump of £1000 initially and then £200 per month to a maximum of £12k. If you wish, you can both open one. My other bit of advice would be to really scrutinize what you spend and cut back where you can. Even just saving an extra £50 a month really adds up of time.
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