Finance Review

Cotta · 22 January 2018 at 2:59PM

Hi All,

I've posted a similar thread on here before, I've taken on most of the advice I've received and as my finances are slowly becoming much healthier so I thought I'd post an update to check if there is anything else I should do to my finances? I want to become more financially stable and to ensure my finances are structured effectively.

My setup is as follows:

Outgoings

Mortgage - £393 p/m at 4.69% (Balance is around £62k) renewal due on February 2019. 10% overpayments allowed and there is a 5% fee for early settlement.

House was bought for £84,000 and is worth around £90,000 now.

House Rates/Tax - £190 p/m
Car Insurance/Tax - £45 p/m
House Insurance - £20 p/m
Mobile - £16 pm
BT Landline £26.69 (This is my parents but I pay this)
Virgin Media Broadband - £16.25
Gym - £16 p/m
Fuel - £100 p/m
Heating Oil/Electric - £34 p/m
Food - £80 p/m

Savings

£2000 (in FlexDirect Current account, my salary is originally paid into my Halifax account to avail of the £3 pm)

£4000 in Nationwide regular saver paying 5%, this is due to end in February.

£1800 in First Direct Regular saver account at 5% which comes to an end in June.

Debt

Mortgage - £62k
Loan from parents - £5500
Student Loan - £900

Notes

My net monthly income is £1780.

I contribute 8% of my salary towards my pension to which my employer pays in 11.5% of my gross salary.

Overall pension pot is worth around £31k and I am 34.

chockydavid1983 · 22 January 2018 at 5:19PM

Looks good.
I'd look into how much it would take to get to the next LTV on your property when you remortgage as that rate is quite high.

enjoyyourshoes · 22 January 2018 at 5:26PM

I assume you pay for car/house ins annually as there will be no credit charges as a result?

Consider best option to put RS maturity money into

Don't forget to set up new RS (review options to use HSBC &/or FD) was their rates are good for RS 9but need to have c/a with them.

Pay back parents asap they will appreciate this more than you think

Buy running shoes 7/or walking boots instead of Gym payment ?!

Do you have SIM only and own your own phone as these tend to be cheaper options instead of contracts in the long term?

Cotta · 22 January 2018 at 7:47PM

chockydavid1983 wrote: »

Looks good.
I'd look into how much it would take to get to the next LTV on your property when you remortgage as that rate is quite high.

I spoke to a broker last week who advised that I should be inline for a rate of 2.5 - 2.8%, however the stipulation with my mortgage is that it's not to be broken early - even by one month.

enjoyyourshoes wrote: »

I assume you pay for car/house ins annually as there will be no credit charges as a result?

Consider best option to put RS maturity money into

Don't forget to set up new RS (review options to use HSBC &/or FD) was their rates are good for RS 9but need to have c/a with them.

Pay back parents asap they will appreciate this more than you think

Buy running shoes 7/or walking boots instead of Gym payment ?!

Do you have SIM only and own your own phone as these tend to be cheaper options instead of contracts in the long term?

Car and house insurance is paid annually.

Not sure what to do with the RSs, do I have any option but to drop feed into a new RS with the bank.

chockydavid1983 · 22 January 2018 at 11:10PM

Cotta wrote: »

I spoke to a broker last week who advised that I should be inline for a rate of 2.5 - 2.8%, however the stipulation with my mortgage is that it's not to be broken early - even by one month.

Nice, that will be much better.
You could get a couple of Tesco accounts @ 3% to move the Nationwide RS money into and then drip it back in from there into another RS, which would then end at remortgage time.
Also, move the FD RS money in there when that matures but don't drip that into a RS but just leave it in Tesco so it's then also available at remortgage time.

Outsider_83 · 23 January 2018 at 12:48PM

chockydavid1983 wrote: »

Nice, that will be much better.
You could get a couple of Tesco accounts @ 3% to move the Nationwide RS money into and then drip it back in from there into another RS, which would then end at remortgage time.
Also, move the FD RS money in there when that matures but don't drip that into a RS but just leave it in Tesco so it's then also available at remortgage time.

Could the OP not just do a rollover for both their Nationwide and First Direct accounts when the term is up? At 5% it's higher than others and would save all the changing.

Cotta · 23 January 2018 at 2:54PM

To my knowledge once the RS with Nationwide and First Direct is up there is not option to renew on the 5% rate.

chockydavid1983 · 23 January 2018 at 3:03PM

Yeah, that's my understanding too.
You can of course renew the Nationwide RS but will need somewhere decent to park the cash as it's being dripped back in, hence why I suggested Tesco @ 3%.
Depending on how much cash you'd need at the time of your remortgage, you may or may not want to renew the First Direct RS as that cash would then be tied up at remortgage time.

badger09 · 23 January 2018 at 3:36PM

Outsider_83 wrote: »

Could the OP not just do a rollover for both their Nationwide and First Direct accounts when the term is up? At 5% it's higher than others and would save all the changing.

Cotta wrote: »

To my knowledge once the RS with Nationwide and First Direct is up there is not option to renew on the 5% rate.

chockydavid1983 wrote: »

Yeah, that's my understanding too.
You can of course renew the Nationwide RS but will need somewhere decent to park the cash as it's being dripped back in, hence why I suggested Tesco @ 3%.
Depending on how much cash you'd need at the time of your remortgage, you may or may not want to renew the First Direct RS as that cash would then be tied up at remortgage time.

Confusing posts:cool:

It is currently possible to open a new regular saver with both Nationwide and First Direct once the existing regular saver has matured.

Cotta · 23 January 2018 at 5:08PM

badger09 wrote: »

Confusing posts:cool:

It is currently possible to open a new regular saver with both Nationwide and First Direct once the existing regular saver has matured.

I'm very confused. My predicament is as follows:

1. Nationwide account in February matures at and estimated balance of £4500.

a) Can a new Regular Saver within Nationwide be open with an interest rate of 5%?

b) There will be a surplus of £4000 what shall I do with this as the drip feed each month won't be effective.

2. My regular saver with First Direct will expire in March so the same questions as points a and b above apply.

3. As money is being drip fed into other accounts I should have an extra few hundred each month - what should be done with this?

Thanks

badger09 · 23 January 2018 at 5:29PM

Cotta wrote: »

I'm very confused. My predicament is as follows:

1. Nationwide account in February matures at and estimated balance of £4500.

a) Can a new Regular Saver within Nationwide be open with an interest rate of 5%?

Yes, assuming Nationwide still offer that account in February (and there's no reason to think they won't)

b) There will be a surplus of £4000 what shall I do with this as the drip feed each month won't be effective.

The surplus will be around £4250 as you will only be able to pay in £250 pm

2. My regular saver with First Direct will expire in March so the same questions as points a and b above apply.

Yes, assuming First Direct still offer that account....

3. As money is being drip fed into other accounts I should have an extra few hundred each month - what should be done with this?

Thanks

Pay it into a current account earning a decent rate of interest and drip feed from there.

You could also open additional regular savers - see Regular Savers thread for options

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