How am I doing?

Retro82

Sorry if this is not the place for this but I am new to money saving and was wondering if any of the more experienced savers would mind giving a quick review of how I'm doing so far. Everything I've done has been within the last few weeks...

I am generally a good saver and I already had (and have kept) a large amount in Premium Bonds (and have so far just beaten interest - the only problem is I'm more likely to spend the cheque than any interest I might've recieved as it comes pretty much monthly!).

I transfered to A&L for the introductory £100 and will not be keeping anymore in the account than I need each month (around £1500). Everything else will be syphoned off to...

...Kaupthing Edge Savings Account (6.55%). This does not include the Icesave Cash ISA I have set up with the max amount for the year.

I have applied for the Egg Money Cash Back card (low salary means I couldn't go for amex) and intend to use this for all of my purchases, paying off in full at the end of every month.

jonesMUFCforever

Looks ok short term but are you planning anything fo the long term?
eg Pension - historically stocks and shares beat interest bearing savings accounts - do you have any exposure to the stock market at all?

Retro82

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Looks ok short term but are you planning anything fo the long term?
eg Pension - historically stocks and shares beat interest bearing savings accounts - do you have any exposure to the stock market at all?

No, naturally I'm just assuming I will eventually win the 1million from the Premium Bonds lol

I have a Pension from my old job (which was a council job) so there is some there.

I experiemented with the stock market years ago with a couple of hundred in The Share Centre but that was just penny shares basically and only really came to anything if I spent the whole day watching it! Would you suggest BlueChip, or a use my share allowance on an ISA, paying in each year?

This is just the sort of response I was hoping for, thanks!

jonesMUFCforever

I would suggest finding an IFA who would suggest a fairly low risk fund that you can put money into on a monthly basis.
eg Historically bank shares look cheap at the moment but who knows what else is lurking in the wings in this credit crunch and will they ever recover to prices of say 3 years ago?
By putting in money on a regular basis you average out the peaks and troughs and hopefully you come out on top in the end.

IMO unless you are very lucky penny shares are a mug's game.

Retro82

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

IMO unless you are very lucky penny shares are a mug's game.

Agreed, it was more an experiment than anything else! It was when marconi was rumoured to be sold and the shares were bouncing up and down, so by catching a down, you could make quick money on the up.

Thanks for the other suggestions