Saving annually for Christmas

beckyblyth

Hi
My partner pays £20 a week to a Christmas Club and then gets the money in December to spend on presents. I don't know if he actually gets any interest on this and was wondering if there's a better way to save this money i.e savings account. Can anyone give me any guidance please?

gozomark

don't know if he actually gets any interest on this - without knowing that its difficult to advise

who is the club run by ? Is it a regulated company, or an individual ? what protection does he have on the money ? Does he get the money in Dec, or is it credit at a particular store ?

Baldur

Some building societies offer Christmas Saver accounts, e.g. http://www.skipton.co.uk/savings_and_investments/savings_accounts/christmas_saver_account_issue3/

whiterose11

maybe a regular saver would be best
off the top of my head 7.5% from barclays.
or 7% from halifax
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts
heres an article from martin about them

dancingfairy

I used the Skipton one and found it really good and so does my OH - he didn't even notice it was going out of his current account each month so it was a real surprise for him when he saw the total and it's was a really good rate of interest - don't know what it is now though although he has now moved to a regular saver as he found it gave him the money a bit late (25th Nov) for him to get organised with his presents.
df

baileysbattlebus

I used to run an Xmas savings account at work - interest wasn't an issue

I opened a treasurers account with the Nationwide - with 3 signatories - incase anything happened to me.

every December I got a cheque from Nationwide for the full amount paid it into my own account and then gave cheques to the ones that wanted cheques and cash to the one's that wanted cash.

I kept the interest - but if you look at the treasurers account the interest rate is tiny, currently it is about 1.6% net, about the same as the years I ran the savings club, it would have been too much of a hassle to work out everyone's share of the interest - there were about 15 people saving amounts from £5 per week to about £20. Some missed a week or 2 etc.

But it worked well and every one was happy.

The amount I made out of it was next to nothing and I used to tell everyone what the interest was at the end, so everyone knew and if they weren't happy - they could set up their own account.

anna42hmr

i have recenlty opened the skipton account and have had no problems, plus a good interest rate. was very easy to set up

i know what people mean about for some people the money being released on 25th november being a bit late, but i intend to start buying the presents beginning nov next year and then use the money to pay off in full (due to my statement dates would be the right time for the payment)