Totally Confused

alunp

Hi

I've read the articles on here about saving, and I've read the sections of Martin's book about savings and my head is all mashed up.

Help!

Can someone decode it for me.

Here's my situation and here's what I'm aiming for.

I'm a non taxpayer who'll prob stay that way. Wife is taxpayer.

I have between 25k to 30k.

I'll be paying off 4750 off my mortgage (the most I'm allowed to each year).

My aim is to reduce my monthly outgoings either by cutting expenses directly ie the mortgage payments, or by bringing in some interest each month from the savings.

So bluntly speaking, I want the money to benefit me every month.

What's the best strategy for that because I'm completely lost.

Help and thanks!

Al

EdInvestor

I'll be paying off 4750 off my mortgage (the most I'm allowed to each year).My aim is to reduce my monthly outgoings either by cutting expenses directly ie the mortgage payments, or by bringing in some interest each month from the savings.

It's not really clear if your main aim is to reduce expenses or to reduce the sie of the mortgage.

The two would appear to be incompatible.

alunp

If I could I'd get 30k off my mortgage but I'm only allowed to get rid of just under 5k per year.

When I get rid of some of my mortgage I'll be paying less mortgage payments per month. So I'm not sure why thats incompatible with reducing my expenses.

Anyhow, thats not the point of this thread as I want to know how best to approach the "savings" side.

The remainder of the money (the bit I'm not allowed to pay off my mortgage) I want to get a monthly income from at as high an interest rate as possible which I'll then use to pay some of my bills hence further reducing my expenses.

Can somebody please guide me through this unweavable web to tell me how I do that?

Thanks

Al

EdInvestor

Best savings rates here - ICICI and BM

Robert_Sterling

Just look for the best interest rates you can get from organisations you can trust. What is so difficult about that?

humfer

alunp wrote:

If I could I'd get 30k off my mortgage but I'm only allowed to get rid of just under 5k per year.

When I get rid of some of my mortgage I'll be paying less mortgage payments per month. So I'm not sure why thats incompatible with reducing my expenses.

Anyhow, thats not the point of this thread as I want to know how best to approach the "savings" side.

The remainder of the money (the bit I'm not allowed to pay off my mortgage) I want to get a monthly income from at as high an interest rate as possible which I'll then use to pay some of my bills hence further reducing my expenses.

Can somebody please guide me through this unweavable web to tell me how I do that?

Thanks

Al

Put £3k straight into an ISA and open as many regular saving accounts as possible (ranging from 7% to 10% from the likes of Halifax and A&L) drip feeding £250 per month. The rest just stash away in the top paying internet account..

alunp

humfer

what happens when i reach the maximum on the regular savings accounts and so am not allowed to drip feed more in.

eg if an account says no more than 3k and i reach that limit.

do the interest rates go lower at that point or do the high rates of interest continue.

many thanks humfer. thanks too to Edinvestor.

(slightly bemused by the tone of Robert's reply but never mind)

Al

Hereward

As you can only save up to a set limit each month, in theory, you can never exceed the annual limit; therefore you need to have more than one regular savers account if you are going to following this advice. It should be noted that you will only recieve the headline rate of interest on the first payment, all subsequent ones will earn a slightly lower rate as interest on these accounts is calculated daily.

EdInvestor

Regular savings are probably too confusing.After filling up his 3k cash ISA Alunp might be better just to split the rest of his money between a couple of these best paying accounts.

cheerfulcat

Regular savings are probably too confusing.After filling up his 3k cash ISA Alunp might be better just to split the rest of his money between a couple of these best paying accounts.

As indeed he has already been advised when asking the same question elsewhere on the board.

alunp

Cheerfulcat,

I wasn't advised that at all. Ed has basically said 'look its all very confusing so you may as well just split it amongst the best performing ordinary savings accounts and leave it there.' Nobody else has ever advised me that, despite what you've just stated.

What you did was point me to a comparison of savings accounts which I didn't understand fully given the muliplicity of different products! Indeed it only added to my confusion.

Its hardly straightforward given the various different products available that do different things and have different rules. In fact, I'd already seen the page you sent me to before you linked to it, but it showed me interest rates. It didn't help me understand how the various products should be used together etc.

Show me where you advised me what Ed advised me. Show me where you said that regular savings are too confusing and so to skip them. You didn't. You just pointed me to a confusing form which still didn't clear my confusion so I started a new thread making it clear that I was totally lost.

Yes I possibly look a fool admitting that but I'm honest. I always believe that the truly stupid questions are the ones you DON'T ask. Pretending I understand something when I don't is no way to learn anything. So I admitted I was totally befuddled and asked for someone to decode it all.

I read Martins articles and sections from Martins book first so I was hardly frivolous in asking people's thoughts. I was just genuinely confused and couldn't get any of it clear in my head.

Why the attitude from some people here???

I'm used to debt not money, so now I'm about to get some I have had trouble weaving through the maze of different kinds of accounts. I'm certain that I'm not the only one.

I came here for friendly advice yet two of the replies have needlessly been on the snotty side.

Thanks to those who kept it friendly and understood that I was genuinely lost amongst the many many options out there. To the others I'd recommend not posting anything at all.

Al