£100 p/m slush fund

elDeeJay

I currently pay £100 per month into a Barclay’s current account paying 0.1% for when my car insurance/tax is due or any other annual bills I have to pay.
Decided now though that 0./1% is a bit crappy, so just wondered what would be the best current account to use for this purpose?

I know many of the high interest current accounts require £500-£1000 p/w paid in, which isn't viable, so just wanted some ideas on what account would be best?

Thanks

Cypher

Why a current account

I do the same as you but I move the monthly savings into a linked savings account with instant access. Linked as in same bank as my current account so I get instant transfers between accounts. (First Direct)

I also have similar accounts for christmas and birthday savings (ensures the kids get presents)

keep an eye on the interest rates the accounts are paying though sometimes the interest plumetts if there isn't much in the accounts (£500 for First Direct) For this reason I merged a few accounts together to ensure I always kept a decent balance and kept the interest rate up.

Something like an ICICI account though might be worth looking at, thanks to this site I'm just in the process of moving my First Direct (need to get at them quick) savings over to ICICI. When I say quick, I know when my car tax and insurance are due also I know when christmas is and my kids birthdays so it doesn't have to be instant. For the emergency car repairs I can use a credit card as a buffer whilst I move the money. So ICICI seems a good option for my purposes.

shazkhan111

check out the cahoot current a/c ..... 3.75% no min investment

malky39

how about nationwide and link a e saver account to it 4.25% and you have the bonus of being able to use it when you go on holiday for fee free transactions

Kilty_2

e-Saver is 4.80% gross FlexAccount only pays 4.25% if you pay in £1000/month.

Merlin139

I bank with the Halifax and for the last 18 months I have had a web saver account for all of my bills:

I have a spread sheet to keep track of everything that goes into it.

2 x Car ins, Tax, Servicing.
Bike ins, Tax, Servicing.
Home Ins. etc.

Any yearly or annual bill that we don't pay by Direct debit.

I put a set amount in for each thing each month. e.g Car ins £240.00 so £20 per month.

When I set up the account I was able to set aside the correct amount for each item dependant on how soom the money was due to be spent. As my House insurance was due I put in 7/12's of what was due if you get the idea.

I also have columns for each credit card and each week put the amount I have spent on each column. I then transfer my money from my current account.

I also ensure that my total of my spreadsheet always matches the balance of my web saver account for monthley bills.

My reason for going down the option of setting aside the money each month was that I took a net drop in salary of 16K per year so had to start thinking about budgeting a little better than I had in the past.

In addition we save for holidays 3 years in advance so we have opened web savers for each of them.

Kilty_2

I'm considering opening a Halifax Web Saver since I already bank with Bank of Scotland.

Could I open one at 16? Rate isnt much worse than Nationwide if I don't take a card for it. (Although cash withdrawals abroad with Nationwide appeal to me)

hilstep2000

I've got a svings account with ING Direct. It pays 4.75% and there's no penalty for taking it out. Iearned £98 interest last year!

JohalaReewi

Or you could open a cash ISA for a slush fund so your interest will be tax free. You can pay up to £3000 a year into one of these (at the moment).