Saving for a deposit first time buyer

hammers4life

Hi everyone hope this is in the right place,

Basically me and my girlfriend both 20 are looking at getting a flat in a couple years, i'm currently putting 500 pound a month away in my savings account although im sure this isnt the best thing i could be doing with it was just hoping you guys could advise me on how to make the most of my savings. I have no idea what isas or the such are so if this could be explained as well i would be very greatful

Lokolo

If you can definately save money each month then a regular saver would be a good start. These usually give a good rate for 12 months, but require a monthly deposit each month. And no withdrawals until the end.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/savings/regular-savings-accounts/

The HSBC Regular Saver (5% is the free one) is the best one on the market at the moment, and you can save £250 a month into that.

You could open the Santander at 4% as well.

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An ISA is just a type of savings account. They give tax free interest. Non ISA accounts mean you pay tax on the interest, at the same rate as your income tax (so either 0%, 20% or 40%). So if you are a normal tax payer, a non ISA savings account at 5% will actually be 4% after 20% tax.

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If you have an income of £1k a month and have £5k you could open this account:

http://www.lloydstsb.com/current_accounts/classic_and_classic_plus_accounts.asp

Which gives good interest on money between £5-7k. You can just transfer £1k into a month, then transfer it out a few days later. (so your salary could be used for this)