How much can you save?

gallygirl

minidannii wrote: »

thats the type of thing i would do tell my mum to split it lol

so when you sign up you get £45 ? am confused

No, you get nothing when you sign up. It depends on what you purchase, although there are sign up to newsletter offers etc where you can get a few p for nothing. THIS LINK explains it. There are others but quidco IMHO is the most reliable, I've had nearly 2k from them over 4 years.

Re what Lucy said. When you visit a site it puts a cookie on your machine, so if you look at M&S for example, then go to quidco & go to M&S your purchase won't track as the site recognises your original cookie. You can clear your cookies but I won't do that as I can't remember log ins to various sites, being old & all that . Instead I use firefox to browse & IE to go onto quidco. So, if looking for insurance, I'd go onto moneysupermarket etc. with firefox (& always use the correct postcode & age when getting a quote, but different house number & birthday as I'm paranoid). Then use IE to go onto quidco, see what the various cashback on offer is & go through & get a quote again from the individual site. You may well find though that the final quote is higher - may be because it builds in what it has to pay out via quidco, also because you are putting in more detailed info.

Do sign up & try a few newsletter sign ups etc. After a few hours/day it should show up as 'tracked' - this means the transaction has been recognised. Next it changes to validated, e.g. your purchase has gone through, then some time later (usually a few months down the line) the cash is received.

Sounds like a lot of faffing around but it is actually quite straightforward.

the_rabbi

I’m 22 years old performing arts graduate still living at home I’m trying to save up for a house. I am a media runner and do small time jobs (lots of them) but I am a massive saver and trying to save for a house as well as keep finically strong and secure if any one can point me in a good direction what else can I do lol my savings are

Halifax Web Saver (Variable) £3,030.82
Halifax Regular Saver £1,600.00
Halifax isa saver direct £10,592.21
NSA bonds £4.500


I

LucyTheDwarf

What rates are you getting on those accounts? As far as I know, none of them are table toppers. You're doing pretty well amount wise, but we can certainly maximise your interest a bit.

Are you a tax payer?

the_rabbi

LucyTheDwarf wrote: »

What rates are you getting on those accounts? As far as I know, none of them are table toppers. You're doing pretty well amount wise, but we can certainly maximise your interest a bit.

Are you a tax payer?

I just checked

Halifax Web Saver (Variable) £3,030.82
0.25% Gross p.a.

Halifax Regular Saver £1,600.00
i think is 3.8% but not sure

Halifax isa saver direct £10,592.21
0.50% Gross p.a. its gone down every year since i got it 3 years ago

NSA bonds £4.500

yes ive just become a tax payer this year

minidannii

the_rabbi wrote: »

I just checked

Halifax Web Saver (Variable) £3,030.82
0.25% Gross p.a.

Halifax Regular Saver £1,600.00
i think is 3.8% but not sure

Halifax isa saver direct £10,592.21
0.50% Gross p.a. its gone down every year since i got it 3 years ago

NSA bonds £4.500

yes ive just become a tax payer this year

Regular saver sounds a good rate ?

LucyTheDwarf

the_rabbi wrote: »

I just checked

Halifax Web Saver (Variable) £3,030.82
0.25% Gross p.a.

Halifax Regular Saver £1,600.00
i think is 3.8% but not sure

Halifax isa saver direct £10,592.21
0.50% Gross p.a. its gone down every year since i got it 3 years ago

NSA bonds £4.500

yes ive just become a tax payer this year

Your web saver rate is rubbish. You can get 3% for a year with the AA Internet Saver. It accepts faster payments, but cannot send them. The Alliance & Leicester Premier Direct Current Account can be used as a savings account to earn you 6% on balances up to £2500. Ideally, plonk £2500 in there, remove £500 each month and pay it back in to meet the account criteria, with the remaining £500 in AA.

No sense stopping a regular saver mid term, as you'll get only the standard lower rate of the websaver on the date you close it - i.e. peanuts. Also, if it is 3.8%, that's not too bad really.

The ISA - again you can do better. Santanders Direct ISA is 3% and accepts transfers in - never withdraw cash from an ISA, but ask your new provider to organise the transfer (you'll have to complete some forms). THis has a year's bonus of 2%, so after a year you'd get only 1%, therefore you'll have to be prepared to transfer again in a years time (rates may well be better than too!). Failing that, First direct offer 2.75% fixed til August 2011 - so you get a good rate for 18 months - it's delaying the next tranfer date rather than gettign rid of it, I'm afraid.

As you're a taxpayer now, you benefit from putting your money in ISAs to get your interest tax free (have you used this year's allowance?). However it's worth remembering that sometimes the poor rates in ISAs mean youre better off in a normal account - however it's up to you whether you save in an ISA or not. Personally, I will continue to use ISAs, as once int here the money earsn tax free interest as long as it is in the ISA. If you dont'use your ISA allowance you lose it - and I am still dreaming of a return to the good olds days (HSBC Online ISA 6.5% mmmmmmmmmm I wish) when you actually got a very good deal with the ISAs.

To work out whether an ISA is better than a normal account "gross up" the ISA rate by dividing by 8 and multiplying by 10. This will give you the equivalent rate you have to earn in a normal account to beat the ISA rate.

minidannii

LucyTheDwarf wrote: »

Your web saver rate is rubbish. You can get 3% for a year with the AA Internet Saver. It accepts faster payments, but cannot send them. The Premier Direct Current Account can be used as a savings account to earn you 6% on balances up to £2500. Ideally, plonk £2500 in there, remove £500 each month and pay it back in to meet the account criteria, with the remaining £500 in AA.

No sense stopping a regular saver mid term, as you'll get only the standard lower rate of the websaver on the date you close it - i.e. peanuts. Also, if it is 3.8%, that's not too bad really.

The ISA - again you can do better. Santanders Direct ISA is 3% and accepts transfers in - never withdraw cash from an ISA, but ask your new provider to organise the transfer (you'll have to complete some forms). THis has a year's bonus of 2%, so after a year you'd get only 1%, therefore you'll have to be prepared to transfer again in a years time (rates may well be better than too!). Failing that, First direct offer 2.75% fixed til August 2011 - so you get a good rate for 18 months - it's delaying the next tranfer date rather than gettign rid of it, I'm afraid.

As you're a taxpayer now, you benefit from putting your money in ISAs to get your interest tax free (have you used this year's allowance?). However it's worth remembering that sometimes the poor rates in ISAs mean youre better off in a normal account - however it's up to you whether you save in an ISA or not. Personally, I will continue to use ISAs, as once int here the money earsn tax free interest as long as it is in the ISA. If you dont'use your ISA allowance you lose it - and I am still dreaming of a return to the good olds days (HSBC Online ISA 6.5% mmmmmmmmmm I wish) when you actually got a very good deal with the ISAs.

To work out whether an ISA is better than a normal account "gross up" the ISA rate by dividing by 8 and multiplying by 10. This will give you the equivalent rate you have to earn in a normal account to beat the ISA rate.

would that really work for Alliance & Leicester that would be interesting, putting £500 in a month, then once your at £2500, take it out then back in every month.

LucyTheDwarf

There's nothing in the T&Cs to say it wouldn't work. Think the £500 has to come from outside A&L, so I'd just take it from my current account and send it back again. Hopefully I can get this up and running soon.. I applied a week ago, and I'm getting impatient.

tinkerbel

heya has anyone done the first direct £100 offer? I just read it on another thread and thought it sounds good... just after some opinions really please!
Oh and I moved about £3 to savings today to round down my account!

rictus123

Hopefully i can crack on with saving once this dreadful debts gone.