Help - Saving with debt (no choice!)

missile

I have left as of now (14/6/11):

Card 1: £300 £0 (0% ending end of June 2011)
Card 2: £1800 (0% ending end of August 2011)
Card 3: £1000 (0% ending end of October 2011)
Card 4: £1800 (0% ending end of January 2012)
Card 5: £195.70 £0
Car: £19k @ £350 per month for 58 months, 2 other months at different costs for start and end payments (6 now done).

You have paid off cards 2, 3 & 4? Well done.

R_P_W

well done on paying off the cards!

I manually transfer money into my savings account each month. I do one transfer as soon as i get paid which is always a set amount and then the day before I get paid a month later anything I have left over I transfer that in as well.

I guess I should set up a standing order to do the first one for me - but it only takes 2 mins

CLAPTON

Laze wrote: »

I read and understand there are no point to ISA's with such a little amount.

The question that may seem obvious is this... do you always have to STANDING ORDER / DIRECT DEBIT into a regular savings, or can you add what you want whenever?

Thanks.

If you pay tax then an ISA makes excellent sense.
Basically look at the best deal after tax and do that; consistant with the access you require

Forever

Well done with paying off the cards Laze

Laze

Thanks for that, I paid them off on time, just with an issue with my car, I was left with £1,800 on another card starting in April, which will be paid at the end of this month.

So now, this £700 will be freed up to save.

£400 needs to go into a permanent saver (done manually). I think reading the above, an ISA is best. Then an accessable regular saver for the £300.

Another thing is, I think my girlfriend can save £400 with me. So that would be £800.

Anthorn

As an alternative to an easy access / instant access savings account you could look at an easy access ISA which combines the benefits of being tax-free and no notice penalty free withdrawals. You'll need to get out a calculator to compare the iSA with a regular savings account to make sure you're getting the best deal.

An example is the Newcastle BS Sir Bobby Robson Foundation ISA which pays 2.6% Gross/AER with annual interest.

atush

CLAPTON wrote: »

If you pay tax then an ISA makes excellent sense.
Basically look at the best deal after tax and do that; consistant with the access you require

I agree that ISAs (esp with the money you need to access) always make sense if you earn enough to pay any tax at all.

Unless you are taking your tax paid on savings interest into account when you are checking rates/choosing, which most don't do. So use an ISA for money you MAY need to access, and regular savers for the rest if your tax paid will not put you below what the best ISA you can find pays you.

Oh, and well done with the debt. And get your GF to use her own ISA allowance.

Now we have to bring up the whole pension thing. If your employer has one, and you haven't joined (and they pay in too) join NOW.

Laze

I'm really not sure what is happening with pensions, I don't contribute to one at all. So that isn't happening with my employer, but the reason i say I'm not sure what is happening is that I plan to move in 3 years time abroad to start a life elsewhere.

I want to save as much as I can so I can have a good amount to leave with (I was looking at £15k, but think we can now achieve £25k over 3 years) based on £400 each per month now.

The one thing I am so confused on is that we are starting with £400 each, we don't have a lump sum. So wouldn't paying it into a regular savings (together) make more sense?

jamesd

Is the car loan a normal personal loan? If not, what is it? I'm asking because you normally have a legal right to make extra payments when you want to for a personal loan.

Yes, paying into a regular saver paying 8% makes more sense than any cash ISA of comparable term because the after tax interest rate is higher. You won't be saving enough to exceed the cash ISA limit if you later move the money from the maturing regular saver into an ISA.

missile

Laze wrote: »

... The one thing I am so confused on is that we are starting with £400 each, we don't have a lump sum. So wouldn't paying it into a regular savings (together) make more sense?

Regular savers with high interest rates, limit the ammount you can pay in per month. I don't know any which allow you to pay in 2 X £400 per month. :beer: