OK - future planning for savings

wiggly

Hope you're sat comfy cos this could be a bit rambling

with any luck by mid year I should have paid off my loan (and currently only have £200 on my credit card too) and after the initial cheering and celebrating i want to know what to do with the extra money each month?

I currently pay approximately £500 a month on these dbts and what I don't want to do is just randomly spend it

where should I start to look? ISAs?

I currently save only £50 a month in a high interest account, its really all I can afford right now, but its also the only savings I have

so any starting points would be greatly received so I can start to learn etc

thanks everyone

Madiba_2

You could drip feed an ISA, but better still, drip feed two regular savings accounts with £250 each. Get the LloydsTSB one, it last two years so you start year 2 with up to £3500 already in the kitty. Its 8% gross that one.

Then do a Barclays or a A&L, or whatever bank u are with for ease.

finallydebtfree!!

if you put the money in savings you will only be able to put £250 a month into the isa which will make the maximum of £3000 in a year.

I would put £250 into an isa and the other £250 into another savings account (ie 2007)

then the following year providing your in the same position, put the money you have in the savings account (which should also be £3000) straight into the isa. then save the £500 in your savings account for this year (ie 2008)

hope this makes sense!!

RayWolfe

Or you could make a start by looking lto the left:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings

jamesd

What do you need the money for and over what timescale?

You can expect far better results from a stocks and shares ISA and the limit for a maxi stocks and shares ISA is 583 per month (if spread over a full year), enough for 11 funds in different parts of the world and market segments at different risk levels, sufficient for a nicely spread set.

For the first year you might consider a mini cash ISA from NS&I and a mini stocks and shares ISA from say Hargreaves Lansdown. Say you want to build up a cash fund of 3000 in a cash ISA and you have the debt paid buy the end of June, you could do this for the following 9 months:

cash ISA: 300 per month

stocks and shares ISA: 200 or 250 per month, 4 or 5 funds, enough of a mixture to start

By the end of the tax year you will have saved nearly the 3000 cash ISA limit and will also have 1800 or 2250 in stocks and shares ISA funds. Then next tax year you could switch to a maxi stocks and shares ISA at 550 per month.

Angelselondon

First of all I would like to say well done for the repayments to date, it is a wonderful feeling when you are getting to the end of the debt and are looking to save. I was in the same postion as you this time last year.

Personally I agree with all what has been said so far I went for the isa option then ICICI High save account. I intend to do the 2 year 8% this year with Lloyds, but can I just add to keep some in an easy access account we all need a rainy day fund just in case. ISA's and Fix term regular savings are a fantastic way to save, but make sure you have a little stashed away.

Can I also suggest you subscribe the 'How much can you save' thread, there are loads of us savers on that thread and I've found it very motivating.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=295326

wiggly

thanks everyone I feel I know where to start looking now! Its not going to be for a few months yet but I want to have a plan ready rather than wasting a couple of months money (I know what I'm like all too well )

thanks again x