On the road to freedom!

curlygirl1971

I've been looking at instant access savings accounts as well and posted the following on another thread :-

"......pot of money is spread across 2 accounts (these figs are Net):-

· Halifax Online Saver which has a rate of 2.24% Net until July
· Santander Current Account which has a rate of 4.00% for balances upto £2500 until 15th May

So as the Santander rate is coming to an end I’ve been looking round to see if there is a better home for this pot of money. And I’ve come to the conclusion that there isn’t.

I’ve checked:-
· The MSE Savings article and also looked at recent posts on the Savings account thread
· All the main banks just incase
· I’ve looked at Quidco & TCB to see if there are any opening offers for relevant accounts
· I also looked at the Lloyds Vantage Current account but I would be earning only 1.59% in that account

One option is the Derbyshire Net Saver 3, paying 2.45% Net. However you need to open it with a £1k CHEQUE. Yes a CHEQUE. And although you can manage it online, withdrawls out of the account don’t hit the receiving account until the next working day. So for the negligible difference of 0.21%, I don’t think that’s going to suit me.

There is also the Leeds BS 2.32% Net Instant Access Account but whilst you can open that online it can only be managed by POST. LOL, and with the price of stamps I don’t think that one is going to work out too well for me either.

Lastly there is the Virgin 2.28% Net (Northern Rock). But for 0.04% difference even I can’t be bothered with that one.

As I’m not filling my ISA allowance this year what I may do, come May, is put £1000 in my Instant Access ISA (and let it earn 3.0%) and that way if and when I need it I can withdraw it......."

So yes, I think of the instant access accounts offered by the main banks, the Halifax one is currently the best. Just diarise the end of the bonus period - there is usually another decent instant access rate account that you can easily move your money to at that time - what I've done in the past is just moved the money from one Halifax Online Savings account to another.

Anna_Glypta

Thanks Curlygirl

It's comforting to know that I haven't missed something obvious. Off to the bank with my ID on Friday lunch time to hopefully get the account set up quickly. I'm in the Channel Islands so not eligible for ISAs.

I haven't been so excited about saving money since I was 20 and saving to go off to Australia, I couldn't wait for pay day so I could go and put my money into the post office - far too many years gone by since then but it's good to have that feeling back and a target to aim for.

AG :-)

Anna_Glypta

Expensive day today. Dog had to go the vet with a bad paw, he was due his annual booster next month so we combined the trip with that to save a few £s and got him six months of his medication at the same time. I think the vet felt sorry for my Mum (note to self, always get my mum to take him in when I'm at work) and he didn't charge for the annual examination so that was a plus and thank goodness almost 75% of the rest of the cost is reclaimable from insurance but it will still hit the credit card hard!

Oh well more points on the credit card and to be honest I'd hate to be without my baby boy. He's happily snoring on the sofa next to me now enjoying a bit of pampering after his stressful day! :shhh:

NorthStar

Hope your dog is ok now.

Vet bills hurt us 8m ago, our cat we think got knocked down by a car and it was touch and go, they thought they'd saved her leg, but 2 weeks later they had to amputate. Worth every penny, but you can see easily how people withou insurance or savings ave to make such tough decisions.

Anna_Glypta

Well he's shouting at me for his biscuits this morning so no long term damage - having said that he's a spoilt little so and so and I don't think anything would put him off his food for long!

You're right about insurance. He's 11 now and has three different pills everyday. Now that I've actually decided to get my finances in order it will be interesting to see what I pay out and what I get back - unlikely that I will be in the winning position BUT can't cancel the policy now - that's just when something big would happen.

Hope your cat is doing OK and thanks for your message :-)

Anna_Glypta

just wasted my lunch hour at Lloyds to get them to certify my Halifax documents to find out that I can't have a Halifax account here in the Channel Islands - even though the application process accepted my on line!

I wouldn't want to live anywhere else but the difference in rates offered on the mainland to those offered here are ridiculous. Regular saver at Lloyds is offering 0.4% per annum whereas I could have got 2.8% at the Halifax for a similar account. (so on £100 here I could earn 4p a year against £2.80).

Guess I'm just going to have to suck it up and find another way to make a bit more money.

Time for home made pea and ham soup for my lunch - that'll make me feel better - oh and a large glass of red when I get home tonight !

Anna_Glypta

So the glass of red did the trick - feel much better now!

On a plus side.

Found an account to put my emergency fund with the local Cooperative Society - easy to get to should I need it but paying a decent enough interest rate.

Have applied for an online account with NS&I for my regular savings to build up enough to make a capital repayment on the main mortgage so things are looking up. Starting to get a bit concerned I've overstretched myself in what I've put in the emergency fund but if I don't do that I will be tempted to dip in and that won't help anyone :-) Going to update my signature in a minute. We have decided not to wait until we have £10k to try the overpayment on the main mortgage again - will give it a go with £5k first and see if they accept it - if not it can go against the secondary mortgage.

MSE things I have done today. Took homemade soup to work for lunch and then had dinner at my Mum's house tonight, although I did take a bottle of wine. :beer:

Having a take away with the parents tomorrow (although that won't be free) and then I will be with them for Sunday dinner as well - perhaps I should convert the kitchen to a bedroom and rent it out! Or just rent out the whole house and move in with them - maybe not :rotfl:

curlygirl1971

Anna_Glypta wrote: »

Or just rent out the whole house and move in with them - maybe not :rotfl:

I considered that at one point but realised I'd end up in the slammer for murder not least cause my mum is a firm believer in boiling the veg into oblivion

Anna_Glypta

curlygirl1971 wrote: »

I considered that at one point but realised I'd end up in the slammer for murder not least cause my mum is a firm believer in boiling the veg into oblivion

Must be something about Mums - my step father does most of the cooking which is why I'm happy to go there!!

Anna_Glypta

I've been reading with interest everyone's tips on meal planning and saving money and decided that it's time I had a go at actually thinking more than a day ahead - and then forgetting to take anything out of the freezer and going to the shops only to come out with something I shouldn't! Doesn't help the purse or the waistline!

I've created a new meal planning calendar and am going to start by trying to think two weeks ahead. This will sync with the calendar on my phone so at least when I go to the shop to get the necessary fresh bits and pieces I can check to see what is planned and at least have an idea of what I may need to get for use in the next couple of days, instead of wandering around looking for inspiration and coming out with no much for lots of cash. (Does that make sense? It sort of does to me!)

This week I will start by using up things that are in the freezer so that when I cook next week I will have some space for extra portions of things which will then help with the following two weeks planning.

Well that's the theory - let's see how it goes