Saving for a House Deposit

innovate

Sparx wrote: »

Because I already hold 4x current accounts; 2x LTSB (sole and joint), 1x Barclays and 1x NatWest. Does it not have any detrimental effect on my credit rating to hold several bank accounts? (genuine question)

As long as you keep the accounts in good order (no unpaid DDs, no unauthorised overdrafts etc), you can have as many current accounts as you like. If anything, it's positive on your credit files if you can manage many accounts properly.
I have 12 current accounts at present - 3 are dormant, 9 active.

Sparx wrote: »

EDIT: Just had a look on HSBC's website and for a current account with them I have to pay in £500 p/mo with them. That would be quite a hassle would it not? My sole LTSB account is my main bank account. To then juggle it from there to a HSBC current to a HSBC savers would be a pain (if that would even work at all)..

EDIT2: Strike that! It appears if you are under 24 (which I am) the £500 minimum monthly deposit does not apply.

Even if you do have to pay the £500 a month, it's easy to do - - - you just cycle £500 from e.g. your Lloyds Vantage to the HSBC and back again. Can do that by Standing Order, or manually. Money doesn't have to stay in any account for any length of time - - it just needs to have been paid in once a month.

BTW, Vantage requires £1K paid in per month. If you have 3 Vantages, you can satisfy that requirement by circling the same £1K through all your Vantages.

Sparx wrote: »

Crikey! It seems I have a severe misunderstanding of fixed rate bond accounts then. So typically you can only deposit one lump sum and then you have to leave it for the year?

yep, you got it now

Sparx wrote: »

So I guess my only options are regular/instant savers, cash ISAs and current accounts with preferential rates, i.e. LTSB Vantage, Halifax Reward, etc??

yep

Cheer up, it could be worse :-)

Sparx

I have absolute zero debt/loans to my name. Just recently paid off a £1k loan to LTSB and a 0% interest Dell Laptop on finance.

My credit report has around 20 accounts; 12 settled, 8 active. Zero late or missed payments, no defaults, etc. I do my best to look after it.

I think I will just open a new HSBC account, Regular Saver and ISA account and save up. The regular saver acc will give me 4% AER. This still limits me to £8640 per tax year.

I'll get the missus to open up an account with HSBC also and do the same as the above.

innovate

Managing multiple accounts needs some discipline.

I use AccountUnity to log into the umpteen accounts on a regular basis. https://www.ewise.com.au/accunity/aa/home.asp

I also track each and every single transaction on all my accounts, using the now ancient Microsoft Money. It's no longer supported by Microsoft but I find it still does a fine job. A home-made spreadsheet might do the same, or may be there's some cool new app out there now - - whatever, you need to have a precise record of where which of your money is, and what your future commitments and receipts are.

innovate

Sparx wrote: »

I have absolute zero debt/loans to my name. Just recently paid off a £1k loan to LTSB and a 0% interest Dell Laptop on finance.

My credit report has around 20 accounts; 12 settled, 8 active. Zero late or missed payments, no defaults, etc. I do my best to look after it.

I think I will just open a new HSBC account, Regular Saver and ISA account and save up. The regular saver acc will give me 4% AER. This still limits me to £8640 per tax year.

I'll get the missus to open up an account with HSBC also and do the same as the above.

Super on your financial history - keep it up!

As to opening the HSBC accounts - - - sounds all good but have I (you) missed something? What about the First Direct Regular Savers at 8%? You shouldn't do the HSBC acount at half the rate until you have exhausted the FD one. FD is a 100% subsidiary of HSBC btw.

Also, you can get £100 for opening a First Direct, big fat zero for HSBC. Need to jump through some hoops to get it, but it can be done!

http://www2.firstdirect.com/1/2/banking/current-account/?WT.mc_id=PSR0000007&WT.Srch=1

Sparx

innovate wrote: »

Super on your financial history - keep it up!

As to opening the HSBC accounts - - - sounds all good but have I (you) missed something? What about the First Direct Regular Savers at 8%? You shouldn't do the HSBC acount at half the rate until you have exhausted the FD one. FD is a 100% subsidiary of HSBC btw.

Also, you can get £100 for opening a First Direct, big fat zero for HSBC. Need to jump through some hoops to get it, but it can be done!

http://www2.firstdirect.com/1/2/banking/current-account/?WT.mc_id=PSR0000007&WT.Srch=1

Totally overlooked that one! I find it is so daunting switching accounts though. I don't really want to move from LTSB to FD as my main account. I'd love a free £100-200 though! Even if it means I could move back to LTSB after a month or 2 it is still a little scary (it shouldn't be though!). Plus juggling a further £1500 through that account would be a nightmare.

I'm struggling to get to grips with their terms though if a £10 monthly fee would apply still for the FD account if I took out a Regular Savers account with them and just paid £300 p/mo into that instead of juggling £1500 through the current acc.

Any ideas?

Our charges
Banking with first direct usually costs £10 a month, but we'll waive the fee if you pay in at least £1,500 to your 1st Account each month, maintain an average monthly 1st Account balance of £1,500, or hold a selected first direct additional product. Take a look at our interest rates and charges section for more details of other eligible accounts.

Source: http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/banking/current-account

Cyrus

Sparx wrote: »

I'm struggling to get to grips with their terms though if a £10 monthly fee would apply still for the FD account if I took out a Regular Savers account with them and just paid £300 p/mo into that instead of juggling £1500 through the current acc.

Any ideas?



Source: http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/banking/current-account

Yeah man,
1st. Open up a First Direct current Account.
2nd. Open a Everyday E-Saver (just a £1 will do)
3rd. Open the 8% regular saver.

By opening the Everyday E-Saver you by-pass the requirement to have £1500 going in every month or the £10 a month fee. I do this at the moment. I have £1 in the E-Saver and just the Current Account to feed the 8% Regular Saver, had it since March and not had a problem.

Sparx

Awesome. What about the £100 switcher bonus? What's the best way to get the bonus without actually switching permanently to FD? Transfer 2 DD/SO, any income commitments or is that over ridden by the other Savings products? Could get £200 in the best case scenario.

innovate

For the switcher bonus, you must

1. use their switcher service and get them to transfer at least 2 DDs(*). When I did it, I could tell them exactly which ones i wanted to have moved.
2. deposit £1.5K a month (**) until they paid you the £100

(*) you could set up 2 specific, new, DDs for that - some ideas include savings accounts. I'll dig out an old thread about that later and post a link here. EDIT: here's your link as promised: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4168667

(**) this doesn't have to be 1.5K in a single sum