Saving Accounts

fermi

If you have been assessed as not being suitable for an IPA, and your circumstances have not changed, then you are fine.

The OR will only ask for an IPA if you have £100 or more a month surplus, above the I&E you/they agreed to. And benefits shift this balance.

As I said, as long as the savings you have are not excessive compared to the excess you claimed to have in your I&E, it is not a problem.

Don't replace the guilt of having all that debt, with guilt about having reasonable savings

NekoZombie

you're right about needing to have an amount saved up incase of emergencies.

fermi

NekoZombie wrote: »

you're right about needing to have an amount saved up incase of emergencies.

Yes. As I said, we can't just stick it on a credit card any more and hope for the best.

wherediditallgo

I personally think being both willing & able to save after going BR is a vital part of 'the healing process'. I seem to be checking my account online every few days to keep an eye on what's happening with it. I've already done my budget as a spreadsheet, with things listed in the order that they need to be paid, & once my IPA & the standard bill & other payments are taken care of, I'm saving everything else allowed for on my SOA whether it needs paying now or not.

If I find that one month I have a bit extra to save (for instance, I'm on sick leave at the moment so I haven't had fares to pay yet & haven't had to pay for food at work either), I'll either keep the cash at home or buy something like a Premium Bond. Maybe I'll treat myself to something nice or buy someone a little gift that I wouldn't have been able to get them before. I don't think I'll put it in the same savings account though - if the OR should decide to check, I think the figures in the account should pretty much match what the SOA says, otherwise the OR may want to review your case.

black-saturn

Surely if you have any money to save it should have been used to pay the debts off?

Mike_St_Helens

black-saturn wrote: »

Surely if you have any money to save it should have been used to pay the debts off?

BS Please keep your hooter out of something you know very little about. That is quite insulting !

wherediditallgo

black-saturn wrote: »

Surely if you have any money to save it should have been used to pay the debts off?

My SOA (like everyone else's) allows money for haircuts, holidays etc. As I don't plan to go on holiday for a while, the money will go into a savings account until I'm ready to use it. I haven't had to spend money on fares to work & food at work this month because of illness, so I'm saving it rather than spending it unnecessarily now. There are bound to be unexpected bills in the future that aren't covered by the SOA that others would have dealt with using a credit card or overdraft, but I don't have access to those facilities now, so I have to put the money to one side in case I need it at that time. Whether I put it in a savings account, a jar in the kitchen or a Premium Bond doesn't matter - what matters is that I have access to it when I need it. When rent/fares/utility/prescription costs go up, the OR will expect me to meet the costs of that from whatever money they've allowed me to live on. The money I've put aside will be useful then. I've got an IPA, so I'm already putting what the OR judges is feasible towards my debts.

black-saturn

Mike_St_Helens wrote: »

BS Please keep your hooter out of something you know very little about. That is quite insulting !

Here we go again. I was asking the same question previous posters asked and yet I was the one you accuse of insulting the OP.

wherediditallgo

Can I say something here?

I'm not having a dig at anyone in particular, as this seems to be happening on a few threads, but if we're not careful, some people are going to be put off using this forum.

I personally wasn't offended by black-saturn's question in post #16, which is why I answered it - even if I'd been offended by it, I'd still have answered it as politely as I could. I know some of black-saturn's previous posts have upset people (& I totally understand why they were angry), but I'd personally appreciate it if posts were answered in the way we'd expect to be spoken to ourselves. Thanks.

jobby_2

Because I am self employed as a learning support tutor, I have a varying income which is very much term time based - ie won't get paid as much during July August September as I do in say March. This makes it very difficult to budget based on BR income/expenditure figures. It would be great to be able to put funds aside in healthier months, so that I can't touch money I will need later. At the moment I can't.

I did hear today about an e-savings account attached to a main account from a BR visitor but didn't really know them well enough to ask for details - anyone know about that?

I also feel I have more money in the bank - hey not paying all those interest fees helps - but am really worried about spreading my costs