Do I still have the best accounts/deals at the moment?

Alex92_2

Hi All,

Used to post here frequently but havent for a while due to working like a maniac! Paying off very nicely too!

My current setup is the following (im meeting all requirements btw):
3x Lloyds Vantage 4% accounts with £6,000 in
1x NW Flex Direct -5% with £2,500 in.
2x FD Monthly Savers 6% which im paying £300 into each month
1x Santander 123 Account 3% - Filling this up at the moment til I hit £20K limit.
1x Santander Major ISA 3% - £11,410

Is there anything better that I could be doing now with my money other than filing up my Santander 3% 123 account? I dont get any cashback because i live at home still and dont pay for any bills, only via standing order.

I am aware that my Lloyds Deal with expire soon, if it goes down to 3% upto £5K for a year (which i suspect) then I will probably just keep one account with them and use it as my debit card/main account and open up a couple santander 123 accounts as id rather have it in bigger lump sums and less "bnak accounts" so to speak, despite really liking lloyds online.

Got £125 cashback for each FD account and got £65 cashback on santander account. So theyre all doing pretty nicely atm in terms of interest.

Would massively appreciate if anyone could give me a heads up as to what direction to push my money into next. thanks!

Alex92_2

Please may someone reassure me that im on track?

I remember there being a decent First time house owners account or something with santander that may have been 3% upto 50-60K? Does anyone know if that is still open?

Is my best choice now to open up two Santander 123 3% accounts and put money into that each month?

MoneySaverLog

Alex92 wrote: »

2x FD Monthly Savers 6% which im paying £300 into each month

Sounds good to me but how did you get 2 of these?

AlwaysLearnin

Note, you can only have up to two 123 accounts.

People have been getting 5% on >1 Nationwide acct to date too, although they only 'guarantee' on one so that could change

CKhalvashi

AlwaysLearnin wrote: »

Note, you can only have up to two 123 accounts.

People have been getting 5% on >1 Nationwide acct to date too, although they only 'guarantee' on one so that could change

I wasn't aware of this, although I have one, and OH has another, so is this our 2? :question:

In response to OP's question, yes, looks a good combination.

CK

AlwaysLearnin

Within Important Info on this link:

http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/Satellite?appID=abbey.internet.Abbeycom&canal=CABBEYCOM&cid=1237892266671&empr=Abbeycom&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_ViewSelector

It says "A maximum number of two 123 Current Accounts can be held at any one time. These can be held in single or joint names.", so looks like you could still have 4 as a couple.

I'm sure it used to be more, but they must have realised people were using them to just lump £20k savings in because of this strange situation we find ourselves in at the moment where current accounts give the best rates.

Alex92_2

MoneySaverLog wrote: »

Sounds good to me but how did you get 2 of these?

One is in my Dads name. You could probably set up quite a few if you trusted family members/friends/partners to be honest. Not that i'd want to recommend doing that.

AlwaysLearnin wrote: »

Note, you can only have up to two 123 accounts.

People have been getting 5% on >1 Nationwide acct to date too, although they only 'guarantee' on one so that could change

May open up another Flexdirect and see what interest I get on it. Then if it's okay open up another 2 (to make 4). I HATE nationwide online banking though, it is such a pain in the !!!. Cant really access it anywhere without that little card reader thing and just looks ancient!

I couldnt afford to fill up more than 2x 123 accounts right now. I will do when my lloyds vantage deal expires though. Really unsure where to put money after that. I really hope that everything tries to stay over the 3% mark. At this rate im probably going to be buying a house when interest rates for saving accounts are at an all time low then they will pick up again right after I have bought haha.

I was half expecting some new bank deal to have come out in the last 2-3 months that I havent posted on here. Really disappointed. I've kept an eye out in newspapers and on emails (get lots of stuff come through - financially) but havent seen any eye poppers!

Thanks to those that helped.

MoneySaverLog

The funding for lending scheme of the governments is keeping rates low, so very little hope of rates going up above 3% anytime soon, apart from those accounts mentioned and one comes with a monthly fee so you're not actually getting 3% Also take out tax and it's not actually a lot, especially if you are a higher rate tax payer.

Take it you have a reward account for the free fiver. It would be rude not to lol

Archi_Bald

Alex92 wrote: »

Cant really access it anywhere without that little card reader thing and just looks ancient!

You can access your Nationwide online accounts without the card reader.

If you choose not to use the card reader for logging on, you need it for new payees, and very occasionally if you want to pay existing payees. If you just use the FlexDirect as a savings account, what's the issue?

As to the look of it: that seems personal like or dislike. You hate it, I like it because it's very clear an easy to navigate in my opinion.

Alex92_2

MoneySaverLog wrote: »

The funding for lending scheme of the governments is keeping rates low, so very little hope of rates going up above 3% anytime soon, apart from those accounts mentioned and one comes with a monthly fee so you're not actually getting 3% Also take out tax and it's not actually a lot, especially if you are a higher rate tax payer.

Take it you have a reward account for the free fiver. It would be rude not to lol

But then if you sign up to the Santander 123 account (£2 monthly charge) with QuidCo you get £65 cashback - at least it was that, which easily covers the £2 monthly charge and more!

I have an ISA which is 3% so thats probably one of my best bets so far. Trouble is, I would look at investing it - but looking at buying a house very soon, so not worth it.

Archi_Bald wrote: »

You can access your Nationwide online accounts without the card reader.

If you choose not to use the card reader for logging on, you need it for new payees, and very occasionally if you want to pay existing payees. If you just use the FlexDirect as a savings account, what's the issue?

As to the look of it: that seems personal like or dislike. You hate it, I like it because it's very clear an easy to navigate in my opinion.

oh I didnt know that. Thanks for the heads up.

Archi_Bald

Alex92 wrote: »

But then if you sign up to the Santander 123 account (£2 monthly charge) with QuidCo you get £65 cashback - at least it was that, which easily covers the £2 monthly charge and more!

You now need to switch your old account to get the Quidco/TCB cashback