Best way to save?

colsten

IntriguedUser wrote: »

.....put the rest in the ISA....

Why an ISA? How much is the total of "the rest"?

guitarman001

Tell you what, that's a damn good salary. I was earning less not long ago doing electronics design. Even now on more money your savings levels are very high - well done!

IntriguedUser

colsten wrote: »

Why an ISA? How much is the total of "the rest"?

Gym - £35
Phone bill - £10
Car insurance - £130 (Possibly £80 ~ after renewal)
Mum - £200
Food £100
Miscellaneous - £100

£575 outgoings, lets call it £600

There will be around £1000 left-over every month, at least £900 for sure, that's on basic hours with no O/T. And that's taking into consideration pretty much everything. I will need to buy a car, and a few other bits and bobs, so my saving will probably start Mid to late June.

I also get paid weekly, not sure if this should change how I go about saving, thanks.

Eco_Miser

ISAs don't pay good interest, and by law you can always access the money. Use a current account paying good interest for saving, as described above, and never access the account.

Alternatively, Clydesdale/Yorkshire still have a 40 day notice account, and fixed term accounts of various lengths up to 5 years, maybe other banks do too.

SeduLOUs

IntriguedUser wrote: »

I also get paid weekly, not sure if this should change how I go about saving, thanks.

I'd recommend that you keep the entire first pay in the month for your personal spends, and top it up to what you need with the second. Put everything else into savings (which will be 2 or 3 weeks depending on the length of the month).

Taking your personal spends at the beginning and making them last will be good practice for if you ever change to a monthly payment job.

IntriguedUser

Eco_Miser wrote: »

ISAs don't pay good interest, and by law you can always access the money. Use a current account paying good interest for saving, as described above, and never access the account.

Alternatively, Clydesdale/Yorkshire still have a 40 day notice account, and fixed term accounts of various lengths up to 5 years, maybe other banks do too.

I think I will open a current account with a good interest rate, throw the car away and just keep the Sort Code + account number to transfer money in every month. This sounds like the best idea! I could just keep a personal record of how much I've saved into it, without going in and asking!

Cheers

markj113

Like you I was terrible with money, the more I earned the more I spent on crap.

My approach was unconventional and im sure that many here will say it doesn't pay interest on savings etc. but it works for me

Every month with my spare cash I buy some gold bullion and stash it away. I now have £29k worth stored away, easy to cash in when I really want too but not as quick as just transferring cash between 2 accounts online and blowing the lot on a whim.

My goal is to save enough (hopefully with a nice spot price increase in the future) to pay off my mortgage, 49k left to pay with 29k and counting in assets. Not a bad position to be in at 39 years old I think.

ViolaLass

markj113 wrote: »

Like you I was terrible with money, the more I earned the more I spent on crap.

My approach was unconventional and im sure that many here will say it doesn't pay interest on savings etc. but it works for me

Every month with my spare cash I buy some gold bullion and stash it away. I now have £29k worth stored away, easy to cash in when I really want too but not as quick as just transferring cash between 2 accounts online and blowing the lot on a whim.

My goal is to save enough (hopefully with a nice spot price increase in the future) to pay off my mortgage, 49k left to pay with 29k and counting in assets. Not a bad position to be in at 39 years old I think.

To state the obvious, this is HUGELY risky. What if the price drops?

markj113

I have no loans, credit cards, store credit or overdraft, I am in no rush to sell, if the price dips for a while it just means that I buy more cheaper.

I think the mid to long term outlook for gold is good considering the financial mess the world is in. Russia and China are accumulating gold as quick as they can get their hands on it with rumours of a gold backed currency re-emerging which will be another nail in the coffin of USD as the reserve currency pushing gold price higher.

Coming to your savings account soon?

"The new compulsory control is already provided for in the 2015 Australian budget. So that everyone who has any savings must pay taxes on on their savings. The measure is expected to serve as a global test balloon for Europe and North America will watch the outcome in Australia. If there will be no massive resistance of Australian savers, the rest of the world should expect this outright confiscation very rapidly."

http://armstrongeconomics.com/archives/30158

TBagpuss

You could look at a stocks & shares ISA rather than (or as well as) a cash ISA
Or a savings account which requires notice. When I first started working I opened a savings account with a 30 day notice period - you could getthe money out more quickly by forfeiting interest, but knowing that made it easier to resist dipping into it.
Another money mangement trick which you may find useful if you keep a strict record of exactly what you spend - it's a bit like writing down everything you eat when you are on a diet - just knowing you are going to record it makes you stop and think about whether you really want/need to spend it!

If you think you will be tempted, have your savings with a different bank from your current account so that you don't see the money sitting there every time you log on to internet banking.

Good luck with saving! If you can really put away £1,000 a month you will also have the pleasure of seeing your savings grow fairly quickly, which is always encouraging!