£6000 and No Idea What To Do With It

CheeseandWine

Hi! I'm a newbie on here but have been stalking a few pages for a while. I have had this question for a few weeks and finally decided to make this page to get some wise words from you all.

So my situation is that I have recently been given £6000 by my Mother. My mother has always worked hard and has always saved money away for her children. I had no idea that this money was coming to me until about a week before she deposited it into my account. I know that it doesn't seem like a huge amount of money but I am a student and won't graduate for another 3 years so this is the most money I'll see in a long time.
The money is currently sat in a cash ISA with an interest rate of 1.25% (not great, but one of the better rates at the time of opening). I am currently waiting for it to mature in September to collect the interest and I then intend on opening a Help to Buy ISA (if they ever materialise). I haven't contributed to the ISA in this tax year for that reason.
I also receive £90 a month from my mum (for saving not for living off). This money is currently sitting in an account earning next to nothing in interest (I would normally transfer it into the ISA but as mentioned before, I can't). I have a little extra money from my job but I am thinking of not saving it as I want to have some cash available for unexpected bills, travelling etc.
My student loan gets paid into a Santander 123 account which I use for everyday spending. I know I would earn greater interest with the money in there but I like to keep my savings in accounts that are harder to reach so I don't spend it (I am good at saving my money, but occasionally I can spend a huge amount in a matter of days).
So overall, my question is, what do I do with this money? are my plans any good at all? I feel hugely responsible if anything goes wrong as my parents have always worked incredibly hard and I feel incredibly lucky that my parents are comfortable enough to give my this cash.

gazapc

There are numerous other high interest savings accounts from TSB, nationwide etc... which will easily beat an ISA. If you struggle to open lots of new accounts because of being a student then consider opening a basic account and transfering everyday spending to that and using the 123 account to get the 3% interest.

TheTracker

But something special with it like a watch that will last a lifetime and remind you of her long offer she's gone.

CheeseandWine

Are you talking about the current accounts? I always thought that because I dont have a regular monthly income (I only work at Christmas and the summer holidays) I couldn't open one of those account. opening a basic account and using the 123 for the interest seems like the best option. feel a bit of an idiot for not thinking of it.

thanks for your help.

CheeseandWine

The watch idea is great, but thankfully my mum is still fairly young and is a bit of a pitbull so should be sticking around a bit longer. haha!

Eco_Miser

CheeseandWine wrote: »

Are you talking about the current accounts? I always thought that because I dont have a regular monthly income (I only work at Christmas and the summer holidays) I couldn't open one of those account.

It's the bank's decision whether to accept you, but since you have £6,000 you can easily meet the monthly funding condition of all the banks offering high interest. You just move the required amount from one account to another, then back again, or in a round robin if you open several accounts.
Take care that no automatic payment is relying on funds that should have been transferred in, but may not have been because of a weekend or bank holiday (The lady mentioned in this thread slipped up on that).