1st ever savings plan need advise!

frenchplonka

Hey guys so just got a new job after around 4 months unemployed YAY!

With that I have decided that im not going to start putting money away for various things and rainy days funds what id like is peoples advise etc I am going to list my INCOME/OUTGOING/SAVING GOALS.

Hopefully people will have a look and maybe tell me where to put the funds etc or where i can improve etc.

HERE GOES.......

INCOME

39 hours @£7.20 P/H =£280.80 - TAX/N.I =£250 week or £1,000 Monthly take home pay.

OUTGOINGS

So my current situation is I live with the girlfriend and my contribution towards the house is around £300 a month as stated she takes care of the rest

Rent:£300 ~ Travel:£84 ~ Poker:£75 ~ Days Out:£60 ~ Food:£60 TOTAL:£570

SO THAT GIVES ME A DISPOSABLE MONTHLY AMOUNT OF £430

SAVING GOALS 2015

20% of disposable income put away:£90 P/M or £540 to year end ~ Poker Bankroll building:£45 P/M or £270 Year End ~ Holiday Fund:£25 P/M or £180 year end which is total saved a month @ £170

SAVINGS 2016 ONWARDS

25% of disposable income put away:£107.50 P/M or £1,290 IN 2016 ~ Poker Bankroll building:£45 P/M or £540 Year End ~ Holiday Fund:£25 P/M or £360 year end

ONCE ALL THAT IS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT ON A MONTHLY BASIS i WILL STILL HAVE AROUND £266 A MONTH IN MONEY FLOATING AROUND DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ADVICE WHAT I COULD DO WITH THIS MONEY BEAR IN MIND IM ON NO POSITION TO BE DEPOSITING LUMP SUMS SO THIS WOULD BE MONTH TO MONTH DEPOSITS.

SORRY IF THIS HAS BEEN A STRAINED READ

Eco_Miser

Regular Savings Accounts pay up to 6% AER. See the first few posts here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/608697

Accumulate it in current accounts paying 5%-3% AER. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest.

You could consider investing, (but I'd get a reasonable cash fund built up first) see http://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/ for where, and elsewhere on that site, and this forum and other places for what and how.

butterflymum

frenchplonka wrote: »

With that I have decided that im not going to start putting money away for various things and rainy days funds

Well done on getting a job. Did you mean 'now' rather than 'not'?

frenchplonka

Eco_Miser wrote: »

Regular Savings Accounts pay up to 6% AER. See the first few posts here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/608697

Accumulate it in current accounts paying 5%-3% AER. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest.

You could consider investing, (but I'd get a reasonable cash fund built up first) see http://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/ for where, and elsewhere on that site, and this forum and other places for what and how.

Thank you will check out those links

frenchplonka

butterflymum wrote: »

Well done on getting a job. Did you mean 'now' rather than 'not'?

indeed I did my aim is to not live month to month but to have a nice sum building up and then if i do need to splurge on a item on a whim i dont really have to think about it or make myself broke doing so

frenchplonka

Does anyone have any ideas where I can put each amount and am i able to rename the accounts ie ISA becomes the rainy day pot of gold fund

ViolaLass

Post 2 gave you plenty of info on accounts. Did you look at the links?

frenchplonka

ViolaLass wrote: »

Post 2 gave you plenty of info on accounts. Did you look at the links?

Still reading through them just wondering if anyone had any personal recomendations

bowlhead99

frenchplonka wrote: »

Still reading through them just wondering if anyone had any personal recomendations

In your shoes the most sensible thing to do is put it all in an account which pays the highest interest you can find. The TSB Classic Plus current account, on the second link, which pays 5% on everything up to £2000, would be fine.

It's possible to get a higher rate (6%) by using the 'regular saver' accounts at First Direct, M&S or HSBC from the first link, but the rate is only slightly higher, there are withdrawal restrictions and you have to open not just the account but also a current account with them, to qualify. For the amounts of money you're talking about, the most hassle free way of getting a good return is to just use the TSB account.

You asked about whether you can name the accounts different things. Some banks allow you to do that, where you have multiple accounts listed on your screen (I do it with my accounts at Lloyds for example). The problem is that each bank will only really have one account that they offer which pays a good interest rate.

So for example, by the time you get to the end of the year, depending how well you do, you might have £1000 in the account. At 5% annual interest, you will be earning £50 a year for having the £1000 sit in the account for the next year (obviously the exact amount depends on how much is in the account for how many days, but just an example).

However, if you split the money up into £400 "Pot of Gold" and £350 "Holiday money" and £250 "WSOP bankroll fund", only one of those accounts will be earning the top 5% rate. For your second and third accounts you will end up with low interest rates, because TSB doesn't allow you to have lots of accounts all earning their top rate.

So at TSB for example it might be that you have the £400 in the Classic Plus at 5% (£20 a year interest), then £350 in the Monthly Saver at 2% (£7 a year) and the £250 in the eSavings account at 0.75%(£1.88 a year). So by having things split up for convenience you are only making £28.88 a year on your £1000 savings instead of £50.

These are just example numbers but the point is to show that if you want to split the money up into lots of pots, and keep those pots with the one bank for convenience, you will miss out on interest. If you have the discipline, it is better to have all the money in one pot, and maybe use a spreadsheet or piece of paper to track how much of the total pot is intended for holidays, poker fund and long term savings for when you're next out of a job or want to buy a car or whatever.


Lastly:

SORRY IF THIS HAS BEEN A STRAINED READ

Yes, it was.

We could have understood it perfectly well without you using three different colours, multiple font sizes, bolds, underlining and SHOUTING some things in CAPITAL LETTERS.

frenchplonka

bowlhead99 wrote: »

Lastly:
Yes, it was.

We could have understood it perfectly well without you using three different colours, multiple font sizes, bolds, underlining and SHOUTING some things in CAPITAL LETTERS.

ok so i have a classic plus current acc with TSB already had this for around a year its overdrawn atm but will be in credit soon will this account pay 5% or do i have to have just opened it

masonic

frenchplonka wrote: »

ok so i have a classic plus current acc with TSB already had this for around a year its overdrawn atm but will be in credit soon will this account pay 5% or do i have to have just opened it

The 5% rate is not a limited offer, so you will get it if you meet the terms, such as registering for paperless statements and correspondence and paying in £500 per month.