Saving for mortgage

shandy1

Hi, my wife and I are now saving for a deposit to buy our own home after tying the knot 7 weeks ago.
We currently have around £5000 in my Lloyds ISA, but it only pays 0.25% so want to make better use of it in a better ISA or savings account.
We are looking to save around £500 each a month so we will have£15000 minimum for a deposit next year.

Any suggestions for our savings?
As we will need access to it in about a years time, and I'll be transferring my current ISA into it, I believe some are not available to us.

Many thanks

colsten

Most likely, like everyone else, you would get the best interest in current and in regular savings accounts.

HappyMJ

shandy1 wrote: »

Hi, my wife and I are now saving for a deposit to buy our own home after tying the knot 7 weeks ago.
We currently have around £5000 in my Lloyds ISA, but it only pays 0.25% so want to make better use of it in a better ISA or savings account.
We are looking to save around £500 each a month so we will have£15000 minimum for a deposit next year.

Any suggestions for our savings?
As we will need access to it in about a years time, and I'll be transferring my current ISA into it, I believe some are not available to us.

Many thanks

Keep saving. To get to £15,000 from £5,000 in 12 months you'll need to save £833 per month.

My first suggestion would be up to £20,000 in a Santander 1-2-3 current account. You'll get 3% interest. If you want to play about a bit you can get 5% on up to £2,000 in TSB. Move it all about and you can earn much more than an ISA pays and as you are going to be spending everything you've saved you don't really need the ISA wrapper.

shandy1

Thank you. I'll look into the tsb and Santander ones. Do they have any requirements like minimum deposits and direct debits etc. At work at the moment so can't check til later.

HappyMJ

shandy1 wrote: »

Thank you. I'll look into the tsb and Santander ones. Do they have any requirements like minimum deposits and direct debits etc. At work at the moment so can't check til later.

Santander is 2 direct debits.

Both have "funding" requirements. You just recirculate the same money. That's easy to meet. Send it from your current account to Santander then to TSB then back again. There's plenty more accounts just depends on how much time you want to spend. For ease the £20,000 Santander one is fine...if you start getting to the maximum or have spare time then try the others. Open them all ASAP...not a few months before you apply for a mortgage. They all do credit checks and have overdrafts and that could affect your mortgage application applying for credit soon before a mortgage application.

Lungboy

With 2 of you, you can get (I think) 3 TSB accounts (5%) for 6k, a Nationwide Flex account (5%) each for another 5k, then a couple of lloyds accounts (4%) for another 10k.

shandy1

Some great advice here, I've been reading through the Savings loophole and Recycling section and I'm now thinking of switching to the TSB classic plus account to get the £100 offer.

I will also open up a joint account with my wife too with TSB (we happen to have a cheque from a wedding gift with ''Mr and Mrs Bloggs'' on it we can't cash as we don't currently have a joint account)

My main account is first direct which I have no problem with (I switched and got the £100 with them nearly 2 years ago) but money talks....
I already have the Halifax rewards account that we both pay £1000+ into to pay for our bills, shopping etc, and make the interest work with that.

I will also apply for the nationwide flexdirect and santander 123.

So if I apply and get these 4 accounts, I think I could make some good savings!


Any suggestions of which way to do it providing I get all the accounts?

colsten

TSB aren't the only ones that pay for switching to them. You just need to have some 'spare' accounts to play the game - and your wife can do the same so you can double up.

Current offers, apart from the TSB one you know of : Nationwide (expires end of the month!), Coop, HSBC, YB, Halifax - £570 per person on top of TSB. You just need to sort out a strategy but if I were you, I would start straight away with Nationwide, a few donor accounts, and a couple of Tesco savings accounts to facilitate the DDs that might be required.

To maximise your savings at TSB and Nationwide, each of you should open those 5% accounts in sole names, and one joint one.

Halifax: you mention you have the Reward account. Hope you mean that each you already has one sole and that you have one joint, making £180 a year.

The HSBC "Save Together" option is an easy £120 if you manage to get the pre-req Avance account.

Regular savings, such as at M&S, FD, HSBC, TSB and Lloyds should figure in your plans before you move into 3% accounts.

I takes a bit of work but as you can make literally thousands between the two of you, it seems well worth the effort.

cakeforbrains

Put some of it into a Help to Buy ISA. The government will top it up. Only available for first time buyers. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/help-to-buy-ISA

shandy1

Unfortunately at the moment It's just me with the accounts. Wife works with Scottish Widows/Lloyds and has a staff account and even though numerous times I've said she should open up other accounts with better deals she's reluctant to do so at the moment :wall:
I'm sure I can get get her to do it though.....

colsten

Surely her employer can not deny her to have accounts with other banks? It can't be in her contract of employment, and if any of her Management tell her she is not allowed other accounts, she should report them for discrimination and intimidation.

Only thing they can insist on is that she has her salary paid into a SW/Lloyds account - that's fine, she can keep that account. Once the money is in that account, it is hers to do with as she pleases.