Does anyone else do an annual savings review?

comeandgo

Unfortunately I don't look at things. I keep telling myself I must but I think the difference between spending a few hours and all the relevant moving accounts, form filling would give me a little less than a few hundred pounds a year. I don't really think the hassle is worth it.

droopsnoot

It all depends on what you have, and what it's earning. With the current race to the bottom on savings interest rates, it can be hard to motivate yourself - I have stuff I could do better with but don't. But it's useful to have an overview of what is where, and what it's doing for you.

Kendall80

comeandgo wrote: »

Unfortunately I don't look at things. I keep telling myself I must but I think the difference between spending a few hours and all the relevant moving accounts, form filling would give me a little less than a few hundred pounds a year. I don't really think the hassle is worth it.

I'd rather have the few hundred pounds than not I've not actually found it to be much hassle at all. Particularly if you automate the SO feeds. My spreadsheet received a £300 boost today from switching bonuses. Thats equivalent to an overtime shift for me - for just filling in a few online forms and making a few phone calls.

enthusiasticsaver

Thanks for all the responses and it has made interesting reading. There are some dedicated savers out there. I should clarify and say although I review annually (mainly because if I open an account in November the annual bonus drops off then) I do check the interest rates I receive regularly and will move if need be outside of my review. At the moment all my current accounts are earning 3,4 or 5%. My stocks and shares isa is about 2-3% down on the beginning of the year but I am comfortable with that.


Kendall I am seriously impressed you managed to get £300 in switching bonuses. I only had one bank current account at the beginning of the year but now have four so will be looking into that next year. I have a Nationwide Flex Direct earning 5% but that drops off next November so that will be a prime account for switching. Do most of them have to have direct debits attached to get a switching bonus?


One thing I have decided is to turn my back on cash isas from now on unless the rates seriously improve. I have one fixed term cash isa with Coventry which I will keep until it matures in 2018 and a regular cash isa saver with Nationwide which finishes in March 2016 but from now on it will only be stocks and shares isas for me. Regular savers though is another area I am starting to invest in. The TSB regular saver is paying 5%

Mr_Costcutter

On the first day of January of each and every year, I make a review of the previous years financial events and make a financial outline for the year ahead. This would include major expenditure anticipated, as well as investments. These plans are then reviewed on a monthly basis. As I'm retired I have the time to spare lol

Sam_J12

I have a spreadsheet with four sections that I update with my partner - joint account, savings, my personal cash, and my partners personal cash. I have a "projected" version that I update every 6-12, for the next 6-12 months, and the actual spending version which I update at the end of each month. Our cash is just put in the best interest paying accounts and we keep track of things purely through this spreadsheet.

We decide what proportion of our income to allocate to living costs, keep personally and allocate to savings - currently about 60/20/20 respectively. If our personal accounts accumulate a fair bit - this money tends to be for luxuries and we don't actually buy all that much - we transfer equal amounts to savings, or if the joint account if that is running low. The projections in the spreadsheet help us keep track of whether we are ahead or behind for the month/year, and whether we need to tighten belts or can have some more fun on that basis.

It has definitely helped us keep on top of things. I've currently got a pretty good idea how much we will have in May for example, to within a few hundred pounds.

Kendall80

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Kendall I am seriously impressed you managed to get £300 in switching bonuses. I only had one bank current account at the beginning of the year but now have four so will be looking into that next year. I have a Nationwide Flex Direct earning 5% but that drops off next November so that will be a prime account for switching. Do most of them have to have direct debits attached to get a switching bonus?

I'm not best placed to answer that without further research i'm afraid. I've only switched to FirstDirect (x2).