Making my money work best

Alexdozza

Ok a little background.

I have steady income of 1500 pcm. I currently have a Halifax reward account as my main account. All bills go out of this. I have had this account about 18 months.

I have a NatWest basic current account that I have had 10 years or so. This now only has payment of PIP ( I get daily livilibg element ) which is then used to pay for a car by DD to the finance company.

I'd like to leave these two accounts open but utilise the bonuses of other accounts to make the most of my income. I currently have 0 savings and this is unlikely to change for forseeable future

What is. The best route to take.

mgdavid

account opening bonuses only come with the switch process, and this automatically closes the 'donor' account so I think this route is not for you. There are plenty of old threads with tales of people who have been caught out / misled / surprised by this.

Also many of the bonus accounts require a chunk of money to be paid in monthly, even if it can be taken straight back out again; if you don't have a pot of £1000 or so to utilise for this purpose, again it's probably not possible for you.

grumbler

Alexdozza wrote: »

I currently have 0 savings and this is unlikely to change for forseeable future

Without savings you can take advantage only of:

• Cashback on DDs. AFAIK, only S123 and Natwest Reward offer it, but cost £5/£3 p.m. accordingly.
• Monthly reward for having an account and meeting some requirements: Halifax Reward (£5) and Barclays Blue Rewards (£7-£3=£4).
• Switching bonuses.

MSE article: Bank Accounts

Alexdozza

Thanks Grumbler


so cash back my best option at present. how can I take advantage of this while leaving my Halifax reward open as I already have an existing NatWest basic account - so upgrading wont get me the switch bonus?

Dan83

You have to switch banks to get a switch bonus, upgrading is upgrading. Open a bank account with some one and switch it around every few months to get the bonus.

B_G_B

Sideways thought…..

Halifax clarity reward credit card. Extra fiver a month if you can meet the T&C's.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/help-guidance/terms-and-conditions/clarity-card/

Katiehound

Can you muster £500 per month? It only has to arrive, doodle around and then leave again!
The reason I ask is that TSB Classic Plus needs this, but it does pay 5% on up to £2000. I'm just thinking that instead of having the Nat West this might be a better bet because it would give you a teeny bit of interest even if you don't have the max £2K. A few pence left to gather compound interest each month is better than nada , zero, zilch!

TSB had a switching bonus- don't know if it has ended. You needed 2 x DDs- I see you already have one to finance the car.

Alexdozza

I could move in/ out the 500 per month. When do they actual calculate your interest? Would I gain much interest if my balance is low oncd the 500 goes in/out

Katiehound

Alexdozza wrote: »

I could move in/ out the 500 per month. When do they actual calculate your interest? Would I gain much interest if my balance is low oncd the 500 goes in/out

Interest is calculated on a daily basis. Even if the balance is low you would gain something! Presumably you get nada from Nat West.
Does all the money that goes in there get paid out? Even a tiny balance is better than none at all- it's just a thought.

For the £5 reward on the Clarity CC with Halifax you need to spend £300 per month

Dan83

£5 cash back on the Halifax clarity CC is a decent offer, I use an Asda CC for all my shopping and fuel in Assam and get 1% cash back. To get £5pm with Asda I'd have to spend £500, my monthly spend is normally £300-£400 so I won't exactly be quids in, but I'll save abit.

Alexdozza

Ok so it wouldnt matter if my balance was low. I'd still get somethinng

What I was thinking of. Was upgrading my NatWest to the rewards. And changing my bills by DD to NatWest. To get the 3%. Caahback. (The tool estimated 75.00 caahback a year which given my little savings would outweigh 5 % on balance ?? ). Still using Halifax as main account to get the £5 reward and getting a clairity reward C C to get another £5 pm. - I would spend 300 a month. ( even if I didn't one specific month I just don't qualify for that month ). I was. Also thinking of setting up a basic account. With a couple of dd's and then switching ( and getting bonus ) to another ( say at present first direct ). And then being able to use this account to dummy ' for switched periodically.

The only issue I can see with above plan ( may not be explained very well ). Is lininv up the in house dd's so that funds are at the right place at right time. Although once done that should be it.