Trying to maximise return on small savings, can I do this?

Dird

lstar337 wrote: »

Looking at the Halifax site, it is only available if you switch current account which I don't want to do.

Is there a reason you don't want to? You don't have to switch your current account (e.g. if you're with Lloyds now you could open a 2nd account and switch that 1 instead) and no DD or pay-in requirements

Katiehound

With any of these current a/cs you only get paid on a certain lump sum- if you go over that sum the excess does not earn interest. So for Tesco it pays interest on £3000, if you have £3500 you will just receive the same interest- no extra.

I would suggest TSB Classic Plus.
£500 pm pay in, no DDs and 5% on £2000. Plus there's the possible £5 cashback on contactless spends until Dec 31st.

mistakehappens

I think Club Lloyds is quite good in that respect, you got £60 worth of free cinema tickets Vue to cineworld. Or you can have a gourmet society card membership.

YOu can get 4% APR interest on balances up to £4000-£5000

There is a £5 fee but it is waived as long as you pay £1500 in one month even for few minutes and then take them out

lstar337

ceredigion wrote: »

Think you may have got hold of the wrong end of the stick there.

Katiehound wrote: »

With any of these current a/cs you only get paid on a certain lump sum- if you go over that sum the excess does not earn interest. So for Tesco it pays interest on £3000, if you have £3500 you will just receive the same interest- no extra.

OK, yes I see that now. Thanks to both of you for pointing that out.

ceredigion wrote: »

I would suggest TSB Classic Plus.
£500 pm pay in, no DDs and 5% on £2000. Plus there's the possible £5 cashback on contactless spends until Dec 31st.

Yeah, it looks like a nice option, but I don't have the £500 to go in every month and I'm not sure how to set up the SO's so that it all works smoothly. While I'm interested in the concept of maximising my money this way, I'm not sure I'm ready to put it into practice!

lstar337

Dird wrote: »

Is there a reason you don't want to? You don't have to switch your current account (e.g. if you're with Lloyds now you could open a 2nd account and switch that 1 instead) and no DD or pay-in requirements

I suppose I could, but are you sure there are no DD requirements? I cant find the info on the Halifax site and most accounts do require the DD's.

jimjames

lstar337 wrote: »

Yeah, it looks like a nice option, but I don't have the £500 to go in every month

You've got £3000 so you do have £500?

lstar337

jimjames wrote: »

You've got £3000 so you do have £500?

Since I will be able to pay more in as I earn (which will max out the Tesco accounts £3k limit), maybe I will get the TSB account too. Then I can get my 5% on that, build a balance in the Tesco account and get my 3% on that, and flip £500 between the two to keep the TSB account happy. I can also move the interest from TSB over to Tesco as it'll be wasted (0% over £2k) in there. When I hit the £3k limit in Tesco I'll probably start dumping the rest into a HTB ISA.

Question, will opening all these accounts look bad on my credit score, and should I leave a gap between opening?

I already applied for the Tesco account today.

Katiehound

lstar337 wrote: »

Question, will opening all these accounts look bad on my credit score, and should I leave a gap between opening?

I already applied for the Tesco account today.

hey, it was me suggested TSB Classic Plus!!

Just remember it has to be paperless billing and paperless correspondence & tick boxes accordingly. That and the £500 payment in per month ensure the nice little 5% interest. It also has an attached monthly saver- also paying 5%- don't know the maximum amounts.

Don't know about the credit score except I believe it will make a difference if you apply for an overdraft. If these accounts are in addition to your normal current a/c then you wouldn't need the overdraft facility anyway. Personally I would leave a small gap.
I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you more!

lstar337

Katiehound wrote: »

hey, it was me suggested TSB Classic Plus!!

Thank you. I was unsure at first, but I think this is what I'll do.

Robbieh

Katiehound wrote: »

hey, it was me suggested TSB Classic Plus!!

Just remember it has to be paperless billing and paperless correspondence & tick boxes accordingly. That and the £500 payment in per month ensure the nice little 5% interest. It also has an attached monthly saver- also paying 5%- don't know the maximum amounts.

It's £250 a month max. for the regular saver. You can dripfeed it in from another account to get more benefit! I feed it in from a Tesco one.