In need of a Battle Plan

lukeluke92

Hi Lovely people!

I am intending to save a large chunk of money for my first home! and I have a few questions if I may.

My Details:
Age: 24
Looking at: New Build £235000
Using: Help to Buy Scheme.
Income: around £3500 - £4200 p/m (subject to overtime)
My Bills: £1700 ( I know its a lot )


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Now in the past I have made some silly mistakes i.e getting in debt, PCP and all that stuff.

My plan is as follows -

Opened a LISA. Added £1 last week. will add as much as i can on payday to this before the tax year restarts to maximise my 25% bonus

Then setting up a SO to send 350 p/m to the LISA for 12 months. to hit the 4k mark by next year.

Then i need to save more.. So looking to save an additional 700 a month into another ISA was looking at Birmingham midshires fixed rate 1 year isa.

Now heres the issue:

I currently have 2000 of debt to pay off.

I could pay this off this month. however I would then not be able to put money into the lisa. am i right to add as much as i can to that lisa this month. and then next month pay off the debt. and then continue with the overall plan?

Also. Any other suggestions on how I can maximise my savings potential would be handy. and no I cannot make my bills any cheaper I promise.

- Kyle

Alexland

With that disposable income I would:

1 Borrow up to £3999 from Zopa to stick into cash LISA before end of tax year on 5th April 2019 for £1k bonus
2 Pay back Zopa loan as soon as possible
3 Pay back £2k debt (or do this before Zopa loan depending on which has higher interest rate)
4 Pay another £4k into LISA before end of tax year on 5th April 2020 for another £1k bonus

ps TopCashBack offer a signup bonus on Zopa which should cover the cost of the loan.
https://www.topcashback.co.uk/zopa/

Alex

ColdIron

lukeluke92 wrote: »

Then i need to save more.. So looking to save an additional 700 a month into another ISA was looking at Birmingham midshires fixed rate 1 year isa.

Fixed rate accounts generally only accept a single payment or a short window (think a week or two) to make your deposit. The BM site says:

• Fixed rate cash ISAs
• Birmingham Midshires do not currently offer new cash ISAs.

They do offer a non-ISA fixed rate account but as expected say:

• 3 PUTTING MONEY IN YOUR ACCOUNT
• 3.1 You can only make one payment into your Account. Once we have received your payment you will not be able to add any more money to your Account.

https://www.birminghammidshires.co.uk/savings/fixed-term-savings/1103/1-year-internet-fixed-rate-bond-yearly-interest.aspx#withdrawals