The Mental Debt Struggle...

badmemory

Premium bonds are fine if you are remotely lucky.  I am not but I do have the max & fortunately I am ahead.  They are easy & quite quick but not too quick to withdraw (about a week I believe).  So harder than a bank savings account but not too hard but it gives you chance to think about it.  But definitely the more you have the luckier you seem to be.  I am sure Martin wrote about them not long ago.

Sun_Addict

My mom used to embarrass me on a regular basis 😆 Especially when she used to start singing and dancing along to piped music in shops 😬🤣 I’m definitely not lucky so don’t bother with premium bonds, I’d rather get interest from a decent paying savings account. 

PennysIntoPounds

Premium bonds (from my perspective) aren't quite the same thing as bonds that you'd invest in, banking-wise. I mean, they operate the same way but we don't have to worry about that (although I'm sure your brain could work it out pretty sharpish!). But premium bonds are basically a government-backed savings raffle, where you put money in, in quantities of £25 per bond, rather than getting interest, and everyone who has a bond is entered in the draw every month to win amounts from £25 to a million pounds with lots of amounts in between. It really varies how much you win (or don't) so it's up to the individual to decide if they'd rather their £25+ is a chance to *possibly* win more, or if that money would be better off getting reliable interest, especially at the moment (and as I mentioned on my diary a few days ago, according to the IMF, interest rates in UK are likely to be similar to now for another five years but who really knows)

peb

When interest rates in savings accounts were non existent they were actually worth having, not now as you can get decent interest again 

Keedie

Thanks everyone for your input on the premium bonds. I'll have a look for Martin's article @badmemory as well. I'm glad that you have faith in my intellect @PennysIntoPounds, cos I sure do have a funky way of processing things and it feels more illogical than not most days. One of my colleagues once said I think like a genius in how I lay things out, and I laughed so hard I nearly choked on my own saliva 🤦🏾‍♀️😂. She was being way too kind. I just have a very vivid visual memory and imagination, so I play out scenarios in my head and that helps me to understand what is happening.

I can't imagine my brother in law or my mum saving a monthly amount with no guaranteed growth or return as both very financially savvy and exceptionally frugal and don't like to leave things to so much chance. Maybe they talking about 'bonds' and in my typical fashion of listening, with multiple tabs in my brain open and searching through a million things at once, I only got the gist of it. Interest rates are definitely good for savings @peb and climbing, but that's giving me more incentive to get out debt as I keep seeing the interest rates rise and I know that I'm in for an absolute shocker when that 0% interest deal runs out in February 2025.

You have made me smile @Sun_Addict thinking about your mum dancing spontaneously to pipe music whilst out and about. We get so embarrassed when we're younger, but when we're older, those cringey moments can sometimes turn into fond memories. My dad used to say and do the most random things, almost like he was glitching in the Matrix and would come out with things that made literally no sense but he'd say things like he was carrying on a conversation with us, except none of us had previously discussed things with him before. I miss his nonsense now that he's gone.

I've decided to call my cat Lenny and name him after my dad, as he was the one that taught me to save my change. I remember he used to call me The Banker as I enjoyed counting up all the coins and putting them in the coin bags to take to the bank whenever he was finished with his tin. He used to have a slim bamboo money tin and I remember him saving the new 5p coins when they came out and were so tiny. I used to get excited if I happened to find one on the road and we'd all put our 5ps in the tin if we came across any. There was over £15 or £20 in there if I remember correctly, and considering that was the 90s, that was a lot of money!

Keedie

I forgot to ask you @Crazycatlady2 what you were expecting with my cat tin? My sister thought I was getting a ceramic one, did you think that too?

Just looked at Kilner jars @LittleMissDetermined and I can see why you'd like that. I'm accident prone and would probably drop it and I'd spend ages trying to avoid shards of glass I didn't hoover up properly 🤦🏾‍♀️.

Crazycatlady2

I think like a small biscuit tin with a picture of a cat on it tbh 😂 obviously I was way off the mark 

Keedie

Ahh I see. That actually makes sense. I think my ‘tin’ description was confusing as I tend to refer to everything as a ‘money tin’ even it’s made out of plastic 🤦🏾‍♀️🤣. 

Humdinger1

Fond memories @Keedie; my father used to tap-dance in the street, to the accompaniment of a song he'd made up specially! I used to sink into the ground then; now I've lost him, I burst with pride....love Humdinger xx 

Cherryfudge

Humdinger1 said:

Fond memories @Keedie; my father used to tap-dance in the street, to the accompaniment of a song he'd made up specially! I used to sink into the ground then; now I've lost him, I burst with pride....love Humdinger xx 

Oh, that's adorable! - but not for you at the time.