Drip feeding into Regular savers VS staying in fixed term accounts

subjecttocontract

Manchester2024 said:

Catplan said:

Only you can decide play about with drip feed figure here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/regular-savings-calculator/

I think most people here see it as worthwhile, myself included, I currently have 18 RS’s on the go, and by all accounts that not a lot compared to quite a few posters.

Thanks : do you have any recommendations for managing all those accounts please?

Surely they manage themselves. You open the account, pay the monthly deposits and withdraw the proceeds at the end of the term. What is there to manage ?

Exodi

Manchester2024 said:

Hello 

I’m reaching out to see if anyone can convince me on whether I should drip feed savings from my 35-day notice account (currently 5.02%) into some of the regular savers currently out there?

The reason I say that is that it seems like a bit of a faff to jump through the hoops of setting up a current account with Virgin (10%) and First Direct (7%) for example, to access their regular savers, when the maximum that can be saved is £250-£300 and using the MSE savings calculator, it’s only around £150-200 per year. I’m not even sure about the current 7% regular saver accounts, which you don’t have to have a current accounted connected to. 

I know I could in theory set up a few regular savers but my question is.. is it worth that time and effort of keeping a check on the best rates across multiple accounts etc, or just keep all my savings in the current 5.02% notice account?

Thanks!

Well if you opened a Virgin account when it was announced and deposited the maximum £250 each month, you'd have a projected balance of £3,162.40 (of which £162.40 is interest). If you left the the money in your notice account paying 5.02%, you'd earn £82.84 on the same money (which shouldn't be surprising as the interest rate is about half). The question is, is all the 'faff' worth it to you for £80?

For me, the answer is an easy and resounding yes. The Virgin current account/regular saver was set up and funded in around 5 minutes from start to finish on my phone. The regular saver account is now set up as a payee on my mobile banking app, so on the 1st I will dedicate the 10 seconds to transfer £250 to VIRGIN RS, alongside my other regular savers, and then forget about it for another month.

I think if people agree it is sensible to go to work for £10/£20/£50 an hour (or whatever you happen to earn) then it's really a no-brainer to earn £80 for a cumulative 10 minutes effort across a year.

First Direct and Virgin I think are low hanging fruit for most people (note First Direct does penalise you for withdrawals). I think the only people that maybe should not consider them are people intending to apply for a financial product soon (as they both require opening a current account and this usually requires a hard search).

Also FWIW's Trading212 offers a Cash ISA paying 5.2% p/a paid daily, that is also easy access. It's likely better in every way than your 5.02% notice account (unless you have already exhausted your ISA allowance).

Exodi

Manchester2024 said:

Catplan said:

Only you can decide play about with drip feed figure here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/regular-savings-calculator/

I think most people here see it as worthwhile, myself included, I currently have 18 RS’s on the go, and by all accounts that not a lot compared to quite a few posters.

Thanks : do you have any recommendations for managing all those accounts please?

Excel, I think most of us have a spreadsheet or two! (or three or four or five...)

jameseonline

It depends what you mean by manage to be honest:

Save payment details to your payee list?

Majority of accounts you can view/manage online or via apps.

I have lists on my phone, which tell me how much to fund each every month, when they end etc

Catplan

Manchester2024 said:

Catplan said:

Only you can decide play about with drip feed figure here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/regular-savings-calculator/

I think most people here see it as worthwhile, myself included, I currently have 18 RS’s on the go, and by all accounts that not a lot compared to quite a few posters.

Thanks : do you have any recommendations for managing all those accounts please?

The majority are funded from main bank account via SO, I have some setup for 25th, if transferring to a current account, that way I can forget it about it and it should cover weekend / bank holidays. Some standing orders, Lloyds, fund the current account ready for transfer to RS, I think TSB and Virgin are the same, building society YBS, beehive etc are direct from main account so leave 1st of month. I usually manually transfer by faster payments from chase saver at 5.1 currently any additional funds to cover SO. That’s likely to change to Cahoot when chase drop rate. 

wmb194

Manchester2024 said:

Catplan said:

Only you can decide play about with drip feed figure here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/regular-savings-calculator/

I think most people here see it as worthwhile, myself included, I currently have 18 RS’s on the go, and by all accounts that not a lot compared to quite a few posters.

Thanks : do you have any recommendations for managing all those accounts please?

To keep track I use Microsoft Money 2005 UK edition but plenty of other personal finance databases are available.

flaneurs_lobster

Catplan said:

I usually manually transfer by faster payments from chase saver at 5.1 currently any additional funds to cover SO. That’s likely to change to Cahoot when chase drop rate. 

Has your Chase (Boosted) Saver not dropped to 4.85%? Think it dropped around 8/8.

mikeyhinde

surreysaver said:

Manchester2024 said:

Catplan said:

Only you can decide play about with drip feed figure here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/regular-savings-calculator/

I think most people here see it as worthwhile, myself included, I currently have 18 RS’s on the go, and by all accounts that not a lot compared to quite a few posters.

Thanks : do you have any recommendations for managing all those accounts please?

An Excel spreadsheet, with the accounts listed in date order of their maturity date.

I've just counted mine - I've got 34.  And there's still others which I haven't opened yet, as I'm trying to spread the maturities out to make cashflow easier this time next year 

Are there even 34 RS available that can out-do the best in class fixed or easy access % options? :0

I clearly need to up my game!

fabsaver

mikeyhinde said:

surreysaver said:

Manchester2024 said:

Catplan said:

Only you can decide play about with drip feed figure here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/regular-savings-calculator/

I think most people here see it as worthwhile, myself included, I currently have 18 RS’s on the go, and by all accounts that not a lot compared to quite a few posters.

Thanks : do you have any recommendations for managing all those accounts please?

An Excel spreadsheet, with the accounts listed in date order of their maturity date.

I've just counted mine - I've got 34.  And there's still others which I haven't opened yet, as I'm trying to spread the maturities out to make cashflow easier this time next year 

Are there even 34 RS available that can out-do the best in class fixed or easy access % options? :0

I clearly need to up my game!

I currently have 36 active regular savers at 5.25% or higher. I did have more but a few have matured recently and not been replaced.

jameseonline

mikeyhinde said:

surreysaver said:

Manchester2024 said:

Catplan said:

Only you can decide play about with drip feed figure here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/regular-savings-calculator/

I think most people here see it as worthwhile, myself included, I currently have 18 RS’s on the go, and by all accounts that not a lot compared to quite a few posters.

Thanks : do you have any recommendations for managing all those accounts please?

An Excel spreadsheet, with the accounts listed in date order of their maturity date.

I've just counted mine - I've got 34.  And there's still others which I haven't opened yet, as I'm trying to spread the maturities out to make cashflow easier this time next year 

Are there even 34 RS available that can out-do the best in class fixed or easy access % options? :0

I clearly need to up my game!

There's several RS accounts available (or have been available that have yet to mature) wether or not they are actually worth you having is another matter.

There's some regular savings accounts paying under 5% so I would instantly rule those out & that's even if you are eligible as some regulars are restricted by postcode/branch only etc.

There's standard regulars, then you have loyalty regulars for being with loyal for a year or even 3 years (Cambridge does/did 6% if with them for 3 years).

So it's possible to have a standard RS &/or loyalty &/or others all with the same provider at the same time, some accounts may be only on sale for a short time.

Some even do Xmas regular savers, eg YBS.

Principality do/have done a few regulars all running at same time, so their standard one, a new 6 month regular & a 1 year Triple Access, they had a 2 year one too.

So number of accounts can quickly add up.

All depends on what money you have available, what you are eligible for etc, like you may need to have a current account 1st, you may need to be with somewhere for a year etc, in theory aim for the best rates 1st but each to their own.