Organising resources - sharesies?

WindfallWendy

I have been creating several different monitoring spreadsheets, trying to work out the best way to plan and track my savings plans and movements, but as I run further and further into the MSE rabbit warren, the things I want to track keeping increasing!!

So given there will be a strong community of people managing all sorts of money movement maximise returns, I wondered if anyone would be willing to share a template? Or at least describe the details you log and the movements you anticipate each month (or week? Or something else?).

Or maybe there is something like this on MSE already and I just haven't found it 🤔

Mark_d

You can be opening and closing lots of different accounts to maximise returns.  You can delay paying your credit card bill until the due date.  You can take 0% credit card deals and keep money earning interest for longer.  I doubt you'd make a significant extra return and all the effort will have gone to waste if you miss a single credit card repayment.

Having done these things in the past my finances are very simple now.  I have a Kroo current account, an Interactive Investor account for investments inc ISA, and Premium Bonds.  And my credit cards are paid in full by direct debit.  Everything runs smoothly and it's not difficult to see the interest, prizes and investment returns.

mebu60

I try to keep things relatively straightforward such that my brother and daughter (finance LPA and executors) and partner (beneficiary) who have little to no interest in such things could manage to deal with things as required. 

Unless you have the dedication of @Bridlington1 I would suggest keeping it fairly simple, at least to start with. Often the difference in gains after tax is minimal versus the effort. 

Eyeful

Perhaps you should consider trying the "Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) method & see if it works for you. 
One arrangement (but others are possible) shown below.

1. Have one working current account. Have a second current account at a different bank as back up.
2. Have one credit card & do all your spending with it. Have a second credit card as back up.
Pay off the full amount each month to avoid interest payments
The credit card will give you a monthly statement of your monthly spending.
3. Pay monthly household bills using direct debit.
4. Have a "Rainy day" account with lets say 6 months of household expenses in it (for emergencies only) 
5. Use tax shelters when ever you can (Pensions & ISA's)
6. Have one or more Cash ISA's for your serious savings. Keep an eye on what interest they pay:
Example: https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/
7. Learn about Pensions and start one as soon as you can. Put as much into it as you can afford.
Example: https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/what-are-target-retirement-funds
8. Consider if you want to buy or rent somewhere to live.
9. If your interested in investing learn about it before starting a stocks & shares ISA.
 Watch: https://www.kroijer.com/
Example: https://www.hsbc.co.uk/investments/products/hsbc-global-strategy-portfolios/#balanced
10. Keep an eye on current scams, learn what red flags to look out for & how to protect yourself against them.

You should be able to monitor they above with a simple spread sheet layout..

WindfallWendy

Eyeful said:

Perhaps you should consider trying the "Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) method & see if it works for you. 
One arrangement (but others are possible) shown below.

1. Have one working current account. Have a second current account at a different bank as back up.
2. Have one credit card & do all your spending with it. Have a second credit card as back up.
Pay off the full amount each month to avoid interest payments
The credit card will give you a monthly statement of your monthly spending.
3. Pay monthly household bills using direct debit.
4. Have a "Rainy day" account with lets say 6 months of household expenses in it (for emergencies only) 
5. Use tax shelters when ever you can (Pensions & ISA's)
6. Have one or more Cash ISA's for your serious savings. Keep an eye on what interest they pay:
Example: https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/
7. Learn about Pensions and start one as soon as you can. Put as much into it as you can afford.
Example: https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/what-are-target-retirement-funds
8. Consider if you want to buy or rent somewhere to live.
9. If your interested in investing learn about it before starting a stocks & shares ISA.
 Watch: https://www.kroijer.com/
Example: https://www.hsbc.co.uk/investments/products/hsbc-global-strategy-portfolios/#balanced
10. Keep an eye on current scams, learn what red flags to look out for & how to protect yourself against them.

You should be able to monitor they above with a simple spread sheet layout..

I've done all that. Now I want to milk the banks and building societies for everything they are willing to offer anyone who has a spare hour or two a week to faff around. I think I can easily generate £1000 a year just by moving £10k of savings around every 6-12 months. I just wondered/got the impression a lot of people might already have nice colour-coded monitoring spreadsheets, and might have some top tips of what to include in the one I'm creating.

masonic

WindfallWendy said:

I've done all that. Now I want to milk the banks and building societies for everything they are willing to offer anyone who has a spare hour or two a week to faff around. I think I can easily generate £1000 a year just by moving £10k of savings around every 6-12 months. I just wondered/got the impression a lot of people might already have nice colour-coded monitoring spreadsheets, and might have some top tips of what to include in the one I'm creating.

I don't think a spreadsheet would get you very far. What is very helpful is a task tracking tool that can give you reminders for important actions you need to take, such as manual transfers, paying off a 0% card where the deal is about to expire, etc. If you want to keep records, then a money app that can schedule transactions is quite helpful (I use GNU Cash, others prefer Ace Money or the old MS Money). This enables my regular transactions to be pre-populated and I just need to input the bespoke ones. Such a tool can also help you keep track of everything and generate reports, such as interest totals for tax calculations, or when you last received an incentive for eligibility purposes. Another tool that can be useful for getting a quick overview of the status of your accounts is an aggregator. That's not something I use personally, although I did in the past.

UKX69

mebu60 said:

I try to keep things relatively straightforward such that my brother and daughter (finance LPA and executors) and partner (beneficiary) who have little to no interest in such things could manage to deal with things as required. 

Unless you have the dedication of @Bridlington1 I would suggest keeping it fairly simple, at least to start with. Often the difference in gains after tax is minimal versus the effort. 

Yes, keeping it simple to start with and slowly ramping up to a comfortable level. I treat my investing/saving as an enjoyable hobby which results with some bucks in the bank.

WindfallWendy

Agreed - it's definitely just a hobby. Particularly good for feeling in control

I've done some work this weekend to help me determine what I'm willing to do and what it's worth doing i.e. making sure I'm not spending more time and money than it's really worth and I've concluded that I'll manage 5 regular savers (all of 5.5% or more), fed overall by a Kroo current account (where I hold £20k for the 4% interest). 

In order to access some of the best (that I can see at least) regular savings accounts, I've got two new current accounts with DDs to charity set up on them, being transferred into Lloyds and First Direct (for their £200 and £175 switch incentives respectively). I'll definitely make more than if I just leave the money in my Kroo account, so it seems worth the effort.

UKX69

WindfallWendy said:

Agreed - it's definitely just a hobby. Particularly good for feeling in control

I've done some work this weekend to help me determine what I'm willing to do and what it's worth doing i.e. making sure I'm not spending more time and money than it's really worth and I've concluded that I'll manage 5 regular savers (all of 5.5% or more), fed overall by a Kroo current account (where I hold £20k for the 4% interest). 

In order to access some of the best (that I can see at least) regular savings accounts, I've got two new current accounts with DDs to charity set up on them, being transferred into Lloyds and First Direct (for their £200 and £175 switch incentives respectively). I'll definitely make more than if I just leave the money in my Kroo account, so it seems worth the effort.

Just a question. Are you comfortable with Kroo? I’ve alway preferred ‘ Traditional banks’, but in the process of thinking of rearranging my system of holding cash for feeding and may very well open a Kroo account.

Bridlington1

DasTechniker said:

WindfallWendy said:

Agreed - it's definitely just a hobby. Particularly good for feeling in control

I've done some work this weekend to help me determine what I'm willing to do and what it's worth doing i.e. making sure I'm not spending more time and money than it's really worth and I've concluded that I'll manage 5 regular savers (all of 5.5% or more), fed overall by a Kroo current account (where I hold £20k for the 4% interest). 

In order to access some of the best (that I can see at least) regular savings accounts, I've got two new current accounts with DDs to charity set up on them, being transferred into Lloyds and First Direct (for their £200 and £175 switch incentives respectively). I'll definitely make more than if I just leave the money in my Kroo account, so it seems worth the effort.

Just a question. Are you comfortable with Kroo? I’ve alway preferred ‘ Traditional banks’, but in the process of thinking of rearranging my system of holding cash for feeding and may very well open a Kroo account.

As long as they're covered by the FSCS I'll use them. I currently use in excess of 60 different banks/building societies, from Beverley BS to NatWest, Zopa and everything in-between. I've no issues with using any of them.

FWIW I never keep money in current accounts unless the interest rate on them is higher than I can get in savings accounts for the sake of interest maximisation and just transfer money from savings accounts as and when I need to use it.

UKX69

Bridlington1 said:

DasTechniker said:

WindfallWendy said:

Agreed - it's definitely just a hobby. Particularly good for feeling in control

I've done some work this weekend to help me determine what I'm willing to do and what it's worth doing i.e. making sure I'm not spending more time and money than it's really worth and I've concluded that I'll manage 5 regular savers (all of 5.5% or more), fed overall by a Kroo current account (where I hold £20k for the 4% interest). 

In order to access some of the best (that I can see at least) regular savings accounts, I've got two new current accounts with DDs to charity set up on them, being transferred into Lloyds and First Direct (for their £200 and £175 switch incentives respectively). I'll definitely make more than if I just leave the money in my Kroo account, so it seems worth the effort.

Just a question. Are you comfortable with Kroo? I’ve alway preferred ‘ Traditional banks’, but in the process of thinking of rearranging my system of holding cash for feeding and may very well open a Kroo account.

As long as they're covered by the FSCS I'll use them. I currently use in excess of 60 different banks/building societies, from Beverley BS to NatWest, Zopa and everything in-between. I've no issues with using any of them.

FWIW I never keep money in current accounts unless the interest rate on them is higher than I can get in savings accounts for the sake of interest maximisation and just transfer money from savings accounts as and when I need to use it.

Currently using easy access account @ 3.55 to hold spare wonga then transfer to current account when needed.