Organising resources - sharesies?

Bridlington1

DasTechniker said:

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.

3.55% is pretty poor in today's rate environment, there are several EA accounts paying nearer 5%. See below for better alternatives:
https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/easy-access-savings-accounts/?quick-links-first=false&product-favorites-first=false

Also as a rule of thumb it's best to have multiple accounts if you haven't already with savings spread across at least a couple of different banks/building societies.

If your current account gets frozen or has a TSB 2018-style technical meltdown you'd be left financially paralysed if it was your only current account, by having multiple accounts you minimise the potential impact such a scenario could have on you.

UKX69

Yes, see where you’re coming from.

WindfallWendy

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.

I'm happy with Kroo. They are protected and whilst it all feels a bit 'modern' in their app, I'm getting to grips with it (it feels more like paypal than a banking app).

WindfallWendy

Just accidentally opened another fixed saver for 6% (MHBS) - assuming they approve it. I figure if I have the cash, I might as well.

I also opened Lloyds Club current account today, for the £200 switch incentive and the associated £400/month regular saver (6.5%) and Disney+ incentive (all free as I'll be transferring £2000/month in). I think this might be my favourite financial move of all the ones I've been doing lately!

Petriix

This is what I do:

I have a spreadsheet detailing all my direct debits and regular savings payments and I update it manually when my credit card bills come in.

I keep all my spare money in my Chase savings account. On the first of the month I manually transfer money to all the regular savers which operate on a calendar month basis and setup future payments to cover all the direct debits from the various accounts throughout the month. Whenever a regular saver matures or other money comes in, it all gets moved to the Chase savings account.

All my spending goes on my Santander Edge Credit Card earning 2% cashback, until I get to £750 then I switch to the Natwest Reward card. 

WindfallWendy

Petriix said:

This is what I do:

I have a spreadsheet detailing all my direct debits and regular savings payments and I update it manually when my credit card bills come in.

I keep all my spare money in my Chase savings account. On the first of the month I manually transfer money to all the regular savers which operate on a calendar month basis and setup future payments to cover all the direct debits from the various accounts throughout the month. Whenever a regular saver matures or other money comes in, it all gets moved to the Chase savings account.

All my spending goes on my Santander Edge Credit Card earning 2% cashback, until I get to £750 then I switch to the Natwest Reward card. 

I think this is the way I'm going, but I use Kroo (4%) rather than Chase. I've also set up standing orders from Kroo into regular savers. 

Re. Edge credit card... I have an Santander Edge Current account for all household bills, and use the debit card for cashback (£10-£15/month). Is the credit card better?

ColdIron

WindfallWendy said:

Petriix said:

This is what I do:

I have a spreadsheet detailing all my direct debits and regular savings payments and I update it manually when my credit card bills come in.

I keep all my spare money in my Chase savings account. On the first of the month I manually transfer money to all the regular savers which operate on a calendar month basis and setup future payments to cover all the direct debits from the various accounts throughout the month. Whenever a regular saver matures or other money comes in, it all gets moved to the Chase savings account.

All my spending goes on my Santander Edge Credit Card earning 2% cashback, until I get to £750 then I switch to the Natwest Reward card. 

Re. Edge credit card... I have an Santander Edge Current account for all household bills, and use the debit card for cashback (£10-£15/month). Is the credit card better?

From when I looked at it a while back:

Edge CC has 2% cashback up to £15 (£750 spend) £3 fee. Edge/Edge Up 1% up to £15/£10 (£1,500/£1,000 spend) £3/£5 fee

The current accounts are good for utility bills but for general spending they have a restricted list of qualifying types, broadly supermarkets and travel. The CC pays cashback on all purchases and will be quicker to hit the limit due to the higher rate

Maybe split it across the two, current account for utility bill DDs and CC for spending. That's how I do it with the old 123 Lite and Edge CC

Eco_Miser

WindfallWendy said:

Just accidentally opened another fixed saver for 6% (MHBS) - assuming they approve it. I figure if I have the cash, I might as well.

I also opened Lloyds Club current account today, for the £200 switch incentive and the associated £400/month regular saver (6.5%) and Disney+ incentive (all free as I'll be transferring £2000/month in). I think this might be my favourite financial move of all the ones I've been doing lately!

Don't forget having Lloyds Club current account entitles you to open the standard Lloyds Monthly Saver in addition to the Club version, only 5.25%, but minimal extra work.

WindfallWendy

Eco_Miser said:

WindfallWendy said:

Just accidentally opened another fixed saver for 6% (MHBS) - assuming they approve it. I figure if I have the cash, I might as well.

I also opened Lloyds Club current account today, for the £200 switch incentive and the associated £400/month regular saver (6.5%) and Disney+ incentive (all free as I'll be transferring £2000/month in). I think this might be my favourite financial move of all the ones I've been doing lately!

Don't forget having Lloyds Club current account entitles you to open the standard Lloyds Monthly Saver in addition to the Club version, only 5.25%, but minimal extra work.

Oh dear. Another one set up. Thanks for the tip!!!

vividmemories

I highly recommend the Switch Tracker app, which lists all the current bank switch offers, and gives a check list of all the Ts and Cs to be eligible for each offer. It has made harvesting all those bank switch bonuses even easier