Being nosey... How many Regular Saver accounts do you have?

UKX69

Martico said:

OK, pop-pickers, I'm straight into the charts at number 60 (I think) this week, with two. I've had a fair few mature recently, much of which was destined for elsewhere, so I'm kind of starting again. It'd be nice to grow to one maturing per month, but that's not an immediate prospect.

So, for now, I just have two: FD and Co-op. Contributing 550 per month, current value = 850

Reading Martico’s post has reminded me that I too would like a RS maturing each month. Perhaps I’ll rethink my strategy and instead of aiming max investment I’ll open one per month! Mmmm. 🤔

clairec666

UKX69 said:

Martico said:

OK, pop-pickers, I'm straight into the charts at number 60 (I think) this week, with two. I've had a fair few mature recently, much of which was destined for elsewhere, so I'm kind of starting again. It'd be nice to grow to one maturing per month, but that's not an immediate prospect.

So, for now, I just have two: FD and Co-op. Contributing 550 per month, current value = 850

Reading Martico’s post has reminded me that I too would like a RS maturing each month. Perhaps I’ll rethink my strategy and instead of aiming max investment I’ll open one per month! Mmmm. 🤔

That was my original aim, but somehow I never seem to achieve it!

topyam

clairec666 said:

UKX69 said:

Martico said:

OK, pop-pickers, I'm straight into the charts at number 60 (I think) this week, with two. I've had a fair few mature recently, much of which was destined for elsewhere, so I'm kind of starting again. It'd be nice to grow to one maturing per month, but that's not an immediate prospect.

So, for now, I just have two: FD and Co-op. Contributing 550 per month, current value = 850

Reading Martico’s post has reminded me that I too would like a RS maturing each month. Perhaps I’ll rethink my strategy and instead of aiming max investment I’ll open one per month! Mmmm. 🤔

That was my original aim, but somehow I never seem to achieve it!

This is ideal situation... but some RS are only available for a certain time, and it's about grabbing the offer when it's available.
Been quiet since the Principality Xmas RS launched..

RosieRooBear

clairec666 said:

Appreciating all your hard work Bobblehat

No need to add this to the spreadsheet, but would be interesting to know who else manually funds all their accounts each month, and who sets up standing orders and just lets everything run itself.
For a mid-table regular saver like myself, doing everything manually each month isn't too strenuous.

I added a neat little bit of code to my banking spreadsheet which kind of "automates" any future transactions (on the spreadsheet only, of course) so I can fast-forward in time and see what my finances will look like in a few months' time. Useful for knowing how to spread my funding around each month.
I can fast forward all the way to August next year, just before my Monmouthshire accounts mature, and it looks like my total regular saver holdings will have jumped to £37000. Natwest and RBS will have dwindled to £0 around April then will start building back up again.

This little system also makes it easy to count how many individual transactions I'll be doing over the next year... and it's rather made me realise how much time I spend on this, and that switching back to standing orders might be a wise idea.

Mind you, I spent 3 hours this morning coding this, and I don't consider that to be time wasted

@Bobblehat, updated R.S. number for me & hubby is now at 80 (I do like a nice even number 😂) after that flurry of new regular savers that I couldn’t resist opening for both of us. Didn’t even get reduced by our Principality accounts as we both had 3 each recently maturing and luckily they all matured into 6 month issue 4’s.

@clairc666, I actually maintain them all by manually funding. Thank heavens spreadsheets were invented, which I print off every month and as soon as I fund the account it gets crossed off, haven’t made a mistake yet 🤞. Probably takes a couple of hours once a month to make sure it’s done properly, as long as I have peace and quiet. I look at it I’d have to update my spreadsheet with the amounts anyway so prefer to do it this way so as soon as I fund one it gets updated straight away.

What it’s worth in monetary terms instead of keeping it in a single account is probably worth around an extra £2000 a year as I/we have so many. That’s easy extra money as far as I’m concerned with minimal effort.

Newly_retired

I have never managed to do spreadsheets but I keep meticulous records.unfortunately I do not have a RS maturing each month, so I have to do a fair bit of moving money around. I had a conversation with my son yesterday, telling him that if I die suddenly, they will all get frozen and he can take his time to sort my many accounts, but if I have a stroke or am suddenly incapacitated, he will struggle to get to grips with them and I will probably go overdrawn on 1st of the month! So I am not planning on opening any more, by restricting myself to not doing postal applications. Maybe I will reduce by sticking to a lower interest rate too.

Bobblehat

topyam said:

clairec666 said:

UKX69 said:

Martico said:

OK, pop-pickers, I'm straight into the charts at number 60 (I think) this week, with two. I've had a fair few mature recently, much of which was destined for elsewhere, so I'm kind of starting again. It'd be nice to grow to one maturing per month, but that's not an immediate prospect.

So, for now, I just have two: FD and Co-op. Contributing 550 per month, current value = 850

Reading Martico’s post has reminded me that I too would like a RS maturing each month. Perhaps I’ll rethink my strategy and instead of aiming max investment I’ll open one per month! Mmmm. 🤔

That was my original aim, but somehow I never seem to achieve it!

This is ideal situation... but some RS are only available for a certain time, and it's about grabbing the offer when it's available.
Been quiet since the Principality Xmas RS launched..

I see what you did there 

exel1966

dont_use_vistaprint said:

I don’t have any. I always thought the rewards were just too small for all the effort of opening, managing and moving money

For example, if you had £100,000 sat earning 4.6% in a 95-day access, with the maximum effort and number of regular savers , schedules transactions etc what  would be the  increase you could get in one year 

I totally disagree with those who say the effort is minimal the process of opening and administering all those accounts is huge, and all the extra mail emails text messages cards and pin numbers, it can easily consume hours of your time, that  you could be using to make money

I'd suggest most of the RS I have were individually opened, funded, S/O set up for future deposits and spreadsheet updated in less time that it took you to compile and post the above and I'd be earning between 5 and 8% with the vast majority having immediate access to the funds. You used a very poor example considering you can currently get 4.75% easy access with instant transfers.

RosieRooBear

Newly_retired said:

I have never managed to do spreadsheets but I keep meticulous records.unfortunately I do not have a RS maturing each month, so I have to do a fair bit of moving money around. I had a conversation with my son yesterday, telling him that if I die suddenly, they will all get frozen and he can take his time to sort my many accounts, but if I have a stroke or am suddenly incapacitated, he will struggle to get to grips with them and I will probably go overdrawn on 1st of the month! So I am not planning on opening any more, by restricting myself to not doing postal applications. Maybe I will reduce by sticking to a lower interest rate too.

I was critically ill and needed Resus three years ago nearly to the day. I started my regular savers a few months after that (my hobby as I’m restricted now in what I can do and I enjoy it) and have told my husband (who definitely won’t have the foggiest what to do 😂) and adult twin daughters, if anything happens to me I’ve given them something to remember me by for months on end. They’re not that impressed but I’ve left enough instructions and have hopefully taught my daughters well enough to cope, love them 😁

Bobblehat

@RosieRooBear nice! Would you happen to know what your individual holding is of RS's, excluding hubby's?

This would help for the change to the league table. TIA.

Edit: having reread through the last couple of pages, I'd better explain that my "Nice" comment was for the last but one posting by RRB .... not the one above where RRB mentions that they had been critically ill .... !! I'm sorry if anyone thought I'd lost the plot with my "Nice" comment  ..... Apologies to RRB!

mhoc

Following this thread with interest.

For me the addiction started in 2010 and the 1st year we came out of deb, there was enough to pay bills without going into the overdraft each month and enough to finally start doing some real saving.
The build up was very slow starting with a passbook regular saver from the Yorkshire building society and a Nationwide regular saver that allowed up to a £1000 deposit each month so really those two accounts were all that was needed to save.
When the Nationwide replaced this regular saver with smaller deposits and worse interest rates then I had to start looking for replacements. 
Lots of changes over the years - building societies and banks come, gone and amalgamated, internet online banking and apps, the almost disappearance of cheque usage and passbook accounts, interest paid gross without deduction of tax, interest rates plummeting to the point where it barely seems worth the effort and then massively improving when all hope is lost  ....

The incentives - the day an account matures and magically a nice lump gets added which has taken very little effort - bit of setting up at the start, standing orders organised, some adjustment of a Google chart and reminder dates added to the Google calendar ...
And knowing that whatever life throws at us I can fairly quickly find enough money to pay whatever emergency bill has reared its ugly head. 

OHs - mine is also a disinterested partner who leaves the entire regular saver game to me (each to their own - if he starts droning on about engines, trains, cars, planes, military history etc to me I instantly fall into a coma!) 
Phone calls I need to prep him for with all of the security clearance he might need and exactly what to say so he does not get jumbled up - also the notepad so I can write notes to prompt him 
Some accounts each person has to have their own email and mobile number so verification codes go to his mobile which can be annoying eg Principality log you out very rapidly and some times you need to log in 3 or 4 times each time needing a verification code 

How do people set up there Google charts/excel charts?
I feel that I need to do some reorganisation - maybe alphabetical order would be more logical, an extra column, 1st column with bank/building society, 2nd account title ...  but what other columns do people use??