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

kermchem

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

If you have £100K in a 95 day access account earning 4.6% then (a) others on these forums will ask you if some of it can be invested rather than saved, and (b) you had better hope that the bank offering 4.6% is not going to go bust, because you are over the £85K FSCS safety line.

I have a modest constellation of RS accounts by comparison with others here, but I am currently earning an average of 6.76% on my £10K. My only concern with earning 6.76% on £100K would be the thought of HMRC calling. Oh, and I can probably access almost all of my £10K in well under 95 days.

RosieRooBear

Bobblehat said:

@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.

@Bobblehat, I thought I had a lot more then hubby but just counted and it appears I’ve been catching him up to me (even though I started his quite a while after me) and we have 40 each 

subjecttocontract

Update of my reg saver numbers on the Bobblehat chart.
I've had a few additions & a few matured. No longer Mr & Mrs STC....numbers just for Mr STC.
So, here goes:- as of 29/10.....but it's a moving target :-
* 27 regular savers,
* £6900 deposited monthly.....all by standing order
* total value of the savers £45100. 
* interest payments....x1@ 4.3% (prize draw) ....x26 @5.5-7.5%
* total annual reg saver interest due £3072
* total cash savings annual interest due £24341

fuzzzzy

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.

For that very reason of worrying about something happening to me that meant I could not manage my accounts I do all but 2 by manual transactions. The 2 I do by standing order are with main current accounts that would be covered for a while by incoming payments if something was to happen to me. I don't do spreadsheets. I do all my manual payments on the 1st of the month except the Coventry which goes out on the 2nd (although that has on numerous occasions also gone out on the 1st of the month by mistake, only to be bounced straight back.)

Speaking of the Coventry I realise I gave @Bobblehat an incorrect minimum interest rate. Mine should be 5.25% not the 5.5% I stated, although I think that matures in a couple of months and I don't intend to open any < 5. 5% once that has finished.

Also like manual funding so payments can be adjusted if necessary. Up until now I have always fully funded at the beginning of the month, but this month it will be the middle of the month as I just stuck a big wodge in a new Marcus 1 year fixed account and will need to wait until the middle of the month for another fix to mature to replenish my easy access funds.

Kim_13

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..

Yep, exactly what I’m going for. Have succeeded to some extent for 2026, but there will be a lot of fudging going on between February and May, with only the maturity of a 6 month Principality and a rather thin Halifax in that period. I don’t like drawing down one RS to fund another if I can help it, since I have made the wrong call in that regard in the past. Monmouthshire 6% and Darlington are easy though, since if Monmouthshire cut one they will cut the other so the 7% will always be the better choice and they all mature in August for me. Time to get my notebook out and see what funding I can divert to Darlington with a view to utilising the allowed withdrawals to plug the gaps…

I’ll be quite happy in the new year to prioritise a fixed 6% over a variable 6.5%, in the interests of not having far too much maturing in October. I’ll already be splitting Monmouthshire 7% over August and September and still be scratching around for places to put it if full funding continues.

Some RS have a fairly good record of consistent availability, while others give advance warning via disappearing from Moneyfacts when they are about to go NLA, so delaying those is fairly low risk. But the likes of Hanley and Scottish needed to be snapped up, despite my not really needing them until December. As Melton Issue 6 matures at the end of September 2026, that will fund October so I only actually needed one October opening to fund November 2026 and got 4 😂 I now don’t *need* to open anything until the end of December/January (although expecting one renewal between now and then) so the recent quiet serves me fine.  

Angelica123

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

As some who loves learning more about what excel/Google sheets is capable of, would love to know what coding you are doing to automate this on the excel. 

allegro120

mhoc said:

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??

My columns go like this:
1. Logos - images work best for me
2. Account names
3. Account numbers, sort codes, ref numbers
4. Rate, V or F and any upcoming changes
5. Date of opening/funding
6. Key features - Term, min-max, restrictions etc.

This spreadsheet includes all my 171 bank accounts. I share it on google drive with my wife, she is disinterested (as you put it), but at least all account numbers are there. 

I have a different spreadsheet for for distributions to regular savers. I use it more frequently than the generic one.

I like "Phone call..." part of your story.  I have to do exactly the same . Luckily not too often - she doesn't have many accounts and its rare when something goes wrong and requires phone calls.

clairec666

Angelica123 said:

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

As some who loves learning more about what excel/Google sheets is capable of, would love to know what coding you are doing to automate this on the excel. 

If you want a sneak peak, here's a simplified version with some made up numbers in:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W7LFHaDYz_3NGEfPXLpCoA7bxItrZiok5NOpSjBoK7o/edit?usp=sharing
(Can't be sure if the macros will run properly on a shared file, or if you can even view the code...)

There are 5 macros, the first 3 are fairly straightforward to use:
1 (income) and 2 (spend): select a cell from B2 to E5 (i.e. the bank balances), run the macro, and input the amount to either add (1) or subtract (2) from the total.
3 (transfer): select two cells, run the macro, and input the amount to transfer between the two cells.

The area beneath the main table is where you can schedule upcoming transfers. Columns A and B are for reference only. Column D is where you input your instructions, which I'll explain in a minute, and column G automatically interprets your instructions into a form that the macro can understand.
Highlight the cells in column G that you want to run, then run macro 4 (process).
To undo everything in one go, highlight the relevant cells in column G again, run macro 5 (reverse).

Column G should not be edited, any instructions are entered in column D - 3 parts separated by commas.
For income or spend, the first part should be "IN" or "OUT" as applicable.
For transfers, the account to be transferred from should be entered first.
Enter the bank name with the relevant table column in brackets afterwards (i.e. column D for regular savers).
The amount can be an integer or a decimal.
If your instructions can't be interpreted, e.g. if the bank name has not been found in the table, it will be highlighted in red.
You can sort or filter the table and the code should still run properly (fingers crossed...)

DRS1

As someone who recently had to ask Google how to subtract cell B from cell A in a spreadsheet can I say "hats off" to @clairec666.

In answer to a question in one of her other posts I fund all my RSs by standing order.  Which makes it easy to forget that I have some.  I just had to look at my Nationwide accounts for a maturing bond and found I had a Flexclusive Saver (paying 1.35% - so my 2.45% RS isn't my worst!).  I took the opportunity to open another Nationwide RS paying a somewhat higher rate. but I did not close the old one just reduced the monthly input.

So I now have 5 RSs monthly contribution £1700.  Lowest interest rate down from 2.45% to 1.35%  Maybe I should move that to a 95 day notice account? 

AndyTh_2

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

I've started funding of the bigger limit ones manually, and those like Zopa that don't support standing orders direct to the regular saver (nor open banking's repeat auto-save).

For my spreadsheets I generally put future transactions to the regular saver in when I've opened the account, and also have data points for interest payout days that aggregate interest calculations. Been thinking about properly automating it though as well with a list of regular income/outgoing/transfer. Just it's a bit messy VBA. I wish they brought in a newer language in Excel.

and can't do it in Google Sheets as there are a lot of transactions (I've been keeping transactions since 2010)