Regular saver , what's the point?

winkowinko

I'd be interested to hear if people who have tens of regular savers also seek out cashback and switching incentives to the same level?

To me, grabbing switch or cashback offers seems far more rewarding (and less time consuming) than eeking out a few extra quid from setting up another regular saver.

Pickledonionlover

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925743#Comment_81925743

They've probably exhausted the switching offers years ago.

I have.

winkowinko

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925761#Comment_81925761

Yes, fair enough with the current account switching offers. There are only a finite amount you can get.

Just curious if people with so many regular savers put the same amount of dedication into swooping up every single Quidco/TCB or other direct cashback offers, which are far more lucrative.

Pickledonionlover

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925820#Comment_81925820

I don't bother with TCB as much as I used to. They had a really bad habit of not paying out for various things. And then the, fairly, recent 'treat' IT issue means that they aren't a company I hold much faith in.

I've no experience with Quidco.

jaypers

£25 is £25 and in actual fact it’s £50 over the course of 12 months if you renew the RS when it matures. Don’t really see the hassle……you can set up a standing order and job done. The sum of many small parts makes it worthwhile if you combine with some of the other half decent RS’s. If you don’t care about making your money work it’s hardest then so be it.

snookerloopy96

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925743#Comment_81925743

Don't think I have many viable options for switching for a while but I keep my eye out.

The Nat West Group (?) trio was a cracker.

Just getting into the cashback game.

kaMelo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925743#Comment_81925743

Yes, the switching offers usually offer decent switching bonuses however they are introducing more hoops you have to jump through to qualify, excluding those who have had a switch incentive recently or, in the case of Santander, Barclays and First Direct, excluding you if you've ever had a switch incentive. It's certainly not as easy as it used to be.

Switching, like regular savers, now takes some effort. Whether the effort is worthwhile or not is an individual choice. For example, I don't do postal applications for regular savers as a general rule, others are happy to do so but for me that's a faff too far, it would have to be a sensational interest rate on offer to change that. However, those with an online application are definitely with the effort. Usually no more than fifteen minutes to apply, open and set up an standing order. £25 for fifteen minutes work in the case of the Principality 6mo RS or £100 per hour, I'm happy with that hourly rate.

Altior

Undoubtedly in my view, the Principality RS return in pure terms is underwhelming. It's not even £25 in reality. As the funds would earn interest in a static account. Say 4.5% interest would be ballpark £14 if the funds were left alone. So it amounts to about £2 a month!

It's a marketing triumph really, but that's what RSs are, effectively loss leaders creating brand loyalty/publicity/recognition/members, which can lead to sales of other products. And in some cases, inflows of short term liquidity where desired.

Even though it's underwhelming, the simple maths tells one that it's pretty much the best that can be achieved in the cash savings space, so for that alone it remains worthwhile. Plus it can be easily closed with no loss of interest.

friolento

I currently go for anything that pays 5% upwards as it makes a substantial difference to my annual interest income over keeping the cash in normal savings accounts. Especially if you don’t have large sums of cash, Regular Savers are an excellent way of growing your savings faster, as you can stash away a lot in accounts paying 6% and higher.

You can use the MSE Regular Savings calculator to quickly work out the difference for your money https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/regular-savings-calculator/

dgpur

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81925743#Comment_81925743

I was always reluctant to switch. It seemed a lot more hassle than staying put in Nationwide. Now we get £200 a year just for staying put.