Premium Bond Winner ?

stevie_wonder

2 X £50 this month (feb) and current holding £20k.
IT might not be the best way of saving money but it gets a bit exciting when the start of the month comes round and you're waiting to see if you've won anything!

pbw

i was just thinking, when they have this anniversary draw of an extra 3 x £1m prizes... for the most part, people will not notice any difference in this draw..

i reckon a better way to do it would have been to do 60,000 extra £50 prizes. this way the odds of winning will increase and more people will have a win. and those that usually win will have an extra win....everyone's a winner!!!

or am i being silly...

halloweenqueen_2

I think that its a good idea to have a lot of extra smaller prizes, I supose it would take up more in time and administration. However if I do win a million I shan't complain!

Lopo

Following my recent larger than normal win highlighted a few posts back, I've worked out that so far, since October I've achieved 5% net in 5 months of PB winnings.

I dont know how many I hold in total, but have based the above calcualtion strictly on a large amount purchased back in August which entered the draw for October.

My goal for purchasing the large amount was to see how my winnings would change, and without a doubt, its working out well for me.

Of course, If I equate in the other unkown amount I hold, that 5% value will certainly drop....but thats not the point of my little exercise for the year.

The large purchase made is hammering any savings account I could have made use of and I've still got 7 months of draws remaining - nice !

melg1973

Just found this thread - I have had £400 for about 7 years and not even a measly £50 yet. Leaving it in though unless things get really desperate!:eek:

pbw

i have withdrawn £18,000 from premium bonds today. that means i have a balance of £5,800 remaining now.

i have worked out that if i put the £18,000 in the yorkshire building society internet saver account i will get £64.95 each month interest. lol, means i am winning every month a small prize in effect...

...left £5,800 in the hope of a big prize. if i don't get a big prize (£500+) in the next few months, i think i will pull another £5000 out (£18.04 per month in YBS internet saver account).

reason is, i need a steady income from my savings and premium bonds is a stress wondering how much it will give me each month. at least this way i know i will get £64.95 with interest rates as they are.

Graham_Devon

pbw wrote:

i have withdrawn £18,000 from premium bonds today. that means i have a balance of £5,800 remaining now.

i have worked out that if i put the £18,000 in the yorkshire building society internet saver account i will get £64.95 each month interest. lol, means i am winning every month a small prize in effect...

...left £5,800 in the hope of a big prize. if i don't get a big prize (£500+) in the next few months, i think i will pull another £5000 out (£18.04 per month in YBS internet saver account).

reason is, i need a steady income from my savings and premium bonds is a stress wondering how much it will give me each month. at least this way i know i will get £64.95 with interest rates as they are.

You could do a little better with the A&L Direct Saver, few extra quid per month, but if you make any withdrawal in a calender month, no interest at all that month, so there is a bad side to it!

You have done the same as me basically. I took 25k out to leave 5k in.

I personally 'lost' in what I would have had in interest £413 over 6 months, but on my 7th month (this one), had a £50 win, so brings it down to £363.

It actually works out at more than £413 due to compounding too. I'm leaving the 5k there for the forseeable future, could get roughly £19 a month for it, but I'm hoping for a £500 upwards win.

I also agree with the other posters, get rid of the million draws and make a load more £1000 sums or smaller sums. Fair fairer. The million certainly didnt pull me, the smaller more viable prizes did.

pbw

Graham Devon, you are right, the A+L Direct Saver is not suitable for me. I will make withdrawals in order to drip feed 2 regular savers i have (£500 to YBS and £250 to Nationwide).

may i ask which account you use for your savings... did you opt for the A+L direct Saver?

the funny thing is in 2006 i was averaging 7.35% in premium bonds and the 1st 2 months of 2007 i have been averaging 5.04% AER. however, some months i would get nothing and other months get multiple prizes but i need a steady income. for now, i can afford to gamble with the interest i would lose on £5,800.

Graham_Devon

I got the A&L direct saver for the bulk of my savings.

I then have an ICICI account for savings I can dip into should I wish to, it's also the account I send any money left over in my current account to. When it get's to a certain amount I transfer more to the A&L Direct Saver. So normally keep around 2-4k in the ICICI account, which fluctuates a lot. Could call it a feeding account, but I don't bother with regular savers.

Then I got the Direct ISA, so the ICICI account will be used to transfer 3k in April to there.

Then theres the premium bonds with 5k play money in it. I had 30k for 3 months, and 5k for 3 months and won nothing. I filled in the redemption forms for this month and they sent £50 my way, so will just see how it goes with that 5k. (envelope is sitting here with a stamp on it, but decided not to send it!)

The A&L is great for it's interest rate, and also stops me withdrawing, so it's literally money in there which I don't need to touch for a while. But I also like to have easy access, don't want money tied up in bonds, as I'm waiting for a house price crash (I know, touchy subject!!) where the plan is, to buy a second house. So can get to all cash within a few days, which suit's me.

stuzhunter

I started buying premium bonds since June 2003. I have not won anything until this month. It has been some wait but this month I won 2 x £50. I hope this is a start!