How to save??

sara1880

Hiya,

I Would like to start saving a small regular amount every month and i mean a small amount prob between £20-£50 a month.
But my problem is that i have no idea how to go about making the most of the little money i can afford to save each month.

I have a friend who saves a regular amount every month and it gets played on the stock markets, but she says that the way its done she cant really come off worse( she doesn't actually play the stocks herself she just pays money each month and someone somewhere does it for her. Does this ring any bells to anyone.

Also i keep reading about ISA's and mini ISA's and general saving accounts and im really starting to get a bit lost in it all.

Im just a normal person doing a normal job with no real "money experience" other than paying bills with it of course hehehe

Any advice would be great.:o

Lokolo

Ok well the stock market is really a betting field. You can lose some, you can gain some. However you can pay someone to do something else with your money (to hopefully smooth over the bad ones.

Investing usually requires a big amount (more than the £20 a month!) I would recommend just going for a regular savings account now until you can save bigger amounts (it gets easier with practice).

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-regular-savings-accounts#best

Looky there for one which you want. Halifax min of £25 a month, Barclays £20. I would go for Halifax.

cheerfulcat

sara1880 wrote: »

I Would like to start saving a small regular amount every month and i mean a small amount prob between £20-£50 a month.
But my problem is that i have no idea how to go about making the most of the little money i can afford to save each month.

Where you save, and whether you save ( put money in cash ) or invest ( buy shares ), depends on what you want the money for. If you are simply putting by a rainy-day cushion then a cash ISA is the best place to start. If you already have a cash cushion then you could start looking at longer-term options like investment.

I have a friend who saves a regular amount every month and it gets played on the stock markets, but she says that the way its done she cant really come off worse( she doesn't actually play the stocks herself she just pays money each month and someone somewhere does it for her. Does this ring any bells to anyone.

It's very likely that she is putting money into some sort of collective investment like a unit trust.

Also i keep reading about ISA's and mini ISA's and general saving accounts and im really starting to get a bit lost in it all.

Put simply, in a normal savings account, the interest is taxed. In a cash ISA, the interest builds up free of tax. With investments, any gains over a certain annual amount are taxed - again, in a stocks and shares ISA all gains are tax-free.

steadysaver

The best place to start is with a cash ISA. The interest you earn is tax free and you can place upto £3600 in it each tax year (which runs from April to April)

Look at this article and pick the cash ISA that suits your needs the best.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa

sara1880

Hiya thanks for all the info,

If i could save more i would but its more that i am on a very limited income rather than i am in debt of spending above my limit.

I would like to invest long term for my daughter well long term as in maybe 8-10 years.

Lokolo

Do you actually have debts? As these really should be paid off first, allowing you then to save more money in the future.

sara1880

I have a very small interest free debt to the council that is currently being paid off.