What to do with savings/credit ratings etc.

[M.C]

So I'm kinda lazy and keep all my money in one bank account. Every time I go into my bank they ask me if I want a savings account, a loan, a credit card, even once said what I was doing was bad for my credit rating

Thing's I've looked into different saving accounts, ISAs, super ISAs etc. and the interest rates are so low I CBA really. So what do you lot do with your money? Also I've never had any credit, is it really beneficial to have a credit card if you want a mortgage (for example) later on?

[iooi]

Strangely to get credit its better if you have a history of this. Although for things like a Mortgage its less of a issue.
If you are good with cash and have plenty in the bank. Then get a credit card. Set up a Full direct debit to pay off each month and use that instead of your debit card.

How much interest do you get on your bank account?

As there are some that actually pay interest that is more than you get in most savings accounts.

Personally I have a Santander 123 acc. 3% on upto £20K. Pays far better interest than any savings I can find that does not require a tie in.
Other bank accounts can pay more 5%, but on far lower amounts.

With a bit of work (setting up standing orders, to meet min credits) you could have a few bank accounts paying good interest all for very little work
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[M.C]

[hedgehugger]

Get yourself some premium bonds. They don't decrease, can win stuff, can cash them back in when you need/want to.

Paying off your full balance on a credit card incurs no charges, getting a cash advance on a credit card does.
Get a cashback type credit card, and get something back for spending, only a little, but hey!, free money.

[Deso]

[barrkel]

A credit card makes disputing fraudulent transactions much easier. If you ever pay for things by card, using credit gives you a bit more peace of mind.

In the past 15 years, I've needed to dispute four times. Hard to tell where the details were stolen from; sometimes the charges show up from London, others in India, and most recently £1400 in online pharmacy.

You can dispute debit card transactions too, but only after the money comes out of your account. With credit, no need.

This is why I have credit cards. I have never carried a balance across months so I have never accrued interest on the debt.

And fwiw I've never had a term loan in the UK yet was still able to get a chunky mortgage (along with gf).
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[Deso]

[Irn-Bru]

I have 4 accounts. My current never has more than £100 in incase it gets cloned or something. Then savings, then a simple "withdraw anytime" ISA. Also have a CC which is very handy, I use it 99% of the time unless there's an extra fee for a transaction. Seems confusing but it's all very easily managed.
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KTM 990 SMT & Suzuki DR-Z 400 SM

[M.C]

[doggone]

I can't see a reason not to run a savings and/or ISA alongside a current account, even if you only get 1% or whatever.
With online banking it's so simple to shunt funds back and forth
If you have a debit card on the current and it gets cloned they can't withdraw much if you only keep a few hundred tops in the current.

It is a bit sad how even ISAs now earn peanuts, when I first started one it was over 5% and the monthly interest appearing in current account was quite useful.
There are bond-style things you can get 3% or so but there will be a penalty if you withdraw anything before the agreed time.
That incentive to avoid the temptation to nibble it away is probably no bad thing though.

I'd be a bit concerned about some kind of bank collapse or hack with money held only in one place too.
If things got really grim it might not help but spreading savings around a bit seems worth considering.
The best investment for most is still property of some kind.

[Robby]

Having a credit card can improve your credit rating - but it also means you have a credit card. If you're good with money, fine. If you're not good with money, you could easily end up spending a lot of money that you don't have.

It is worth having some kind of savings account, not so much for the interest, just to have something separate. One account with money you can spend, one account with money you're not spending.

[iooi]

[M.C]

[The Shaggy D.A.]

Stocks and ISAs aside, I run 3 accounts. The first has my salary paid into it, where I then move a fixed amount into a second that covers all my DDs. I live off the first account, and the surplus goes into a third account.

Helps that I'm a spreadsheet junkie.
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[barrkel]

[iooi]

[Matt B]

[dydey90]

I'm using the 123 current account, interest and cashback gets me around £25 per month from it. Also putting the maximum allowance into a help to buy ISA, as I'm currently saving for a deposit and there's a 25% bonus on that, plus 2% interest as it piles up.
I have a credit card, but don't use it any more. I keep it because it turns out it's the best one for going abroad with (Halifax Clarity) as it doesn't charge anything for use outside the UK.
I did the Experian free trial and it showed my score as 999 somehow. All I've had on credit is my ER6, a few phone contracts and aforementioned credit card.
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Past: CBR125,ER6f NINJA 650, ZZR600 Current: VFR750

[iooi]

[bikertomm]

The 123 mains account mentioned above is good.

Beware the credit cards though.

They have just put caps on the credit cards - £100 maximum cap on all 1%, 2% and 3% fuel cashback.

So effectively limiting your cashback amount to just £3. (For a heavy fuel user like me.)

Oh, and they put the monthly fee up from £2 to £3, convenient heh?

Can I now cancel my credit card or am I tied in? Never looked at my credit rating before in my life nor I need to, but I don't want something silly to affect it.

Or could I have a winge and get them to waiver my monthly fee lol?

Cheers.
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