saving money

It's been a while since I posted but this is worthy of a comment I recently received a letter from Halifax to tell me that in November they will no longer be paying me credit interest on my account, but not to worry because they wouldn't charge me interest on a portion of my overdraft when I go into it. Well that is all very well but I have had my current account with Halifax for 8 years now and I have never used the overdraft, (after all it is a loan, not as some people think an extension of your account balance and the interest on it it high.) This has led me to look around for a better account, I did after all take this account out as they claimed, at the time, that it paid 3% credit interest. Yes this has fallen recently with the base rate cuts but it was still there, now the expect to cut it to 0% and for us just to accept it? No no no. If you are also in this position it's possibly time to switch banks.

It has been a while since I wrote on here. Possibly because not much has changed. Interest rates are still at the 'give the savers a kick in the teeth' rate of 0.5%. Still best thing out there at the moment are still some fixed rate bonds. These do have, on averidge, better interest rates but the draw back is you have to sort of lock your money away for a number of months. The shortest term one I know of is a 6 month one. Also whilst interest rates are low those who have an 'interest only mortgage' have seen their payments drop. Well the tip here is don't go spending that extra cash you may now have either use it to pay of part of the capital of the mortgage or alternatively put it into a regular saving account so that when interest rates do go back up you can use the capital you have built up in this account to pay a sum off the capital. Both ways you are reducing the amount that the bank can charge the interest on so in the long term it will save you money.

ok it's been a while but here are the links to a selection of cashback sites. Some are better than others but join a range of them and then hunt out the best deal for each shop. http://www.TopCashBack.co.uk/ref/toptip https://www.internetcashback.co.uk/refer/44869 http://www.greasypalm.co.uk/r/?l=688124 http://www.myshoppingrewards.com?r=727629948 I am a member of all these and have earned over £250 in cash back in 12 months simply by using the sites to buy things I was going to buy anyway. But use the links to open bank accounts and change your gas/electric supplier etc and it goes up even more.

Yest the BoE have held the cost of borrowing at 0.5% again. Whilst this is good news for homeowners it is not always good for everyone. Savers are losing out and the lower rates are not always passed on by credit card companies. In fact some unscrupulus companies have actualy increaced the interest rates on the cards. It may now be the time to check and switch. Anyway there are other ways of making a bit of money which can include amazon voucers or amazon discounts etc. If you join the rent by post system on amazon then you get a 10% discount on all DVD purcheses from them. Also there are review sites which will pay you for writing reviews. Message me for the link of the one I use.

Yet again the savers get the kick in the teeth from the Bank of England as the interest rates are slashed to 0.5%. Savings rates etc will follow suit unless you have a fixed rate account. However it may not be all bad news, now the FTSE 100 is below the 4000 mark it could be a good time to take out a stock ISA. Whilst the stock market could fall further in the long run it can only go up. As the ammount you put in whilst the stock market is low will buy more shares and then as the market recovers the value will increase faster. Anyway, best thing to do is as I have said in an earlier post, is to spread your money around as there is a limit to how much is protected at each bank. Remember this protection is per bank NOT per account.

Yes we have all seen these ads on facebook etc saying you can make thousands of pounds with only a few hours work at a computer. All you have to do is pay by credit or debit card around £1.50 for the pack and you can start earning..... sorry but the 'too good to be true' alert started to ring loudly in my ear. This is a big con.  On some forums people have not only been charged this small fee but up to £200 as well which the 'company' will not refund. The type of work depends on traffic through the site and the adds produced, key word searches etc. Unfortunately this reached saturation point around 8 years ago so the chances of making any money out of it are small.   The 'blogs' all have pictures of the person next to the expensive car or near a boat, it is highly unlikely they own these things. The only people getting rich off these kind of adds are the people running the adds. It's a pity facebook is still running these but the shear volume of them is a...

MoviePlus 5 from Serif - offers everything you need to produce outstanding movie masterpieces, photo slideshows and DVDs. Tired of paying over the odds for computer programmes well Serif offers high quality programmes at lower prices. The programmes on the site are cheaper than in any shop and you get a minimum of a 30 day trial period. I've been using serif programmes for several years and have no complaints.

Sorry just remembered I forgot to include this: One of my favorite cash back sites unfortunately no longer gets cashback from amazon.co.uk However, it still has many shops on it and well worth being a member of. https://www.internetcashback.co.uk/refer/44869

Well yet again it's the savers that get the proverbial kick in the teeth as the Bank of England has cut interest rates to 1%. There may be some good fixed rate savings accounts out there but they are getting rare on the ground. Well it is good news for variable rate mortgage holders. (unless your lender has put a 'collar' on the rate and is no-longer lowering the interest. Check the small print) Now may be the time to start paying off more of the capital of the mortgage this way when the rates go back up there is less capital for the interest to be charged on.

None of us like paying tax, but some of us could be paying too much. Subscriptions to professional bodies such as unions etc are tax deductible. Check to see if the professional bodies you belong to are tax deductible and then let the tax office know what bodies you subscribe to and how much you pay. This amount is then added onto your personal allowance hence you have less to pay tax on. Ok it won't be a major saving but every penny counts.

I'll admit I'm not a major fan of premium bonds as unless you hold a large number you are more likely to win nothing at all than one £50 in a year. However, with the latest cut in the BoE base rate to 1.5% this means that yet again savers lose out as banks and building societies will cut the rates on savings by more than this. It may be worthwhile as a tempory measure investing some of your savings from your lowest interest account into premium bonds. If you say add £200 into a savings account each month you could switch and buy that number of premium bonds instead. Each month you stand a chance that each of the bonds you hold could win at least £25. The good point is that you don't lose the capital. When interest rates go back up simply cash them in and put the money back into your savings account. If you win a prize either bank it or reinvest it in more bonds. Please note that the maximum amount you can hold is £30,000 worth of bonds and you can only buy them in...

Many experts believe that the bank of England will cut interest rates again. Most banks and building societies have cut their rates effective from 1st Jan. However there may still be some good fixed rate accounts available. These usually have a fixed term of availability but the bank can withdraw them early. It may be worthwhile shopping around to find a good fixed rate account say for one year and transfering some money to it. This means that whatever the BoE changes the interest rates to the interest on your money remains the same. However, remember that only £50,000 per person per institution (hence a joint account is protected up to £100,000) is protected by the government should the bank go under. Remember that is per bank NOT per account. Also this protection only applies to savings and bank accounts. Any money in stocks and shares is NOT protected. If put all your money into shares and the company then goes under - you lose the lot. However, you were warned when you took out the...

ok it's been a while but one of the cashback sites has just got better. http://www.TopCashBack.co.uk/toptip/ref/index.htm Now you can earn up to 110% of the normal cashback offered. How does it work? well the cashback is now teired so the more cashback you earn one month the higher the percentage cashback you earn the next. The minimum is still the 100% the site states it gives you. It's still also time to shop around for good interest rate accounts as the recent cuts in the base rate to 2% probably won't be the last. Alternatively it will be a good idea to start to increase your mortgae payments if you can afford to do so when rates go back up there will be less capital for the interest to be applied to.