To know nothing about money/investments?

[namechange1403]

A regular (although I haven't been here for a while, I think the shine has rubbed off a bit?), and posting for traffic!

I've recently changed careers and my combined household income now means I can save ~£1200-£1400 a month (or ~£2000 if we stop overpaying the mortgage).

I come from quite a poor background, and I've never really been taught about how to manage money or to invest. I've done some reading, but it's all quite overwhelming and I still don't know what to do!

Do I just find a current account with a high interest rate? Stick it in an ISA? And if so, which one! I'm in my late twenties and it's a bit embarrassing, really.

I'm no finance expert but the advice I got was to keep some by for a rainy day but then pay off your mortgage as quickly as you can. Interest rates on savings accounts aren't great right now and you would be better paying off as much as you can before the inevitable rise in mortgage interest rates in the future. Also you could divert more into your pension, or start one if you dont have one yet. Well on your new career

Pay into a pension, your employer should also add some free money too.

First principle is to pay down any debts.

Martin Lewis and his website are pretty good for advice. Personally I like to have a certain amount of savings that I can access easily, a current account with a decent interest rate is great for this. That way any unexpected expenses or scenarios (from broken appliances to job loss) are sorted without stress. 6 months of living expenses would be a good target. Once you have that then I’d look into other investments depending on what your financial goals are e.g. mortgage free, enough to send the kids to uni, retirement...

pay off your mortgage as quickly as you can

I can only assume that the people who gave you this advice had mortgages in the 80s. Right now, it's bad advice, as you can easily earn more money than you pay on your mortgage.

you would be better paying off as much as you can before the inevitable rise in mortgage interest rates in the future

You don't have to beat the interest rate rises. If you put money in investments now, you can sell them and pay down the mortgage when interest rates rise later, and be better off than someone who just put the money towards the mortgage in the first place.

Money saving expert! My go to place.

This is what I did - paid off debt most expensive first (it might not be worth paying the mortgage off), then rainy day fund kept somewhere accessible (3 months' expenses) whilst maximising my employer's pension matching (free money really).
ISA's - depends if you are a higher rate taxpayer as cash rates are quite low. Also depending on age opening a LISA maybe worthwhile.
Anyway, mse.

Pay extra off your mortgage, then save as much as you can . Interest rates for savers are rubbish atm though . Still important to save .

You need an independent financial advisor.

Wouldn't the OP be wise to pay off the mortgage ASAP, as rates might not always be as low as they are now? Plus, being out of debt gives you peace of mind. I think maxing out cheap debt and investing for high returns is a thing for experienced investors, which the OP says she isn't. Disclaimer: I don't know anything about investments either, for similar reasons to the OP. I've followed some personal finance blogs but they are American, so the investment advice isn't directly relevant here. I think Martin Lewis sold his site some time ago and the contents might be more "advertorial" now, though I haven't really looked in recent years. I don't like him because he used to speak out in favour of student loans, which I have always been strongly against.