Premium bonds

[Backtoschool101]

DH wants to keep savings in our account but I know he will be tempted to spend it. İt's not much yet only £800. I suggested premium bonds so it isn't easy to withdraw but can if needed but with the added bonus of a small chance of winning something. The interest rate is rubbish on our account so we won't really be losing anything

You can save the 4K up over a year though in the LISA - just open it in April and start putting a bit in each month then you get a top up of 25%

The bank is the worst place to save.

Don't forget to have any prizes automatically used to buy more Bonds (re-invested). If you take out and spend your winnings your fund won't grow.

Ok thank you all. I will have a read up. Maybe i will put little bits in the bonds for emergwncies and then do the isa as you say. Thank you all for your advice. My mind isnt very good at understanding these things!

I had savings in a higher interest Marcus account but the rate is rubbish now. I may need access to the money so I don’t want to lock it away, so I went for premium bonds instead. I was eligible for the first draw in January and I won £25 then, £50 in Feb and another £25 today for March. Not bad so far and better than the alternatives for instant access !

But did you have quite a bit saved i your bonds? I spoke to my nan earlier and it prompted her to check hers. She said she didnt have much in there but had won £50 and didnt realise. So that was nice little surprise for her

I haven't won on premium bonds but like the idea that I might. I like to have premium bonds as I don't want to play the lottery

Heyahun - not everyone can save £4K in a year though - at least not lock away £4K.

OP Obviously the more you have in Premium Bonds the more likely you are to win anything. I presume the people who win every month must have the full amount invested, but if you leave £800 in an account paying 0.25% you will earn £2 interest over a year.
I think most people would be prepared to "gamble" two pounds for even a tiny chance of winning some larger amount.
It isn't like the lottery where you have to pay out every draw - you buy the bonds once, and they get entered every month and then at the end, you can still have your money back.

All my dc and I only have about £300 worth each, and we have all won £25 or £50. Well, if you left £300 in an account paying 0.25% interest, you'd earn 75p a year, so you'd have to keep it there for about 30 years to make the interest beat a £25 win.
Then there is that teeny, weeny weeny chance you might get the million.

All that is without the fact you say he is likely to 'dip into it' and use money from a bank account. If that is probably then you'd be better hiding it in an envelope in a drawer somewhere.

Funnily enough i did have it in cash in a drawer. It was our tips from my job. i have saved up. Taken ages... but i said imagine there was a fire and the more i saved it would just be gone! So put it in a savings account then thought no its too tempting to use some and say we will put it back next month. So thought this was the best way! He is not great with money and always helps his family and i have had enough. Im taking charge so to speak. I dont mind helping family sometimes but he has been guilt tripped to the point it is all gone. His mum god bless her didnt want us to pay for the op but it really was the only option. Unfortuantly it didnt work and she passed. So now i am taking charge of things. I have put the binds in my name as most is mine. He has some savings of his own and i dont have any apart from this. So im creating a nest egg. Im just going to keep savjng and see where we are in a few years and male the decisions then.

Also i was worried to keep saving cash then being questioned if i emded up with quite a bit over time and wanting to put it into my account. Would it not look dodgy!?

We win most months on bonds but have a lot in there (£50k) why is your DP not keen?

We recently put our money in premium bonds and I also started a small one for my son.

I love the idea of winning something. A colleague of mine had a big insurance payout because his house got flooded. He put it all in premium bonds whilst the house was getting sorted out and won over £4000 in 6 months!

Look at LISAs if you're young enough to qualify.

Premium bonds can be good, but the chances of winning on small amounts is low. But they will increase as your savings increase. For a full analysis, see Moneysavingexpert:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds/

However, I am concerned about you saying:

He is not great with money and always helps his family and i have had enough. Im taking charge so to speak. I dont mind helping family sometimes but he has been guilt tripped to the point it is all gone

You really need to sort this out or else you might find yourself 'helping out' bottomless pits of financial mismanagement across multiple households. How about separating household and personal money and then he can give away his own spending money but not family money?

I have about £3000 in each of my children's accounts and we get a fair few £25 wins we just reinvest in

There’s always a chance isn’t there!? I think that’s what makes us all do it, even those that have a small amount in there.

Currently I’ve won £50 in 4 draws on half the max amount. DP has max holdings and has won £100 in the last four months, not sure what he won before that though as I think he has built up to max holdings recently.

We put money in every month to top them up on a standing order in the hope to get them to the maximum ready for a house deposit xx