What to save and where?

[SciFiFan2015]

Hi oh wise ones:
I'm in a position to save a bit of money (I've just stopped spending on rubbish and my new mantra of "no more stuff" is paying off!)
We overpay mortgage (not by much but at a level comfortable with)
Save for Christmas
I save £10 pcm with Virgin purely to use their Virgin Money Lounges free
I save £32 pcm into a stakeholder pension and also pay a percentage into one via my employer (my employer pays a percentage too). Each year when the tax free amount of salary goes up I increase my pension contribution so I don't miss it.
I save £15 pcm to give to charity. I also do a lot of micro lending with lendwithcare
I could probably save £50-£100 pcm but don't know where (my ISA is terrible value I should probably move it)
We do have debt but it's sustainable, has a plan and interest free so not concerned about that.

What would you suggest please? I'd like to save enough for a deposit for a buy-to-let that I could then rent out to someone escaping domestic abuse (I plan to be an educated landlord by then)

If you are intending to save for more than 5 years I would suggest a stocks and shares ISA that tracks the FTSE100. You may also be able to transfer the money from your existing ISA into the stocks and shares ISA.

You need to pay your mortgage or debts its as simple as that. Theres no long term saving strategy if you are still paying your debts. Fair enough for a cash contingency but you should pay debts first and foremost.

The mortgage and debts are joint with DH and we have a plan for those. These savings are from my own disposable income so I want to save with this money, independently of DH.

Do you already have easy to access cash savings in case of emergency? Eg six month's worth of outgoings? If not, you should concentrate on building that up.

How much would a deposit for a buy-to-let be? And for how long are you planning to save?

For £50-100 a month you could look at regular savings accounts, which pay a higher rate of interest than normal savings accounts. Downside is the highest rates are only available to customers with a current account with the same provider, and they tend to run for a 12 month period and then revert to a low interest instant-access account, so you have to be on your toes to transfer the money to a better account.

moneycompare.which.co.uk/savings-and-isas/regular-savings-accounts

Yes. I have savings maybe not enough for 6 months of outgoings but not far off that.

A stock and shares ISA would make the most sense if it's a medium-long term goal of saving for the buy-to-let.

If you're more of a saver than investor, then sth that would make financial sense would be to overpay more on the mortgage as the interest saved is likely to be more than what you'd get in a saving account. When you've paid it down enough, you could remortgage to release the equity required to purchase the btl.
However, that would obviously mean cooperating with your DH so not achievable if you want to keep the money separate from him. And not sure how it's meant to be separate if it's all shared assets in marriage.

Paying off highest rated debts has been my best strategy.

Interest rates are so low and charges often high on other savings products..

In your place if I was determined to do the BTL independently I'd focus all spare monies on that, including current charity donation.

In recent years current accounts have paid me better interest than saving accounts so look around.

You probably know this but If you travel abroad a lot you can save money by watching the credit card you use.

I would go for a Hargreaves and landsdown stocks and shares ISA with a fund like “fundsmith” and as above maybe a FTSE100 index tracker too

Other providers are usually cheaper.

Btl with a mortgage makes very little sense now and will only make less. Your kind thought will cost you.