What shall I do with this bonus - never had one before!

[Soooodenim]

It works out about £10k after tax.

I have about £12k debt on credit cards so the obvious thing would be to pay most of that off. But the cards are on an interest free deal and will be for the next few months - is there anything I can do with the £10k to earn a little interest until the interest free period on the cards runs out (I will then pay the £10k off the cards)?

I’m thinking probably not as any good rates usually require tying up the money - but I want to check in case there’s something I’ve not thought of!!

An easy access savings account may not give as good a rate as a fixed one, but will still earn you a few pounds.

For example a 3% interest rate for 4.months would be £100 interest.

I'd pay your debts off- you've built them up for a reason so no point being in debt when you have the money to get out of it.

Thanks @NoBinturongsHereMate - I’ll have a look to see which offers the best rate.

@watchuswreckthemic yes, I’m definitely going to pay them off - it’s just while I’m not being charged interest on what I owe, I thought I’d try to put the bonus money to good use.

What about premium bonds? You may not make anything but you might win big. It is easy to set up and withdraw. The only thing to be aware of is that it can take a week or so to get the money out.

PBs are really not worth it for a short time and relatively small amount. It takes time.for them to get into the draw, so there would probably be only 1 or 2 chances to win. And they've just cut the prize find.

Yes, i forgot to mention - I was thinking about Premium Bonds as I already have an account. That might be the best bet - I know winning isn’t guaranteed but it could potentially get me more than the few quid in interest I might earn?

Get on money saving expert forum and check out the instant access saving accounts. You need money to make money so why you have it, invest to make you a little bit more. Most instant access savings are around 3% but some you can do for fixed but a shorter term. You will have to check them out and see what works. Nationwide are doing 5% on £1500 monthly for new customers, but you have to put an additional £1200 in and out the account every month to action it. Also first direct bonus account gives you 4% I think that might be instant access.

You might be able to final settlements at a reduced cost if you negotiate. That might save you more than a few months easy access

@Soooodenim sorry I think my reply was a bit short. I was more in the- most people (myself included) aren't that great at being disciplined with money.
You can def make a small amount in the time you have it, I was just thinking more a peace of mind type thing.

@FedUpandEatingChocolate sorry, I’m not sure what you mean - ask for a reduction on my debt for settling the credit cards? I don’t think credit card companies do that as there’s not actually a payment deadline?

@watchuswreckthemic That’s ok 😊 You’re right - I’m really not great with money!!

There are easy access accounts you can use for a short time which are paying more than 4% and more than fixed rates at the moment. Variable rates may fall before you need the money but if you are only keeping it for a few months you should be OK.

Fixed rates will always be lower than variable when rates are expected to fall. My DS opened an easy access account with Charter Savings last night for 4.56%

Chip has an easy access cash isa which is 5.25% for 90 days then goes down to 4.32%. Whilst you don't need it to be in an ISA it is the best easy access rate available today.

@Soooodenim yes you can 😀 I've done it before with a loan and negotiated on an overdraft and a credit card!

www.stepchange.org/debt-info/settlement-offers-to-creditors.aspx

@FedUpandEatingChocolate why would the OP do that if she has the money to pay. I thought Stepchange was for people who can't pay their debts not those who have the cash but want to save it for a few months to earn interest. More to the point why should the creditors accept it.

Marcus account pays 4.3%
https://www.marcus.co.uk/uk/en/savings/online-savings-account?prd=os&chl=ps&schl=psg&cid=OSA_Brand&agp=152343189482&kid=marcus%20account&mtype=e&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAC8kNiagDQqIloNzeIB8MHmEKmHsz&gclid=CjwKCAiAw5W-BhAhEiwApv4goCMZcMODFU8-ItSqSqn0__J2nTfkYmkUCWiUbHAInESl17gwxXEOLhoC478QAvD_BwE

And money has to be invested in bonds for a full calendar month before being entered in a draw.

For the sake of what would be circa £100 in interest, I'd just pay your debts off as soon as you have the cash available. You may be very disciplined, but I've seen many people (including myself) with the same intentions as you to pay it off in the future, get there and are tempted to balance transfer to another low % card again.

Good point @Hitchens

Agree with above. Just pay off your debt. I'd rather had peace of mind for a couple of months than potentially £100 or something.

Agree, pay off debt first.

I'd agree that paying off your debt makes sense but I'd also check if you can sacrifice some of your bonus into your pension (you'll save on tax and NI).