PREMIUM BONDS - august onwards !!!

[Blondeshavemorefun]

Know other thread is near the end

So this is for when previous one is full

@mrsbyers
I've got £22000 in an account at 5.5% for 9 months. The only thing stopping me putting more in for longer is people keep saying its not worth it because it messes with your taxes.
I find it very confusing.

Ok. Have just checked my rate of return for the last 18 months and it comes out at 1.76%. Do I switch or enjoy the lottery aspect?

That’s probably the average return for 18 months, what about the last 12? That should be nearer 2% and the last 6 months higher again, but less reliable due to the chance aspect.

Here are the prize rates over the past 3 years - you need to average them over the time frame you’re looking at to work out if you’re hitting the average or not, they’ve always been broadly comparable with the best instant access savings.

• Previous prize rates
• July 2023 – 4%
• June 2023 – 3.75%
• March 2023 – 3%
• February 2023 – 3.15%
• January 2023 – 3%
• September 2022 – December 2022: 2.2%
• May 2022 – August 2022: 1.4%
• December 2020 – April 2022: 1%

So Jan - June this year 1.23%. That’s not good enough, or am I about to get a big one?!
2022 was 1.41%

That’s just under half of 3% which is about on track as that’s the estimated annual return. Definitely due a lucky month though! I’d say your holding has been decidedly average!

I have got a return of 1.25% over last 6 months but 0.5% over last year on full holdings. I’m an additional tax rate payer (although just starting maternity leave so will drop to higher rate for 23/24 year). I am guessing I’m probably as well just staying with FH?

Ok, another question. I’m not on FH but most of the way there. In the last 6 years I have won £100 7 times and £50 7 times, nothing bigger. Does that reflect others’ experiences?

I’ve won £1000 in the past 8 months. So extrapolated over year that’s 3%

I've been doing the Postcode lottery for over 15 years! I'm sure when I joined it was just Scotland and Wales that were in it (I'm in Scotland) so there were probably more chances to win for me! I won over £70 in the first month which lulled me in but have hardly won anything since. Would like to leave but now worried my street would come up. 🙄.
I don't do the main lottery though. Someone I used to work with won millions in the National lottery but of course it's very rare! At least with premium bonds I'm not losing money.

Also I wonder how much these "celebrities" are getting paid for advertising the Postcode lottery, it'd be better spending the money on more prizes!

I’ve registered to open a child’s account. How long does it normally take to open?

I think after they've received the documentation they need eg passport then I'm sure it's pretty quick, just a few days I'd say?

I had a letter today telling me to cancel my direct debit as I have the maximum holding of £50k and they have returned this month's payment. I don't have anywhere near that!

Phoned them and they said 'automated letter, computer made a mistake'. Only thing is I've now lost a month of £50 in the next draw. 😡

So just be aware that this can happen randomly. I will be writing a stroppy letter!

@girlygirly that’s annoying. You can complain on the phone if it’s easier for you. I can’t fault the complaints procedure. I have received compensation on two occasions when they wrote to my daughter (under 16) instead of me when I was moving money around

Nearly the end of the month, starting to get the lotto hope 😂

Interest rate for September is 4.65% so up a little bit...

Swear this has been the longest month ever!

Any month with 31 days is long 😂

I don't get paid till the 31st, it's killing me!

Christmas Cracker in-joke (just made up for this thread that only us PB holders will "get")

Q: which month of the year do PB holders like the most?

A: February

arf arf - only 7 days to go until 2 Sept!

The week before the draw is the day dreaming week for me. I'll spend the next 7 days planning how I'll hand my notice in at work

In case anyone is interested Tuesday's Euro Millions is now up to £79M

It could be meeeeeee!

DH and I do 2 Euromillions lines but our limitation is that we only play when the jackpot is upwards +£50M (a bit of a nod to being Gamble-Aware)

I got really close to being addicted to lottery stuff and online scratch cards so I try not to. I buy tickets for the month (one line and one weekly entry) upfront and then try to forget it.

I've just bought a ticket for Tuesday night, then wasted half an hour planning who I'd give money to and how I'd hand my notice in...