If you are good at moving savings around to get best rates, how much organisation does it take?

[DuranNotSpandeau]

I do try to be efficient at this. I look around for good rates and open accounts (usually regular savers), I switch current accounts to get bonuses, etc but then I end up with money in low interest accounts after bonus rates end because I lose track of it all.

I want to get on top of this as I've counted up this morning I have more than 10 savings accounts and only 3 of them are on competitive rates.

What's your technique? Do you have everything listed on a spreadsheet/paper showing the accounts, % rate, date the rate/fixed period ends, and just review that each month? Is that as complicated as it needs to be?

I set reminders on my phone for a week before any savings account I have that's a fix comes to an end. I have a generic high interest savings account (Santander at the moment) and I dump everything in there until I have time to next set things up. I don't bother with a spreadsheet or anything.

I dump my money in best account & forget about it.

However, to be activist, I imagine you need to block out a specific amount of time (say minimum 2 hours) at a frequency that suits you (say once a month) to review all your savings & if you could conveniently do 'better' by moving the dosh. With reminders on the morning of the blocked out time, that you will be reviewing later so not to double book with something hugely funner.

If you always blocked out, say, 8am-10am on the 1st Sunday of the month, that schedule would become routine to easier to fit in.

Ha ha yes I think that's what I have to do....and accept that it's going to take the rest of today to what out what I have where so i can work out how to transfer money to fewer accounts on better rates.

Since starting the thread I've found an old Portman account with £100 as well.😂

Hi op , I found myself in a similar position lots of accounts. I've opened the highest rate accesses account I could find , started transferring everything into it and closing the accounts. I decided to keep two drip feed accounts that seem to be at a decent rate. I used to be ok at keeping track of things but let things slip so I've had to simplify.
Im also considering opening a fixed rate bond for a year or two as my brain is just not what it used to be .

I try to keep a list and look at it once a month, alongside general pay day banking housekeeping but I've kind of let it lapse.

There's a lot to be said for keeping things simple and at the moment nearly all our money is in a santander current account that pays about 4% or the linked savings account that pays just above 5.

I did lose track of some money in a Coventry account and it took me a while to get it back so will more mindful in future.

I need to get better at using fixed rate accounts but I'm always reluctant to tie money up.

@BarbaraofSeville get one that allows you some withdrawals without penalty. Might give you a better rate than easy access but without the worry

@BarbaraofSeville think Coventry Building Society has a good one on at the moment

Thanks all. Definitely scope to simplify, I think the problem has been that I open a regular saver with a great rate for 12 months, then a year later open another but I don't do anything with the sum of money that's been built up so it languishes in a low interest account.

I need to consolidate anything that's on low interest into one account and I can see there are lots paying decent rates.

I was always told by my parents to keep accounts open with each building society/bank with say £100 in so you are eligible for member rates that might come up...but that means I'll end up with more and more accounts! Plus that was back in the day that they were all merging and you'd get bonuses each time it happened so I'm not sure it's worth keeping all these accounts with £100 just in case they offer me 0.2% extra on an account!

It's all about apps, for me.

All I do is regularly check my two accounts on apps and reading emails from the providers when the regular savings accounts end or they change the % interest rate. It's that simple. Much better than waiting six months or a year for letters. Currently I'm with Chip and Halifax, and I find checking in on this board, as well as MSE, keeps me up-to-date with the best deals.

I use an Excel file and note end dates and review it once a month or so. I tend to only go for easy to manage accounts as well so doesn't take too long.

I'm a nightmare for switching up my whole finances for a better rate.

I have current accounts with all the major banks and can easily open savings acs as when they release a decent rate account. I run a detailed spreadsheet to keep track.

Two things - apps and spreadsheets. I won't open an account unless there's an app so all accounts are on apps which are all held together in my phone. Then a spreadsheet listing all the accounts and amounts in them.

I have that account but the interest rate is lower than the Santander account I moved the money to (I don't think this one is available now, it was only available for a few days/weeks, was included in the MSE newsletter and then 'sold out' very quickly).

Plus I found the website fiddly to use and the money doesn't transfer immediately, it takes a day, which is a minor issue in the scheme of things, but seeing as I now have most of my money with the same bank, paying decent interest and all accessible in an app that I use regularly so don't forget all the login details, it's much easier.

I used to be really good, but then life happened! Back in the days when I read a newspaper it would be every week as I would look at the best buy tables in the papers then. However, currently still on a low fixed rate mortgage and so trying to save to pay off as much as possible at the end of the fix.

I have just moved around everything to try to maximise interest, but in general I am aiming to look at it twice a month once around pay day which is when I figure out how much I think I can comfortably save that month and when interest rates get announced by the Bank of England.