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Advice on ways to be better organised with savings

2 replies

GrendelsMum · 28/08/2009 16:44

I'm quite disorganised with my money, and wondered whether anyone has any tips on how to be better organised.

I don't have a credit card, so that's not a problem.

My biggest issue is with my savings and investments. I forget where I've saved money, if that makes sense, and lose track of whether it's at a good interest rate or not. I don't get my ISA in on time. I'm sure I should be moving money around and having it in well-balanced portfolios and so on, but I just don't know what to do.

It may sound silly, but I do get very stressed by this, and feel perpetually guilty about not using savings effectively.

Actually just some tips on how to remember when to do what and how to feel I'm in control of it would make me feel much happier.

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Mousey84 · 29/08/2009 22:01

If its lots of money, you may want to speak to a professional re the investment side.

For now, get a lever arch folder and poly pockets and file paper. Find all your past statements and sort them out (by year or by account or whatever works best for you) Then on a blank sheet, go through the file and write down every account etc, plus any accounts you dont have documents for.

Dont get bogged down with interest rates etc just yet, just make a note of everything you can think of. Then, when you get a minute, call up/ go online and see what rate the first one is, if you have the time, look up the second etc. Do give yourself a deadline to finish it though, maybe 1 week or something. Put the sheet at the front for easy reference.

Then, if you get an email or letter about the rate changing, write that on the sheet and file the letter/ printed email in the appropriate place in the folder.

I personally dont have investments, but do have savings accounts and try to make the money work as hard for me as possible.

What sort of investments do you have? (Im not qualified to advise which is best, but am studying it, and in fact, writing an assignment on this very topic at the minute)

I review my current/savings rates properly every 3 months but usually only change once a year or less. For simplicity, all my bills have been coming out of the same account for years - switching them can be a bother.

For best rates on savings and current accounts look at www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking. If you sign up to the newsletter, they have info on new best buys in there too.

As for ISAs, you can usually move all your old ISAs into the bank your current one is in, which will make it easier for you to keep track. If you dont have an ISA now, research now and open it. While its best to open it on the first day of the tax year and whack the full amount in asap, you can open it any time of the year - right up to the day before new tax year.

GrendelsMum · 03/09/2009 20:51

Thank you, Mouse, that's really helpful! I just needed someone to give me a bit of a kick with this as I find it so stressful. My grandad was a gambler and as a result, my mum and I seem to have this bizarre attitude to money, simultaneously ignoring it and saving frantically.

I'm going to print out your post as a set of instructions and work through it.

And you're right about moving the ISAs en masse - that would make life so much easier.

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