borofan
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Post by borofan on Feb 26, 2019 12:02:10 GMT
Just in case I have missed anything.. I earn a living from Matched Betting. I don't have an official job. I don't pay income tax but I don't claim any benefits (like Del Boy ). But MBing isn't what it used to be. So I'm just about breaking even monthly after paying bills and then living off interest on my savings. So: I switch bank accounts a couple of times a year from incentives and high interest in the first year, and linked regular saver accounts. All the things Martin Lewis bangs on about. I have a couple of frozen works pensions that don't have much in them. I pay £240 a month into Vanguard SIPPs, which get's top up to £300. I have some N&I inflation tracker bonds (no longer available). I have the full amount in Santander 1-2-3 for 1.5% interest. I have 20K in Premium Bonds. I have 30K in P2P, which is the most I am willing to put in. But I still have quite a bit of cash not doing much in a 1% Nationwide Loyalty Saver, which I could put into Premium Bonds, or open a Marcus Account for a bit more interest. My question is, is there anywhere else that I haven't thought about that I can put my spare cash risk free?
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r00lish67
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Post by r00lish67 on Feb 26, 2019 12:25:21 GMT
Just in case I have missed anything.. I earn a living from Matched Betting. I don't have an official job. I don't pay income tax but I don't claim any benefits (like Del Boy ). But MBing isn't what it used to be. So I'm just about breaking even monthly after paying bills and then living off interest on my savings. So: I switch bank accounts a couple of times a year from incentives and high interest in the first year, and linked regular saver accounts. All the things Martin Lewis bangs on about. I have a couple of frozen works pensions that don't have much in them. I pay £240 a month into Vanguard SIPPs, which get's top up to £300. I have some N&I inflation tracker bonds (no longer available). I have the full amount in Santander 1-2-3 for 1.5% interest. I have 20K in Premium Bonds. I have 30K in P2P, which is the most I am willing to put in. But I still have quite a bit of cash not doing much in a 1% Nationwide Loyalty Saver, which I could put into Premium Bonds, or open a Marcus Account for a bit more interest. My question is, is there anywhere else that I haven't thought about that I can put my spare cash risk free? I had a decent spell MB'ing too, my flame burned bright for a year or so, but then I was gubbed left right and centre. Otherwise, I live a similar sort of financial life to you by the sounds of it! Anyway, a few ideas: 1) If you don't have an account already, you could put £5k into an FSCS savings account with Raisin (current best offer 2.05% for 1 year fix). I say £5k because if I refer you and you deposit at least £5k then you'll earn an extra £50 on top of that. PM me if interested. 2) You're probably aware, but statistically premium bonds are poor value, especially for non tax payers. The average prize rate obscures the fact that you're effectively sponsoring the lucky buggers who win £1m quid. Would suggest switching to a good 1 year fix. 3) Do you earn enough CB from Santander 123 to justify the monthly fee? Cos at 1.5% you could obvs switch to Marcus or a longer term fix. 4) Any P2P sites you haven't considered for diversification within your £30k and welcome/referral bonuses? Lending Works, Lending Crowd (both £50) or Ratesetter (£100) spring to mind. 5) Sign up to aldermore savings via quidco (£15 bonus) for another FSCS bank account. You only need to keep funds in for 30 days if you want to stooze it, but their fixed rates aren't bad either. 6) Get a free share of value up to 100 euros for being referred to sign up for Trading212 share trading platform. That's all that springs to mind for the moment, best of luck! edit: Oh, one more, if you're not casino-gubbed then there is (or was for me) surprisingly good money to be made from free spins on virtual slots at the various bookies. Providing you're very mentally disciplined of course, which I assume you are as a successful MB'er.
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borofan
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Post by borofan on Feb 26, 2019 12:43:05 GMT
Thanks for the suggestions. I already have a Raisin account with which I opened a ICICI fixed rate account. Premium Bonds, I take your point, but I don't do any lotteries so I quite like the thought of maybe winning £1M. Santander I just make enough to cover the £5 fee. I've done a few P2P for RAF/Cashback bonuses. My current P2P are: Zopa, Ratesetter and smaller amounts in Lending Works, Funding Circle, Landbay, Assetz, Kufflink and Lendy I will take a look at Aldermore. I do take a look at Quidco/TCB quite often to look at good deals. If you want to refer me for anything I'm open to suggestions..
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mjc
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Post by mjc on Feb 26, 2019 13:51:10 GMT
I LIKE paying tax. The more I pay, the more I’ve made. (Oh bxxxxr I’ve got a vat return to file again)
Don’t forget TSB, a mere £1500, but is a good 5%, on 26/2/19.
“£0 - £1,500 5.00% 4.89% These interest rates are correct as at 02/05/2018. Interest rates are variable. From January 2015 customers are limited to one Classic Plus account in their own name and one Classic Plus in joint names. Classic Plus interest is paid on balances up to £1,500. To earn interest (which is paid monthly):
pay in a minimum £500 a month, and
register for Internet Banking, and
sign up for Paperless Statements and Correspondence.”
Also NW have a monthly saver for £250pm at 5% with access. I thought it was reduced to 0.6% after a year but renew it and it’s back to 5%. They don’t make that clear.
What’s the pros on cons of MBing?
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Post by dan1 on Feb 26, 2019 16:54:46 GMT
I LIKE paying tax. The more I pay, the more I’ve made. (Oh bxxxxr I’ve got a vat return to file again) Don’t forget TSB, a mere £1500, but is a good 5%, on 26/2/19. “£0 - £1,500 5.00% 4.89% These interest rates are correct as at 02/05/2018. Interest rates are variable. From January 2015 customers are limited to one Classic Plus account in their own name and one Classic Plus in joint names. Classic Plus interest is paid on balances up to £1,500. To earn interest (which is paid monthly): pay in a minimum £500 a month, and register for Internet Banking, and sign up for Paperless Statements and Correspondence.” Also NW have a monthly saver for £250pm at 5% with access. I thought it was reduced to 0.6% after a year but renew it and it’s back to 5%. They don’t make that clear. What’s the pros on cons of MBing? NW = Nationwide, not NatWest, for those like me wondering
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scc
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Post by scc on Feb 26, 2019 19:19:25 GMT
Buy goods that last a long time (ideally on offer), but likely to experience high inflation. I bought a load of washing powder several years back and am still enjoying the much cheaper price. I even have a spare TV picked up a ridiculous price from Amazon warehouse.
If you have your own home, domestic solar PV may still pay for itself if you can get it done before feed-in tariff ends. After that, I'd be tempted to wait and see how the market shakes out. Are there other energy saving measures you can make in your home? LED bulbs can make a massive difference for example.
Rent-a-room or AirBnB (if relevant) may be a way of earning a bit extra. Ditto selling stuff privately.
If you have a car which you aren't using much, Co-wheels private member scheme might be of interest. Not an income generator, but they will cover fuel, insurance, maintenance etc and give you some mileage to play with.
Are you retired and on state pension already? If not, do you have enough years of contributions? If not, it may be worth your while topping them up.
I don't mind paying tax either, but only after I've exhausted the generous tax allowances on offer in the UK.
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aju
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Post by aju on Feb 26, 2019 19:27:16 GMT
I LIKE paying tax. The more I pay, the more I’ve made. (Oh bxxxxr I’ve got a vat return to file again) Don’t forget TSB, a mere £1500, but is a good 5%, on 26/2/19. “£0 - £1,500 5.00% 4.89% These interest rates are correct as at 02/05/2018. Interest rates are variable. From January 2015 customers are limited to one Classic Plus account in their own name and one Classic Plus in joint names. Classic Plus interest is paid on balances up to £1,500. To earn interest (which is paid monthly): pay in a minimum £500 a month, and register for Internet Banking, and sign up for Paperless Statements and Correspondence.” Also NW have a monthly saver for £250pm at 5% with access. I thought it was reduced to 0.6% after a year but renew it and it’s back to 5%. They don’t make that clear. What’s the pros on cons of MBing? NW = Nationwide, not NatWest, for those like me wondering Just been renewing the NW RegSavers today for myself and Mrs Aju, it much easier to do this time around too, a lot less work involved. Our Sant Regsavers renewed automatically but the rate has dropped from 5% to 3% I need to review this one I think. In the NW I moved the previous stuff out of their 0.6% account default that the RS changed to on maturity and back to my topup account. I guess I should have pushed it to our loyalty savers @1.1% I think it is but I need to have a review of all accounts again before I decide our next move. We are over subscribed in P2p relative to our other ventures just a tad so we are reducing out Non ISA stuff in Zopa. At present we earn enough CB on the Santander to negate the fee by about £1.50 so the 1.5% + the spare CB there is useful. You can actually put quite a considerable sum into Marcus @ 1.5% and leave it there, although remember only the standard FSCS cover applies. With the 1.5% interest rate watch out for inflation tax losses even with the cpi as low as 1.8 it will mount up. Over the whole of your investment though this will not be an issue unless IR starts to increase again - brexit and all that.
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aju
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Post by aju on Feb 26, 2019 19:37:05 GMT
Buy goods that last a long time (ideally on offer), but likely to experience high inflation. I bought a load of washing powder several years back and am still enjoying the much cheaper price. I even have a spare TV picked up a ridiculous price from Amazon warehouse. If you have your own home, domestic solar PV may still pay for itself if you can get it done before feed-in tariff ends. After that, I'd be tempted to wait and see how the market shakes out. Are there other energy saving measures you can make in your home? LED bulbs can make a massive difference for example. Rent-a-room or AirBnB (if relevant) may be a way of earning a bit extra. Ditto selling stuff privately. If you have a car which you aren't using much, Co-wheels private member scheme might be of interest. Not an income generator, but they will cover fuel, insurance, maintenance etc and give you some mileage to play with. Are you retired and on state pension already? If not, do you have enough years of contributions? If not, it may be worth your while topping them up. Wow scc that's serious stuff, doesn't things like washing powder deteriorate over time though, the TV might run out of guarantee when you come to actually use it in anger. Ours have been running for the best part of 5 years or more and are still going strong. I can definitely vouch for LED's they save quite a bit even on the fluorescents. The early ones tended to be a bit iffy, but recently the ones from screwfix £10 for 5 conventional shape ones are excellent and damned good value. Most of ours have been running for 4/5 years or and still no sign of dimming!. I definitely agree on the tax stuff, I transfered a lot of shares to Mrs Aju when they changed the 5k-2k rules. I don't mind paying tax either, but only after I've exhausted the generous tax allowances on offer in the UK. We both retired early on our company pensions and are still topping up Class3 voluntarily since NSP arrived. Mrs Aju will get full SP and sadly I'll get slightly less than full but you can't win em all.
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borofan
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Post by borofan on Feb 27, 2019 12:00:46 GMT
To answer the question about Matched Betting.
I got in on the ground level nearly 20 years ago now. It was very easy money for a while. I went part-time with my job then eventually quit to do Matched Betting full time. But the best days are over. It's difficult to make a living from it now but anyone who is new to it can easily make £1k+ a month for the first few months then £300-£500 a month after that with reload offers. MSE GIOL forum is a good place to start for free info.
Which brings me onto another question that was asked about my state pension. I've just turned 50 and have not worked full time since I was 35 so the last time I checked I would only qualify for two thirds state pension. I haven't checked if it worth paying NI.
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micky
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Post by micky on Feb 27, 2019 14:36:43 GMT
Don't forget online saver with Santander- 5% also but only £200 a month allowed per person.
Growth Street offering £200 cash back for £2000 investment for 12 months
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Post by eascogo on Feb 27, 2019 17:20:08 GMT
Don't forget online saver with Santander- 5% also but only £200 a month allowed per person. Growth Street offering £200 cash back for £2000 investment for 12 months Just checked Santander website because 5% seemed rather generous. In fact it says 3.00% AER/gross (fixed) for 12 months.
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aju
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Post by aju on Feb 27, 2019 18:01:05 GMT
Don't forget online saver with Santander- 5% also but only £200 a month allowed per person. Growth Street offering £200 cash back for £2000 investment for 12 months Just checked Santander website because 5% seemed rather generous. In fact it says 3.00% AER/gross (fixed) for 12 months. I think it dropped a little while back, I thought I mentioned the rate change a few messages back. Whilst not ideal it's still useful if all other options are exhausted.
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aju
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Post by aju on Feb 27, 2019 18:10:53 GMT
To answer the question about Matched Betting. I got in on the ground level nearly 20 years ago now. It was very easy money for a while. I went part-time with my job then eventually quit to do Matched Betting full time. But the best days are over. It's difficult to make a living from it now but anyone who is new to it can easily make £1k+ a month for the first few months then £300-£500 a month after that with reload offers. MSE GIOL forum is a good place to start for free info. Which brings me onto another question that was asked about my state pension. I've just turned 50 and have not worked full time since I was 35 so the last time I checked I would only qualify for two thirds state pension. I haven't checked if it worth paying NI. NI class 3 voluntary maybe worth looking into. Since we retired early we have been doing this. Mrs aju has a chance to top up to full sp but I'll be about 20 quid short by time I pull it in 2020. This it may only be worth it for some. There is web page that has flow charts I'll post it when imI back home. Might help you make a good decision
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scc
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Post by scc on Feb 27, 2019 18:54:33 GMT
Link would be greatly appreciated when you have a mo aju as am considering topping up the missus' contributions as I believe the price to do so goes up in April.
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Post by dan1 on Feb 27, 2019 18:55:57 GMT
To answer the question about Matched Betting. I got in on the ground level nearly 20 years ago now. It was very easy money for a while. I went part-time with my job then eventually quit to do Matched Betting full time. But the best days are over. It's difficult to make a living from it now but anyone who is new to it can easily make £1k+ a month for the first few months then £300-£500 a month after that with reload offers. MSE GIOL forum is a good place to start for free info. Which brings me onto another question that was asked about my state pension. I've just turned 50 and have not worked full time since I was 35 so the last time I checked I would only qualify for two thirds state pension. I haven't checked if it worth paying NI. NI class 3 voluntary maybe worth looking into. Since we retired early we have been doing this. Mrs aju has a chance to top up to full sp but I'll be about 20 quid should by time I pull it in 2020. This it may only be worth it for some. There is web page that has flow charts I'll post it when imI back home. Might help you make a good decision class 3 voluntary contributions will set you back £14.65 pw but if you're self-employed you can pay class 2 for £2.95 pw saving you over £600 per year. IIRC the govt tried to scrap class 2 but did a u-turn because of the impact on the low paid.
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