I am planning to do the tour divide race in 2013 so I am going to have to start saving, I would have thought it is going to cost me between £4000 and £5000 from start to finish (maybe more) Has anybody ever done it and have a better idea of cost?

So if I save £125 a month from Octobers pay I will have just over £4000…

So what is the best was to save the £125’s, putting it in the bank is not an option as I will just spend it?

I was thinking maybe premium bonds (or whatever they are called now), or a ISA that cannot be accessed before a given date (if they exist), or just one of them money tins that you have to open with a tin opener (that has worked before for me to buy a bike)…

give it to me………..i will take good care of it 8)

Long term savings account with 30 day access, paid into by direct debit innit.

ton – that’s a good idea, what type of intrest do i get on that 😉

molgrips – I didn’t knw such a thing exsisted… I will contact the bank for more info cheers 🙂

I will contact the bank for more info cheers

Would that not have been a better place to start anyway? 🙄 🙂

That’s exactly what Premium Bonds are good for.

But experts also say you should never save money while you’ve also got outstanding debt that’s bearing a higher rate of interest than you can save at.

there’s a few people on here that have done it – might be worth talking to them about what their costs were.

Direct debit into a deposit account with your bank? Online accounts often pay competitve rates. That’d be the easiest.

I wouldn’t worry about interest too much, the rates are rubbish at the moment. E.G. If you found an account paying 3% and put the full £5k in now, you would only get £100 odd after tax, but you are only putting in £125 a month, so you wouldn’t get anything worth mentioning relatively speaking. The banks are having it all their own way again!!

If you were saving for the long term, Tax free is worthwhile if the rate is competitive. The idea is you keep money in tax free savings and transfer it from provider to provider at the end of each year (if required) to get the best available rate at the time. The annual allowance is not great, but over time, you’ll amass a significant sum of money on which you’ll get tax free interest. A very nice, especially if you are a higher rate tax payer and the rate is decent.

I wouldn’t bother with term accounts on small sums, just look for the best rate (if you are saving long term).

Premium Bonds are hopeless as a savings vehicle. You won’t get any interest and the prizes are unlikely to come anywhere near what you would get if you stuck the money in an average savings account. Of course, you could win a million pounds and this is the benefit for the cost of seeing your invested sum depreciate year on year. In summary, if you can afford to have a flutter, but want to keep your bet, go for it. It’s much better value than the Lottery and the odds are probably far better stacked in your favour (but still very very long). I would always consider Premium Bonds as a “nice to have” in addition to the majority of your money which should be invested elsewhwere.

Of course, if you have large sums to invest, things become much more complicated. This is advice is for people with a few grand’s worth of savings to look after, not an investment portfolio. For that you need a professional advisor.

But experts also say you should never save money while you’ve also got outstanding debt that’s bearing a higher rate of interest than you can save at.

That’s all well and good in theory, but if you need money it’s sometimes hard to get back some of the debt you’ve paid off. Sometimes it’s good to have a cash float even if you have debts – for cashflow reasons.

ISA

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com is good for this kinda stuff, they have a premium bonds vs savings account calculator too.

molgrips – no 🙁 the account has to have £2000 to be opened 🙁 but i was asking to see if investments/bonds was a better option 🙂

But experts also say you should never save money while you’ve also got outstanding debt that’s bearing a higher rate of interest than you can save at.

I totally agree!

I would recommend an offset mortgage to solve this problem of needing instant credit at low rates.

All your debt could be rolled into one and the interest payable at the rate of your mortgage. Mortgage rates are usually the lowest rates for borrowing. Credit cards are often 5 times that of a typical mortgage.

If you then are able to save some of you salary each month, this money automatically and instantly comes off the outstanding debt. This saves you a fortune over and above that of a non-offset mortgage.

The equivalent rate of interest on this offset money is probably 300% better than the rate you would get in any savings account and you don’t even have to think about managing it.

The only drawback is that you are putting all your eggs in one basket, but this is why the banks offer these products.

Actually, there is another drawback; if you keep adding to your debt and don’t pay it down, you will not save any money. Bit like transferring balances on credit cards offering 6 months free interest and when you keep spending.

When you are lucky enough to eventually pay your mortgage down to zero, you’ll still have instant credit to the value of your agreed mortgage in perpetuity. Very convenient, and very cheap!

I am also lead to beilieve that the other great benefit is, if you loose you job when you have money offsetting your morgage, the IR still sees the full debt and so you can claim the interest on the full balance. To me that sounds like having your cake and eating it, but my friend is currently in this situation assures me he can legitimately claim. We’ll see if he’s got that right in due course. Perhaps I should get a mortgage! 😉

krag – Member

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com is good for this kinda stuff, they have a premium bonds vs savings account calculator too.

+1 for recommending this site!

Spongebob – Cheers for that, I cant see me making much intrest over the small amount i am puttting in there and the time it will be in there for, maybe £50 max. So it is just for me to save the money for the tour and not to make money… (but £1m on the bonds would be nice though hehe)

Nezbo – Member

Spongebob – Cheers for that, I cant see me making much intrest over the small amount i am puttting in there and the time it will be in there for, maybe £50 max. So it is just for me to save the money for the tour and not to make money… (but £1m on the bonds would be nice though hehe)

Yep, it’s more of a piggy bank funtion and a short term means to an end.

Good luck and I hope your tour is an experience of a lifetime. I’m sure it will be worth every single penny!

But experts also say you should never save money while you’ve also got outstanding debt that’s bearing a higher rate of interest than you can save at.

I disagree, sort of. It’s worth saving so that you have some liquid money incase you need it. ALthough your net worth will be the same, hving no liquid assets or cash will mean youd struggle should you need money in a hurry (i.e. made redundant and still have bills to pay). 6 months net pay minimum is what is recommended as a nice safety net.

I would go for a cash ISA, you get good rates in the first year. And even if it’s only £50, that’s about 10 days worth of saving.

When saving for our wedding we just opened an ING web saver account (we were already maxed out on ISA contributions) as it provided the best rate we could find, we could pay in a regular DD and also get instant access to it by clicking buttons.

They do have insane security (keypad on screen where the numbers keep moving position at every step of the process).