The Money Thread...

[Dual]

There are ways to maximise cash interest at the moment, regular savers are one avenue along with bank switching by playing the system

I've just done this - £120 to move to HSBC.

[Tomous]

Are there any reasons not to change bank account regularly?

[That's not a growth]

Apparently having a long standing account is a good thing on credit checks. I just keep swapping secondary accounts and keep one long-running.

[Oblomov Boblomov]

Working from home. Claim tax relief automatically.

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

You can now claim for the entire years work at home allowance before the end of the tax year.

I'd been delaying sorting out the £125 Tax Relief for this exact reason.

Edit: once you're logged in you just put in the date you started WFH and it's all done. Super fast.

Thanks GD, just did this myself. Very impressed by how easy it is to do.

Tomous confirmed as the new government press secretary .

Just done it myself. Took me about 15 minutes to log in then 15 seconds to actually submit the claim.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with all the extra dosh .

[poshrule_uk]

Apparently having a long standing account is a good thing on credit checks. I just keep swapping secondary accounts and keep one long-running.

Exaxtly what I do

I have done Halifax and lloyds in the last couple of months and im waiting on Metro to pay out too

Sadly I don't qualify for HSBC

[Tomous]

Working from home. Claim tax relief automatically.

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

You can now claim for the entire years work at home allowance before the end of the tax year.

I'd been delaying sorting out the £125 Tax Relief for this exact reason.

Edit: once you're logged in you just put in the date you started WFH and it's all done. Super fast.

Thanks GD, just did this myself. Very impressed by how easy it is to do.

Tomous confirmed as the new government press secretary .

Just done it myself. Took me about 15 minutes to log in then 15 seconds to actually submit the claim.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with all the extra dosh .

I'll do whatever they want if they're giving me tax back

[Ecno]

Working from home. Claim tax relief automatically.

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

You can now claim for the entire years work at home allowance before the end of the tax year.

I'd been delaying sorting out the £125 Tax Relief for this exact reason.

Edit: once you're logged in you just put in the date you started WFH and it's all done. Super fast.

Thanks GD, just did this myself. Very impressed by how easy it is to do.

Bah, I thought I was getting £6 a day not £6 a week.

[Tomous]

Working from home. Claim tax relief automatically.

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

You can now claim for the entire years work at home allowance before the end of the tax year.

I'd been delaying sorting out the £125 Tax Relief for this exact reason.

Edit: once you're logged in you just put in the date you started WFH and it's all done. Super fast.

Thanks GD, just did this myself. Very impressed by how easy it is to do.

Bah, I thought I was getting £6 a day not £6 a week.

It's £1.20 a week back (or £1.40 if you're a HRT) from HRMC

[Qikz]

Working from home. Claim tax relief automatically.

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

You can now claim for the entire years work at home allowance before the end of the tax year.

I'd been delaying sorting out the £125 Tax Relief for this exact reason.

Edit: once you're logged in you just put in the date you started WFH and it's all done. Super fast.

Thanks GD, just did this myself. Very impressed by how easy it is to do.

Tomous confirmed as the new government press secretary .

Just done it myself. Took me about 15 minutes to log in then 15 seconds to actually submit the claim.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with all the extra dosh .

If I'm on PAYE I can't do this right?

[Grumpy David]

Working from home. Claim tax relief automatically.

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

You can now claim for the entire years work at home allowance before the end of the tax year.

I'd been delaying sorting out the £125 Tax Relief for this exact reason.

Edit: once you're logged in you just put in the date you started WFH and it's all done. Super fast.

Thanks GD, just did this myself. Very impressed by how easy it is to do.

Tomous confirmed as the new government press secretary .

Just done it myself. Took me about 15 minutes to log in then 15 seconds to actually submit the claim.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with all the extra dosh .

If I'm on PAYE I can't do this right?

PAYE is exactly who qualifies for.

The assumption is you'll have increased costs for electricity, gas and water. This is the option for "No proof of increased costs" and so regardless of the actual difference you get tax relief based on your basic rate / higher rate status.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

It's got a few yes/no questions to confirm you're eligible but for almost every PAYE person they will be.

It's £1.20 a week back (or £1.40 if you're a HRT) from HRMC

£2.40 if HR.

[Dual]

It will just amend your tax code guys don't think your getting a cheque in the post.

Still worth doing it though.

[Bunni]

Ive been using a cashback website for a while booking holidays and some online shopping. Got a good £250 saved, so I've cashed that out as John Lewis vouchers. Will be heading down in a day or two to buy a massive luxury Christmas tree for the new house and fancy decorations as they have a Japanese theme this year. All for free.

Since I'm moving house I'm also taking advantage of the cashback offers on utilities. Got £110 for internet and looking about another £200 for utilities and insurances. That'll probably buy us a new tv on a black Friday deal. Buzzing!

[Jenuall]

Nice one! I used to swear by cashback options back in the day, I remember getting into Quidco years before anyone seemed to know about them, but it's been a while since I really found much benefit in using them. I still tend to check in on what they are offering but the cashback offer never seems to be worth it these days. It will be things like offering me £50 for taking a utilities contract with company X but where the price of running with company X would cost me more than £50 extra for the year when compared to the rest of the market.

[poshrule_uk]

Nice one! I used to swear by cashback options back in the day, I remember getting into Quidco years before anyone seemed to know about them, but it's been a while since I really found much benefit in using them. I still tend to check in on what they are offering but the cashback offer never seems to be worth it these days. It will be things like offering me £50 for taking a utilities contract with company X but where the price of running with company X would cost me more than £50 extra for the year when compared to the rest of the market.

The key is only to use the cashback if its the best deal, i never use the cashback option if its cheaper elsewhere without this option.

I never look look at it as money of my bill its an extra for me and goes into my holiday account

[Oblomov Boblomov]

I went through Top Cashback when I bought my TV about a year ago now. Several months and emails later, I finally got a £40 Sainsbury's voucher.

It was worth it in the end... I guess.

[Jenuall]

Nice one! I used to swear by cashback options back in the day, I remember getting into Quidco years before anyone seemed to know about them, but it's been a while since I really found much benefit in using them. I still tend to check in on what they are offering but the cashback offer never seems to be worth it these days. It will be things like offering me £50 for taking a utilities contract with company X but where the price of running with company X would cost me more than £50 extra for the year when compared to the rest of the market.

The key is only to use the cashback if its the best deal, i never use the cashback option if its cheaper elsewhere without this option.

I never look look at it as money of my bill its an extra for me and goes into my holiday account

Yeah that's my point - the cashback never seems to be the best deal (or even a decent one) these days!

If I look at my history for Quidco I was comfortably getting a few hundred quid in cashback for the first few years but over time that number has dwindled as the cashback offers just seem to be consistently against poor deals now.

It's not the end of the world as it just means I'm saving that money over the course of any contracts that I would otherwise have been getting cashback on, but it was a nice feeling to get those cashback lumps coming in every now and then!

[mcjihge2]

I switched car insurance and breakdown cover today. Took me 2.5hrs on internet / phone. Stress over. Current providers went down by £100 on phone, but couldnt match the £250 drop from elsewhere on the internet.

[Grumpy David]

Marcus (Goldman Sachs) savings interest rate dropping again to 0.5%.

The rate on cash savings is just so awful that months ago I decided to put the majority of my savings into Premium Bonds. Which as of this month also went down but looks market leading at 1% for an easy access account.

Also glad I didn't panic sell back in March with my global index tracker, they were down minus 20% but have swung up to plus 42%.

But compared to meme based investments seen on the subreddit Wallstreetbets I've made very small gains.

There's been a few articles (which seem to happen before every spending review but never actually is announced as a policy change) about ending higher rate tax relief on pensions so if that goes ahead I'll be pretty annoyed but will chuck as much into the pension as possible before it comes into force and then look at Lifetime ISAs as a more flexible pension option.

[Oblomov Boblomov]

Does stock investment ever actually end, or is it just a perpetually swinging state ranging from panic to glee and back again?

[Grumpy David]

Does stock investment ever actually end, or is it just a perpetually swinging state ranging from panic to glee and back again?

On an individual level? Yes, as you use your working life to pay in and use your retirement to have it pay out. To reduce the wild swings you'd normally look to have a higher percentage in bonds and a lower percentage in shares by the time you're looking to retire. Most default workplace pension funds offer this as the default investment option but I prefer being 100% in the stock market at my age.

And at least with passive index trackers (which I stick to) you generally don't have super wild swings either way due to how heavily diversified they are in sheer numbers of companies, geographical locations and that they are therefore also diversified in business sectors too. This year has been an exceptional volatile year of course!

Individual stock picking is more prone to the terrifying roller-coaster ride. Especially if using leverage and doing meme investments: