[bumpy]

I have split my savings over a fair number of accounts. The disadvantage is that its very difficult to keep track of locations, account numbers, expiry dates of bonds etc, but most importantly to keep on top of interest rates.

We all know the con trick of Building Socs and Banks when rates drop and they 'fail' to inform you. Many accounts have bonuses only in the first year and others are variable rate and can catch you out. Take your eye off the ball and you find yourself on 0.2%

It would also be good when I switch money between accounts to have a tracking history, if only to help my failing memory.

So I would like a bit of free software that allows me to track the savings accounts. A bonus would be for the software to alert me when a fixed rate is finishing. I have tried Excel but its not very good for this.

Does anyone know of such software. Most I have found are focused on daily bills for utilities etc.

[rantnrave]

bumpy, on 06 September 2011 - 10:51 AM, said:

I have split my savings over a fair number of accounts. The disadvantage is that its very difficult to keep track of locations, account numbers, expiry dates of bonds etc, but most importantly to keep on top of interest rates.

We all know the con trick of Building Socs and Banks when rates drop and they 'fail' to inform you. Many accounts have bonuses only in the first year and others are variable rate and can catch you out. Take your eye off the ball and you find yourself on 0.2%

It would also be good when I switch money between accounts to have a tracking history, if only to help my failing memory.

I keep all my money in one account and keep a record of when that bonus period will end. Shifting it too many times between different accounts means interest lost as the money is in transit (compounded by the fact that my current account wont let me shift more than £10K per day).

[bumpy]

FSA limit is an issue.

[rantnrave]

bumpy, on 06 September 2011 - 11:50 AM, said:

FSA limit is an issue.

Fair comment - I understand that joint accounts mean that £170K is protected.

[bumpy]

Joint accounts not an option I'm afraid, and I still think its safer to keep well below the £86k limit.

[Gravity sucks]

Similar problem, so I got a year planner, put a note on the date to move, close or transfer. Kept abreast of windows of good rates as they always seemed to close within two weeks and was able to transfer 90% of the time. [Got the isa from Natwest when the shtf in 2008 @ 7%+. Even when I moved it in 2009 it was still paying 4%+.] I treat it as a numbers game. As long as you read the rules, don't go for a long tie in or touch the interest it can grow, in relation to house prices. In relation to twigs in vases it has shot up as these are now a feature at the carboots. I'm sorry if this is too pedantic but although I "missed the boat" on the last ponzi puff this site has convinced me the being a tortoise has some merit.

[rantnrave]

Gravity sucks, on 06 September 2011 - 12:45 PM, said:

I'm sorry if this is too pedantic but although I "missed the boat" on the last ponzi puff this site has convinced me the being a tortoise has some merit.

Yip. Steady as she goes. Compound interest is great to earn...

[MrFlibble]

Cannot say as I've seen software that will do all what you want in one package. You can certainly achieve it with multiple tools.

I tend to use excel for such things, you can write formulae to notify you if a date is getting close, maybe even add a pop-up window.

There are a lot of geeky type things you can do in excel, none of which you'll probably be able to write yourself unless you are an expert.

I use Google to find the cryptic excel stuff. I'd recommend you use something like TrueCrypt if you are storing loads of account numbers and stuff on your PC.

[newbonic]

If you know when an interest deal is about to expire you could set up Google Calendar to email yourself a reminder. iGoogle also has a spreadsheet if you want to crunch numbers. It's all on 'the cloud' though if that bothers you.

[mikthe20]

I use a spreadsheet but don't have it set to alert me when interest payments are due, or the end of a fixed rate period, which would indeed be useful. Have just found this, which might do the job: http://www.silverriv...nk6/index.shtml

[s-p]

Glad I'm not the only one looking for software like this. I'm not interested in the granular management of each monetary transaction that takes place in my accounts, but instead want to review/manage these accounts at a higher level to maximise my income.

Like most here (I imagine), I currently run a spreadsheet to manage my finances. In my particular instance, it describes my current status against my target following periodic reviews of the rates each account is paying. It is massively inadequate for what I want so I'm contemplating writing my own piece of software that is more targeted to the task at hand. If anyone's interested, I'd be more than happy to discuss people's requirements to see if I can accommodate them within this development. Assuming I actually get around to writing some software, I would then make it available for free under some type of license (e.g. GPL/MIT).

As this is purely a personal development piece:

• I can't guarantee inclusion of features requested
  
• Software would be delivered if/when it's ready - I would not promise a release in x days/weeks/months/years.
  
• Software would be targeted at a particular platform I'm comfortable with (Windows/.NET 4)
  
• The security of the data would be the responsibility of the end user. I have no desire to manage sensitive data and all the issues that entails - so the application would be completely stand alone in it's operation.

[Doicare]

http://www.microsoft...soft-money.aspx
All I can suggest is microsoft money which is now supplied free by microsoft at the link above its the uk version by the way.

[europbaron]

If you are a Linux user, KMyMoney is fairly capable. For the reminders to close accounts I just use a calendar in my email client.

Good to know microsoft money is free now.

[HouseDog]

You can set up alerts which email on Google Calendar which is free. http://goo.gl/N2QS
I suspect you can do the same from Google spreadsheets.

In my case, I just use the calendar function on my iPhone to alert me when rates are due to expire. I also use an encrypted wallet app to store account details.

This post has been edited by HouseDog: 12 January 2012 - 11:09 AM

[jonesinamillion]

Slightly off topic but I have a bit in a Santader esaver3 (2.8%); luckily I don't have much £££ to track so it's easy to keep an eye on it. Anyway, I keep an eye on my bonus rate expiry but Santander took the liberty of emailing me to tell me that my bonus rate was about to come to an end; shifting it over to the esave4 @ 3.1% now.