For all its joy, we know the festive season can be a big financial strain for many. This year, Brits are expected to spend a whopping £46.4 billion across the festive period, with the average Brit spending £596 alone on gifts.
It can be especially difficult to navigate when you’re working towards an important goal like saving a deposit for your first home or a trip of a lifetime.
But, there’s plenty of ways to regain some funds for your future – when you know how. Here’s a list of savvy tips to help make your money work harder this festive season using Moneybox.
1. Earn while you spend with Round Ups
We know Christmas is all about giving – but don’t forget to pay yourself first! With our OG feature Round Ups, you can round your purchases up to the nearest pound and deposit the difference in your chosen Moneybox account.
So for every gift you give or meal you buy, you can be safe in the knowledge that you’re also saving and investing for your future.
Ready to make money on your purchases? Find out more about Round Ups at the button below.
2. Gifts for your future
Loved ones stuck on what to get you or your family this Christmas? If you’re saving for your first home or have a child with a Moneybox Junior ISA, the Gift feature is about to make writing your Christmas list a whole lot easier.
With the Moneybox Gift feature, friends and family can easily and instantly send gifted deposits to your Moneybox Lifetime ISA or your child’s JISA. Plus, any Gifts to your LISA will benefit from a 25% government bonus! Here’s to gifts that won’t collect dust in a cupboard.
Head to Settings > Share your gift link in-app to share your unique link with loved ones.
3. Get a free 25% bonus on all savings
The deposit for your first home and your pension pot are probably going to be the two biggest savings you’ll build up in your life. So why not take advantage of all the extra help you can get?
With a Moneybox Lifetime ISA (LISA), you can save up to £4,000 each year towards your first home and you’ll earn up to £1,000 in the form of a 25% government bonus – every tax year! Even with a top-rate savings account, you’d still miss out on free money from the government towards your first home compared to a LISA.
Once you’ve used your LISA to save a deposit for your first home, you can carry on using it to save for retirement and you’ll still receive the 25% government bonus.
A 25% government penalty applies if you withdraw money from a Lifetime ISA for any reason other than buying your first home (up to £450,000) or for retirement, and you may get back less than you paid into your Lifetime ISA. All investing should be long term (min. 5 years). The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest.
Alternatively, you could choose to save for life after work with a personal pension and you’ll get a 25% top up from the government on all your contributions in the form of pension tax relief. And since you invest in the stock market when you save into a pension, you may see more growth over the long term than if you had saved your retirement funds in a cash account. Although, it’s important to remember that you could get back less than you invest.
Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change.
Learn more about using a LISA vs Pension for retirement savings.
4. Don’t pay tax on your savings
Are you saving every spare penny you can in a current account? You could be paying tax on your hard-earned savings unnecessarily (and not to mention probably a low interest rate)! With the Moneybox Cash ISA, you’ll earn 5.17%* AER (variable) on your savings – totally tax-free – and you can save up to £20,000 each tax year.
There are loads of ways to save into a Moneybox Cash ISA, including with weekly or one-off deposits, or by rounding up your everyday purchases to the nearest pound and saving the difference.
How can I open a Cash ISA? Download the Moneybox app and deposit or transfer a minimum of £500 to open a Cash ISA in minutes. Click the button below to find out more about the Cash ISA.
3. Save smarter
Unlock a reward rate, build your savings, and enjoy next-day withdrawals (with a maximum of one per calendar month) with our Simple Saver. You can earn an exclusive Simple Saver reward rate of 1% (variable) on top of the underlying rate of 3.50% AER (variable), by keeping your balance above £0 in a qualifying Moneybox account.*
Important to know
*You will earn this reward rate if you either: have a balance above £0 in a qualifying account, which includes: Cash ISA, Stocks & Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA**, Junior ISA, Personal Pension, or; have a Reward Savings Account that hasn’t been cancelled. **If your balance in your Lifetime ISA drops to £0 then you are eligible to keep the reward rate for 12 months or until 13/02/2025, whichever date is later.