According to a study carried out by the Abbey National recently a number of UK people are dipping into their savings in order to pay their ongoing bills.
The Abbey National was looking specifically at money held in ISAs and, having seen around GBP6 billion taken out of them asked customers what the money had been used for. Just over 30 percent of people said it was to cover day to day expenses, the most popular answer provided.
Although it can seem easy to use savings to cover costs the issue comes a little later said an Abbey National spokesman. If a cash ISA had the maximum put into it then any withdrawals cannot be made up later, leaving the account holder with a reduced return through interest.
A new savings account has been introduced by Saga Insurance that tracks five of the main savings accounts available online to ensure it is always competitive.
Called the Online Top 5 Tracker this new savings account follows the movements of the five top paying savings accounts based on the internet. The new Saga Insurance savings account offers instant access to money and no limit on the number of times customers access the account it is sure to be popular.
The way the tracker account works is by taking the average interest rate offered by the top 5 and then paying a level of interest that is within a quarter of a percent of that average. This ensures Saga Insurance savings account customers are always receiving a rate of interest that is competitive, no matter how the top 5 may change.
According to information from the Abbey National savings division the people of the UK have been putting their money away to pay for a summer holiday, with Europe being the most popular choice.
With the value of the pound dropping against the Euro this means that summer holidays will cost more this year, meaning consumers need to save more for their break. With the average holiday costing over GBP1,600 it is good that the people of the UK have been saving their money to cover this cost, although a small percentage will be using their credit cards to pay.
The monthly cost for the average holiday is a little under GBP140, which could have earned the full amount needed in one of the excellent Abbey National savings accounts.
