It’s good to save. You know this, I know this and yet…so few of us do this. We recall our parents telling us as children that it’s good to save for a rainy day. Lately however we have been encouraged more and more by banks to borrow, whether it’s personal loans or credit cards with 0% APR offerings we have somehow forgotten to put a little of what we have aside. The end result is, as we have noticed world-wide, a disastrous state of affairs.

That said, now, more than ever, is a great time to start saving.  If you look at your current account, if you are lucky you’ll be earning something under 1% an average rate is about 0.10% that’s not much is it?  however banks and building societies are keen to have your money, no matter how little and they are willing to offer good returns for it.  Take the Nationwide for instance.  If you open an E-Savings Plus account with them today you’ll earn an attractive 2% interest for the first year and you can make 3 withdrawals without it affecting the rate you earn.  Whilst this might not seem like a lot when compared to 0.10% it’s a veritable fortune!

Another advantage of the E-Savings Plus account is that you need to open a Nationwide Flex Account to get it.  Now, this doesn’t mean you have to switch banks, you merely need this account to withdraw money from the savings account.  So no 3 days to wait for it to transfer between banks, your money is available instantly to withdraw from an ATM.  What makes this so good is the fact that the Nationwide are currently the only financial institution that do not charge you a fee when you use your card abroad.  Banks like NatWest and Barclays currently charge around 2.5% as a handling fee every time you use your card outside the UK.

So why not open an E-Savings Plus account today to save for next years holiday?  Not only will you earn a decent rate of interest on your savings, come next year you’ll be able to spend it overseas without paying more on bank charges than you usually would?  You know it makes sense and you know your parents would finally approve of you doing something sensible with your cash!