You're halfway through 2026. Some of you switched banks in January. Others have been at this for years. But here's the thing: most people never actually calculate what they've earned, so they don't know whether the strategy is working or whether it's just eating their time.
This is the post to fix that. Let's do a proper mid-year audit, figure out what you've actually made, and decide what comes next.
Why June Matters for Banking Strategy
June is the inflection point. By now, January bonuses have cleared. Any switching you did in spring is settled. You've had six months of interest accruing. And you've got six months ahead to course-correct if you need to.
This is also when switching starts to feel different. Early in the year, bonuses feel frequent and exciting. By June, the novelty wears off, accounts become a chore to manage, and you might be wondering whether this whole thing is actually worth your time.
The answer depends entirely on your numbers. And most people haven't looked at them.
The Audit: What to Calculate
You need three numbers: total earnings, total hours spent, and earnings per hour. This matters because switching only makes sense if the time investment justifies the return.
Bank switch bonuses. Go through your transaction history for each account opened since January. Find every bonus deposit. Add them up. Don't estimate—actually check. Write the number down.
Interest earned. This one catches people out. Your interest isn't just the rate. It's the rate multiplied by how much you had in each account and for how long. If you had £3,000 in an account paying 4% for six months, you made roughly £60 in interest (actually £59.40 if we're precise, because daily accrual). Do this for every account you hold. It sounds tedious, but most banking apps show you year-to-date interest. Just add them all up.
Stoozing interest. If you're using 0% credit cards to earn savings interest, separate this out. Calculate how much you actually earned by putting borrowed money in a savings account at a higher rate. This is often the biggest earner people overlook because they're embarrassed about it, but it's completely legitimate.
Regular saver interest. If you're using regular saver accounts (especially those paying 7% or higher), calculate the actual interest earned on your deposits to date. Many of these accounts require a minimum deposit per month for the rate to apply—make sure you've hit that threshold.
Add these up. That's your actual earnings.
The Hours: Be Honest About Time
Now the part people hate: how many hours have you actually spent on this?
Count:
- Time researching which accounts to open
- Time filling out applications
- Time setting up direct debits
- Time transferring money between accounts
- Time monitoring cooling-off periods
- Time managing stoozing repayments
- Time tracking interest and bonuses
- Time responding to failed applications or issues
Be conservative but honest. If you spent three hours applying to four accounts, that's 45 minutes per account. If you've opened 6 accounts since January, that's at least 4.5 hours right there. Add the rest up.
Divide your total earnings by your total hours. That's your effective hourly rate. Is it better than your actual hourly rate? If not, the question becomes: are you doing this for the interest earnings, or are you doing it for the satisfaction of optimising? (Both are valid answers, but only one of them justifies continuing.)
The Reality Check: What Good Looks Like
For context: if you've opened four accounts, earned two bonuses averaging £150 each, and made £200 in interest, your total is £500 over six months. If that took 8-10 hours, you've earned £50-62.50/hour. That's reasonable.
If you've opened six accounts, hit multiple switching bonuses, earned good interest, but spent 25 hours managing it all, you're down to £20-25/hour. That still beats minimum wage, but barely.
If you've opened three accounts, the bonuses didn't arrive yet, and you're spent 15 hours chasing applications and troubleshooting, you're currently at £0 per hour and frustrated. This is the group that quits too early.
The spreadsheet approach from StoozeMax tools can help you track this properly—use the earnings calculator to log everything in one place.
What Your Numbers Tell You
If you're earning £40+/hour: Keep going. This is working. Your time investment is reasonable for the return. Plan your Q3 strategy strategically (you don't need to switch constantly, but selective switching is worth it).
If you're earning £20-40/hour: Sustainable, but only if you don't burn out. Consider shifting to "set and forget" mode—stop actively hunting for new bonuses and focus on maximizing interest on accounts you've already got. Regular savers and interest-bearing current accounts might deliver better hours going forward than constant switching.
If you're earning less than £20/hour or uncertain: Audit your process. Most likely culprits are: you're using non-qualifying direct debits and missing bonuses, your applications are being rejected and you're spending time on recoveries, or you're tracking manually instead of using a system. Fix the bottleneck. Also consider whether you're in a cooling-off slog—if you are, it's temporary. By September, your accounts will be clear and switching will feel easier again.
The Q3 Strategy Question
Here's what the June audit should answer: do you keep switching in Q3, or shift to a different strategy?
Keep switching if:
- You're earning more than 25/hour
- You have fewer than five open accounts (so you've got room without overwhelming yourself)
- New bonuses are still being advertised regularly (check live offers to see what's available)
- You enjoy the optimization—it's not just duty
Shift to interest focus if:
- Switching hours per hour has dropped below 25
- You're tired of applications and rejections
- You've maxed out your switching strategy (you've opened enough accounts that further switches mean waiting for cooling-off periods)
- You want to simplify your life while still earning
If you shift to interest, here's what that looks like: stop opening new accounts. Take the accounts you've got and maximize the interest they earn. Move money to accounts with better rates. Use regular savers if you haven't already—many are paying 6-7% and they're the most boring but reliable earner available. Consider best savings rates to find where your money works hardest.
The Spreadsheet Reality
Here's what actually works long-term: a simple tracker that you update once a week, not once a day. Track:
- Account name and opening date
- Bonus received (if any) and when
- Current interest rate
- Current balance
- Date account is eligible to switch again
That's it. You don't need complex formulas. Just a running picture of what you own and when it matures.
The reason this matters: people quit banking strategies because they try to optimize obsessively and burn out. The people who keep winning are the ones who have a system, use it once a week, and let it work in the background. You don't need to think about this every day.
Common Questions
I haven't tracked anything yet. Is it too late to audit? Not quite. Most banks show year-to-date interest earned in your account settings. Your transaction history shows bonus deposits. It'll take an hour to gather, but you can still do it. Do it now—it'll inform your Q3 decisions.
My applications got rejected. Do I count that time as lost? Yes and no. The rejection is lost time, but it's useful data. Figure out why (age of account, too many recent applications, credit profile) and adjust. If you're in rejection purgatory, take a break for 4-6 weeks and come back. It's demoralizing to count that time as "earning zero," but it does mean your hourly rate is lower. That's information that should change your strategy.
Should I close accounts to reduce management headache? Not yet. Most accounts have a "bonus lock-in" period where closing early forfeits the bonus. Check your terms. After that lock-in (usually 12 months), yes—close accounts that aren't earning interest. Keep the two or three that pay the most. Simplification is worth giving up mediocre earnings.
What if my earnings are uneven across accounts? That's normal and good. You might have one account paying 5% interest, one paying 1%, and one paying a £100 bonus with 0% interest. That's fine. The mix averages out. Focus on total earnings, not on evening them out.
Is this taxable? Some of it. Bank bonuses are usually considered gifts and aren't taxable (though this changes if you're claiming them as business income or if they're exceptionally large—the HMRC guidance is murky). Interest is definitely taxable if you exceed your personal savings allowance. See our tax guide for current allowances, but if you're earning £1,000+ in interest annually, you'll have a tax bill. Factor that into your calculations.
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