My ‘game-changer’ budgeting habit helped me save £9k – all I needed was my phone

IT’S all too easy to spend money with your smartphone, but Victoria Williams found it can be just as good at helping save cash.

The 40-year-old, who lives in London, has managed to put aside £9,163.97 in five years with the help of a money-saving app.

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Plum works out how much you can afford to save every four to five days and then sets it aside for you.

There are other money-saving apps on the market too, like Snoop and Emma, that help you to save in a similar way.

Victoria started using Plum in January 2019 when she realised she didn’t have a financial cushion.

Having a pot of savings to fall back on can help avoid having to borrow money in an emergency, which can often cost more as you pay interest.

The copywriter had tried saving money before using more traditional ways like transferring money into her savings account, but like many of us, she had little success and wasn’t sable to do it regularly.

With Plum, Victoria now saves without having to lift a finger – it’s all done automatically.

The savvy saver has put away thousands of pounds with a range of methods, including round-ups.

Every time she spends money, the transaction is rounded up to the nearest £1, and the extra swept up into her savings account, which can quickly add up.

For example, if she bought something that cost £19.30, then Plum will round up to £20 and put 70p in savings.

She said: “With cash, you inevitably end up with a load of coppers and 5ps as change, and you just lose it somehow.

“I’ve even been guilty of throwing away a penny because I’m never going to use it.

“Plum takes that annoying spare change and puts it to work for you.

“It’s amazing I’ve saved from just the odd penny here and there.”

Victoria connected her bank account to the app which means Plum can see her income and outgoings.

This means she can take advantage of another saving method, which regularly identifies how much she can afford to save.

The money is automatically transferred into a savings pot in the Plum app.

Because the app can see what you usually spend it makes sure you’re not left short, and only takes as much as you can afford to save each time

That means the amount can vary and Victoria saves between £10 and £50 per week.

In total, this has contributed to arounf two thirds of her total savings over the past five years – a whopping £6,092.97.

Victoria said she has never noticed the cash leaving her account.

She told The Sun: “When I first started using Plum, I was working as a sub-editor and it was relatively low-paid.

“This meant that saving large chunks of cash just didn’t seem achievable for me, so Plum was a total game-changer.

“The round-up feature and savings challenges ease you into saving and in the end, you don’t even notice the money leaving your account.”

Victoria has since moved into a higher-paying job and has opened an ISA, which she uses for emergency savings.

An ISA is a type of savings account but with tax benefits: you don’t pay tax on any interest you earn.

The most common types are cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs – where your money is invested in the stock market.

She now uses Plum to save for treats, like a pair of designer shoes she desperately wanted that came with an £800 price tag.

“I like to use Plum for fun stuff, like a pair of shoes or a new, fancy mascara,” Victoria said.

“Having this separate from my other savings means I don’t go raiding it when I want to treat myself.

“I also don’t need to worry about building Plum back up again because it happens without me having to give it any thought.”

There’s no fee or penalty for withdrawing your money and savings stashed with Plum are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000.

You can earn up to 3.72% AER in Plum’s easy access interest account – but you could find better interest rates elsewhere.

Interest is money that a bank pays you for putting your cash into one of its savings accounts.

The higher the interest is on an account, the more your money will grow, so it always pays to find the best rate you can.

I save money every time it rains

On top of automatic savings, Victoria set herself savings challenges too, adding £3,071 to her total pot.

With the 52-week challenge, she put £1 away during the first week, then £2 in the second week, then £3 in the third week, and so on.

Eventually, she put £52 into her pot during by the final week of the challenge.

By the time she completed it in November 2023 she had boosted her balance by £1,549.

Another “rainy days” challenge saw Victoria add a chunk of change to her savings on any day that it rains where she is.

The app links to a weather API (Application Programming Interface) and sets aside money automatically based on the forecast.

Victoria said: “I really like this feature because, obviously living in England, it rains a lot and I know that when it does, a nice little sum is going straight into my savings.”

So far she has stashed £254 since October 2023 using the feature.

Victoria has also set up and automatic weekly deposit of £2, putting away £204 since March 2022.

You can choose any amount and pause at any time if needed.

It’s worth noting though that Plum is a free app, but some features you have to pay for.

The basic version is free and lets you set up deposits and round-ups.

Plum Pro, which Victoria is subscribed to, costs £2.99 a month and comes with access to the 52 week challenge and rainy days rule, and access to a Stocks & Shares ISA.

Plum Ultra is £4.99 a month and comes with a Plum debit card, which can be loaded with cash for spending, and extra challenges like the 1p challenge.

A Premium version offers a better interest rate of 4.21% and more investment features, but it comes with a priced tag of £9.99.

Of course, you don’t have to download an app and pay to do these challenges.

You could do the 52-week challenge by manually moving the money into a savings account, or with physical cash and envelopes.

To take part, you’ll need to get 52 different envelopes and fill each one with a number from one to 52.

Each week, you then choose an envelope and put the amount of money that corresponds to the number in there.

If you choose an envelope with the number ten, for example, you need to put £10 in there.

Or if the envelope has the number 52, you’ll need to put away £52 that week.

Once you have done this for a year, you’ll have £1,378 saved.

What other money saving apps are there?

There are lots of other money apps that can help you to budget and save.

Most apps are free, but some may give you the option to upgrade your subscription.

Apps are a great way to start saving – but it’s important to make sure you don’t get sucked into paying for an app that isn’t helpful to you.

It’s definitely worth trying the free app first, and checking whether you can do what you need to without a cost, before being sucked into a monthly subscription.

Below, are several money saving apps that work in a similar way to Plum.

Snoop

You can connect Snoop to your bank account and credit cards and it’s free to use.

It gives you a personal robot to help you budget better and you’ll be notified about where you can make potential savings, such as by switching a utility provider.

You can also set up alerts so you don’t overspend.

Snoop can be downloaded for free onto your smartphone via the Apple or Google Play store.

Monzo

The online bank’s app gives a clear summary of your spending in different categories and rounds up outgoings to the nearest pound to set aside savings.

You’ll need to open a bank account with the app to get started.

It will then allow you to set up spending targets in categories, and a bill tracker flags if your direct debits are higher or lower than usual.

It can be downloaded it from your phone’s app store for free.

Emma

Emma is another free app that can be downloaded from either the Apple or Google Play store.

You can see all your accounts in one place and track spending in dozens of different categories.

You can set your own budgets, work out how you can save and receive regular bill and spending updates.

It’s a good way to get a snapshot of your overall finances and how to manage these best.

Banking apps

It’s well worth checking the budgeting options in your banking app.

Bank apps can alert you to your spending, and they might round it up each day, which helps you keep a closer eye on your spending as you go along.

Some of them will divide your spending into categories, so you can see far more clearly where your money is going, and where you need to cut back.

The free Natwest app, for example, has a spending and budget tracker that categories your spending and lets you set a budget to help you keep track of your outgoings.

If you bank with Barclays, you can download the free app to get spending alters to help to you stay on top of your balance.

You can also add spending limits and add a cap on how much you can spend using contactless.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money@the-sun.co.uk.

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