I’ve saved £16.8k in three years without even thinking about it – including the rounding up trick, how you can too

A YOUNG worker would find himself with just £20 left at the end of the month – but has now built up £16,800 by doing almost nothing.

Political consultant Jordan Leith, 27, from London, says he didn’t know much about finances in his early twenties.

But for the last three years he’s been using a money-saving app that’s helped him to put away thousands without even having to think about it. 

He uses Plum, which links up with your bank account and works out how much you can afford to save before setting it aside for you. 

You can also set up “savings rules” that automatically put away money in certain situations, such as when there’s a rainy day in your area or when you spend at a certain store you’ve identified as a guilty pleasure. 

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. 

Plum’s easy access savings pockets offers an interest rate of 3.53%, although you can get up to 4.17% if you pay monthly for Plum Max. 

Jordan says he started using Plum after talking to a friend about it in 2022. 

Over three years he’s managed to save up a huge £16,800 using a mixture of automated savings and savings rules. 

All he has needed to do is set up the automations and let the app do the rest of the work. 

“Saving was really hard for me before because I didn’t know how much to save at the start of each month,” he told The Sun. 

“I wasn’t sure how much to have saved or how much I’m allowed to spend on myself. But obviously Plum just does the work for you which is super easy because you don’t even think about saving.” 

Here is exactly what Jordan has done to build up his savings… 

Round Ups

Using Plum’s Round Ups feature has helped Jordan to build up a huge £1,539. 

The feature rounds up every purchase you make to the nearest pound and then saves the difference. 

So if you spend £4.50 in a shop, the app will put away 50p into your savings. 

“That saves a whole heap of money that you don’t even know that you’re spending,” Jordan says. 

“You’re never going to think about the 12p that you haven’t spent on a thing because you just bought it. 

“But when it gets added up that’s a nice tidy sum from just spare change.” 

Auto Saver

Another feature that’s helped Jordan save a large amount is the Auto Saver. 

Plum uses AI to work out how much you can afford to put away in savings each week depending on how much you’re spending. 

So if you’ve spent a lot in a particular week, it won’t put away as much into your savings, but on a lighter spending week it will save more. 

You can choose how much you want to aim for by setting a “mood” – which is either Shy, Chilled, Normal, Eager, Ambitious or Beast Mode. 

Ambitious will put away roughly 50% more than Normal mode in deposits, while the highest level Beast Mode will put away 75% more. 

Jordan says he’s got his Auto Saver set to Ambitious mode and has managed to build up a huge £9,500 as a result. 

Some weeks Plum will take out around £150 and other weeks it might go down to around £65. 

Weekly Deposit

On top of this, Jordan has a set amount that he puts away every week. 

He has this set at £38 currently and it’s helped him save £5,800 in total. 

With the Weekly Deposit, Plum will still calculate if he can afford to put it away each time. 

Rainy Days

Jordan also recently turned on the Rainy Days feature, which puts away a set amount of your choosing every time it rains in your area. 

He’s currently got this set at £2 per deposit and has managed to save £26. 

Naughty Rule

The Naughty Rule puts aside a set amount of money every time you spend at one of your guilty pleasure retailers. 

You can choose which shop you want to set this up for. 

Jordan currently has it set as McDonald’s, although he admits he actually hasn’t been to the fast food chain since he set up the rule.

“I should probably have Amazon or Asos or something like that,” he says. 

“Coming back to winter I know I’m going to get some autumn/winter clothes for work and whatever, so Asos will definitely get a scroll here and there.” 

‘I didn’t know what to do with my money before’ 

Jordan now has put £3,500 into investments, £10,300 into a Cash ISA and £1,500 in his Plum interest pocket. 

His annual salary is between £42,000 to £48,000, depending on how much he gets as a bonus. 

He says it does take some time for Plum’s algorithm to understand your spending habits, but once it kicks in “it’s like your best friend”. 

The 27-year-old says having the app has taught him a lot more about money. 

“When I left school I wasn’t financially literate and I didn’t know about savings accounts or interest rates or whatever,” he says. 

“I don’t think most kids do these days because it’s not really something that’s taught in schools.” 

He says he struggled with spending his money wisely at university and when his overdraft hit he would think “oh my god, I have no money”. 

But now his savings have given him a “safety net” in case anything goes wrong. 

“I wouldn’t say I’m frugal but I don’t have an extravagant lifestyle – like I don’t go clubbing all the time or whatever,” he says.

“It’s just that Plum makes it easier to live your life in a way that you’re not coming to the end of the month thinking ‘oh my god I’ve only got £20 left to spend, do I eat or do I go to the club?’ kind of thing’.

“If I overspend on my current account, I know I can just dip into my Plum savings rather than getting hit with a stupid interest charge.

“I’m not saving for something in particular but it’s good to have the safety net if I need it. 

“For instance if I had a spur of the moment idea to quit my job and go travelling, I know I’ve got the money there to do so.” 

Meanwhile his investments are going to be put towards his pension. 

“You have to save for yourself because, yes, wages and pensions are good but you need to work to help yourself, especially today,” he says.

What other money saving apps are there?

It’s also worth checking out these 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.

Of course, it’s important to make sure you don’t get sucked into paying for an app that isn’t helpful to you.

So it’s definitely worth trying the free app first and seeing if you can do what you need without a cost.

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.

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 utility providers.

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

You can get a clear summary of your spending in different categories using the online banking app.

Plus, you can round up outgoings to the nearest pound to set aside savings.

You can 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 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.

Money Dashboard

Money Dashboard is a free app for your phone that gives you spending categories to make budgeting simpler.

They can be seen on your personal dashboard and include things like essential bills and food.

You can set budgets and see what’s left each month.

The app will also let you know if you’re spending more than you can afford.