To skim my bank account and move the “spare change” into savings?

[NattyLemonCat]

I’ve got into the habit of skimming my bank account every so often and moving the leftover bits (the “shrapnel”) into a savings account and just letting it build up over time.
It’s not huge amounts but it feels like an easy way to save without really noticing it.

AIBU to do this? A friend said it’s weird.

YABU

I do it most days and put it onto my (fortunately not massive) credit card. I like my bank to be at a £xx.00 balance!

A lot of banks will do this automatically for you these days

Why?

@Fascinatei was just going to same the same thing. Whatever I spend it’s rounded up and the extra bit goes in my online savings, it’s usually more than £20 a month and I don’t miss it.

My current account does this automatically every time I use my debit card - rounds up to the nearest pound and transfers the change to my savings. It all adds up over time

When you say shrapnel are you meaning pence? As in if you have £125.64 in your account you'd move 64p into a savings account? Or would you move £5.64 to get it to £120? And how often Is every so often? Every few days? Every few weeks? Less than a pound every few weeks isn't going to build up to much at all across a year, but a few pounds every few days seems like it would be worthwhile doing.

Exactly. I bank with Chase and they move it into a 5% rate savings account. (Their standard rate is 2.25%, so it builds up quite nicely). I let it build up there until it's worth moving an investment account.

I think that’s a great idea! I think I’ll do that too.

I have a Chase account that does this automatically and earns me interest on the round up. It’s surprising how much you can squirrel away. I do love a savings pot!

My bank does this for me. It adds up surprisingly quickly.

I mean more like the random leftover bits rather than strict pennies - sometimes it’s pence, sometimes a few pounds just to round it down. There’s no real schedule either, just whenever I think about it or notice it’s built up a bit. It’s definitely not huge amounts but I like that it builds up without me really noticing.

I've done this since I got the app. Keep £300 in my current account max. The rest in savings instant access for when I need to do pay a DD or pay off my bcard.

That way I feel if my card is cloned there's bugger all in the account.

@NattyLemonCat lots of accounts do this it’s called round ups , it really adds up . So every time you pay with your debit card it rounds it up and transfers it to a savings account set up alongside your current account . It soon adds up

You like doing it
it doesn't cost you anything
its your bank account

what could possibly be unreasonable about it?

I think I just needed reassurance it’s not as weird as my friend made it sound 😅

Agree. My bank does this - they call it “save the pennies” and it does build up. It’s a great idea 👍.

I do something similar. As soon as my pay has gone in and my direct debits have gone out I shift everything in my current account over to my savings account, leaving about £100 max in my current account.

In the meantime I use my tesco credit card (to get the points) for all my shopping, petrol etc. Then when the bill comes in I have the money sitting in the savings account ready to pay the credit card in full.

But if you don't do it, the money just sits in your current account instead, what's the difference?

Loads of banks offer this, and therefore lots of people do this, it’s not weird.

I was going to say this - it’s a really normal thing to do!

I use Plum. I like the fact that its not my normal bank so I can forget about it.

I use plum. It’s really easy to use, has loads of ways to save and skim and give instant withdrawals when u need to.

Of course it's not 'weird' most banking services do it now (mine doesn't, or they may & I've said 'no thanks' 💁🏻‍♀️)

It's not something I choose to do but there's nothing weird about it.

The other thing I have done for many years is shift a bit over to the savings account every month when I got paid. It started off as £20 and I have more money now so it’s a lot more, but that little cushion was very welcome in the years I was having to watch every penny.