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.

Why do you care what your friend thinks? I can't understand why this is even a question

I do it too, though I do save separately too

My Tesco pay account did this, but they’re now closing it. I’ll look up the alternatives (chase? Plum? Both have been mentioned here). It is a good idea to basically save without realising you’re doing it.

I have been doing this automatically with Lloyds for probably 20 years if not longer. And at the end of each month, when my salary hits, I transfer anything unspent from the previous month's salary into savings. Psychologically, if it is not in my current account, it isn't available.

I do this with Revolut.

My current account is set up to do this , it rounds up spending to the nearest pound and then doubles it and that goes into one of my savings accounts .

My account rounds each transaction up for me and puts it into a savings account - it does add up (it’s optional)

I’m doing the 1p challenge. Today is day 135 and I have £90 without even noticing

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/team-blog/2019/12/the-1p-365-day-savings-challenge/

I do 'save the change' with Lloyds. Not quite the same but it rounds up every time I spend on my debit card. I've set it up to pay directly into my 'holiday fund' which grows nicely every month.

I do this. One current account rounds up each transaction into a savings account, the other into a LISA. Even our business account does it.

Monzo/ RBS/ Lloyd’s do this.. it’s a great way to save without thinking about it.. I use it as an emergency fund or put it into longer term savings each year

I doubt your friend thinks it's unreasonable. It is more likely she thinks it's stealth boasting - it comes across as a rather smug 'ooh, look at me, I'm so comfortable I have developed this 'easy way to save' by using actual money that other plebs might just need to spend'.

It's a sensible thing to do.

Even if people said it is weird, so what?

If live is so hand to month a person can't put aside less than a pound a day, then they're going to be totally screwed next time anything goes wrong in their lives. I think even in these straitened times most people can (or should) be putting aside £30 a month. How else can you pay for Christmas/birthdays/MOT/be tyres/new washing machine/new shoes for the kids?

If it was taking about saving hundreds of pounds a month then maybe I could understand, but if you did it every day you would expect to only save £15 on average a month.

I don't if you've noticed, but lots of people are struggling? That's the point, isn't it? People who used to feel able to save responsibly are finding it really hard, because there is a cost of living crisis.

I wouldn't, personally, choose right now to talk to my friends about my savings habits. And I certainly wouldn't presume that spare change (the OP puts it in inverted commas, so we're clearly meant to understand she doesn't just mean pennies) feels the same for everyone.

If she is talking about £15 per month, perhaps that's a little different, but it's not how I read the thread.

I don't think you can have read all the OP's posts? It is just a few pence, sometimes a few quid. I think she put it in inverted commas because it's just digital numbers, not actually real physical money.

Exactly, ours has done this for years.

Some accounts let you set the figure you want your current account balance to be and move funds back and forth between savings and current account

Monzo does round ups for me - I don’t use it too often because I’ve got a cashback prepaid card instead but even with my small spends on Monzo (usually for cashback when they have an offer) and I’ve just checked - I’ve got £111!

It all adds up, like putting the shrapnel into a pot at home. Why would you ask if this is AIBU??

It’s a great idea, but the money could be working harder for you compounding interest rather than in a savings account. Look at a stocks and shares isa. Join facebook Rebel Finance School- you’re on to some of their ideas already.

This .

She says it's sometimes pence, sometimes pounds, and it rounds up without her noticing. It sounds to me as if she can afford not to watch the pennies and pounds - all I'm saying is, that's a slightly tone-deaf thing to be discussing with friends just now. I would find it odd if a friend of mine discussed their saving plans.

Ok, possibly there's a drip feed and they'd organised a meet-up so they could discuss savings, I don't know. But if it's just a chat out of the blue, it seems to me much more likely that a friend who sounds a bit 'off' to the OP is simply someone who doesn't really want to hear savings tips.

Yes it’s totally weird and you must stop immediately.

a few pennies/odd pounds is hardly a 'savings plan' 😂