One woman's simple trick could help people save more than £1,000 over the course of a year.
The budgeting hack involves putting the last digit of your bank account balance into a savings account, and while that may not sound like much, it can quickly add up.
According to a tip on social media, a straightforward way to save money involves taking a small amount out of your account each day. To make things easier, some banks even have a 'round up' feature that automatically saves small amounts.
The idea was posted to TikTok by a user named Kathryn who shares financial tips, tricks and guidance to her nearly 25,000 followers under the username @everylittlepenny.
She says: "So this is one of the easiest ways that you can save money. Every day you just go into your bank account and you transfer the last digit of your balance into your savings account."
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In Kathryn's case, she saved £33 and, if she were to save a similar amount each week, she would pocket £1,716 over the course of a year.
The amount you save could vary week-to-week, but it is an easy method that could help you build up your savings over time without having a major impact on weekly expenses.
The clip is now just shy of 100k views and has dozens of comments from viewers who have shared their thoughts on the hack.
One TikTok user wrote: "That’s quite a good idea!!"
Another commented: "I do this every time I spend out of bank. round it up just like save the change and then monthly I pop in sub account"
Others added that you don't have to do this manually as there are certain round up banking options that do something similar every time you use your credit or debit card.
One TikTok user pointed out: "You can do round-up with Natwest. I do it and I had something like £49 at the end of the week. It was crazy."
Another commenter added: "Most banking apps have a ‘save the change’ feature which will round card transactions up to the next pound…providing you have sufficient funds."
How does the round-up banking feature work?
A number of banks offer round up features that function in a similar way to this trick that automates the move, meaning you won't have to manually transfer money into a savings account.
Banks under the NatWest group and under the Lloyds banking group offer a round up or save the change feature.
NatWest banks
NatWest group banks include NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank and Coutts.
Their round up feature will move change from purchases from a current account to an instant savings account.
Their website explains: "Pay with your debit card or contactless device - say it's £2.30 for a coffee. We'll round up the amount to the nearest pound. We'll send your spare change, in this instance 70p, to your savings account."
Lloyds banks
The Lloyds Banking Group includes Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland. A 'Save the change' setting from Lloyds that functions in the same fashion.
Their website states: "Make sure Save the Change is turned on. You can easily control this through Internet Banking. When you're in credit, what you spend is rounded up to the nearest pound. We transfer the change to your Lloyds savings account the next working day"
Apps
It's not just banks, as a commenter on Kathryn's video points out: "I did this with Moneybox. Which I prefer as you cannot easily access it."
Martin Lewis' MoneySavingExpert states that these autosaving apps do not protect your money in the same way that banks do, but can be useful if you do not have a savings account.
You can often have more control over these apps, limiting the amount that they can take from your account each day.
The MSE guide states that Plumb Basic, Chase and Moneybox also offer autosaving app services.
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