The Money Brunch 1p Savings Challenge
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, I give to you a spreadsheet.
Last week, I mentioned that Monzo had launched an automated 1p savings challenge. Each day it automatically saves the amount corresponding to the day of the year. I.e. on day 1 you save 1p, on day 26 it’s 26p, and so on.
By 31 December you end up with £667.95. And one Monzo customer will win £10,000.
I thought this was cool. But realised you don’t earn interest on these savings. And the feature hasn’t even launched yet, despite the challenge starting 5 days ago.
So I’m proposing a savings challenge, Money Brunch style.
Step 1: You open a savings account that pays interest.
The easiest way to do this is to go into your existing banking providers and see what they offer (e.g. I have a Chase account, and can — in seconds — open an account with 3.5%. It’s not the highest interest rate on the market, but it’s not the worst. And it’s better than 0%. You can always switch accounts later in the year; for now, just get started.
Step 2: You pick a daily amount to commit to.
It might be 1p, it might be 50p, it might even by £1 (or $ or € or other currency of your choosing). Pick something that will work for your situation (you can model this in the sheet I’ve created, to see what’s feasible).
Step 3: Each month, transfer the money!
How do you keep track of this, or figure out how much to transfer? I have a gift for you!
Here’s the Money Brunch 1p Savings Challenge sheet! Just make a copy, change the amount you want to save each month… and get cracking!
Let me know if you’re joining me?
1. Post-Christmas blues as UK bosses try to turn back clock on hybrid working
Five years on from the pandemic, and it seems that now is the time that companies are forcing staff to go back to the office in the UK.
Interestingly, “UK staff have been slower to return to their desks after the pandemic than their counterparts in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US.”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; it’s an employer’s market out there. Rising costs and economic insecurity mean that more and more people are having to settle for jobs without flexibility. Because they come with guaranteed monthly incomes and benefits.
And workers don’t have ways to speak for themselves as a collective.
Unlike over at the Metropolitan police; where “civilian staff… who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union voted to go on strike for the first time after managers upped their office attendance requirement.”
So what can individuals do? Buckle in, build up savings and security, find ways to make yourself less reliant on borrowing — and get better at ‘half-assing’ work. That’s not from the article; that’s just my view.
2. Nearly half of working aged people are considering launching their own business or side-hustle this year
“47% of working age Britons said they were contemplating the idea, up from 35% a year ago.”
Interestingly, people typically expect to earn £34,000 in the first year of operating a business full-time.
Men said their earnings would come in at around £37,865.
Women said they’d earn £28,658 — a forecast of nearly £10,000 less.
Side-hustlers said they expected to make £5,76 in their first year.
This research was done by Enterprise Nation; they’re running a Startup Show on 25 January in London (tickets are £40 in person, £5 to watch the talks online). Might be interesting for those looking to start something.
Some other tips for getting started can be found here, they include:
Prepare for highs and lows
Create a financial buffer (SO important!)
Choose your trading status
“It used to be the case that once you earned £40,000, it would be more tax-efficient to set up a limited company. But the tax rules and thresholds have changed, so it’s now not too much of a tax advantage compared to being a sole trader.”
3. Young families are stuck in their starter homes thanks to the UK housing crisis
You know the story, boy meets girl, couple decides to buy a place together — then they start a family. And they’re stuck in their one-bed flat. Romance, eh?
The problem is that the cost difference between a flat and a two-bed home is vast. And these two-bed homes are ideal for landlords. So there’s a massive shortage of these properties.
“London is a particularly hot housing market, but this is a story I heard again and again from “second steppers” up and down the country. I chatted with families from Sheffield to Somerset and no one was asking for much – no en suites or home offices, just an extra bedroom.”
“Renters, first-time buyers and second steppers are not on the bottom rungs of a “property ladder”, they’re the bottom layers of a property pyramid as these groups transfer wealth to those at the top. In Property: The Myth that Built the World, the Observer’s architecture critic, Rowan Moore, writes: “Property [has become] a Ponzi scheme, reliant on ever-increasing prices and on continuous input of funds from newcomers at the bottom of an expanding pyramid.” At some point, wages and property prices cleave so far apart that people are unable to fund their deposits or mortgage payments.”
At the same time, cash buyers pay 13% less than mortgage buyers for properties. It all compounds.
Yikes.
Links!
British Airways has redesigned its Executive Club loyalty programme, which is going to make it harder for leisure travellers to get Gold status, but does allow you to earn points from booking holidays through BA. I’ve been stuck on ‘Blue’ forever (the lowest tier you can go to). The changes kick in from 1 April.
Over a third of shoppers are ‘searching for a holiday bargain in the January sales’ — this includes yours truly. Apparently yesterday was ‘Super Saturday’ or ‘Sunshine Saturday;’ the biggest day for bookings. Just beware scams as per.
Know someone who would enjoy this in their inbox on a Sunday morning?