Regular readers will know that I am currently on a no spend January. Post-Christmas can feel like a harsh month after the frenzy of Christmas spending. I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to a summer holiday at this point as well. We always put money aside for a vacation (or two if we are lucky!). January and February mean no council tax payments, so they have gone straight in the pot.
An easy way to put money aside
To aid me with my holiday escape plans, I have just discovered a clever little smart phone app called Chip, which I hope will help me to add to the holiday fund in the most painless way possible.
Chip automatically puts money aside for you based on your spending habits, so you can stash a little cash away without even feeling it. Using AI to scan your transaction history, Chip moves the perfect amount so you won’t even notice it’s gone!
Chip was so quick to install and set up, plus it’s super easy to use. I tried a similar one before but it was so fiddly and over-complicated I never completed the set up.
How to get your £10 bonus
Even better, Chip is currently giving new customers £10*. If you sign up now using my unique code, after just two auto-saves you will be eligible for the £10 bonus.
Whether you want to put money aside for next Christmas or need a new car in the future, are desperate for festival tickets or want to add to your emergency fund, if you struggle to be disciplined enough then Chip will do the work for you.
How does Chip work?
It took me just a few minutes to download the Chip app and get it set up. I connected it to my bank account and I was good to go.
In case you are worried about divulging your online banking credentials, these are only shared with your bank and Chip can’t see or store them. Your bank will share your transaction data with Chip via Open Banking (the financial data sharing initiative set up by the government to shake things up).
To work out how much you should put aside, Chip has analysed over 180 million transactions, using average data from all Chip savers. They cross reference this data against your profile, taking into account factors like your age and where you live in their calculations.
Once you fully connect your bank, Chip can use your transaction data to calculate exactly how much you can afford move to your Chip account, based on how much you’re spending. You want a useful amount but you don’t want to miss the money, go into your overdraft or notice a sharp dip in your bank balance. Chip’s AI is smart enough to make sure none of those things happen.
Chip is super flexible
Chip automatically moves your money into a Chip account (an ‘automatic save’) every few days. However, you’ll get a notification so you have the chance to cancel an automatic save before any money leaves your bank account. You can also move money manually if you want to add to your total – up to £10,000 if you are so inclined!
Chip is great if, like me, your income varies each month. If you connect your bank account, the AI cleverly changes the auto-save amount to suit what’s going on. You don’t have to commit to a set amount or set up a standing order.
You can also create goals for yourself. Not surprisingly, I made a holiday spending money 2020 goal. I only have one auto-save so far, but that has gone straight into that fund. I figure that Chip’s little and often approach should get the job done.
Seeing as I am not spending much during January, I figure that Chip will take very little. However, it will be interesting to see how this changes in the coming months and if I can hit my £300 target for holiday spending money.
I think Chip will be really appealing to many people, not just the smart phone generation, but those of us who can afford to put a little more away and just never get around to it.
If you download the app, don’t forget to input my code when you complete the download process, to make sure you get the £10 welcome bonus!
Are you putting money aside this year, and what are you saving for?
*After two auto-saves, you will be eligible for the £10 welcome bonus. This is usually within 2 weeks. The bonus will then be credited to your Chip account within 30 days.
Full disclosure: I haven’t been paid to write this post, but I will receive a commission for every reader who signs up and receives their bonus payment.
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