Learning to Squirrel My Money Away


Squirrel, Squirrel budgeting app, dear diary, zoella hand cream, MAC lipsticks, Micheal kors access watch

December has actually flown by and with New Years right around the corner, I've begun to think about the goals I want to set for myself for 2018 (there will be blog post very soon all about mine!). Every year I always set myself the goal of getting better with money and building my savings but without fail every year I seem to epically fail at this, luckily Squirrel have come to my rescue with their new budgeting app. 


Squirrel, Squirrel budgeting app, dear diary, zoella hand cream, MAC lipsticks, Micheal kors access watch

Squirrel is your own personal accountant! It helps you to easily budget out your wages to give you enough money for your bills, your saving goals and then gives you the rest throughout the month so there's no more stretching out that last £30 for the last two weeks before payday. It's super easy to set up and you even get to add your own pictures to your saving goal, what more of an excuse to you need to join?!

Now you're probably thinking it all sounds good but there must be a catch somewhere, there really isn't. The app works by diverting your monthly wages into a special prepaid account that is underwritten by Barclays and held in your name so your money is always yours at all times and is never lent out like in a normal bank account. It is also FCA regulated and backed by the Cabinet Office, meaning all your money is safe and sound. Squirrel literally acts like your personal accountant by holding some of your wages for savings and budgeting and once you reach that savings goal you set, the money is paid straight out into your bank account. 

I have been loving this app as whilst I have a savings account with Natwest, I have access to it via my banking app on my phone, so whilst I can be good and add money into it whenever I get paid, I can also take money straight back out at the drop of a hat! Squirrel doesn't let me do that, you can either have it set up to have your wages paid straight into it or you can transfer them across from your current account (I've been transferring it as it can be so fiddly getting bank accounts changed in work, it was easier that way). You then input all your bills in with the dates that they need to be paid and add in your savings goals, Squirrel with then puts aside the money for your savings and bills for that month and then budgets your remaining wages for the rest of the week, so you get a portion of your wages every week so you never have to utter the words 'I've got no money til next week'! There's also no need to worry about those bills that aren't right by payday as Squirrel puts aside money from your wages for your bills and then pays it into your current account right before the bill is due. 

I've got mine set up so every payday I transfer my wages over and set aside the money for my bills. My current saving goals are saving money for furniture for when I move out and I've also started saving for Christmas next year! Whilst you can get the rest of the wages paid straight into your bank account, I decided to go for weekly payments of my remaining wages to spread out my money and hopefully even save a bit more. I have downloaded so many budget apps over the past year that just don't do exactly what I wanted and Squirrel does exactly what I want and more, I only started using it this month but already this month has gone 100 times better in terms of budgeting compared the rest of 2017! I'm so excited to see how my budgeting improves over 2018 and it's all thanks to this amazing little app.

I'd highly recommend Squirrel for anyone who's like me and isn't very good at budgeting or has some saving goals they want to meet in 2018. You can join on their website or download the app from the App store and Google Play

Are you a good budgeter?

Speak to you next time!
*This post is a sponsored collaboration with Squirrel.
All thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own.
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Danielle Levy
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