In The Plum Diary, we thrive on finding out how you manage your money. Because your advice can help other Plumsters hone in on the right personal finance strategy for them 🤓

Today we’re speaking to Cal, a software salesperson from Lancashire.

If you’ve ever felt like your finances are a dead end, or that you’re not finding the most effective ways to make your money go further... then Cal’s epic journey might inspire you with fresh ideas.

Let’s take a look at the challenges Cal was facing, and how he’s been using the Plum app to help automate his savings and start earning a return on his cash 📈

Cal’s personal finance challenge

Although Cal felt he earned a decent wage, he admitted he wasn’t always the most financially savvy person, saying he was “terrible with money”.

We don’t believe there is such a thing! But Cal identified he was struggling to set money aside because of the way he structured his savings habits. He had standing orders set up into different savings accounts, but couldn’t keep himself motivated with the slow progress he was making ⏳

Cal was tired of seeing such low returns on his savings and so would end up spending leftover sums at the end of the month. Money that was meant for his savings accounts!

However, Cal knew that there had to be more to managing his personal finances than just “getting 50p a month” in interest.

Cal’s journey to Plum

Our mission is to make people’s financial lives easier.

One of the ways we do this is by facilitating conversations around finances, because we believe it’s important to talk openly about money.

Cal discovered Plum through a friend, who recommended our financial super app as a good way to start putting money aside for his goals.

This was especially important given that Cal and his fiancé were saving for their wedding 🍾  And although he was initially apprehensive about the idea of allowing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to save for him, Cal quickly began to reap the financial benefits of using Plum.

Discovering the power of automation

With Plum in the palm of his hand, Cal was able to start saving more efficiently. Our smart AI was tucking money away without him needing to think about it, which gave him and his partner “that extra trickle going through that we don’t notice” and that it “built up over the year”.

Plum has now helped Cal save around £4,000, but he’s got ambitions to go much further! Having saved a lot more during lockdown, Cal and his fiancé now have the momentum to keep saving more post-pandemic.

As Cal puts it, “We needed to start making a little bit more effort.”

Cal has also found additional motivation because he’s able to earn a competitive interest rate on his savings. Plum Easy Access Interest Pockets are provided by Investec Bank, covered by the FSCS and pay interest of up to 0.40% APR.

Finally, Plum empowered Cal to begin doing something he’d always had reservations about previously… he started investing!

Investing for the first time with the Plum app

When it comes to traditional investing, that first step can feel daunting 🙀

All the confusing jargon and complicated ideas can make figuring out when or if we want to take the plunge seem a bit overwhelming.

As a first-time investor, Cal also found himself feeling uneasy before making the jump from “just sticking it in the bank account” to investing his hard-earned money in real companies.

Some of his friends had lost money through their own investments in the past, and Cal thought “I don’t have the time to invest in learning how to do it, and I don’t want to lose all my money”.

However, after learning more about mutual funds from the Plum app and looking at their past performances, Cal came to a realisation that “hang on a minute, I need to start doing that.” ⏰

Although we all know that the past performance of investments is not a reliable indicator of future results (because the value of your investments can go down as well as up), Cal decided to begin his investment journey.

He’s experimented with the range of mutual funds available through the Plum app, including the Best of British fund. However, since he works in the technology industry, Cal finally found his own investing niche with our Tech Giants and Rising Stars funds.

Cal is now hooked on using Plum to help him invest because of “just how easy it was to do”. He’s even got some advice for first-time investors: “don’t panic if your funds lose value”.

Building savings with Plum

A few months on, Cal’s loving the growth that he’s seeing from his money with Plum. What’s more, he’s managing to save more and is hoping to have £20,000 built up towards his wedding by the end of the year!

Cal loves Plum’s smart AI and playful character, so he enjoys receiving his daily communications. What he likes most about Plum is “how visual it is”, which makes managing your money through the app super intuitive.

So, to finish off with some final words from Cal, Plum is quite simply a “really friendly way of doing business.”

Great going Cal 🙌  From all of us here at Plum we wish you the best of luck. We hope to see you riding off happily into the sunset with your fiancé as soon as possible.

Do you have a Plum story to tell? Let us know by emailing us at press@withplum.com

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