MoneyBoxApp

AWPTheo

Hiya,

Have done a search of the forums but not found anything relating to this app specifically. Basically every time you spend, it rounds the change up to the nearest pound and saves it for you. Has anyone used this app before? You can apparently invest your change into companies like Netflix, Unilever and Disney...

Any experiences?

Thank you :beer:

AndyT678

I'd say opinion is divided.

If I recall correctly, a chap called Anthorn thinks it's brilliant and everybody else in the world thinks that there are better, cheaper ways of achieving the same results.

lildoonbuggy

I've used the app since March and built up £500 in 'change' over that time, for which I have paid £5 in fees. At this time my overall gains are 0.4% but that's after the most recent economic forecasts. Before that I was regularly at 3% growth. For my purposes, it's perfect. I don't notice the cash go out each week, and it predicts where you will end up (at the current rate of investment I will have £20k in 10 years). Are there better investments out there - no doubt. But I want something hands off whilst I experiment and diversify with existing real estate and pension investments. I have piece of mind with it being FCA approved, and it is safe, secure and mindless in operation.

If you want control over what you invest in, I would not recommend the app. It allows you to choose risk portfolios and the level of roundups to apply but that seems to be about the extent of it. However if you want to dabble but aren't ready to commit, this is a great app to try. I believe there is a fee free period as well. Although I considered cashing out after the fees kicked in, I am very happy with the app and the way it slots in with my lifestyle so am happy to keep it for 10 years and beyond.

bigadaj

lildoonbuggy wrote: »

I've used the app since March and built up £500 in 'change' over that time, for which I have paid £5 in fees. At this time my overall gains are 0.4% but that's after the most recent economic forecasts. Before that I was regularly at 3% growth. For my purposes, it's perfect. I don't notice the cash go out each week, and it predicts where you will end up (at the current rate of investment I will have £20k in 10 years). Are there better investments out there - no doubt. But I want something hands off whilst I experiment and diversify with existing real estate and pension investments. I have piece of mind with it being FCA approved, and it is safe, secure and mindless in operation.

If you want control over what you invest in, I would not recommend the app. It allows you to choose risk portfolios and the level of roundups to apply but that seems to be about the extent of it. However if you want to dabble but aren't ready to commit, this is a great app to try. I believe there is a fee free period as well. Although I considered cashing out after the fees kicked in, I am very happy with the app and the way it slots in with my lifestyle so am happy to keep it for 10 years and beyond.

Are you currently at £5 net profit, or £3 net loss?

cloud_dog

lildoonbuggy wrote: »

I've used the app since March and built up £500 in 'change' over that time, for which I have paid £5 in fees.

So, either you have been ever so slightly disingenuous of the facts of the fees, or it is possible you don't understand the fee structure?

You have been with the provider since March, 9 months in total, and the provider charges £1 per month, per account (GIA or ISA). Lets assume they charge in arrears that means £8; minus the first three free months leaves us with £5. Not sure you can ignore the three free months as that is a one off. So, the cost for eight months is £8.

Plus there is a 0.45% annual platform charge.

So, if we extrapolate out your £500 over eight months for a one year appraisal you might have £750 after one year. Total costs would be £12 plus £3.37 which equals £15.37, which equates to a charge of approx 2% per annum.

Obviously the £12 per year cost will reduce the impact on the overall cost as your fund grows.

To put it another way. HL charge 0.45% only for their offering and whilst they are well regarded for their service they are considered expensive.

Every time I hear about these types of apps, I can't help thinking of WALL-E (the film)

bobobski

Personally this app wouldn't work for me as a dedicated YNAB-er. The concept that you haven't budgeted this money in the first place, so much so that you "don't notice" it leaving your account, terrifies me. But then I used to be awful with money and only turned that around by strictly following the "give every dollar a job" rule; not everyone has the same money mindset.

Malthusian

lildoonbuggy wrote: »

I've used the app since March and built up £500 in 'change' over that time, for which I have paid £5 in fees.

Assuming that the amount of change rounded up follows a uniform distribution between 0p and 99p, which means that the average amount saved per transaction is near-as-dammit to 50p, that suggests 1,000 transactions in that time, which depending on exactly where in March you started means somewhere between 240-270 days.

So you're using whichever card / account is attached to MoneyBox around 4 times a day.

Now obviously I have no idea of your lifestyle but I suggest that most people who use their card 4 times a day could save a lot more money than a few pennies if they actually wanted to.

Jibeddy

The confusing for me is, surely after a month or 2 of using such an app (even if you're quite bad at budgeting) you'd have a rough idea of exactly how much money you can part with each month and you could just find a better product to put that sum of money?

cloud_dog

Yes, we are moving to a world where Alexa will sort your life out for you and then, when your life isn't sorted how you'd like it, you have someone to blame (who can't argue back; probably will be able to in the years to come).

lildoonbuggy

Whoa, forgot about this post but can see I have spooked some! (If any admins are listening - when do we get an app with notifications? ) Obviously didn't want to set the hares racing, so happy to clarify any points that may help someone else to choose an investment channel that works best for them. This is based only in my experience.

To date I have made gross gains of £9.31 of which £5.40 went to fees. This leaves me with a total profit of £3.91 (or +0.82%, though as mentioned this was averaging at +3% until the recent forecast). In terms of the fees, I assume based on the figures that my fee free period ended 5 months ago.

In terms of my card payments, no I'm not a mindless spender. I do have a fixed budget that I live by, and only use my card 20 to 30 times a month, including to tap into public transport each day. At first I was only generating around £3 a week to invest, so I increased the roundups to the nearest £ plus an extra £. I also have an additional direct debit in place for £15 a week - this has gradually built up from £2 a week since July. As I grow confidence, I keep increasing the direct debit. I hope to move to £20 a week soon.

In terms of YNAB, completely agree. This app is not ideal if you need to track your spending. I'm lucky in the sense I always have some money left at the end of the month after saving. I could add it to my savings account I guess but a) where is the fun in that and b) I am slightly OCD in that I prefer round figures in my savings accounts. I appreciate it makes me very privileged to be even able to think that.

In terms of people who have their various criticisms of the app or even the way I use it, fair play to you, but it doesn't really change anything for me. I read the criticisms of the app shortly after I started using it and considered cancelling. Instead I upped my investments and am now very happy with the way it is continuing to challenge me and my spending habits, shows me where I could get to with minimal effort, is simple and transparent, and above all is building my confidence in a space I am usually very risk averse in. Without this, I would be a lot more relaxed with my funds and would likely never get involved in stocks due to personal fears. Now I actually feel in control of my financial future and I can tell you, as a female this is not necessarily a belief you are instilled with at birth. May sound pathetic, but if you don't know what place that might be coming from then you should count yourself privileged.

bowlhead99

That's good to hear you are realising that your wages / salary give you enough income that you can afford to pull some money out of your current account each month and stick it in longer term savings or investment. Sometimes people do need that nudge of proving that they can do without the money before they can 'commit' to putting it away on an ongoing basis.

Of course, now you know that you can transfer cash into some sort of investment account and pretty much afford the £20/ wk - or whatever your run-rate has been to get about £500 invested since March - then you could just be putting that into any number of 'normal' ISA investment accounts. Loads of providers offer £25-a-month plus direct debits and don't require a monthly £1 fee.

Whoa, forgot about this post but can see I have spooked some! (If any admins are listening - when do we get an app with notifications? )

It's only been 25 hours since your previous post so not too long to forget about it. But if you're absent-minded you can change your thread subscription settings via user control panel (edit options, default thread subscription mode) with an option to get an email notfication of any updates to that thread. After replying on thousands of threads, I dont have it turned on by default