Luke Summers saved over £6,000 using Plum’s Rainy Day feature (Image: Provided)
The start of the year has been unusually soggy across the UK. Cornwall and County Down both recorded their wettest January ever, while Northern Ireland experienced more rain than it has in 149 years, according to the Met Office. For many, all this rain has been a headache but for some, it’s actually been a golden opportunity to boost their savings.
Take Luke Summers. Over the past five years, he’s used Plum’s Rainy Days feature to quietly build up more than £6,000 just from this one tool alone. The Rainy Days Rule automatically sets money aside every time rain is forecast in your area.
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The Rainy Days rule sets aside money for you every time rain is forecasted in your area (Image: Getty)
Users can decide exactly how much to save each rainy day, choosing from £1, £2, £5, £10, or £20. On average, those using the feature save around £88 a month which totals £1,056 over a year, The Times previously reported.
Luke Summers, 30, told the Express: “My experience with the Rainy Days automation has been really positive. I like that it saves small amounts automatically in the background, so I do not have to think about moving money across myself. It has helped me build up savings steadily.
“My savings have become much more consistent. Before, I would usually only save when I remembered or had something left over. With this, it happens automatically, which has made it much easier to build the habit and put money aside regularly.”
Plum is a smart savings app with more than 2.7 million users. It analyses your spending to figure out how much you can safely save each month and finds the best ways to grow that money. The app also offers tips for making the most of any leftover funds.
Setting up the Rainy Days rule is simple – open the Plum app, go to the “Brain” section, and select “Rainy Days.” You can toggle it on and choose an amount to save each day rain is forecast. From then on, the money will automatically be put aside whenever rain is forecast in the area you’ve registered in your account.
Andrea Devaney has been using Plum since 2021 (Image: Provided)
Andrea Devaney has been using Plum since 2021 and has saved over £3,000 using just the Rainy Days Rule alone. The feature has allowed her to budget effectively, save for holidays, birthdays, Christmas, buy a new house, and even prepare for her upcoming wedding.
She told the Express: “I love this feature! I like that you have the flexibility to choose what you want to put away when it rains. I put £5 away each time, which, with how wet the weather is in England, has helped me save £3,250 so far!
“I’ve never been very good at saving. Plum has helped me budget by creating pockets with goals for what I am saving for.”
She added: “Plum has helped us buy a new house, have nice holidays, save for things like birthdays and Christmas without being skint and more recently is helping us save for our wedding next year!
“Just the rainy days rule alone has helped me saved £3,250 but I also like the 52 week challenge.”
The rule is calculated based on the rainy days from the previous week, not the current one. The service Plum uses relies on weather forecasts and not the actual weather so it may not be 100% accurate. This feature is included only in the paid subscription plans. The Plus plan costs £3.99 a month, Boost is £7.99, and Max is £14.99 per month.
Plum was founded back in 2014 by two Cypriot friends, Victor and Alex, who wanted to make managing money easier using technology. Based in London, with offices in Athens and Nicosia, Plum offers smart tools for saving, investing, and budgeting, powered by automated algorithms that remove much of the manual work from personal finance.
