Build a rainy day fund

A rainy day fund is money for unexpected essentials — a repair or a gap in income — not the holiday you already planned. Keep it accessible and separate from routine bill money.

Start with an amount you can afford, perhaps a first £100 milestone. A longer-term target might be several months of essential expenses, but the right amount depends on your situation. If priority debts or expensive borrowing are unmanageable, ask for advice about the right balance between saving and repayment.

Add essential housing, food, energy, travel and required repayments. If essentials cost £1,200 monthly and you have £600 put aside, that covers half a month.

Ledger’s rainy day tile looks for goals named “emergency”, “rainy” or “buffer” and compares their balances with recorded bills and debt payments. Groceries and other costs outside those entries are not included, so the tile is not a guarantee of full living-cost coverage.

Turn on “My bank already rounds up my spending” in Automations so Ledger can warn about overlap. Do not count the bank’s transfer and a virtual Ledger round-up as two separate savings.

The bank-round-up setting is a warning, not proof of a transfer and not an automatic reconciliation. Decide on one tracking method, check the actual pot balance, and correct duplicate entries.

£5 a week is £260 over 52 weeks, before any interest. Increase it only if your budget allows. A missed week is a cue to review the plan, not a reason to borrow to keep a streak.

For a planned £300 expense six months away, put aside £50 a month. Keep that separate from emergency savings so the same money is not promised twice.

• Confirm actual money saved, excluding transfers still pending.
• Check withdrawal access and your provider’s current protection arrangements.
• Update the goal when you use savings for a real expense.
• Review expensive borrowing and essential costs before increasing contributions.

Further reading: MoneyHelper emergency savings guidance.

These guides are general education, not personal financial advice. Check your lender’s statements and terms before changing payments. If essentials or repayments are unaffordable, get free debt help rather than borrowing more.