What Saving £5 a Day Becomes
Small daily amounts add up fast once they're invested and left to grow. Pick a daily amount, a growth rate and a time horizon to see what it could turn into over 10, 20, 30 or 40 years.
Illustrative projection. This calculator shows an illustrative projection only, at a fixed, editable growth rate — actual investment growth varies year to year and is never guaranteed, and the value of investments can fall as well as rise. Not financial advice; speak to a regulated financial adviser before making investment decisions.
Equivalent to £152.19 a month
Your pot at every horizon
Illustrative projection only — growth not guaranteed and markets can fall as well as rise.
| Years | Contributed | Growth | Projected pot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | £18,263 | £5,370 | £23,632 |
| 20 | £36,526 | £26,030 | £62,555 |
| 30 | £54,788 | £71,873 | £126,661 |
| 40 | £73,051 | £159,194 | £232,245 |
How to actually make it happen
- Automate it — set up a standing order for the day after payday so the saving happens before you get the chance to spend it.
- Round-up savings apps (many UK banking apps have one built in) round every card payment up to the nearest pound and sweep the spare change into savings automatically — an easy way to hit a small daily average without thinking about it.
- Consistency beats amount — saving a smaller sum every single day, without gaps, usually ends up worth more than saving a bigger amount in irregular bursts, because compounding rewards time in the market above almost everything else.
- A Stocks & Shares ISA lets UK residents invest up to £20,000 a year with no tax on the growth — worth considering once you're saving regularly, alongside your emergency fund in cash.
How this projection is calculated
Your daily amount is converted to an equivalent monthly contribution (daily amount × 365.25 ÷ 12, which accounts for leap years) and then projected forward using the standard compound growth formula with monthly compounding: FV = C·[((1+i)ᴺ − 1)/i], where C is the monthly contribution, i is the monthly growth rate and N is the number of months. This assumes the same amount is saved every month at a constant rate of growth — real investment returns vary year to year, and this is a projection, not a promise. The 'what that buys' comparison uses the average UK first-time buyer deposit as a rough sense of scale, not a target.