Meet Omar, 21, Wakefield
Omar works as an estate agent in Wakefield, lives at home with his Mum and Dad.
Click on a Jar below to explore.
Managing the basics on a first salary
Omar’s just started working so he’s not rolling in it. He pays £350 a month for rent to his parents – that includes gas and electric, wifi, and most of his evening meals. He has a Going Out jar – he puts £100 a month into this on pay day. Rent and a social life are his two big costs so he makes sure he’s got them both covered.
Petrol and Protein
Omar uses his car a lot for work – so paying ahead for petrol at Shell makes a lot of sense. It helps budget, and he gets nearly 5% on his money. As his mate Jaz explained to him, that’s way above inflation, so it’s a no brainer. Same goes for MyProtein; he’s at the gym three times a week and trying to tone up. He knows he’ll have budget for it, his money’s growing, and they send him decent offers – he once got £10 totally free just for doing his regular £20 top-up to MyProtein.
Lads' Weekend
Omar’s known Dave and Mansur since school. Dave’s a great guy but does tend to ‘forget his wallet’ and Omar’s well out of pocket on taxi fares and drinks. A shared Jar keeps everyone honest, and it’s a lot nicer than chasing Dave for money. They’re all aiming to have put £400 in for a lads’ weekend away by the end of the summer. Destination tbc!
Meet Naomi, 27, Cambridge
Naomi lives in Cambridge with her friends Jane and Jess.
Click on a Jar below to explore.
Household stuff
Naomi, Jane and Jess share a flat but have pretty different lives. Naomi works as a nurse in Cambridge, Jess is a full-time student, and Jane commutes to London three times a week. It can be days at a time when they don’t see each other, so they simplified the basic household finances with a shared Jar. It’s a doddle – £50 each a month, and if they have to top-up more they just message each other within the Jar so everyone can see.
Dyson!
Jess is a neat freak and loves Dyson. The girls have a Persian cat, Olive – so they’re going to buy a Dyson Small Ball vacuum cleaner that’s particularly good for animal hair. It’s £250. They’ve got a shared Jar for it, Jess is putting in £100 as it was her idea, and Naomi and Jane splitting the rest between them. There was a great offer in the app – they got £10 free for committing their first £50 to Dyson, and they’re getting 4.8% growth on their Dyson money. They should be able to buy the hoover in a couple of months.
Treats
Naomi’s got two addictions: coffee, and clothes. At one point, she was spending a fiver a day on flat whites, so she’s set up a coffee Jar with a monthly limit now. Enough for one a day but no more. Same for clothes – she doesn’t always stick to the budget rigidly, but it helps just to have a number in mind to curb those impulse buys that always end up going to the charity shop.
Jane's Birthday
Jane’s 30 in three months. Naomi, Jess, and two other friends Beth and Claire are going to buy her a new bike. It’s a Pashley Poppy, a lovely retro style but not cheap! They’re putting in £150 each, so it’s £50 a month for three months. When you break it down to just over a tenner a week it doesn’t seem so much, and Jane deserves as she’s such a good friend.
Meet Joe, 25, Hackney
Joe lives in Hackney with his girlfriend Hannah.
Click on a Jar below to explore.
Socials
Joe graduated last summer and works as a junior account director in an ad agency. He loves the job and being in London, but the money’s not great at his level – and the cost of living is eye-watering. Sometimes it feels like you can’t walk out of the door without spending a tenner! One of the biggest expenses is his social life, so he gives himself a monthly limit of £200 – otherwise it gets out of hand.
Flat Stuff
That’s the Jar he and Hannah share. It goes towards groceries, home accessories, plants, and things like that. They’ve been together for 2 years but they’re not really up for getting a full joint account together. It feels a bit heavy and old-fashioned at this stage – just having the shared Jar is much more flexible and less pressure. They each put in £100 a month on payday. Anything extra Hannah usually pays. She works in the city and earns a lot more, so she likes treating Joe as he works really hard.
MyProtein
Joe’s a fitness nut. Deadlifts, cross-training, cycling, and he has some kettle bells at home for when he doesn’t have time to go out. He runs a positive balance with MyProtein on HyperJar – he gets a great rate on his money, they send him offers, and it’s really simple to budget for his sports nutrition. Now and again he buys some of their training gear too.
Meet Ryan, 18, Stalybridge
Ryan is a trainee mechanic and lives with his Mum and Dad in Stalybridge.
Click on a Jar below to explore.
Stuff
One of Ryan’s mates told him about HyperJar and he got an account just recently. His main Jar is just called ‘Stuff’ – it covers anything he might fancy buying. Mainly goes on clothes to be honest but he also saved up for an iPhone 12 mini. He puts £200 in it straight after payday – it’s amazing how much better he’s got at not running out of cash each month.
Gigs & Pub
Two of his passions. Ryan’s a metal fan, and he likes a beer. His folks like that he’s sociable, but now he’s 18, they’re not really up for subsidising it. Managing money for going out means he won’t get stuck at home broke the week before payday. It’s also enjoyable, thinking about what to do with the money. He’s set up a shared Pub Jar with his two best mates Jason and Rob, to stop all the aggro about rounds.
2022 Shenanigans
He doesn’t really know what this one is for. Hopefully some holidays and festivals. He’s counting on things being a lot more free and easy next year, and wants to have some money to spend. This gets £50 a month straight after pay day. He’s set a goal of £1000, and the little wave animation in the Jar shows him how close he is to that goal.
