Charlie Nunn, the chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group – the UK's biggest bank, providing one in four current accounts – has a confession: he "hates budgeting and always has". Instead of poring over spreadsheets, he checks his current account as soon as he gets paid, decides how much to move into savings, and does it fast. "Do it as soon as you can," he says.
Nunn's top tip for building savings is to automate the process. "If you're able to carve out a little bit and put it somewhere else where you won't have access to it and be able to spend it, I think that's the easiest way to start having a saving mindset," he explains. This could mean setting up a standing order from a current account to a savings account, organising cash into envelopes, or using round-up tools that put spare change aside when you spend. His mantra: "Saving little, saving early and saving regularly."
“Lloyds Bank CEO Charlie Nunn shares five money tips, admitting he hates budgeting and recommending automated savings and emergency funds.”
Beyond savings, Nunn recommends having an emergency fund for surprise bills like a broken boiler or car repairs. How much? It depends on your circumstances, but he advises one to three months' salary if possible.
Money management isn't just about individual discipline – it's about relationships, too. Nunn and his wife use a joint account and have "complete transparency" over money. His red flag: "Someone who isn't careful with money," because he has always been "relatively prudent".
That prudence was forged in childhood. His parents divorced, and his mother raised four children, meaning he grew up "constantly worrying about what we were spending money on and managing money carefully – which ranged from looking for cheap food in the supermarket to thinking carefully about holidays and what we did in our spare time."
As a father, Nunn tries to instil the same values. "My children take no advice from me because I'm their dad," he admits, but he gives them pocket money to help them budget, and they "live within their means." Two of his children are more comfortable spending, he says, while the others are natural savers – mirroring what the bank sees among customers.
Despite stereotypes, Nunn does not think younger people are generally financially irresponsible. But he is concerned about the bigger picture – a remark that suggests the bank sees pressures mounting for many households.