Ladders

Know what you can spend. Every day.

Ladders turns your spending money into one simple daily number. Spend less today and the rest goes into your pot.

Get started How it works
The Ladders app's Today screen, showing a budget of £6.70 left for today after £18.30 spent, a pot of £401.10 and a Japan 2027 goal at £150 of £1,000. Example data.
Example data

Not a lifestyle overhaul.
A small daily habit.

Around 9 million UK adults feel blind to their spending habits. Source: Aldermore Savings Tracker, research by Opinium among 3,000 UK adults, January 2025.

  • Log it

  • Watch it

  • Know it

How?

Your spending money becomes one number for each day. What's left goes into your pot.

  1. Today

    Set a budget and the date it has to last until, and Ladders divides it into a daily number. Log what you spend and today's number falls straight away.

    Example
    1. Budget£700
    2. Lasts28 days
    3. Each day£25
    Lunch£6.60

    Log lunch as a £6.60 debit, and today's budget falls to £18.40.

  2. Your pot

    At the end of each day, what's left goes into your pot and tomorrow starts fresh. Overspend, and the pot covers it.

    Example, starting from a £1,236.80 pot
    1. Monday Under budget +£18.40
    2. Tuesday Under budget +£4.10
    3. Wednesday Over by £7.50, the pot covers it −£7.50

    Pot after three days: £1,251.80

  3. Save towards a goal Optional

    At the end of a budget, put some of what you didn't spend towards a goal, like a holiday or a car. You don't need one to build the habit.

    Example

    Holiday £150 of £1,000

    At the end of a budget: £150 goes towards your goal. The rest stays in your pot.

  4. Make it real in your own bank

    Ladders never touches your money. We recommend setting up a savings pot in your own bank account. When Ladders shows your pot has grown, move that amount across yourself. The app shows your pot climbing; the transfer makes it real.

    Example
    1. Your bank Savings pot
    2. Ladders Rolls into your pot+£18.40
    3. You Move £18.40 to savings

Why?

I had disposable income. On paper, I should have been saving. Instead I was living payday to payday.

The problem wasn't what I earned. I was watching my bank balance, not my daily balance, and a healthy-looking balance on the 3rd tells you nothing about the 23rd.

Once I gave myself one number a day and stuck to it, things changed. I built up a pot that covered the unexpected bills, and with that safety net in place I could finally start investing and work towards a proper retirement goal.

Ladders is that daily number, for anyone who's ever wondered where their money went.

James, founder

FAQ

Is there an app?

Ladders is a web app for now. Open it in your phone's browser and add it to your home screen, and it works just like an app. A dedicated app is in the pipeline.

Does it connect to my bank?

No. Ladders never connects to a bank. Every entry is manual: an amount and a few words, and it takes seconds.

What if I overspend?

Your pot covers it. If the pot can't cover all of it, the rest is spread over the days left in your budget. On the last day, the pot takes it, even if that takes it below zero.

Can I take money out of a goal?

No. A goal is a record of what you've committed to keep, so money put towards it can't be taken out or edited. When you're done with a goal, close it: it stays as a record, and you can start a new one.

Where is the money?

In your own bank, where it's always been. Ladders only tracks it; it never holds or moves money. We recommend keeping a separate savings pot there and moving across what Ladders shows you've saved.

What do you store?

Your email address and the entries you log, plus your currency and time zone so each day rolls over at the end of your own day.