View Full Version : How much £ do you save each month?
dj_pingu
23-07-09, 08:01 PM
Having turned the ripe ol age of 30 i have been thinking/worrying recently about how much money I should be saving each month?
At moment it's 10% of take home pay and about 7% of take home into a pension.
I think I'm being quite sensible (perhaps too much so) as i wanna get a deposit for a house together in next few years.
But was wondering how much everyone else saves 'for a rainy day' or whatever? Or do you live for the moment and spunk it all up the wall come pay day?
MR UKI (1)
23-07-09, 08:06 PM
Between 30% and 50% of take home pay at moment as I finish work at end of year (redundancy) and saving for a potential few months looking for work :(
5% into pension then company matches the 5%.
Other than that....nothing! I'm 20 and trying to insure 2 vehicles! ;)
If you can afford to save 10% without impacting your social life then do it!
EDIT: Plus, I'm in a safe position at work (I know that no one ever really does know) as I've just had the next 3 years planned out with day release education (MSc).
hindle8907
23-07-09, 08:17 PM
im 20 and just moved out a year and half ago with my girlfriend have got an amazing apartment / shes got a 07 plate astra and i have got my sv .... and we come out with around 2330 a month between us and after all our out goings (inc Food )there is 130 quid between us lol so we are officially skint !
So 0%
and we only rent as well not got motage !!!!
How much £ do you save each month?
Save? He said save!! I wish!! :smt082
Filipe M.
23-07-09, 08:24 PM
Save? He said save!! I wish!! :smt082
See? Some people still have a sense of humour! ;)
DarrenSV650S
23-07-09, 08:27 PM
I'm currently living off my "savings". Which used to be my bike foreign holiday fund :(
I need a job
dizzyblonde
23-07-09, 08:32 PM
I don't earn enough to save. :-(
Hopefully Im Indoors will get this job hes applied for, so I can start. My son has more in his money box than I do!
I'm 32, no pension. But in the last four years it was kind of hard enough living as a single parent and keeping my home my own than saving pennies.
Not a great deal at the moment.
Company had an across the board 12.5% pay cut recently, so I left....hated my new job despite a significant pay rise (money is not everything) so went back to my old employer at the 12.5% less. When I originally said I was leaving they said I didnt have to take the 12.% pay cut so I shot myself in the foot really.
In the last month we have decided to move near Market Harborough as well to be nearer my girlfriends work.
the_lone_wolf
23-07-09, 08:45 PM
I save about 50% of what I bring home, bung it straight in my ISA so I never see it again in my online accounts and get tempted to spend it:mrgreen:
mister c
23-07-09, 08:47 PM
£75000 mortgage, plus bills, food etc. 1 wage = Broke all of the time. I live off my overdraft, wich I know is bad, but that's life unfortunately.
But I'm happy, so thats the main thing :)
Me, at the mo i earn £420 from my part time job
£200 into savings to save for car ins bike ins etc as im young and its expensive
£100 to parents for rent
£35 phone bill
£85 quid left :(
But i also earn £40 a weekend with my saturday job which isnt included above so i do have £160 extra
Von Teese
23-07-09, 09:29 PM
We don't save, we live for the moment and buy whatever we like.
Life is for living, you never know when your time is up.
I have a police pension so dont contribute to one of those and our 'assets' including vehicles, bikes and houses owned are worth well over £500k if we needed to sell up.
Plus I know its horrible to say but Mr VT and I are both only children so will be sole heirs if we ever outlive his parents and my Dad.
Save...hell no, I wish I had the discipline but really things that cost us money make us happy and if I die tomorrow, I have everything I ever wanted in the world :)
I don't save much but live for today, and maybe the odd tomorrow. As VT, the inheritence will pay for retirement if i live that long.
With £1800 a month mortgage, and then bills and great holidays there's not much left to save with.
Specialone
23-07-09, 09:40 PM
I am a kinda person that believes you should do today what you wanna within your financial restraints because you may not be here tomorrow.
But i do try and put a bit away when i can, but being self employed my earnings are not constant and with the quiet period i had at the start of the year that ate a lot of my savings up.
That said, lately i have spent quite a bit on bike gear, new handlebar conversion, autocom unit, leathers etc etc etc.
I wanna buy the new arai vipor gt lid which is £420, new can, so chance of saving at present difficult, oh and we are having a weeks holiday somewhere in september.
Von Teese
23-07-09, 09:48 PM
I don't save much but live for today, and maybe the odd tomorrow. As VT, the inheritence will pay for retirement if i live that long.
With £1800 a month mortgage, and then bills and great holidays there's not much left to save with.
If you live for today, have great hols and mostly everything you ever wanted what the hell do you need to save for anyway!
I love snowboarding, scuba and visiting exotic places, Ive bought expensive things for me like clothing, corsets, shoes, bikes, marine fish and tropicals, tanks and all the equipment that needs to come with it. Horses, riding tack, show equipment, boobs, the van, the crossers a turbo for my other car blah blah blah. Mr VT has blinged up his Landrover with everything needed to offroad through pretty much anything happily.
I dont want to be a rich old fat woman who has found it too late to skydive and run naked through a waterfall in New Zealand and skinidip in the sea!!
ThEGr33k
23-07-09, 09:48 PM
Abou 2/3 of take home atm. Im goin to be out of a job by the end of October so if I struggle to get another ill have a stash. :D
Wish me luck on finding one! ;)
Miss Alpinestarhero
24-07-09, 08:22 AM
We don't save, we live for the moment and buy whatever we like.
Life is for living, you never know when your time is up.
Very true. But I think it is important to have a healthy balance between enjoying life and saving. I enjoy my money by buying myself things I really like (even if I dont need it) or splashing out on a holiday to treat myself.
However I also save for the future (about 50% of my earnings) because I want to get on the property ladder, have money aside in case of an emergency (i.e. my car blows up) and most importantly of all..so that I can live comfortably when Im an old lady rather than relying on government pension. My nan has no savings and is living on a state pension and she really really struggles. Things are harder for her now since my grandad passed away and she had to pay for his funeral. I dont want to live near the poverty line :(
So enjoy your money, live life, enjoy life but save. Thats my motto :D
the_lone_wolf
24-07-09, 08:35 AM
...I want to get on the property ladder, have money aside in case of an emergency (i.e. my car blows up) and most importantly of all..so that I can live comfortably when Im an old lady rather than relying on government pension. My nan has no savings and is living on a state pension and she really really struggles. Things are harder for her now since my grandad passed away and she had to pay for his funeral. I dont want to live near the poverty line :(
+1
I'm all for living in the moment, but there's a difference between enjoying each day and living in a situation where you're not prepared for a sudden financial shock:smt103
Amplimator
24-07-09, 08:42 AM
I do try and save, but the missus just spends spends spends :smt013
plowsie
24-07-09, 08:52 AM
Company pay 3% to pension, I pay 2%.
I save buggar all.
20 year old, debt ridden, fun loving bloke.
keith_d
24-07-09, 08:52 AM
50% is pretty impressive.
I manage somewhere between 10% and 30% most months, depending on how many big items come along. This month I'm paying my car tax and bike insurance so it'll be closer to 10%
Dicky Ticker
24-07-09, 08:59 AM
Jesus saves more than me,being top dog he probably has a bigger pension.How can any pensioner save when the payments are below the poverty line.
Von Teese
24-07-09, 09:00 AM
However I also save for the future (about 50% of my earnings) because I want to get on the property ladder
In that situation I agree, however I have 2 houses already so that isnt really an issue with me.
... my car blows up
Understandable, but we have 3 cars, a Landrover and a van (plus 4 bikes) and if mine does blow up I would just have to claim off the insurance and drive something else we have.
... ..so that I can live comfortably when Im an old lady rather than relying on government pension.
Well I have the police pension and if I ever live to be an old lady, inheritance plus assets that can be sold off.
So yes you are totally right about that and I see your point and under those circumstances I would definately behave differently with my money and be a bit more responsible.
£75000 mortgage, plus bills, food etc. 1 wage = Broke all of the time. I live off my overdraft, wich I know is bad, but that's life unfortunately.
But I'm happy, so thats the main thing :)
I wish I only had a 75k mortgage. 110k with 1 wage, bills, food, blah, blah, blah.
Can't save anyway. Like to spend my money.
Gazza77
24-07-09, 09:02 AM
I pay into the pension at work (NHS, so pretty good), as does my other half but that's it. I have in the past saved, but as we're still doing up the house, that's gone by the wayside. Once we've finished everything though, I'd suggest we will both go back to saving a reasonable amount, without leading too frugal a lifestyle (I have the bike & two cars and the Mrs has a horse, so that's not likely). :rolleyes:
+1
I'm all for living in the moment, but there's a difference between enjoying each day and living in a situation where you're not prepared for a sudden financial shock:smt103
That's what credit is for.
muffles
24-07-09, 09:29 AM
We're quite lucky in that we have a pretty decent income, so on average I estimate we save 46.5% (based on saving figure X each month, out of a take home of Y). That's with spending money on things we want, when we want, so not scrimping and saving, although we are just naturally careful with money too (it would seem).
I get a 10% non-contributory pension through work so I don't save for a pension separately :)
the_lone_wolf
24-07-09, 09:32 AM
That's what credit is for.
:smt043
never really thought about it but with shares pension and other saving prob about 20% a month
kellyjo
24-07-09, 10:03 AM
On lone parent benefits and with housing benefit only paying £560 of my monthly £760 rent, i'm barely getting food on the table. The only reason i have a car is cos my OH fills it up with petrol and i've only got the bike cos he bought it for me, paid for DAS training and gives her a drink when she's thirsty! He's a treasure but my savings account is empty and will be for the foreseeable future :-( S'okay, you can put the violins away now :-)
Nuffin. I just about have enough money to get form one pay day to the next. However in September 2011, ill have a few pounds :)
metalmonkey
24-07-09, 11:12 AM
I guess I probally save 30% inc my pension of my total earnings it really depends on what I'm getting up too.
I have maxed my ISA limit in April for this year so I need somewhere to save on top of that any ideas?
Dicky Ticker
24-07-09, 11:15 AM
Point of note------You pay tax on your gross salary before pension contribution is deducted and then get taxed on it again when you start to receive the payments.
As a pensioner I can tell you that it sucks,you work hard,save ,buy your house and end up getting less money than somebody who has been frivolous all their life.
Live for today and let tomorrow look after itself,buy all the material things you want and spend any surplus cash before you retire otherwise the government will be holding its hand out for the second bite of the cherry.
Point of note------You pay tax on your gross salary before pension contribution is deducted and then get taxed on it again when you start to receive the payments.
I'm afriad I don't understand this bit! Expand? :)
454697819
24-07-09, 11:22 AM
Ha ha ha ha ha moved house, twice in the last 3 years, weddign to pay for and 2 cars blew up int he last 2 years...
HA HA HA HA HA
nothing..
although the wedding has thought me that I like saving and once all my debts are cleared I will do this monthly... Untill I need a new bike... which I always do.
I have maxed my ISA limit in April for this year so I need somewhere to save on top of that any ideas?
Mattress mate, failing that, a Lloyds Monthly Saver thing where you can put away £250 a month for a year at 5% odd is not too bad at the moment. It ends up about 2% net over the year.
I've not calculated the percentages but we save a few hundred a month. If I was on my own I'd probably save nout but my wife keeps me in check, which I suppose I will be grateful for one day :)
Quiff Wichard
24-07-09, 11:29 AM
I save 0% of £0
Dicky Ticker
24-07-09, 11:33 AM
Carty---I am refering to private pensions/savings plans which boost your state pension bring your income back into the tax brackets.
gerbrox
24-07-09, 11:39 AM
Lots, and also live for the moment aswell, but in the building game your not sure where the meal is coming from.
I generally have a problem with the schools not teaching anything about finance etc, surely that is what home economics should be for, but they teach you to bake a cake wtf, it tasted of sh1te anyway.
Carty---I am refering to private pensions/savings plans which boost your state pension bring your income back into the tax brackets.
Ah ok, thanks - that makes more sense now! :)
it tasted of sh1te anyway.
You didn't make it right :p
Miss's always tastd the best though =D>
Sir Trev
24-07-09, 11:46 AM
For those of you thinking their company pension will be all the savings they need, think again. There is no guarantee that you'll get anything like as much as you thought you would and things do go wrong with pension pots. Basically you should not put all your eggs into one basket. Make use of an ISA or other tax-efficient device if you can so you have a second income source/nest egg. With an aging population more and more pension funds are likely to hit problems in the next twenty/thirty years and a lot of poeple could get stung.
Having said that, considering I'm a risk averse thirty-ten year old accountant, I don't practice what I preach that well. I don't put nearly as much into my ISA as I'd like to, especially as my job could be on the line and my pay may be cut. I've got a couple of months of mortgage payments put by just in case but after the extension we put on the house two years ago, and the resulting hike in the morgage, we only just get by.
muffles
24-07-09, 12:01 PM
For those of you thinking their company pension will be all the savings they need, think again. There is no guarantee that you'll get anything like as much as you thought you would and things do go wrong with pension pots. Basically you should not put all your eggs into one basket. Make use of an ISA or other tax-efficient device if you can so you have a second income source/nest egg. With an aging population more and more pension funds are likely to hit problems in the next twenty/thirty years and a lot of poeple could get stung.
Good point, luckily I work for a bank and they give me a summary of their investments. Most people here (as expected) are knowledgeable enough to understand what it all means, which is probably a mite different to many other jobs.
I will make a point to check into the details next time they send a statement, though!
For those of you thinking their company pension will be all the savings they need, think again. There is no guarantee that you'll get anything like as much as you thought you would and things do go wrong with pension pots. Basically you should not put all your eggs into one basket. Make use of an ISA or other tax-efficient device if you can so you have a second income source/nest egg. With an aging population more and more pension funds are likely to hit problems in the next twenty/thirty years and a lot of poeple could get stung.
Having said that, considering I'm a risk averse thirty-ten year old accountant, I don't practice what I preach that well. I don't put nearly as much into my ISA as I'd like to, especially as my job could be on the line and my pay may be cut. I've got a couple of months of mortgage payments put by just in case but after the extension we put on the house two years ago, and the resulting hike in the morgage, we only just get by.
The way my pension system works is it is effectively my own bank account which is run by a pension management firm which invest it on my behalf. Good thing is they can't withdraw funds from it, all they can do is move it from investment to investment untill I retire. I also get quarterly updates on how it is progressing (the last 4 summary updates were not good!).
So basically it's not like the big pension "pot" like most companies used to have where there would sometimes be a defecit etc!
MR UKI (1)
24-07-09, 04:32 PM
I've been paying 4% of salary into my works pension for nearly 10 years and my employer doubles that, but I don't bother looking at the statements as it is depressing. The amount on top of the 4% i'd have to pay in to get even a semi-liveable pension in retirement is stupid. Still I suppose it is something.
muffles
24-07-09, 10:34 PM
The way my pension system works is it is effectively my own bank account which is run by a pension management firm which invest it on my behalf. Good thing is they can't withdraw funds from it, all they can do is move it from investment to investment untill I retire. I also get quarterly updates on how it is progressing (the last 4 summary updates were not good!).
So basically it's not like the big pension "pot" like most companies used to have where there would sometimes be a defecit etc!
If I'm reading that right, that's a money purchase pension? In which case - it's actually the "worse" kind of pension - the company saves up and invests money for you, then gives you the money when you retire. It's then up to you to buy a pension with that money - thus, the risk is on you (you might not get a good pension at the time, or your investments may not have borne fruit).
The one where the company can get a pension deficit is a final salary pension - you pay an amount per month (this can vary - they can raise it/lower it - as far as I am aware that is standard on a final salary) and each year will count towards a % of your final salary. Usually 1% per year and 1.5% per year over a certain age. The legal maximum (if it is still the same) is 66% of final salary.
In this type of pension, when you retire your company is required to pay you the % of your salary at retirement (your "final" salary) that you have earned. That's why they can get a deficit - the risk is on them, they have guaranteed you something up front and need to invest appropriately to get the required returns.
So yeah a final salary pension is bad for the company - the risk is on them, they can go into a deficit - but it's good for you - guaranteed income when you retire, etc.
keith_d
25-07-09, 05:46 AM
I'm putting a sensible amount of money into my pension, but I'm not optimistic about getting much back and here's why....
* My pension is invested in the stock market along with millions of others.
* The price of shares is partly determined by supply and demand.
* At the moment pension funds provide a steady demand which keep prices stable
* There's a whole lot of people (baby boomers) who will be taking their pensions ahead of me
* So, pension funds will be selling shares to pay pensions. Any guesses how that will affect the value of my pension?
Worse still, the government will be facing a rising pension bill too. So they'll be taxing anything that moves to pay their pension bill. If you think Crash Gordon was bad, you ain't seen nuthin yet...
Best I ride my SV now, while I can still afford to.
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