MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I'm a spender by nature. But I'm trying to be better at putting something away each month. This usually lasts for so long and then ends up spent on one thing [new frame] or another [car repairs].
I've been planning ahead and reckon soon I'll be able to put away £500 p/m. I hope seeing my balance grow quickly might act as an incentive to leave it be.
What strategies do you lot have for not spending your stash?
money gets transferred by standing order the day i get paid into savings so its not in my current account to use over the month, that's my strategy 🙂
Ah the luxury of disposable income....ANY disposable income....
Can't seem to even afford an inner tube these days...
It all gets spent on rent and the [s]blood-sucking ungrateful little urchins[/s] kids....
mainly £0. going to hopefully satrt putting 50 quid or so a month away for holiday, need a promotion / new job before I can start looking into the future and properly saving
I agree with Phil, get the money away from your sticky fingers and into a savings account before you even get chance to see it.
What is this 'save' you speak of?
We're quite organised financially, assorted accounts and standing orders etc. So I'm already transferring it out on payday. Is self-discipline the only way ahead?
No kids here 😀
It's only recently I've been in a position to put anything significant away. I know how slow it can seem putting £50 p/m or less away
Yeah, get the money out of your account on the first day, leave it somewhere you can't access it easily.
Ideally I'll be back to saving £500 a month soon too - used to manage more - now have a mortgage and a list of other expenses that like to try and get in the way.
Budgeting weekly is key (realistic budgets), and not running out before the end of the month and building up a debt you then have to clear on payday works best for me.
apart from buying cheaper foods, less toys, driving less/more economically etc etc (general tips on reducing spending) then i'd say that self-discipline is indeed the way forward. i try and ignore my savings accounts and pay for things like car insurance and any surprise costs that pop up out of a 'buffer' in my current account... basically a set amount i always try and keep in there for situations like if i get pad late
This year I've done quite well. Started working as a web contractor after spending several years working on low wages at an agency.
So I still have a lifestyle based on earning a small wage, and put the rest in the bank. On average, per month I manage to save about £2k.
Hoping to keep that up for the next year or so, and then pay off a large chunk of my mortgage.
Used to do £500 or more/month but now it's the other way and I'm eating into savings 🙁
Mrs SB has just started working part time again though so that will take the pressure off. I'm hoping business will pick up and I'll be able to put a little away.
Used to save £2-300 per month but going backwards at the moment. Interview next week so here's hoping...
£50 a month regular, then the current account sweepings just before payday which has recently been edging towards £100 so maybe time to update the standing order.
no pay rise for ages so this is reduced spending through economising
this pays for holidays, christmas and school trip type stuff so recent years dont have a closing balance.
philconsequence - Member
money gets transferred by standing order the day i get paid into savings so its not in my current account to use over the month, that's my strategy
Do this - which it sounds like you probably already are.
I currently have £250 in overpayment on the mortgage every month, plus £100 general savings and £125 in car maintenance which covers tax, MOT, insurance, servicing & tyres (I do a lot of miles).
At the end of the month if I have any money left over it gets transferred out into the savings account (bar a small amount of buffer).
well done prezet! my first instinct is to shout "thats not fair, how come you earn so much and can save so much!?!" but then i realised i dont know anything about your personal situation and unless it turns out your selling drugs to school kids or school kids to druggies then its better to think 'fair play!'
so yeah, impressive 🙂 fingers crossed you can take a big old chunk out of your mortgage!
@philconsequence - I think I just happen to be in the right industry, at the right time. A bit like being in the oil industry through the 80's. The web is booming right now (although the government still seem interested in backing new railways rather than new telecom infrastructures!) - and there's a distinct lack of employable people around, so contractors current command a large day rate. Anything between £250 - £450pd depending on where you're working.
I know it won't last forever, hence me still being quite frugal, and not getting used to living on a big salary by having a flash car, clothes etc - I drive a Skoda ffs! 😛
To be honest I'd rather get the mortgage paid off before I'm 40 if possible than have big lavish holidays, and drive an Audi.
Manage to get about 500 a month into an ISA (so that I can't touch it) mainly due to living like a hermit and not having kids. I've also got a reliable car now, so the unexpected bills have taken a back seat for the last six months.
However... All the savings have just been sucked into the new house, so I am going to have to start it all over again, but this time I will probably just keep living like a hermit and pile anything I can spare into the house as overpayment. The bike will help. When I'm out on that, I can't go near shops... Not since I lost the lock.
*daydreams about setting myself up as a 'be a lovely person and enjoy your life more' coach for £400 per day*
I've been thinking about contracting myself at some point. Those figures are certainly attractive! Would love to have a chunk to drop on mortgage, clearing student loan or underground lair.
We have quite strict budgets set and monitor it all via a spreadsheet. After all else is done I'll be left with a little over £300 disposable income, for coffees/entertainment/bike parts/books etc. I always spend it all though, maybe need to start keeping two savings, one from 'left overs' that can be dipped into for unexpected items etc...
At the moment I'm paid weekly so it's easy to budget.
I don't really save but usually have 500-750 per month left over.
savings a distant dream the 1120 a month to nursery kills it.
About a grand, 500 overpayment, 300 shares, 200 savings. 3 year plan is to blow it all buying a family home. If we,d been on the property market a few years before we would be laughing. As it is we.are having to save a lot. When my car final packs up we won't replace it. No big hols for the foreseeable. Bikes can only be funded via PayPal slush fund. Bad times. Still got a job so could be worse
I have mine taken out my wages (share saves)
Definitely the safest way. I can't touch it without writing to the registrar for my cash back!
In fact part of the reason for saving is to get some cushion, so that I can hand my notice in and go contracting. 2 month notice period means the chances of having a contract lined up beforehand are slim.
Any tips on how to educate myself in the ways of buying shares etc?
£30 a month gets put to one side for buying my wife presents at Christmas/birthday.
No other regular saving - that's what happens when you have two small kids and a wife who prefers to only work term time and part time.
Still I wouldn't change a thing.
Wow you guys must get paid well as you all seem to post pics of lovely bike and have large houses too.
Nothing.
I guess that my pension contributions are savings and I would see the capital element of my mortgage payment as savings.
About £100 a month, half of which is into the kids savings though. Overpaying the mortgage as well, and have some savings tucked away ready to sort out all the problems on my house 🙁
After all the bills are paid there isn't a lot left but we put £150 into a savings account and £50 into each of the kids accounts every month.
on what we earn its a miracle we can even afford that!
I don't get a regular income so making a regular saving is difficult. I managed over the last year to put on average £250 into savings and a bit more into an account towards a new car. Got the car now so hoping to put around £500 into savings.
What strategies do you lot have for not spending your stash?
fun is on hold. permanently 🙁
Used to save a lot each month,then we had children(3 of) & saving & THE SAVINGS disappeared.....
Then as they got older,wages went up & things got easier so we were able to start saving again...
Then two of them went into 6th form,were learning to drive,then they turned 18 etc etc
So back to not saving & no savings again...... 😕
This thread has made me consider getting a loan to buy a bike.
This thread has made me consider getting a loan to buy a bike.
You're welcome! 😉
nowt
To be fair, most of my 'savings' come from the fact the interest rates have dropped a chunk and the mortgage has reduced a substaintial amount. We just decided to keep the same amount going out rather than waste it.
Should interest rates go up to 6 or 7% we will be in a very different position.
Sprocker +1
Before kids - about £250 per month...now I just struggle to get all the bills paid. Nursery fees and then with the second sprog due soon, going down to a single income means savings are but a distant dream.
This all ties into the recent 'Child benefit' thread and subsequent 'Does a £44k salary make you rich? tangent...I'd say not with a family to raise in the South East, no.
Care homes cost in the region of £1000 a WEEK!(slightly less if you live in Scotchlandia..
If you have no savings, the council pays your place for you.
So, spend, spend, spend I say!!
A bit cold here, so I'm away off back under my bridge! 😀
£3.62
Nil, but it depends on what you mean by savings. I have debt at the start of the month, less debt at the end of the month, and in 10 years I'll have no debt and fully own the four houses I have mortgages on, plus have a good pension scheme.
I earn a decent amount, but every time I think I could blow a silly amount on something I simply buy another property and make myself poor again.
Try and live off one wage, and save the other.
I've yet to save a penny in 34 years. That's a lie actually, this thread just prompted me to open a savings acount there, savings balance currently stands at £1.39! 😀
Used to overpay mortgage with surplus funds, but now letting what I don't spend stay in current account with a view to needing it when we move house.
Gave up on savings accounts a few years ago when they stopped paying interest.
Savings? I'd like enough money to be able to have the heating on.
I've wondered about asking this before, but from a % of take home figure rather than an amount. What is a good % to aim for?
Currently it's 20-25% of the household income, which is one above average wage and SMP for my wife. She goes back to work part time next moth, so the income won't go up much. MIL is here for 6 months to look after the baby, at about 10% of nursery costs but I hope to give her a bit more if we can afford it. We don't buy much tat, don't run a car and there's currently 3 adults and a baby in a 2 bed flat. Life is about compromises...
I am able to save about 50% of net monthly income. I rarely do 😳
Amazed how much people are able to save! 100 quid into a personal pension and about 50 quid into savings account. Normally have a few quid in he bank left. Don't earn a bad wage either, must just frit it away I guess
I don't save any, my outlook is **** it, and yes I have kids blah blah blah
$3000 a month presently going towards savings, split between the Canadian equivalent of an ISA, shares, and a general (rather pants) savings account. Rent is $400, utilities around $60 (atleast my share is), food I somehow manage to keep below $200. Car is a classic that I'm restoring to sell on at profit...while teaching myself welding/general metalwork. Learning to brew my own beer. Alot of my Canuck mates are gobsmacked when they ask how little I am 'getting by on' I just live like a Brit...and pocket the difference, they live like they all work for Goldman Sachs...and complain they have no $$. Crazy.
I cycle to work, and am presently being paid tax free thanks to the wonders that are tax credits to the tune of what my international tuition was in Canada for the past couple of years. Opted out the university pension scheme as I'm only on a five year contract and frankly not really sure they'll exist in 40 years when I retire! Would rather save it myself and put it where I understand it, even if I have to work a bit harder for it. Or better yet, build a small cottage by some sweet trails.
Not bad considering how indebted the rest of the Canadian population is...it's like the UK in 2007...only worse :/
mrgibbons - sounds like you're on the ball but I'm just curious - what does
I just live like a Brit
mean to you Canadians?
as in...I am British...but I live like I'm still on our beloved near-bankrupt rock...only I'm in Canada. i.e. Frugal/sensible/not wanting an audi/mcmansion..presently learning to ice skate...on my driveway 😯 in some skates the neighbour just gave me, because they buy new ones 'every year' :!
Gotcha. So we're more frugal than Canadians - go figure!
go figure!
No, you do the math!
😉
No, you do the math!
Once my jaw gets off the floor! I'm proper envious and all - I was just curious about the Brit comparison. I thought it was ironic tbh.
At the minute nothing but when my road bike is paid off probably £100-200 a month.
just this month we are now in a position to save £250/£300 each a month, trying to get a few grand together as quick as possible.
Currently saving about £1000 a month but I'm living with my parents in the sticks and trying to buy a house. I put £500 into saving at the start of the month then what ever is left at the end of the month. I'm finding not having a social life (or paying rent) saves me a lot of cash!
£3-500 overpayment on mortgage,£270 on sharesave and anything thats left in current account goes into savings account.
at this rate mortgage free by 2018. Cant wait!
We did the "budget buster" thing on the MSE website.
Essentially, I ignored all the 'fun' things, recording only the essentials (food, fuel, nursery, rent, mortgage etc).
It's actually surprising to see how much [b]should[/b] be left over each month, but rarely is!
It prompted me to streamline all our finances, close our various current accounts and open 6 new accounts (all within the same bank for ease of viewing/transfer of cash).
Hopefully, with our finances being more visible in the same spot, we'll be more sensible with the spending and able to start saving again (it all went t's-up after buying a house and having a baby - completely lost the focus!)
DrP
Mine goes like this.
10% gets put aside.
20% goes towards paying off debts, or gets put aside if I don't have any.
70% goes on living life.
Anything that's put aside can only be used/spent as a form of investment.
So far so good.
no brainer... dont save.. over pay the mortgage..
Since stopping smoking 2 months ago I should be saving about 200 per month. That's the theory anyway!
no brainer... dont save.. over pay the mortgage..
Not always the best case for everyone though...
In some situations, cash is king.
DrP
As above, overpay the mortgage. Most Savings are reducing in value in real terms at the moment so best to get rid of debt. Or buy get the next batch of govt index linked savings 🙂
The 1,600 a month on nursery prevents any savings 🙁
The 1,600 a month on nursery prevents any savings
😯 How many kids do you have exactly?!?!?
Yes, but when it's tied up in the mortgage, you can't use it to [b]buy[/b] other things (easily).
I agree though'; generally you're better overpaying a 2.5% debt, than getting f-all% on the same amount saved...
DrP
I only overpay my mortgage slightly (when interest went down payment stayed same) but my cash is in an offset mortgage i.e. I can save cash that goes against mortgage but does not tie it up. Saving £400 a month in Company share schemes.
The 1,600 a month on nursery prevents any savingsHow many kids do you have exactly?!?!?
If I put our daughter into nursery 5 days a week, rather than just the 2 days she has currently, then the fees would be £1451 a month... 😯
i've not put any money away for tha last four years due to bumming about and finding my feet in a new country.
i used to be pocketing a fair amount of money each month as a chippy yet didn't spend much of it as i was living in my parents garden ([url=
a poddinton pea[/url]) almost rent free, didn't go out boozing and filled my spare time with kites and bikes (cheap hobbies after initial outlay). i think i saved over 15k in one year. i've got a decent amount in an ISA and spread over several funds. i can no longer add to the ISA after next year as i have been out of the country now for four years (five year limit for non-residents).
the money is coming in now, albeit in drips and drabs, plus the Gf has a proper salaried job. i currently need 550€ to cover my monthly costs (rent, bills, essential food shopping and health insurance), but i earn that in 2-3 days. anything over that 500€ is rainy day/spunk money.
thinking of saving to put down a deposit on a house/plot in the hills down south.
Most foolproof method I've found is to split up from wives/partners!
Bizarrely, despite only one comparatively modest wage coming in and renting, I now find I have little trouble saving a few hundred quid every month, while still being able to [s]waste money[/s] invest in motorbikes, cars and a depressingly expensive mtb habit.
How many kids?... 2 in 4 days each. 800 pounds a pop each month and that's not the most expensive place either.
I dont think I actually start earning spare cash until about the 26th of each month!