How much do you save?

[Potter]

I don't mean cash amount, but percentage amount.
E.g. do you spend 95% of your salary and put 5% for a rainy day, or more or less?

[weeksy]

less.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Never actually worked it out until now.

32%....but that includes my employer pension contribution. Some of that is for Baby Dazzle too.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I don't do any formal saving, but we spend about two thirds of what I get paid each month, apart from this month when I've bought about £5K of stuff.

[KungFooBob]

I over pay £200 on my Mortgage, is that classed as saving?

Actual proper savings, probably about 15% of the household income, but only because the wife makes me. I'd rather just spend it all on drugs and hookers.

[Potter]

I didn't really mean pensions or paying off the mortgage early (although both are very good things), I just meant savings.

And at what point do you start to save more?
I used to save nothing, or very little, mainly because I was young(er) and thought I'd always make more next month, but as I get older I start to think what if I end up out of work or unable to work, so I am more focussed on trying to save more.

[weeksy]

And at what point do you start to save more?

For many, i guess it's 'when you're able to do so'

Not all of us have masses of disposable income.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Straight up cash savings are more like 15% for me. I also put alot more into my pension than I am obliged to cause of the tax relief.

I'm fortunate in that I earn a reasonable crust and I don't have very many magpie tendencies. I spend quite a lot on food (quality not quantity ) and doing stuff with the family, but I don't go in for new cars or bikes etc. I have always been quite dull in that I started saving and budgeting to save as soon as I had a 'real' job...since I've always done it I never got used to having the money in my pocket to burn.

[Horse]

Mortgage now paid off, so we save that.

[KungFooBob]

Our house should be paid off in 5 years (well before I'm 50, whoop). Then I might start saving a bit more, or blow it on drugs and hookers.

[Potter]

For many, i guess it's 'when you're able to do so'

Not all of us have masses of disposable income.

"Masses" is relative depending on various things, a bloke in Bangladesh living on a rubbish dump would see you as having masses of disposable income.

You look like you do alright to me, you seem to have quite a bit of disposable income, but you obviously choose to spend it rather than save it, which is all I'm asking.

[Slenver]

When I was single - about 50%
Since missus and kids - 0%

I can't work out what's changed.

[weeksy]

You look like you do alright to me, you seem to have quite a bit of disposable income, but you obviously choose to spend it rather than save it, which is all I'm asking.

Not sure it's quite as simplistic as that

[Mr. Dazzle]

When I was single - about 50%
Since missus and kids - 0%

I can't work out what's changed.

I worked out the other day that baby Dazzle's school fees are more than the monthly lease on a McLaren. Now if someone had to said to me "you can afford to lease a new McLaren" I'd have said they were barking. It's remarkable how much money you can find/prioritise when you need to sometimes!

[Slenver]

When I was single - about 50%
Since missus and kids - 0%

I can't work out what's changed.

I worked out the other day that baby Dazzle's school fees are more than the monthly lease on a McLaren. Now if someone had to said to me "you can afford to lease a new McLaren" I'd have said they were barking. It's remarkable how much money you can find/prioritise when you need to sometimes!

Just never the child near a horse, that's all I'm saying.

[Yorick]

In the UK I put aside £1,000 a month then I could do what I liked with the rest. Trackdays were an earner for me, so they weren't an expense.

I started making plans for early retirement when I first came here, March 1999.

I got what I planned for.

[Jody]

I "take home" in the region of £1200 - £1300 a month. In the winter I also get tips, approx £150 a month.
I save (I buy premium bonds) £500 a month

In addition, I also have a couple of investments which get me £135 a month and I probably save 1/2 to 3/4 of that.

[Scotsrich]

I never used to save a lot as I never seemed to have any spare cash. By the time I put money into my pension and an account I set up for my tax bill there wasn’t a lot left.

When my mortgage was paid off I put that amount into a stocks and shares account. That was probably the only time I could say that I actually ‘saved’ The money in that account enabled me to move again later and still end up mortgage free.

Now I’m retired this is probably the first time in my life I actually can see how much I have coming in on a monthly basis and am able to go out and spend without worrying about bills. Self employment is great but never knowing how much you will earn isn’t so much.

[Couchy]

I put around 50-60% of my salary each month into savings and pension, I normally split it 50/50 but sometimes move it around if I want to buy something, I prob put another 25% into household/holiday fund too. The remainder goes on household bills and family stuff

[Potter]

I saw an article that I didn't get chance to finish reading that said the bigger percentage of working people in America have no savings and that was true for us for quite a long time.

Looking back I purposely didn't save very much at all until I was over 40yrs old, if you'd have asked me back then I'd have said I couldn't, but I could really, I just wanted things so I spent all my money every month, it was a choice. When we got into trouble i.e. more needed to go out than we got in I never had any reserves and we had to wing it, but it wasn't because of genuine year round poverty, it was mainly just bad money management on my part. E.g. I remember putting a pair of Rock Shox on my credit card when they were new out, I couldn't afford them really and it set off a habit of spending money I didn't have on a credit card and then struggling.

Now I try and save some every month and some months are better than others, but again it's a choice, I know loads that earn well but spend well, so they have nothing saved.

On a yearly basis I manage to save about 30% of my salary.