I've saved nothing!

koloko

deleted as work colleagues found username and forwaded on all posts to laugh at

MaryMurphy

Hi koloko,

First of all GREAT NEWS in clearing your debts, that's a massive achievement. I sometimes have a read through some of the DTW diaries and it's always great when someone is able to become debt-free

Now that you don't need to worry about debts anymore I don't think there's anything wrong with spending that little bit extra on "unecessary" stuff e.g. going out for a meal every once in a while, or whatever. After all you are working hard for your money.

It is important you do have a safety net of savings in case of emergencies, so my advice would be to put away a minimum of three months' worth of wages.

This is what I am doing myself (see sig ) as I've read in a lot of places that it's a good "safety" figure in case something really drastic happens e.g. loss of job, unable to work for whatever reason.

At the moment I have my accounts divided up as follows (and this is what I loosely hoping to achieve - I keep changing the amounts but roughly this is what I am aiming for):

Base Savings (three months' worth of savings) - 3500;
Emergencies/large bills £500;
Leisure £300;
Summer holiday £500.

So I guess it's really down to what things you'd like to do e.g. holiday. It's obviously best to focus on a rainy day fund or emergency fund first of all though.

And then, who knows! Others might disagree, but if you are able to consistently save such a large amount I can't see any reason why you couldn't put away a good deposit for a house in a relatively short period of time.

Best of luck,

MMx

moneypenny2k

You have saved something... Your sanity. Just wanted to say well done you

michelle._4

I also have enormous debts.

michelle._4

Please advise how to become debt free, earn more and save more.

Decluttering

I have quite a bit of excess money at the moment (I'm young and still live with my parents, so I don't really need as much as I earn!), I've worked out a comfortable but not excessive budget for myself. The leftover money goes into a savings account and my leftover budget (I did say it was comfortable!) goes in there too.

Not very exciting, but you can't put a price of peace of mind.

Jinx

Well done on paying off your debt........ I'm still aspiring!!

McKneff

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 800 (rent includes all bills and council tax)
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 70
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 400 £400 a month on clothing - cant be right surely.
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0 (i have a company car and they pay all the feul)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 £1200 a year - wow
Haircuts................................ 50
Entertainment........................... 800 Are you kidding............
Holiday................................. 200
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2762

Edinburghlass_2

Have a read of Martin's article on ISA's for savings.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa

Angely

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa

This is pretty useful, thanks

adwat

Hi koloko

How dare you brag about how much money you've got! :mad:

Just kidding :rotfl: I'm aiming to be in a similar position next year.

I think the answer is just enjoy the extra money for a while - after all it's why we go out to work in the first place.

Not just the money though - I'm certainly looking forward to not having to worry too much about work pressures etc. and generally start living my life on my terms.

Enjoy your new found freedom! Save a bit (so you don't have to take out more credit in the future) and blow the rest on whatever you want.

:beer: