I've saved nothing! 11 October 2010 at 4:10PM edited 22 June 2011 at 9:05AM in How much have you saved? 13 replies 2.5K views

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: