How much can you save?

giraffe01_2

That's really good - I've also encouraged my housemate to save. She earns more than me but was surprised that I had savings. She's now got the bug and is addicted to checking her accounts online.

I've managed to save £500 this month towards my target of £3600 by the end of the financial year (for next years ISA allowance). It's a bit off target but not bad considering just started a new job half way through the month. I'm expecting to spend a fair bit this month with Xmas - trying to sort out all presents today though - but maybe Santa will bring me some cash or gift vouchers to prop up my finances in January.

Just one last thing - I think I'm becoming a bit obsessed with working out how much I can/have saved and estimating interest. I've even got a little calculator which accompanies me now. Add that to the round number OCD thing and I'm fast becoming a fruit loop

gelato_cat

I started when I got my first office job 10.5 years ago.

I haven't nagged my friend or told her to stop buying anything because she doesn't need to yet and it's her choice. She can see that she can save £50/month without cutting down on anything. If she's interested, in a few months I'll introduce her to the idea of being able to save much more by spending more wisely.

Suze

Lokolo wrote: »

Thats pretty good. I've managed to do the same with my best mate. He gets a lot of money (more than me!!), his dad pays him £400 maintenance, plus his step dad gives him like £200 a month or something so he should be able to save more than he does.

Hes getting there, I keep telling him to stop spending money on crap but he won't listen. However saying that he's started to save loads from his student loan etc. so just a few more nudges...!!!!

But to be fair I am aiming he will be rich and loaded in 10 years and by that time I may need some cash.... :rotfl:

Next 2 months are going to be jam packed with finances bouncing all around the place (car insurance, student loan, fixed rate coming to an end) and uni exams and coursework all due in first week of Jan. Plus more job stuff so EEK going to be BUSSSSY.

When did you start saving btw?

flutter_2

I am getting really excited :j I get paid quarterly and my next pay day (Jan 2nd) is coming up fast :0) Also just found out that my OH is going to get a Christmas bonus this year - if it is on par with the last one we should be able to put away 5 or 6k in January! yay! Hopefully our total will be pushing for the 40k mark then. :j

Hopefully we will be able to stick it out for another year before buying a place - but it is difficult cos our rented house is really cold right now - we keep eyeing up houses with double glazing... maybe next year. Luckily Christmas will be spent with parent who not only have an adequately insulated home - but also a massive wood burner - woo!

Lokolo

Nice one. I can't wait til I am earning, going to be so much more fun with my money (not that I am complaining about only going into uni 12 hours a week ).

Saver-Rob

flutter wrote: »

I am getting really excited :j I get paid quarterly and my next pay day (Jan 2nd) is coming up fast :0) Also just found out that my OH is going to get a Christmas bonus this year - if it is on par with the last one we should be able to put away 5 or 6k in January! yay! Hopefully our total will be pushing for the 40k mark then. :j

Hopefully we will be able to stick it out for another year before buying a place - but it is difficult cos our rented house is really cold right now - we keep eyeing up houses with double glazing... maybe next year. Luckily Christmas will be spent with parent who not only have an adequately insulated home - but also a massive wood burner - woo!

Lovely amount to have. Well done. :T

adamandemma

Me and Em are only 1 week into our saving bonanza and we have been smacked already. SMACKED by my van the head gasgit has gone and is going to cost me £300-£500 to fix it.

flutter_2

oh dear, sorry to hear that Adam and Em. I hope this is only a small setback in your savings journey :0)

amethystcash

Just been thinking of the last year and what we've achieved. Its probably been one of the most surreal years I've ever experienced. I was off work for 6 months and now have this incurable (although not-yet life threatening) medical condition that I'm having to battle with every day.

However on a more positive note, I am back at work, driving again (which they said I wouldn't do) and we are now the best off we've ever been. When I went back to work I decided that savings were a priority in case the worst comes to the worst and I have to give up work. We wanted to feel financially secure.

My illness has had another weird side effect - we have totally got out of the habit of spending money. Before shopping was almost a weekend sport but now buying stuff just doesn't seem that important any more.

It's a bit of a drastic way to sort out your finances and trust me I don't want to have to go through any of it again or wish it on anyone else, but the upshot is that we are now able to save on average over £2.5k per month.

We are very lucky to both have decent salaries but I am still amazed at what we've managed to achieve and if you turn it on its head, what we previously managed to waste! We would have normally had 2 or 3 holidays abroad during the year which would account for a decent whack off the amount saved, but it is still pretty scarey what you can manage to fritter away in a month if you're not paying attention. We still live pretty well (although the weekly shop is no longer done in Markys which is a shame) and its now a challenge to us to see how much we can put away each month.

We've set ourselves some pretty hefty savings goals which a few months ago would have been something we could only dream about. Summing it up, its been one rollercoaster of a year!

Lokolo

Hm. Estimated around £250 for xmas pressies. Now after looking at lists and choosing things I think it will be around £150! I am not even trying to be tight either, just everyone has crap lists with nothing on :rolleyes:

Not sure how much to spend on mums wedding either. Theres only a few things on the JL (expensive :mad:) wishlist - £13 for a cup and cupplatethingy, she wants 8. She doesn't even drink that many cups in a week! Between me and my OH I think we'll spend £30/£40 but OH has no money at the moment so I think I will be paying for all of that (and after all it is my mum getting married :rotfl:)

Saver-Rob

I made a deal this year. My mum was having something fairly expensive done so I thought OK.. how about you don't spend much on me at all (it will be under £20) and you put what you would have spent on me towards what you're having done. This (1) means I dont have to spend anything on her and (2) doesnt waste her money one me for things I dont really need.

So hoping for a cheap-ish Christmas. Spending around £100 on other people (mostly the girlfriend).