How much can you save?

grumiofoundation

Vickyh said:

Hi - I am new

My husband and I have had a shock since covid. Like the poster above our outgoings has reduced dramatically. 
So we have decided to save up for a house.... have no clue where to start...

If you are eligible a lifetime ISA could give you some free money.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/lifetime-isas/

tara747

Hello everyone

I hope you’re all doing ok. It’s been a weird few months. I've been busy working (thankfully my job is safe) and saving during lockdown. 

My March to July 2020 totals are:
March £1,868
April £2,454
May £2,449
June £2,229
July £2,618

So far in 2020 I’ve saved £14,774.
My new grand savings total is £176,731 

Amazing how much I can save when I don’t travel or have a social life! :beer:

underwhelmed_saver

I want to buy a house in the south east (lofty goal I know!) but I need a significant deposit so have been saving furiously. I fear that house price rises might outstrip my savings rate, even for a modest 1 bedroom flat,  so it will probably be a never ending treadmill of saving for a carrot that's constantly on a stick! I've currently got around £110,000 saved that I can access, the rest is a modest amount in investments that I don't want to touch for a few years. i'm a 33 year old man with no partner or dependants, I don't drive so my outgoings are pretty minimal (other than rent to my landlord who I've been paying for 10 years, he's done OK out of me!)

anyway since the corona virus i've managed to up my savings quite dramatically - I also got a new job which helped too, right now my savings rate is about £3,400-£3,600 a month, a portion of that goes to investments though

DrEskimo

underwhelmed_saver said:

I want to buy a house in the south east (lofty goal I know!) but I need a significant deposit so have been saving furiously. I fear that house price rises might outstrip my savings rate, even for a modest 1 bedroom flat,  so it will probably be a never ending treadmill of saving for a carrot that's constantly on a stick! I've currently got around £110,000 saved that I can access, the rest is a modest amount in investments that I don't want to touch for a few years. i'm a 33 year old man with no partner or dependants, I don't drive so my outgoings are pretty minimal (other than rent to my landlord who I've been paying for 10 years, he's done OK out of me!)

anyway since the corona virus i've managed to up my savings quite dramatically - I also got a new job which helped too, right now my savings rate is about £3,400-£3,600 a month, a portion of that goes to investments though

With such a large income and a six figure deposit you should have little problem buying in the south east?

tara747

underwhelmed_saver said:

I want to buy a house in the south east (lofty goal I know!) but I need a significant deposit so have been saving furiously. I fear that house price rises might outstrip my savings rate, even for a modest 1 bedroom flat,  so it will probably be a never ending treadmill of saving for a carrot that's constantly on a stick! I've currently got around £110,000 saved that I can access, the rest is a modest amount in investments that I don't want to touch for a few years. i'm a 33 year old man with no partner or dependants, I don't drive so my outgoings are pretty minimal (other than rent to my landlord who I've been paying for 10 years, he's done OK out of me!)

anyway since the corona virus i've managed to up my savings quite dramatically - I also got a new job which helped too, right now my savings rate is about £3,400-£3,600 a month, a portion of that goes to investments though

Well done! Keep it up. Prices are more likely to fall than rise, so your deposit might go further than you expect...

DireEmblem

I'm contemplating having as quiet a November as I can, lockdown should help with that.  The point of this being a test to find the limit to which I could save.

I think this will be more of a mental challenge if anything else, the key will be to keep some snacks in the flat for emergencies, rather than getting lazy and ordering takeaway.  At a push I might be able to reach 70% which would be amazing, but similarly certainly not a lifestyle I would like to maintain!

For 2019, my average was 36% on necessities (including food / 1 takeaway a week), 30% savings and 34% general spending.

tara747

Hello everyone
I haven't updated in 3 months, oops.
My August to October 2020 totals are:

August £10,590 (inc a small inheritance)
September £1,975
October £1,619

So far in 2020 I’ve saved £28,958.
My new grand savings total is £190,915  Heading for the £200k mark!

tara747

DireEmblem said:

I'm contemplating having as quiet a November as I can, lockdown should help with that.  The point of this being a test to find the limit to which I could save.

I think this will be more of a mental challenge if anything else, the key will be to keep some snacks in the flat for emergencies, rather than getting lazy and ordering takeaway.  At a push I might be able to reach 70% which would be amazing, but similarly certainly not a lifestyle I would like to maintain!

For 2019, my average was 36% on necessities (including food / 1 takeaway a week), 30% savings and 34% general spending.

That sounds very doable! One silver lining in this pandemic is the amount of £££ we've managed to accrue since March. Of course, we are lucky still to be in a job. We won't maintain it, of course - but it's a great one-off boost to our savings. I'll be interested to see how you get on. Will you report back at the end of November?

Black_Cat2

tara747 said:

Hello everyone
I haven't updated in 3 months, oops. 
My August to October 2020 totals are:

August £10,590 (inc a small inheritance)
September £1,975
October £1,619

So far in 2020 I’ve saved £28,958.
My new grand savings total is £190,915  Heading for the £200k mark!

Total nosey parker here... what are you saving up for? 😁

DireEmblem

tara747 said:

That sounds very doable! One silver lining in this pandemic is the amount of £££ we've managed to accrue since March. Of course, we are lucky still to be in a job. We won't maintain it, of course - but it's a great one-off boost to our savings. I'll be interested to see how you get on. Will you report back at the end of November?

I'm going to try and keep a spending diary, so yes I'll probably have a lot of detail to report.  Currently I'm making a list of meals for the month.  30x breakfast, lunches and dinners.