How much can you save?

EagerLearner

Stu - I'm amazed at what people save too ;o) I started slow and have at least got the 'bug' of saving since I joined this site. I now have a 'rainy day' long term savings fund as well as a 'can't work' fund - I am self employed so if I have a sick day or need time off, I take money from the 'can't work fund'.

Between us we also have an ISA into which we save £400 per month for a deposit. Then £100 into Funds which we hope will grow by the time we need the deposit. That means we roughly pay £250 each into joint savings per month for the deposit, which is quite a bit and means no going out as much as we used to... but it's nice to have that backup.

I think you and your girlfriend could surprise yourselves if you read the threads on these forums - a few cuts here and there that you don't notice and you're there without knowing it! By doing the Grocery Challenge every month (see the Debt Free board or the Old Style board), we now save an Extra £70ish per month on groceries into the ISA, whereas before we used to be overdrawn by roughly £60 per month on the joint account.

save-a-lot

Hi and welcome stewart1984 - maybe look at all your current expenditure and see where you can make savings. That would be a good first move.

Then, as a test try opening a savings account with the same provider as your current account so you can transfer money as you wish if you use online banking and see how much you can push yourself to save more. If you struggle you transfer some money back to the current account. Do that for a month or 2 and find a level that you can save at without making life too hard for yourself. Then start putting more away into your Egg accounts.

butterfly72

Hello all.
This is a great thread! I'm ploughing my way through it. Thanks for all the tips!

My story is that 6 and half years ago when I met my OH we had 5K of debt each! The OH had been made redundant from a dot.com company and I had left my job and was temping. Now, I have 23K in savings and the OH has 45K and we are saving for a house! Our aim is 100K in savings for the deposit. This was achieved through hard work, using this site for tips, selling unwanted stuff and staying in!! (Also a bit of luck and family generosity here and there!). Its been hard work but very enjoyable. We don't spend loads on 'stuff' but still manage to eat out sometimes and have had nice holidays and treats. This year I've made made over £2000 on top of my wages via cashbacks, refunds, selling stuff etc! Its like a little part time job but more fun!

I use my cash ISA allowance in full every year and considering a S&S ISA. I put £250 into a RS and am hoping to open another.. maybe Leek United.

McSaver

@ butterfly72, it just shows you how things can change over time when you decide you aint gonna waste any money and also being on MSE gives you the tips you need just to get a few quid extra.

stewart1984

Thanks for the responses guys, it's very much appreciated.

There's an incredible amount of stuff on mse and i've dipped into it now and then but this weekend i'm making a concerted effort to read everything that's pertinent to my situation and try to apply it!

Thanks once again all!

Stu

djbd1973

stewart1984 wrote: »

Thanks for the responses guys, it's very much appreciated.

There's an incredible amount of stuff on mse and i've dipped into it now and then but this weekend i'm making a concerted effort to read everything that's pertinent to my situation and try to apply it!

Thanks once again all!

Stu

I know what you mean Stu. Its like being a kid in a sweetshop and being told to help yourself. The problem is that sleep and work get in the way of reading the threads!

wiseman405

Hi,
I am 16, and i have just opened a high interest savings account. I am on about £180 a week and I aim to put £80 a week in the savings acount. I am in full time work and have no out goings!

I am soon going to open an ISA. I will also set up a standing order to put money into that, and i will put money i make on ebay in there to. Hoping to max out the ISA within about 6 months . But i cannot decide which ISA. I like the look of the NS&I. What do we think?

Should get the HSBC high interest savings account confirmation through the post soon and then i can start saving! Cant wait!

Thanks
Tom

save-a-lot

Hi wiseman405

Welcome to this inspirational thread.

Personally I have gone for the NS&I Direct ISA as it is guaranteed to remain 0.55% above the BoE base rate. However, this guarantee runs out in April next year, so I hope the NS&I carry on with this, or go with an even better deal.

PasturesNew

Reading through, I don't know where most of you work .... but it's very lucrative. Got any jobs going??!!

Many are saving more than I earn. Some are saving double what I earn.

Hard to be motivated when you see all the big sums people are saving.

Sort of makes £50-100/month pale into insignificance for a lot who are lurking I bet ....

zag2me

PasturesNew wrote: »

Reading through, I don't know where most of you work .... but it's very lucrative. Got any jobs going??!!

Many are saving more than I earn. Some are saving double what I earn.

Hard to be motivated when you see all the big sums people are saving.

Sort of makes £50-100/month pale into insignificance for a lot who are lurking I bet ....

Personally I didn't earn very much until a couple of years ago, got myself a degree from uni and a change of career and now the big bucks are rolling in Another thing I did was set myself a savings target in percentage terms each month of my wage. It doesnt matter then if you save £10, £100 or £1000, its the proportion of your wage that is important.

Oh and saving £100 a month for 10 years is better than saving £1000 for just a couple of months