I finally managed to get a job - now to start saving...

Heart_Shaped_Diamond

Hi all, after four months signing on - I finally managed to get a job.:j I am so happy, you can't imagine.

At the moment I am only working 16 hours, but I am sure I will have more hours as soon as I get into the swing of things. My cousin left this job and went on to get another - I was put forward for her old job (the one I have now) and she used to do around 30 hours a week on average.

I am looking to save £3,000. I am being paid only £5.00 an hour because of my age.

How much should I put away each month to reach my goal and in how many months will I reach said goal by saving this amount?

I was a student before signing on and I plan on going back in September after taking time out.

As I live at home, when I go back to my course, will I still be entitled to a student bursary funded by SASS? Or will I not be legiable for one as I am now working as well as studying, even though my parents have a low income?

Thanks all. HSD x

Lokolo

Noone can tell you the amount you can save, only you can. From that you can easily work out how many months it'll take. It's pretty simple Maths. (If you want £3,000 by September, so 6 months away, you need to save £500 a month).

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As for your bursary, if it works the same as England Student Finance then yes, as you have to be 3 years living away independently before being assessed without parents.

Heart_Shaped_Diamond

Thanks for the reply, Lokolo. There isn't really a time limit on saving the money - I'm just looking to save up ASAP. I am contemplating a second job to help out. At the moment, until my hours are 'upped' I am only earning £360 a month - not enough. And when I was studying I at one point was given £400 a month by SASS. But it then went down to £300 odd. It's a bit mad to think I was being paid the same amount of money or more studying vs. working.

Blackdog

Congratulations on finding a job and well done for setting yourself a savings target. How quickly you reach the target will depend on what your outgoings are and how much of your pay goes in tax and NI. On your salary I imagine most of it will not be taxed and as you live at home you can keep your costs under control. How about trying to save £150 a month then you will hit your target in 20 months. Good luck!

joerugby

Blackdog wrote: »

Congratulations on finding a job and well done for setting yourself a savings target. How quickly you reach the target will depend on what your outgoings are and how much of your pay goes in tax and NI. On your salary I imagine most of it will not be taxed and as you live at home you can keep your costs under control. How about trying to save £150 a month then you will hit your target in 20 weeks or 5 months. Good luck!

In 5 months at £150 a month you will have £750. It will take you 20 months at that rate of saving

Nosht

Apply for Working Tax Credit.

N.

edinburgher

Congrats on the job - they're a rare commodity at the moment!

There's a cracking calculator for savings on this site, great fun if you want to tinker about with rates/whether or not you'll be paying any tax etc.

MSE saving calculator

Be sure to shop around and make sure you get the best rate on your savings - ISAs are great for keeping money away from the tax man, but they don't work best for every circumstance - there are still some reasonable rates to be had on regular savers etc., although there are normally tie-ins to consider (i.e. earn a certain wage/bank with the issuing bank etc.)

Heart_Shaped_Diamond

I haven't been on MSE since my original post.

My hours have been upped since starting the new job - up at 5.30 am some mornings. Something I don't think i've ever done before unless it was to get up to go to the toilet :rotfl:. Rather that than be on JSA, though.

I've been working 31 hours. When I go back to my course i'll have to work part time hours again, but the bursary should take care of some of the money.

I feel embarrassed to ask but what is Working Tax Credit? I am not taxed on the part time hours, but I think I will be on the full time hours.

I couldn't save £150 a month, atleast I'd need a right push before I had the guts. I really need advice (I guess that's why I'm here ) on the saving side of things. I'm a material girl. I can't help buying cosmetics, clothes and lunch. I feel quite sad thinking i'll never be able to save because I am too fond of 'retail therapy'.

My mum says for every item of clothing I bring into the house I should get rid of three (sell on eBay or donate to charity shop) but I latch onto all of my things... It's like a secuirty blanket!

Yorkie1

I'd start making a list of everything you spend on - including those cash purchases. Then you get a picture of where your money goes and you can start prioritising.]

Perhaps set up a separate bank account which doesn't allow withdrawals or is at least a little harder to get money out of? Put a certain amount of your wages into that account as soon as you get paid, so that you never have it in your pocket.

Spend only cash, rather than using credit / debit cards. That way you know when you've run out of money rather than nasty surprises.

Go onto the debt free wannabee board and post a statement of affairs - they'll help you analyse your spending. Although as you're living at home you won't have many of the usual expenses so I don't know how effective that will be (but probably worth looking over there for some tips at least).

edinburgher

My mum says for every item of clothing I bring into the house I should get rid of three (sell on eBay or donate to charity shop) but I latch onto all of my things... It's like a secuirty blanket!

Think you've hit the nail on the head with that one - a lot of people are the same and spend half their lives working to buy items that seem like fun at the time, but are decreasingly less enjoyable/relevant as time goes by.

I'm a minimalist (bar kitchen gear, never seem to reduce that much) and am always trying to find ways to shrink my stock of 'stuff'. I've gone almost entirely digital with music, would do the same with books if the publishers got off their backsides and hurried up the pace at which ebooks are being published.

eBay/Amazon Marketplace are great places to offload some of the items you feel ready to part with - I've got my accounts set up so that any money earned is ploughed straight back into savings.

When it comes down to it I'd rather have lived a life rich with experiences than rich with shelves full of crap

Heart_Shaped_Diamond

I totally understand what you are both saying. It's a strange emotional/sentimental attatchment I have to things. Especially books and films! Forgot to mention those - oops :embarasse.

I keep lots of books, it's like keeping the story to me. I feel like if I give the books away, I'll lose the magic that I felt reading it. I keep plays - plays i've enjoyed or plays i've been in. I keep lots of scraps of paper with memoirs on. I keep photo's and gifts (even gifts i've never liked... Even if I know they'll never come to any use). It's the same with my clothes, I love to dress up - it makes me feel good.

It's like there's a part of me in everything I own. The things I buy then become that and then it's hard to part -- hard to stop buying. I've never been in debt. I usually pay with cash. But I seem to be in this vicious cycle of 'things'. And then, when I save up the money - I fear I might do the same after all the hard work. Kick up the back side much? I think so!