Savings & Investments

hotchocolate1982

I have never really had savings in my life. I've have some debts but are currently paying them off. I've cleared my rent arrears and I would now like to start saving for the future but I'm finding it very hard to do so.

Does anyone have any advise of how to save.

I've stopped things like eating out, going out, I've reduced the sky and phone bills.

Also when I do save i would like to invest the money for quick returns. I was thinking stocksm is this a good idea.

psychic_teabag

For reducing outgoings, you might want to look at the "debt-free wannabe" forum.

Before thinking about the stockmarket you should think about building up an emergency fund of savings - 3 or 6 months of living expenses. You should only put into the stockmarket money you can afford to lose.

qpop

First priority: Repay ALL (non mortgage) debts. These are far more expensive than the benefit you'll get from savings.

If you pay off a £2,000 credit card, you have essentially "saved" £2000 at a rate of 15-25% interest (depending on your credit card rate).

I would argue that this should be done before starting an emergency fund. In the case of emergency use the unsecured debt - your net position is still better than having savings and debts.

The best way to start saving is to get a good budget - the MSE one is good (look on the main site). Be honest with all the sections of it and see what the result is. Then work out what you're prepared to put into savings, and, importantly: why?

what's the point in saving without a goal, target, or aspiration?

Do you want to buy a house? If so give yourself a vague idea of what you want to buy (look on rightmove etc.), plan to have (for example) a 10% deposit and £5,000 to cover fees, and then work backwards to see how long it would take you to get there. If the length of time is depressing you have two choices; save more or deal with it.

HTH