whats the average monthly save?

u751904

Folks I am curious as to what the average monthly saving is. I am better at saving for my daughter than myself. The family income has halfed since the ression due to redundancy and job changes. Just when I was shot of child car fees I lost my job - or elese I'd be laughing now money wise. Sort of crazy lesson in life you can do without. Anyway.

I save £75 for my daughter in a CTF and between £50 - £100 for myself. The later my own savings have only just started so I am pretty much zero personal savings.

it feels like a long long way to the top as they say.

innovate

You might find like-minded posters in the "How much can you save" thread

u751904

I see just done a quick read - thread has gone off on a tangent a bit. Some are saving huge amounts pm .. depressing oh well.

Ultrasonic

u751904 wrote: »

I see just done a quick read - thread has gone off on a tangent a bit. Some are saving huge amounts pm .. depressing oh well.

How much anyone can save will vary wildly with differing personal circumstances. The fact that someone is saving more than you doesn't necessarily mean they're 'better' at saving. There is no point worrying about what anyone else is doing, all saving you can do for yourself is good .

Stubod

I was also concerned that I was not saving enough, so I checked out a web site that gave examples of how much the "average" person had in savings in the UK, and I was absolutley amazed at how little the "average" was. Can't remember the actual site, but I am sure if you google "average savings" then you could find something. The "average" savings for all the uk for somebody 50'ish was somewhere around 17k I think. But remember that averages do not mean that much, a "mean" is probably more relevant.

Whatever, I think that as long as you are able to save something, and more important is where you save it (ie no point in saving £200 per month into an account that only pays 1%).

As a target I have always tried to save 10% of my net earnings.

Stu

Rob_192

u751904

Don't get too depressed by what others are able to save - to a large extent, this depents on your age and what stage you're at in life. When I was younger, I struggled to save anything, but now in my late 40's, having cleared our mortage, we now save a lot more. However, much if not most of what I save I consider to be retirement provision as I have no works pension and need to make my own arrangements - contrast this to somebody in a good works pension, who doesn't need to make the same level of savings for their retirement. What I'm basically trying to say is everyone's circumstances will be different.

Just remember the basics when it comes to savings - you can only ever have each £1 once, you either spend it or save it, you will never see that particular £1 again if you choose to spend it. This was the best piece of advice I was ever given.

R

Ultrasonic

Stubod wrote: »

But remember that averages do not mean that much, a "mean" is probably more relevant.

I don't understand what you're getting at? It's pretty irrelevant for this thread, but there a number of different types of average, and the (arithmetic) mean is one of them.

Stubod

..sorry I meant median...long time since I did maths...

MoneySaverLog

Averages can be distorted say person A saves £2,000 a month, person B saves £1,000 a month and person C saves £100 a month.

The mean average would be (£2,000 + £1,000 + £100) / 3 = £1,033.33

Even that would be difficult for someone saving £100 a month to achieve.

Taking the median (The middle number of the series) in this example is still £1,000

Mode is probably what you want and would be the most common though here there is no common amount but you see where I'm getting at. If person D saved £100 then the mode would be £100

Ultrasonic

Stubod wrote: »

..sorry I meant median...long time since I did maths...

Ah, I nearly suggested you might have meant that.

coastline

As posted...why worry what others are saving..just do you best without leaving yourself short...
Theres a regular survey which suggests over half the population haven't got a grand to their name...and thats not surprising..
Is doesn't mean they are wasters...maybe they just can't afford to save....mortgages ...families...cars and compulsory pensions are enough for most people..