How much should I save/help me to get straight!

dilemma10

Hi everybody,
I have been up and down with my savings since I graduated and unfortunately after being careless and having far too many holidays this year I am now back down to about £1k in savings. Eeek. To give you some background:
I am 24 years of age, I moved back in with my parents last April, my outgoings every month are £600 inc car payment, board, car insurance, contact lens, iPad rental, Sky, gym. I graduated in 2009 from Warwick University, my job for the last two years was £23k a year then went up to £28k last May. I start a new job 6th August on £40,330. I will still live at home for a while. My question is this - how much and where should I save my money? After pension my monthly take out should be £2200 approx.
I also need to boost my credit rating massively as it has taken one or two big hits this year through stupidity.

HappyMJ

Nothing...you should spend every penny on the mortgage. As you don't have a mortgage then spend every penny on a deposit and buy a house.

As you earn £40,330 per year before tax you should be taking home £2,200 per month after your pension/student loans. Out of that you should be spending about £70 a week on living expenses and whatever it costs you to get to/from work and whatever it costs you in rent/board and saving the rest.

So about £1,600 per month.

JoeCrystal

Well, generally, it is ideal to save an emergency fund between three to six months of income/expense. Some might do a year or more since they got more commitments such as children or other major issues. I preferred a year salary for emergency fund just in case of losing my job.

Clearly, since you pay taxes, the first port of call would be Cash ISAs. I would personally would rethink some aspects of your outgoing such as Gym, Sky, IPad, do you really need them? Cutting outgoings is good way to increase your savings.

Cheers

Joe