Am I the only person who doesn't have any savings?

SandC

Brighton_belle wrote: »

£200 - £300 is an excellent start but really is still very little for life's regular unexpected (therefore to be expected) emergencies. When you think a new boiler costs at least £2,000 and a major car breakdown , maybe £600. Or unexpected health issues where suddenly you can't clean your own home, or need to install a chair in your bath to be able to get in and out of it etc. My IFA advises everyone to save 6 months of out goings for an emergncy fund.

I can quite see how your friends say they are skint: the £10K is an untouchable true emergency fund, not for dipping into for holidays/ nights out etc. So for day to day living perposes, they may well be skint. I admire them if they are limiting there day to day expences by not dipping into that fund.

I do agree about the idea of balance though and everyone has to find what is right for them. But as you get older, you may not be able to travel, but you may have increased needs to be able to keep warm, pay for transport, help in the garden,and little things to make life easier, more comfortable.

OP, even £25 a month (= £5.77 a week = a magazine and a coffee) will add up to £300 in a year, £600 in 2. Is there anyway you can find that? Set it up by SO from your CA in to a separate savings account so you can see it as untouchable. Because if you have the CC for emergencies, that is stil going to need to be paid off.

Yes Brighton Belle. I have had a friend more than once when I've said no to a night out because of lack of cash and they've told me to borrow money or dip into my savings for it. There is no way I would borrow cash just for a night out and no wonder they don't have savings if they dip into it for things like that all the time.

barbiedoll

I've never been a saver although it's not for want of trying. Like so many others, we got into the credit card/loan trap whenever we had a large unexpected bill, we had a car that blew it's head gasket on the motorway, my husband got made redundant suddenly (twice!) and we live in a Victorian house where a small DIY job often turns into a huge repair

For the first time in my life, I have managed to save a little each month and I currently have the princely sum of £207 in my ISA, £7 of which was interest...i.e. free money! :j

I have been putting £20 each month away, I had a small tax rebate which went into the ISA and when my ancient gas cooker gave up the ghost last year, I was able to go out and buy a new one outright. It was so gratifying to be able to deal with an emergency without laying awake at night wondering where the money was going to come from. I don't miss the savings money, a fiver a week in the grand scheme of things, is nothing. My husband has to have a week off work for an eye operation and he won't get sick pay from work so my meagre savings will probably reduce a little soon. But at least we won't have to get into debt further and we will be able to cope without his wage for a week. I'm hoping to increase my monthly savings soon, but with the school holidays upon us, I'm not holding my breath!

It's a good habit to get into, having "savings" doesn't mean that you have to have thousands sitting in the bank. It's just good to be able to cope with an unexpected emergency now and again.

thegirlintheattic

I've never not had savings, as until recently I'd never had credit to fall back on. I went from a high of 20K in savings to now not having very much but it's still enough to cover a month of outgoings and a deposit for a rental should everything go tits up. That's with at the moment living pretty much hand to mouth.

I do think everyone should have some small savings, it's very easy to do if you take the view of 'I won't by that coffee but put the money in the bank' etc.

mynameistallulah

Three months income in savings, overpaying on my mortgage, anything over that goes into the holiday fund.