30 years old - am I spending too much of my salary?

pearl123

londonerneedtosave wrote: »

I think it's not unusual for it to average out to be about £23 per day if we go out on ONE expensive dinner a week..

To be honest there families who spend for the whole week £23.00 per person on groceries or less!

grey_gym_sock

to look at it more positively, OP is helping to keep low-paid employees in food establishments in work, and doing his bit to alleviate the economic depression.

however, if he'd rather buy a property in a few years' time, with a decent deposit, then perhaps he needs to change tack.

londonerneedtosave

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

to look at it more positively, OP is helping to keep low-paid employees in food establishments in work, and doing his bit to alleviate the economic depression.

however, if he'd rather buy a property in a few years' time, with a decent deposit, then perhaps he needs to change tack.

What's considered a decent deposit? If I want a say £350k property does that mean I need about £87k for a 25% deposit? Is that considered decent?

Perhaps that could be a goal for me...

Nine_Lives

Domino9 wrote: »

Eat breakfast before you leave the house!

make packed lunches - sandwiches, home made soup, salads, stews, anything left over from the previous evening. This will save you a fortune!

You could save that £9-£11 a day towards your deposit!

Agreed.

In a morning i have porridge before work to set me off.

My workmates who complain about having no money have a bacon, sausage & egg bun they buy from a nearby shop in the morning at a cost of £2.50. They see it as only £2.50, so what's the harm. I see it as £2.50 vs my breakfast which probably costs pence (as i buy a big bad of porridge), PLUS as we're paid weekly, i see it as not £2.50 for them, but £15 as we work 6 days per week.


I have packed lunch for work. Couple buns of chicken or egg. The chicken is bought in bulk & frozen. A couple of apples, banana, pineapple pieces.

For lunch - they're having £5 lunches from the same shop. That's £25 per week that i'm not spending.


And they're complaining about having no money....:eek:

londonerneedtosave

K_P83 wrote: »

Agreed.

In a morning i have porridge before work to set me off.

My workmates who complain about having no money have a bacon, sausage & egg bun they buy from a nearby shop in the morning at a cost of £2.50. They see it as only £2.50, so what's the harm. I see it as £2.50 vs my breakfast which probably costs pence (as i buy a big bad of porridge), PLUS as we're paid weekly, i see it as not £2.50 for them, but £15 as we work 6 days per week.


I have packed lunch for work. Couple buns of chicken or egg. The chicken is bought in bulk & frozen. A couple of apples, banana, pineapple pieces.

For lunch - they're having £5 lunches from the same shop. That's £25 per week that i'm not spending.


And they're complaining about having no money....:eek:

They are spending about £25 a week.... how much do you think you are spending to make these breakfast and lunches? Perhaps about £8? So in short, about £17 a week in savings?

Nine_Lives

londonerneedtosave wrote: »

What's considered a decent deposit? If I want a say £350k property does that mean I need about £87k for a 25% deposit? Is that considered decent?

Perhaps that could be a goal for me...

Pretty much you want as big a deposit as you can possibly get.

A scratty terrace in a not nice area will cost you about £100k roughly here.

£125k will get you a decent semi in a reasonable area if you look about a bit. So this is what we're aiming at. We're aiming at a 40% deposit for next year which is better than a lot of folk our age.


£350k, wow, that'd get you a niiiiiiiice house around here.

pearl123

And old saying that I've never forgot.

Save it you've got it - spend it you've had it!

duchy

But not in central London where the OP currently lives.

Nine_Lives

londonerneedtosave wrote: »

They are spending about £25 a week.... how much do you think you are spending to make these breakfast and lunches? Perhaps about £8? So in short, about £17 a week in savings?

I haven't calculated it out tbh, but i know it's saving big time.

The porridge is cheap & i buy a big bag of it. It's better for you than the greasy butties they have & it fills you longer.

I buy buns (as i prefer over bread) in packs & freeze them. I take out the night before for the following day.
Instead of buying a single chicken breast or whatever, i buy packs of. Also fish out the offers.
Bags of apples. I buy a pineapple, chop it up into bits, store in the fridge & put some pieces in a pot for the next day at work, which i munch on at my morning break. Pineapple pieces, apple & banana in the morning, a couple of chicken/egg/whatever buns & another apple for lunch. I used to take satsumas too but got fed up of peeling :rotfl:

Another thing my workmates do is spend 35p on the crappy coffee machine which tastes bland & they do this numerous times throughout the day.

I bring a jar of coffee, a beaker of milk which i fill from my fridge in the morning & keep in a cool box, i bring my sweetners (don't take sugar) & a flask of hot water.
My sweetners cost 79p & there's hundreds in there.
My coffee for 200g costs less than £3.

They can have 9 tiny cups & they've spent more than me straight away.


It's just a case of looking at where you can spend smarter.

duchy wrote: »

But not in central London where the OP currently lives.

If that was directed at me - then i know, i was just saying. Nothing wrong in that.

racing_blue

londonerneedtosave wrote: »

Hi guys,

I am based in London and have a pretty good job, however I don't think I'm saving enough. I would like to save up for a decent chunk of a deposit.

Currently no debts, no credit card debts.

I am on about £56k (Around $89k) and can only save about 37% of that.

Anyway after all my taxes, I get about £3272 net in the bank.

So I've done some budgeting, and it appears the following:

• Rent: £1175- Our apartment is £1625 and I pay for most of that. My gf pays £450 since she's not earning much. (36% of my net)
• Council tax: £151
• Power: £50 (approx.. I think)
• Sky TV/Internet/Phone: £42
  
• Mobile phone: £10
  
• Food £450(I think) - 12% of my net
• Dining out: £250
  

Total income: £3272

Total expenditure: £2078

Savings: £1194

p.s. dining out, food incls for my girlfriend and myself.

This doesn't includes holidays away etc. or very special dinner outs or big purchases like a new tele etc
Am I spending too much on my rent than I should be? Is this normal amount of money to be spending for my income?
I'm fairly concerned that my apartment is too expensive for my earnings.


Thanks!

You ask "is this a normal amount to be spending for my income"- flawed question! If you can shift focus away from income, to wealth, the picture looks different.

At some point we all (1) stop working and (2) die. If (1) happens before (2), it is called retirement. In my house, we aim to spend no more that 50% of net income. As a result, our investment income is rising year on year... a virtuous circle.

A book that explains this well: Your Money or Your Life.