Saving 50%salary

livilove

Broken_Biscuits wrote: »

looking over last years figures...

i saved 50% of my net salary 5 months of the year, which included october, November and december. January of this year looks likely too.

i don't earn a big wage and probably waste too much on booze and food. You have to be quite smart at times, coming up with alternative income streams or just being frugal/ money wise a large percent of the time. Monday to Thursday its quite easy to spend very little or nothing.



you could, as i have, take on a lodger for extra cash.
pension contributions will get you to 50% saved quicker with less actual money coming out of your end due to the tax saving.

if you have cash, filling both tsb accounts and taking advantage of the tesco/halifax trick will give some extra pocket money too.




i saved about 40% last year and compared to my peers have a very active social life. No spend days a few days a week can cancel out the overspending you do on the weekends.

if its not hammering down walking instead of driving / busing. Rent or buy somewhere that makes this possible. My advice would be if you are completely dependant on your car in your working life, move.

good look to anyone taking positive steps to sort their future out. Ignore the ones telling you that you are wasting your life. I have a good life and save what some would consider to be extreme.
all i would say is that if you are saving for near 20 years in the future make sure you are saving smartly. Compound interest is king. You could easily double your pot if you play the game right.


a lot of people on here talk about tim hales smarter investing. Its a very good read. Join your local library. I got it for free from there.

best wishes with your journey.

wow 50% nearer the xmas, new year period. thats what i want to achieve too. Saving smartly! - do u save in investments like standard life etc?

livilove

robatwork wrote: »

Good job on updating your thread.

Do you work hugely long hours? I could never justify a domestic cleaner or come to that the latest iPhone - much more MSE to wait a year to buy any technology; once the next model comes out the previous one you covet is still the same spec, and half the price.....

One of the most annoying parts of living frugally is holidays - the fact that when you cost out a holiday in the UK it works out almost the same or more than a holiday abroad. And no, I don't like caravans.

Thnx v much. You are spot on, I started spending on small luxuries becuase I work longer hours and also some weekends. My work hour produces more vlaue than cleaner's hourly cost. so I delegate.

livilove

Update
17-1-2015 18500
01/09/15. 23500

Expected saving from salary £ 1600 @50%=800 / month =5600
Actual savings 48%.

Measures taken to save and live below means.
cheap holidays abroad.
No shopping trips,I m comfortable in same old cloths (I still fit in them)
cooking from scratch ,picking deals and planning meals so no waste .
Payg sim
No gyms, instead kept walking

Introduced occasional lunch out. And getting those endorphins by meeting up friends and new like minded people instead of shopping.



After vat and tax business income reinvested business value to date 10k...still working full time and also overtime. Not drawing any salary from business.
Plan is to get commercial property and open a store or rent it out. Thinking to employ staff and gain grants to help staffing costs. Don't know yet.

Frugal is not scrimping, it's living below your means and empowering yourself with the big sum of money.

ITs true that money is enabler . buying 6 properties and putting
Them on rent and living off rental income is ideal. But getting on to property ladder and saving money for deposit is a big ordeal for us..
Finally after 3.5 years And saving like a squirrel ,I think I earned back 3.5 years of my life.
65-3.5= 61.5 my retirement age. so no guilty at retiring at that age ( I earned it )

So it works wonder to be frugal. Anyone here having similar ambitions of saving and what is your vision
Please share your thoughts and plans and be reminded and supported and focused .. This forum has made me focused ... Thnx mse community.

atush

Congrats on your success. And investing in your business is a better idea than gold, but I would divert some into a S&S isa.

You dont want all your eggs in one basket (ie your business).

inflationbuster

Too ambitious a target long term - what about family, housing, ad-hoc luxuries etc? Don't think you're going be to enjoying life.

racing_blue

I am so impressed by your saving discipline but there are two sides to the equation:

Income = spending + (saving or borrowing)

And I cannot help wonder if there is more to be gained by working on the income side than on the spending side, based on what you have said.

Who am I to speculate, but I guess this is why we post stuff here, to see what randoms feel.

Good luck as always

Apodemus

Livelove, not sure if you have tried it but you could join the Mrmoneymustache forum if you want to find more like-minded people trying to save 50% of salary and retire early. American site but lots of international folk on it and some interesting concepts amongst the usual internet dross!

Playing_with_Fire_2

Livilove,

I'm so impressed with your journey so far. I'm trying to do a similar thing as you. In response to people who say that saving money is not living life, I am enjoying life much more now than I was before: I'm not worried about money, I spend more time walking and cycling outside so I'm healthier, I'm happier at work because I know that I get to keep more of the money. I hear people saying that I'm not living life, but they are miserable because they can't pay credit card bills for something that is already lost, broken or out of fashion. To me, living and working to pay a credit card bill is not living.

These are some tips I have found useful:
- Slow cooker or a pressure cooker is amazing for making delicious and healthy food. The Old Style board has some recipes, but as long as you are careful with lentils, you can put any cheap meat, veg, pasta in and get a proper stew out of it.
- I love to cycle everywhere and this means I need to use a taxi less.
- I've learnt more about DIY so that I can improve my house without spending too much money.

Having read your posts, I would be more cautious about what you invest in. It can be very interesting to hear about the next amazing/sure thing/guaranteed return, however I have found that the investments that have done best for me are the boring index funds that just slowly grow.

So excited to hear what happens next for you.

livilove

inflationbuster wrote: »

Too ambitious a target long term - what about family, housing, ad-hoc luxuries etc? Don't think you're going be to enjoying life.

Rightly said, enjoying life is main purpose of life.
Honestly speaking with my finances in right place I enjoy life better and am much happier now. I spend weekend with family and friends and throughout the week working , occasional over time.

livilove

Dear community, I am learning along they way and am so grateful for your contribution and ideas.
Will put portion of the eggs in different basket , as u mentioned ISA stock n share could be an option, is fidelity any good to put my future savings in?... considering
isa ( stock and share) some r better than others? Where do u save? Any suggestion/advice is much appreciated ..