How much emergancy money???

version2014

Hi All,

Sadly overpaying the mortgage is addictive. I find myself wanting to bang in more and more, to try and hit the 10% max op.

However sensible head says need cash in the bank too, how much is considered enough??

Any thoughts

newgirly

Sorry, I am no use as we have no savings! Not to be recommended at all but we have always been overspenders and have only just cleared our debts (except the mortgage) I think its supposed to be around 3x months wages if you are sensible.:D

ajmoney

I think the minimum is 3x wages although a lot on here have 6x

version2014

newgirly wrote: »

Sorry, I am no use as we have no savings! Not to be recommended at all but we have always been overspenders and have only just cleared our debts (except the mortgage) I think its supposed to be around 3x months wages if you are sensible.:D

Congrats on being debt free - that the best way to be!!

version2014

ajmoney wrote: »

I think the minimum is 3x wages although a lot on here have 6x

Hmmm thats what I was thinking, try and save 6 months living cost money...and then go for more OP's.

And a bit for a cruise next year (the one thing I don't want to give up)

edinburgher

I've heard everything from 3-12 months suggested.

The main things to consider are a) how stable is your profession/job? and b) do you have any dependents?

Mrs E and I are aiming for 3 months worth of essential expenditure (not earnings). No kids, have never been made redundant.

We're also OPing - what I do is split everything down the line. So, if I have a spare tenner, £5 goes into the OP Pot and £5 goes into the EF. It's a mix of common sense and the fun you get from paying down the mortgage and has been working well for us so far.

bodmil

I've just recently got my mortgage and overpaying so at present I'm sticking with a minimum of 10k savings, then working up to having 15k and anything above that I'll use to overpay with.

martinsurrey

if both you and your partner are in good stable jobs that could cover the mortgage alone, then 2-3 months essential spending would be fine.

If you are the only earner and work in a unstable industry/role 8+ could be advisable

alwaystryyourbest

version2014 wrote: »

Hi All,

Sadly overpaying the mortgage is addictive. I find myself wanting to bang in more and more, to try and hit the 10% max op.

However sensible head says need cash in the bank too, how much is considered enough??

Any thoughts

Hi i am the same as you love overpaying but got no savings ..
I know i should have some put by but my fingers and head always seems to like to pay some more towards to mortgage.

edinburgher

Hi i am the same as you love overpaying but got no savings ..
I know i should have some put by but my fingers and head always seems to like to pay some more towards to mortgage.

It's probably worth having a little perspective - if the worst happens and you've no source of income - how long can you pay your mortgages with no savings? Will your bank allow you to 'take back' repayments/have a break in payments? Unless you have a plan for this/have an affirmative answer from your bank already, you need some savings