How much to save from £15k wages a yr

dozzer

Hi I am a long time lurker and not so much a poster but I have decided i really must start saving for the future.

Unfortunately i dont have a very large wage and wonder what other people in my sort of wage band save each month to help me maximise my savings.

I currently save £150 a month but would like to increase this but at the same time I dont want to live on the bare minimum. I know i do buy some things i dont need and am trying to stop this bad habit but its a hard one

If anyone can offer tips to maximise my current savings and maybe let me see what other can save im sure it will help motivate me into saving more.

Thanks

Dozzer

100saving

so 15k a year after tax is just over 13k a year, £1084 a month.

so depending on your outgoings which will depend on how much you can save. can you provide a bit more i.e. renting?, driving?, etc.

but i would think the First Direct 1st account that gives you a £100 joining bonus and access to one of the best reg. saving accounts on the market up to £300 a month you can save at 6% interest.

dozzer

i had a look at the first direct account but after my pension comes off and my £150 savings (its a sharesave scheme) i dont have the required £100 per month going into bank. more like £820 give or take.

my basic outgoing are approx £500 that i need to spend on bills and rent.

Car varies but i would say up to £80/90 pm

on top of this food/lunches/stuff for the child.

its hard to save

innovate

You don't have to deposit £1K a month in one go, or for any length of time.

dozzer

sorry it says:
if after six months you do not pay £1,000 per month into your 1st Account you may have to pay a fee of £10.

would the fee per month not basically ruin the interest as il be paying a fee that i otherwise wouldnt have been paying so therefore im spending not earning if you know what i mean

drbraindead

Hey, it is hard to save

I am earning roughly the same amount. Started a new job 4 months ago which fluctuates a take home of 1050-1100, four weekly.

Trying to save for a deposit for next year so aiming for at least £400pm.

I guess the amount people save is different for everyone regarding circumstance and location.

I try and minus all outgoings (rent,food,car etc) and give myself a spending allowance for the month. This allowance will be spent on stuff I don't need, like drinking lol.

It is hard at first to live on little, one way to manage your social life would be to do nothing one week and something the next, on off.

theoretica

dozzer wrote: »

sorry it says:
if after six months you do not pay £1,000 per month into your 1st Account you may have to pay a fee of £10.

Often with similar accounts all you have to do is pay in your £800, take £200 out (to another account) and them pay it back. Sometimes this can be done with standing orders. Silly and a hassle - you will need to read the small print to see if it will work on this account and decide if it is worth it for you.

[Deleted User]

Start off by making sure you know exactly what you spend your income on - fill in an SOA (http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php). If you are not sure of exact figures then keep a spending diary for a few months (a note pad or pen will do, or an app on your phone, and note down everything that you spend money on from the really small things (like a bar of chocolate or a newspaper) to the really big things (rent/mortgage etc)

Then go through each item and ask yourself if you need it and if yes, see if you can get the same or similar elsewhere for cheaper (e.g. use comparison sites etc for getting on the cheapest utility tariffs), and if no, then ask if you are prepared to sacrifice it, or part of it, in order to be able to save (e.g. do you have Sky? Are you prepared to give it up completely? Or reduce the package? Or switch to Freesat as an alternative?). Everyone's choices will be different, so you have to find the right balance for you and your family between cutting back to save, and enjoying living life).

If your only savings currently go into a share scheme, are you able to access this in an emergency if you had expensive car repairs, or some other kind of unexpected bill? If not, then if I were you I'd be aiming to save at least a little bit more every month into an instant access account to act as a buffer if an emergency cropped up.

HTH,

D9

[Deleted User]

dozzer wrote: »

sorry it says:
if after six months you do not pay £1,000 per month into your 1st Account you may have to pay a fee of £10.

would the fee per month not basically ruin the interest as il be paying a fee that i otherwise wouldnt have been paying so therefore im spending not earning if you know what i mean

Yes but you can put £500 in, then out, then in again - in total £1000 will have been deposited in the account in one month. It doesn't have to be in one go!

I think that's what the above poster was trying to explain.

100saving

the 1st account is Fee FREE if you open the e-saving account and just put a £1 in it. it says in the T&C's:

"Eligibility
Banking with first direct usually costs £10 a month, but we'll waive the fee if you pay in at least £1,000 to your 1st Account each month or maintain an average monthly 1st Account balance of £1,000 or hold a selected first direct additional product. For new customers we waive the fee for your first 6 months. Take a look at our interest rates and charges section for details of the additional products."

their reg. saving account is the best paying reg. saving on the market at the moment. you can save from £25 to £300 per month. see https://www2.firstdirect.com/1/2/savings/regular-savings-account?WT.ac=FSDT_CTA_SAV_REG1003

Have you got a Cash ISA? you could also open one of these to save however much you want each month but up to a Max £5760 this tax year. april 2013 to april 2014. see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa

dozzer

Ah i thought it was in one go, i get it now.

il have a look at that link and also the diary sounds a good idea as il be able to look over and see the impulse buys i often make.

if only i earned more but the job hunts so difficult!