The "Save 12k in 2015' Thread!

ViktorOnopko

I'd like to take part in this please, can you put me down for £7500?

phil09

Can you sign me up for £15k please?

enthusiasticsaver

Pepperoni wrote: »

Do the savings have to stay savings? Or are the majority of people that come on these threads saving for something? For example, I need to save next year to pay off remainder of our debt, and then for a new car and central heating system - but it might be that next year is also the year that I need to get replace them / use the savings! So just wondering how I'd be able to contribute to this thread as think it would be motivating. Thanks!

I personally am saving to build up an early retirement investment isa as a supplement to my cash savings so won't be drawing on it this year so I expect and hope to have £12k in an s and s isa by the end of 2015. I guess if you have debt and also need a car and home improvements done then you have a target for the fairly short term - ie next year. It is still saving so if say £5000 of your £12000 savings is used to reduce debt I would still count it as saving. Similarly with your central heating or new car. You can still contribute by seeing your savings build up over the year until you get to the point when the money in the bank can be usefully employed wherever you see fit.


Certainly I view savings as a means to an end rather than accumulating it with no purpose in mind. Personally once I have got my investment isa up to £60k ( my target as 5 years of essential expenditure) I shall be retiring and stopping saving as I may well then need to start drawing an income from it. Others may have different viewpoints I daresay.

Sugarplum634

I think I'm in the same boat, I'm saving up for house renovations, but if I keep track of what goes IN over 2015, then that's what I've said in 2015, regardless of what I spend.
Yes?

Lomcevak

Pepperoni wrote: »

Do the savings have to stay savings? Or are the majority of people that come on these threads saving for something? For example, I need to save next year to pay off remainder of our debt, and then for a new car and central heating system - but it might be that next year is also the year that I need to get replace them / use the savings! So just wondering how I'd be able to contribute to this thread as think it would be motivating. Thanks!

Sugarplum634 wrote:

I think I'm in the same boat, I'm saving up for house renovations, but if I keep track of what goes IN over 2015, then that's what I've said in 2015, regardless of what I spend.
Yes?

Personally I view my target as what I hope to have at the end of the year. It would feel strange to me to include money that I then spent, and my take is to only count money that I have no current plans to spend - e.g. I'm going to have to replace the car at some point in the next year or two, so i've saved about £4k towards that this year but don't include it in my 2014 savings total as I already have plans to spend it in 2015 or maybe 2016. If I plan to spend it then I view it as budgeting, not saving. But my targets these days are really about building up longer term net worth, so that's a rule of thumb that works for me.

Saying that, the point of these threads is really just some extra motivation and help to stick to a target and keep saving rather than spending, the rules are deliberately loose, so the key thing in my view is what motivates you.

girlatplay

Lomcevak wrote: »

Personally I view my target as what I hope to have at the end of the year. It would feel strange to me to include money that I then spent, and my take is to only count money that I have no current plans to spend - e.g. I'm going to have to replace the car at some point in the next year or two, so i've saved about £4k towards that this year but don't include it in my 2014 savings total as I already have plans to spend it in 2015 or maybe 2016. If I plan to spend it then I view it as budgeting, not saving. But my targets these days are really about building up longer term net worth, so that's a rule of thumb that works for me.

Saying that, the point of these threads is really just some extra motivation and help to stick to a target and keep saving rather than spending, the rules are deliberately loose, so the key thing in my view is what motivates you.

This is pretty much how I feel about it too. My goal is to have the target amount in my account at the end of the year. In previous years I have saved, had the amount at the end of the year then used it in the following year for something or other.

If I were expecting to pay out for repairs, etc, I would set my target to not include the funds for the repairs. For example, my target this year is £2000. This is going into a house deposit fund. I expect to have £2000 at least in the fund at 31.12.15. I also overpay my mortgage by £220 per month. I don't include the £2640 for that in my target. Also, I save separately for yearly things like road tax, TV licence, etc, so I don't have to take them out of the savings.

Sorry for the ramble. I just love talking about money stuff

lalman

I treat savings as what I accumulate too - very much like girlatplay and lomcevak. I tend to expense items straight away so if I bought a car for example, I wouldn't depreciate it over 4-6 years... but instead just 'spend' or 'dis-save' money.

I think being honest to yourself and motivated are key.

Enthusiasticsaver - what age are you looking to retire? Do you feel that 60k will be enough? I enjoy trying to understand peoples thought processes towards retirement and 'what is enough'.

enthusiasticsaver

Just started up my first investment portfolio to start saving in stocks and shares which is what my sales target of £12k is for in 2015. Initially I am just putting 250 per month from January into an index tracker fund and plan to move it in April into an isa wrapper (already paid £15k into a cash isa for 2013/14) and boost with additional lump sums to make £12k by the end of the year. What sort of savings vehicles are others using?

lalman

My strategy is slightly different. I am going down the investment property root as I am trying to build up a portfolio of 8 total. (only got 1 now and have a deposit for another ready). I also contribute into my work place pension scheme that invests in a life style stocks and shares... and I also own a couple of stocks for specific companies... but I don't buy and and even more rarely sell.

My outlook for the world is slightly different from most - I feel the west has too much debt (and governments to large a deficit) and interest rates have to stay low for longer than they have... that will just keep what the trend for the last 6 years going... i.e. higher asset prices... low savings rates...

It is just my outlook and I don't want anyone to follow my strategy unless you believe it too.

What age are you looking to retire at?

enthusiasticsaver

lalman wrote: »

I treat savings as what I accumulate too - very much like girlatplay and lomcevak. I tend to expense items straight away so if I bought a car for example, I wouldn't depreciate it over 4-6 years... but instead just 'spend' or 'dis-save' money.

I think being honest to yourself and motivated are key.

Enthusiasticsaver - what age are you looking to retire? Do you feel that 60k will be enough? I enjoy trying to understand peoples thought processes towards retirement and 'what is enough'.

I am 54 at the moment and my husband is 56 and we are both hoping to retire in 2018 when he is 60 and I am 58. We both have pensions - his is very good and will be fully funded at age 60 and will cover our normal living expenses at least. I have a public sector pension which I can take at any time and a guaranteed minimum pension from an ex employer which will pay out in 2020. I am hoping to delay taking my public sector pension for as long as possible as it is reduced considerably if I take it in 2018 hence my backup early retirement fund.


I have built up around £75k in cash isas (mostly in fixed ones which mature in 2017/8) and the stocks and shares isa I am focusing on now will hopefully not need to be touched until the cash isas have run out and I have started drawing on my pensions. £60k in itself would not be enough to retire on I do not think but I do not want all my eggs in one basket. Plan is firstly to draw on cash, then pension, then investment portfolio and finally downsize on house.