Does Anyone Not have Savings?

Teacher2

Henry Mayhew wrote 'London and the London Poor' at the end of the nineteenth century and he noted something about people's finances which is probably as true today. Starting off in a job living at home a man(or woman) was reasonably prosperous; two salaries and no children was OK money-wise (though no contraception then!); children caused financial hardship but a degree of financial security was regained when the offspring worked and left home and then, finally, old age without a state pension caused penury.

My DH and I found it hard when we first started work and bought a house but friends of ours said it took about a decade for them to get out of the red and into the black and it was exactly the same for us. We saved like demons and paid off some of the mortgage when we could afford it and then having children plunged us back towards an equal amount of money going out of the house as coming in. When the children left for university we were able to put cash by again for our retirements. We are quite flush for the time being but know we will be very strapped for cash when my DH retires. There is a six year gap between him retiring at sixty and us getting our state pensions and that is going to be very tricky for us to navigate and stay solvent.

That said, while circumstances have dictated whether we were strapped for cash or flush it has made a big difference that we are both prudent and have a mutual desire to save and stay afloat independently. We look with dismay at those who splurge without a care in the world for the 'rainy day'. How will they manage?

badger09

Herzlos wrote: »

Indeed. I have a bit of a running buffer, in that I try to overpay credit card bills if there's nothing else needing done that month. Failing that I can put it on credit card and take care of later.

Terribly poor planning on my part, but with a small child and a single income some compromises are needed.

I can take a mortgage payment holiday, up to the amount I've overpaid. I can also pull money out of the kids ISA :rotfl:

Not if it is actually in a Junior ISA:cool: (rather than in an ISA in your name, into which you are saving on behalf of your child)

sugarbaby125

I currently only have £300 savings which is totally accessible, because in the last 4 weeks I have had a lot of financial outlay from my savings.

I have money invested, that will mature next year and also a mutual fund account that will mature just before my son turns 21.

Even though I am only working part time and earn minimum wage, it does not mean that I can afford not to save or to have some money invested for the future.

ViktorOnopko

When I moved out at 26 I had about £10-12k but then got in to a situation where I was spending more than I was earning (rent + bills + lifestyle) and ended up with no savings. I started saving in Jan 2014 and now sit with around £6-7k in my bank. Sometimes I save in a month and other times I don't (car costs or holidays etc).

I always want money to cover rainy days (had a car issue which cost £2200 this year for example) but also think money in the bank gives you freedom and more opportunity to enjoy life.

Dird

ViktorOnopko wrote: »

had a car issue which cost £2200 this year for example

That was the exact cost of my car :-o

Ray_Singh-Blue

Dird wrote: »

That was the exact cost of my car :-o

Twice the cost of mine. Different priorities I guess. I had a nice car once, lost interest in it. To me an hour spent in a car is a wasted hour whether it is a banger or a Lamborghini.

jimjames

Ray_Singh-Blue wrote: »

Twice the cost of mine. Different priorities I guess. I had a nice car once, lost interest in it. To me an hour spent in a car is a wasted hour whether it is a banger or a Lamborghini.

If we're getting competitive it was 4x the cost of mine I do find it interesting the % of salary that people spend on cars, I know people driving cars that cost 100% or more of their salary. Spending less than 5% makes building up savings more achievable.

I had similar car issues recently and having the savings to cover it made life so much easier especially when boiler went the week after...

qwert_yuiop

Back in my silage cutting adolescence, I was advised by a wealthy farmer that spending more than 1% of your overall wealth on a car was the road to ruin. Probably good thinking, but easy to stick to that rule when most of your wealth is an inherited farm.

mgarl10024

Spotted this earlier today...

Millions have less than £100 in savings, study finds

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37504449

tara747

Cotta, have you seen this? :eek:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37504449