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Age 22, Saving

Hi,
I have just turned 22 and have around £4,000 in savings. I have been working for a few years and didn't go to university so I don't have student debts. I earn just over £10,000 a year from 2 part time jobs. I think it's time to hardcore save for the future. I want to save to go to Australia as well as saving for a future house. I live with my parents so don't have many outgoings. How much do you think I should aim to save each month? Is £4000 a good starting point?
Thanks
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Comments

  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 33,361 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    £4,000 sounds a reasonable starting point, especially relative to £10,000 income, but it's impractical to give a figure for how much you should save without knowing the full picture of what commitments you have from your £800ish monthly wages, i.e. what's stopping you from saving it all?

    If you haven't already, it would be worth reading up on the two schemes available to assist first-time buyers, namely Help to Buy ISA and Lifetime ISA, where the government will boost your savings by 25%. Also worth reading the more general guide to which savings accounts are best and in particular the regular savers suited to those wanting to put aside money every month.

    What's the priority between getting onto the property ladder versus going to Australia, neither of which are cheap?!
  • I pay my parents £108 for rent every month, around £35 for petrol and £40 for my phone bill. That's about all the outgoings I have. Australia is always a place I have wanted to visit and I have friends over there who I haven't seen in a very long time.
  • Eco_Miser
    Eco_Miser Posts: 4,743 Forumite
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    So save £617 a month - and try to cut down the phone bill to save even more.
    Eco Miser
    Saving money for well over half a century
  • System
    System Posts: 178,168 Community Admin
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    Get your house deposit together before you even consider holidaying abroad, living with parents is a great saving opportunity. Bear in mind that you'll need a bigger income to even borrow enough for a 1 bed flat, check out mortgage affordability calculators

    Also look into investing, you're young so can afford to be aggressive (if there's a crash you have long enough to recover)
  • atush
    atush Posts: 18,731 Forumite
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    Are you happy earning 10K a year with 2 PT jobs at 22?

    Or would you rather get a ful time job, with pension and maybe other benefits and earn more? You could save more and it looks better on your CV?
  • bigadaj
    bigadaj Posts: 11,531 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Get your house deposit together before you even consider holidaying abroad, living with parents is a great saving opportunity. Bear in mind that you'll need a bigger income to even borrow enough for a 1 bed flat, check out mortgage affordability calculators

    Also look into investing, you're young so can afford to be aggressive (if there's a crash you have long enough to recover)

    I'd disagree with much of that.

    One approach would be to save up enough to go to Australia, go over there for maybe a year and you'd qualify for a working holiday visa.

    You probably want to think about what you want to do in the longer term, and then how you will get qualifications and experience to do that and progress in a career.
  • justme111
    justme111 Posts: 3,508 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    So your £108 a month includes food as well ? Basically you live for free as that £108 would barely cover food never mind utilities and accommodation. I would say do something about your career before considering buying a house as neither saving for deposit nor living independently is very viable or desirable with that sort of income. And travel as well for sure as once you paying proper rent/mortgage it would be more difficult. Resuming - forget about mortgage and house , concentrate on career, travel and saving all you can for travel/emergencies/just because. Ah, and I would have opened some kind of pension investment and put there at least something, £50 for example. Just to get into a habit of contributing to pension certain percentage of your income - now you would not miss those £50 while I the future they will make a difference.
    The word "dilemma" comes from Greek where "di" means two and "lemma" means premise. Refers usually to difficult choice between two undesirable options.
    Often people seem to use this word mistakenly where "quandary" would fit better.
  • System
    System Posts: 178,168 Community Admin
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    Go to australia and you'll be renting, with prices reflecting the jobs market there, then consider whether any flashy career is actually worth breaking your back and paying tax for, whether you would be able to build savings back up and buy over there

    Property (or shares) capital gains is far more tax favourable than work, get it while its cheaper
    But you wont get much mortgage on that income, at least go full time
  • Gadfium
    Gadfium Posts: 763 Forumite
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    Go to australia and you'll be renting, with prices reflecting the jobs market there, then consider whether any flashy career is actually worth breaking your back and paying tax for, whether you would be able to build savings back up and buy over there

    Property (or shares) capital gains is far more tax favourable than work, get it while its cheaper
    But you wont get much mortgage on that income, at least go full time

    If the OP wouldn't get a mortgage on their income then how would they property or shares capital?
    And not all careers require you to "break your back".
  • System
    System Posts: 178,168 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    A full time job on living wage should be attainable for him, and thatd be enough to buy a 1 bed leasehold flat, and he could invest on any level of income as long as he could save. Going abroad and renting there is quite an outlay, it ups the stakes. If he is underemployed now you really think he'll seriously push a career?
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