Saving - on a lower income

lgb1974

Hello all,

After recently becoming debt free i'm now looking to put some money aside and into savings. I'm self employed and currently only earning around £1000 per month income (after tax). Luckily my outgoings are more than reasonable and through having to budget to pay off debts for the past few years i'm more than capable of living within my means. My initial aim is to save around £300 per month as an emergency fund. Starting from zero, building up a decent amount seems rather daunting, so i guess i'm looking for inspiration from anyone who is, or has been in a similar position of trying to save on a low income.

Thanks in advance.

xylophone

You might open a Flexdirect current account with Nationwide and use the Flexclusive monthly saver for £250 a month.

You need to pay in £1000 a month into the current account but this can be in and out again.

You could open an online monthly saver with Virgin Money - up to £250 a month.

https://uk.virginmoney.com/savings/find/productpage?id=regular_e_saver_issue_9&DisableNav=False&FromETS2=False

aj23_2

The current account linked regular savers, which require you to hold a current account with that bank and meet their requirements, are mostly good as most offer 5%, but these are fixed terms for 12 months. This is an option.

Another option is to go with for a regular saver which doesn't require you to hold a current account, or doesn't have a fixed term of 12 months. I don't know where you are regionally located so it's a difficult to list which ones, but there are better options than the Virgin Money one.

Ak92

Aj23 would you be able to suggest better regular savers than the virgin one posted? I am located In England. Thanks

aj23_2

Ak92 wrote: »

Aj23 would you be able to suggest better regular savers than the virgin one posted? I am located In England. Thanks

I can but they are regional and likely to only be opened in branch, so just knowing you live in England doesn't help me narrow that down.

Ak92

Haha my bad, I'm in Leicester. Thanks

xylophone

https://moneycompare.which.co.uk/savings-and-isas/regular-savings-accounts

roxy28

xylophone wrote: »

You might open a Flexdirect current account with Nationwide and use the Flexclusive monthly saver for £250 a month.

You need to pay in £1000 a month into the current account but this can be in and out again.

You could open an online monthly saver with Virgin Money - up to £250 a month.

https://uk.virginmoney.com/savings/find/productpage?id=regular_e_saver_issue_9&DisableNav=False&FromETS2=False

I think you only need to pay in £1000 a month if you want the 5% current account rate, i have the flex current account at 1% and 5% regular saver and don't pay in £1000 a month.

Eco_Miser

roxy28 wrote: »

I think you only need to pay in £1000 a month if you want the 5% current account rate, i have the flex current account at 1% and 5% regular saver and don't pay in £1000 a month.

Are you sure you're getting 1%? I think you don't get any interest if you don't pay in the £1000.

a_silver_lining

Hi LGB1974. Saving on a small income can definitely be done I saved 45k in 10 years by saving an average of £375pm on a very similar wage. I made extra here and there and less in other years. After changing career I’m now taking home just over 1200pm and saving more due to having a partner paying half the bills. That extra money is just being saved though, not spent

ColdIron

roxy28 wrote: »

I think you only need to pay in £1000 a month if you want the 5% current account rate, i have the flex current account at 1% and 5% regular saver and don't pay in £1000 a month.

You need to pay in £1,000 pcm to the FlexDirect if you want the 1% as well

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accounts/flexdirect/rates-fees-overdrafts