Attitude to money?

supersaver2019

Hi all,

I'm just wanting to get an idea of everyone else's attitude to money and figure out whether I'm being extreme or not!

I've always had a thing about money, I've worked since I was 18 and always had a job, I'm very independent and absolutely hate the idea of being financially dependant on anyone. Whenever I spend anything I always feel like I have to justify it, even if it's something relatively small and if I buy anything remotely expensive, I always do my best to keep it nice and look after it, whether it be new technology, something for the house, a car etc.

I bought my own place at the beginning of the year and the thought of that was terrifying to me - took me 5 - 6 years of saving for that. If I don't have at least have 6 months worth of savings minimum as back-up it really stresses me out.
I don't think I'll be able to fully relax until I hit my goal of £12k in savings, then I might be able to chill out a bit - I figure if I ever got made redundant I could theoretically be out of work for a year (budgeting £1k a month) and not have to worry.

I set myself up for income protection insurance too, as a bit of a cushion should anything go wrong.

Does anyone else worry about money as much as this? Or maybe it's because I'm on my own. If you're in a relationship I guess there's another income and someone there to pick up the slack to give you time to sort yourself out again should anything go wrong!

How much do you like to have in savings to consider yourself comfortable?

elsien

I'm on my own. I always overpaid my mortgage even if it was only small amounts, and I also wanted a safety net in case things went pearshaped. I also had income protection because my employment benefits were rubbish.

But that went hand in hand with actually living my life, such as decent holidays which have always been important to me. So I didn't chuck everything I could at the savings as that would have made me miserable - my budget was a bit of the nice stuff plus the emergency fund.

Rich1976

Absolutely, all the time.

I suppose it's a form of anxiety. I want to have financial freedom and want to work towards that so money isn't a worry.

Dont have anywhere near enough in savings as life keeps happening!
You've just got to do your best and try and be optimistic and remember life is for living too.

Being in a relationship is no easier as you've got the mindset of another person to contend with potentially.

Vet

i think most people on here are concerned with money. Its just to what extent i guess! You're in good hands here, some great advice on here for how to maximise your savings. Good luck!

Prism

Good practices applied in my 20's and early 30's, until my salary exceeded my typical expenses set me in good stead. Nowadays I can be much more relaxed about spending, knowing that I don't waste. My wife is very much the same. I tend to blend expensive with cheap. For example I have a relatively expensive phone, but a cheap contract. I like expensive spirits but always look for discounts on wine. I would rather go on a big holiday every few years than an average one each year. All of this with a backdrop that I have about 2 years of salary in cash and bonds should I need it.

HappyHarry

supersaver2019 wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm just wanting to get an idea of everyone else's attitude to money and figure out whether I'm being extreme or not!

I've always had a thing about money, I've worked since I was 18 and always had a job, I'm very independent and absolutely hate the idea of being financially dependant on anyone. Whenever I spend anything I always feel like I have to justify it, even if it's something relatively small and if I buy anything remotely expensive, I always do my best to keep it nice and look after it, whether it be new technology, something for the house, a car etc.

I bought my own place at the beginning of the year and the thought of that was terrifying to me - took me 5 - 6 years of saving for that. If I don't have at least have 6 months worth of savings minimum as back-up it really stresses me out.
I don't think I'll be able to fully relax until I hit my goal of £12k in savings, then I might be able to chill out a bit - I figure if I ever got made redundant I could theoretically be out of work for a year (budgeting £1k a month) and not have to worry.

I set myself up for income protection insurance too, as a bit of a cushion should anything go wrong.

Does anyone else worry about money as much as this? Or maybe it's because I'm on my own. If you're in a relationship I guess there's another income and someone there to pick up the slack to give you time to sort yourself out again should anything go wrong!

How much do you like to have in savings to consider yourself comfortable?

You're doing the right things. Well done on putting your mind to saving your deposit, and it's good to hear you're now building up an emergency fund too. Usually 3 to 6 months income in savings is ideal. Make sure you put something aside for the long-term future too.

There's nothing wrong with saving up and buying nice things, and you shouldn't feel you need to justify this to anyone else at all. Justifying it to yourself is different, but it sounds like you have your priorities right, so don't beat yourself up too much.

I think if more people showed the independence and planning that you talk about, the country would be a far happier place.

JustAnotherSaver

supersaver2019 wrote: »

If you're in a relationship I guess there's another income and someone there to pick up the slack to give you time to sort yourself out again should anything go wrong!

Relationships don't necessarily make things easier.



My wife will spend on things without even looking at the price at times. I'll question her in a i can't believe you spent on that kind of way (let's say expensive food for example) and when i tell her what it cost she'll be like oh wow i didn't realise it was that much.


LOOK...AT...THE...LABEL...THEN :mad:


I'm a saver. My parents were savers. They struggled when i was a kid and they were big on saving money.
My wife is a spender. Her parents also struggled and still do but they're a get it and spend it type. They get a cash injection from something (insurance payout for example, inheritance, whatever) and it's like they don't want the money, they rush to spend it - big TV straight away, new car etc etc, and then back to having no money.
Over time my wife has become more money conscious. She's not nearly as bad as she once was, but saving doesn't come naturally to her.


So yeah, relationships can make it more difficult, some times.

supersaver2019

Thanks everyone for your responses. Honestly, the week before I was due to exchange contracts on my house I practically didn't eat from the stress! I hear of people being on £40k salaries saying they're unable to save and it really baffles me. How can you be that bad with money? There are homeless people out on the streets! I've never wanted or needed a credit card - if I can't afford it, I don't spend it. I've got £100 overdraft and that's it.

I'm so grateful to have a job that has allowed me to save, many people seem to be living right on the edge, paycheck to paycheck on 0 hour contracts. Part of me feels like it's just luck though as I'm not particularly skilled, I just have a standard office job. What if I never get a job on this salary again, so if I don't save now, when will I ever get the chance to again? Brexit will f**k up the economy and I'll have to work minimum wage eating beans on toast every night :eek:

Once I've reached my savings goal I won't be so conscious about what I spend, I think I need to calm down and live a little!

JGB1955

The moment we paid our mortgage off, thanks to a redundancy package from NatWest, was the best day ever! Still way under 40 years old, no-one could take our house away (unless we were REALLY stupid - you're talking about a family who have NEVER been in debt, apart from the mortgage). That's our attitude to money.

Minicruiser

I was equally as worried when I purchased my place with my oh and would you believe it 2 weeks after completion my work said it was giving everyone their notice for redundancy! I ended up in a very stressful job in law for minimum wage even though I was highly qualified. I don't know how we coped on that wage. My parents use to buy us food ...

Luckily I got my old job back. Oh got promoted. And my anxiety really settled when I fixed our mortgage for 10 years.

In a way having the worst happen and surviving it made me more resilient. I can't help your anxiety but I do feel worrying about what ifs is a waste of energy!

Sounds like you will likely be fine though!

enthusiasticsaver

You are doing all the right things and I don't think I truly relaxed about money until we were mortgage free and had substantial savings/investments. Even now we are retired living comfortably off pension income we don't waste money but are always looking for good value. We don't skimp though and are willing to pay more for some things.

I don't think it matters whether you have two incomes or one. Having a partner is not always an advantage if you have different attitudes to money.

As to how much in savings we like to have as we are retired it is different to when working. We have DB pensions but to comfortably cover our lifestyle we need an extra £10k a year so we aimed for 30 years shortfalls although when state pensions kick in we won't need that so we have an extra cushion. Our aim therefore was £300k savings/investments. Some will be set aside for care costs should it be needed.