How much do you keep in readily access savings/cash access?

adindas

MEM62 said:

Currently, I have a £2,000 buffer in my current account and £5,000 in a Marcus account.  We also have a £3,000 buffer in our joint account.  If either one of us lost our income, we have sufficient reserves in cash to last around 12 months.  We will build the cash reserves over the next four years as we approach retirement so that we have around two years living expenses in cash.         

Presumably this budget is just for living expense ?

But even for living expenses £10k for 2 people for 12 month is really impressive. Truly money saving expert.

Probably exclusively living in Tesco Value range, Asda Essentials, no holidays?

RG2015

Daliah said:

InvesterJones said:

MEM62 said:

Currently, I have a £2,000 buffer in my current account and £5,000 in a Marcus account.  We also have a £3,000 buffer in our joint account.  If either one of us lost our income, we have sufficient reserves in cash to last around 12 months.   

£10k is an impressive estimate for 12 months living for two!

For some people, £10k doesn't even pay the rent for 12 months. 3-bed houses in the not very affluent area I live in are already between £800 and £1,000 to rent.

As I said earlier, people's circumstance and cash requirements vary widely. £10k is not enough for some, and way too much for others.

Yes it does vary widely, but I am not sure many couples could live on much less than £10k, let alone way below £10k.

TheWoodler

My OH and I both keep the equivalent of a year’s salary in easy access for peace of mind in today’s climate, to cover all bills and household expenses and to pay for holidays (nothing too fancy) in case anything happens, and an element of forward planning.

We’re both in a sector that historically has never paid brilliantly for the qualifications we have (a few k above median UK income 2022), and is fairly secure at the moment, but which is prone to periodic culls. We are both of an age where OH has already had two major bouts of ill-health, and studied for a postgrad qualification, so we know what it’s like to rely on one income (mine, the slightly lower earner) for a prolonged period. It may be my turn to study in the coming year - still looking into this - so another factor in our decision-making as to keeping afloat for a year or two. 

Brie

zero.  but I have credit in case of emergencies

Pompeydave1967

I’ve got approx £10k in easy access , rest £100k fixed.
no mortgage just bills on a small house. Work from home and save approx £1k each month .
Have various fixed a/c’s and open them quite regularly .Might increase to £20k easy access as rates improve.

phillw

adindas said:

Presumably this budget is just for living expense ?

But even for living expenses £10k for 2 people for 12 month is really impressive. Truly money saving expert.

Probably exclusively living in Tesco Value range, Asda Essentials, no holidays?

Why are you budgeting to pay for a holiday when you've lost your income?

I'd say £10k for 2 people you can eat quite well, but if you buy all your food prepared at Waitrose then you might disagree.

I might have to re-evaluate my budget because of inflation, but I could survive on nearly half that on my own if I had to (and it won't cost me double to heat the house during the winter).

RG2015

When people talk about living expenses, does this include house insurance, motoring costs, dental costs, leisure and entertainment?

Edit, I forgot house maintenance costs.

InvesterJones

phillw said:

adindas said:

Presumably this budget is just for living expense ?

But even for living expenses £10k for 2 people for 12 month is really impressive. Truly money saving expert.

Probably exclusively living in Tesco Value range, Asda Essentials, no holidays?

Why are you budgeting to pay for a holiday when you've lost your income?

I'd say £10k for 2 people you can eat quite well, but if you buy all your food prepared at Waitrose then you might disagree.

I might have to re-evaluate my budget because of inflation, but I could survive on nearly half that on my own if I had to (and it won't cost me double to heat the house during the winter).

We're money savers, so we shouldn't write off a particular shop just based on branding - much of my essential shopping is often actually cheaper at Waitrose than other places - thanks to vouchers and being relentless on offers (Waitrose is one of the few places where you can actually apply vouchers to items already on offer!).

Likewise we can't make assumptions about holidays - my own circumstances may mean I'd be fine without going elsewhere, but if I was part of a family living in the middle of a city then I'd want to make sure my children got access to some countryside for their well-being and I'd call that a holiday, even if it wasn't costly.

csgohan4

12 months of mortgage and expenses, we have income protection which kicks in at 12months to make it more affordable

newatc

At least 30k in a High Street bank joint savings account, which hurts, on the basis that should anything happen to me, there is money readily available for my financially naive wife while she slowly sorts things out .