How much do you save a month in proportion to your earnings?

LittleMissAspie

I save £535 out of £1090 so 49.1%. I am renting with my boyfriend and don't pay to run a car.

PasturesNew

I've never saved a bean. Ever. Everything has always gone on the basics, with none left over.

You can't set a figure for saving until you know what your very basic outgoings will be.

Even now I am not living below the poverty line or on the breadline, I still don't "save". I simply don't spend and I don't even know or notice how much I've got to be honest.

Frugality_2

No offense but if you've never saved in your life then how can you know?

Mushy61

torbrex wrote: »

It is all relative.
My top line is approx £13500 and this gives me a take-home pay each month after deductions (including pension) of approx £980 including ave bonus. From this I save £640 which includes an overpayment to my mortgage.

All this adds up to me saving 65% of my take-home earnings.

I know people that earn twice what I do and save less than half, I am a saver by nature these day having peed it against the wall in my youth (and beyond).
I was lucky and learned my lesson and these days I am looking forward to paying off my mortgage 8 years early and also retiring aprox 8 years early.

Very similar to my situation.
I earn less than 15k but I have never been one for the latest gadgets and gizmos.
At present I am putting all my spare cash into my mortgage which will hopefully be paid off by November, at which point I'm treating myself to a months break in Thailand, after which I intend to save around £600 a month.

Paul_Herring

Of around £2500 monthly 'net'[1] income, I currently put away at least £500 in regular savers per month (will increase by another £250 when I sort out the new Halifax RS.) I can usually put away at least a further £1000 per month if I'm not paying for one-off things like holidays etc.

So roughtly 60%. Not that I think that 'proportion' is a good measure to compare people with, since the higher your income, the more money you can potentially save. Someone on £15K is certainly not going to be able to put away the same proportion of their income as someone on £30K.

[1] Some of this is rental income that gets taxed later, some is interest on maturing fxed rate bonds, more is interest on other savings.

hyposmurf

About 22% usually but at the moment have lots of other outgoings due to having to buy many needed items.

hbl_2

torbrex wrote: »

It is all relative.
My top line is approx £13500 and this gives me a take-home pay each month after deductions (including pension) of approx £980 including ave bonus.

All this adds up to me saving 65% of my take-home earnings.

I do much the same, I take home £1058 and I look to save £670 minimum. Any increase in pay I receive in the next few years wills simply add to the amount I will save.

I just managed to repay a £15,000 loan in 18 months with extreme frugality (I won't be doing that again, not much fun), so this has allowed me to pare my outgoings right down, so might as well keep saving at a similar rate. The goal is £5,000+ a year, with an aim of £40,000+ over 5 years.

So the next step for me is max an ISA for this year. I've got an HSBC account, so thought I might get their online only ISA.

torbrex

hbl wrote: »

The goal is £5,000+ a year, with an aim of £40,000+ over 5 years.

So the next step for me is max an ISA for this year. I've got an HSBC account, so thought I might get their online only ISA.

I have not started setting overall targets, I dont even look that far ahead, my target in reality is to be able to buy things without taking out another loan, car, bathroom, kitchen etc.

I started maxing my cash ISA a few years ago and hopefully I will leave this untouched until my retirement and have it available to supliment my megre pention, I have changed jobs so many times in the last 10 years that my pension fund is not what it should be.

thriftybabe

torbrex wrote: »

It may sound a bit boring but I take advantage of the fact that drinking, smoking and a constant steam of take-aways are not compulsary and also a bit boring, I do not have a highly active social life at the moment so I am almost embaressed to say that I am saving approx 90% of my disposable during my current drive to pay off my mortgage early.

Part of my savings do go into my holiday fund so I have a blow-out of about £3000 minimum every year on holidays.

Are you sure you are not my long lost twin? I paid my mortgage off and now save about 70% of mine and OH earnings. We are boring also with no drinking, smoking etc. We do indulge at least once a month in either a take-away or a sunday meal out though. Our only real splurge is our holidays where we have a real blow out which is great.

Andyf33

You need to look for the right balance between enjoying your hard earned cash and saving for lifes little planned/unplanned events. This balance is unique to each individual person, their circumstances and attitudes to risk.

I am 33 with 3 young kids. After mortgage, cars, bills, pension, mortgage overpayment etc I save 800 per month and invest 200 (approx 25% of take home). I still try and have a life and treat the kids, eat out, go on holiday etc.

I believe in striking a balance which will be different for everyone but as someone once said theres no point in being the richest guy in the graveyard.