I have £5000 savings at 35. Is my life over?

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  • hoc
    hoc Posts: 557 Forumite
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    No, of course not to the question and my answer would have been the same if you were 45 and had £5000 credit card debt.There are already good replies and suggestions so far so I won't repeat.
  • datlex
    datlex Posts: 2,239 Forumite
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    At 35 I had no savings and debt. At 45 I bought my first property. So no your life is not over at 35 with £5000 savings far from it
    Paid off the last of my unsecured debts in 2016. Then saved up and bought a property. Current aim is to pay off my mortgage as early as possible. Currently over paying every month. Mortgage due to be paid off in 2036 hoping to get it paid off much earlier. Set up my own bespoke spreadsheet to manage my money.
  • aj23_2
    aj23_2 Posts: 1,155 Forumite
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    Three years ago when I was 23 I had £3,000. It had taken me years to save that, but I also used to spend a lot.

    Three years later, I'm 26, and I have £31,000 in savings and pension. I still enjoy myself, but I curb it now. If I don't need it, I don't buy it. Dinner with friends? Drinks instead. You can absolutely turn it around. I save about 60-70% of my wage a month.
  • System
    System Posts: 178,093 Community Admin
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    aj23 wrote: »
    Three years ago when I was 23 I had £3,000. It had taken me years to save that, but I also used to spend a lot.

    Three years later, I'm 26, and I have £31,000 in savings and pension. I still enjoy myself, but I curb it now. If I don't need it, I don't buy it. Dinner with friends? Drinks instead. You can absolutely turn it around. I save about 60-70% of my wage a month.


    Hey, good for you! Could you share tips on how you managed to save that amount in a short amount of time? Or what worked for you to enable you to save that amount :)
  • somethingcorporate
    somethingcorporate Posts: 9,449 Forumite
    Sweetcake wrote: »
    Hey, good for you! Could you share tips on how you managed to save that amount in a short amount of time? Or what worked for you to enable you to save that amount :)


    Living with parents probably ;)


    Enjoy your life OP, you cannot take it with you.
    Thinking critically since 1996....
  • System
    System Posts: 178,093 Community Admin
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    somethingcorporate wrote: »
    Living with parents probably ;)


    Enjoy your life OP, you cannot take it with you.


    Hehe, I live with parents too.
  • t1redmonkey
    t1redmonkey Posts: 787 Forumite
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    appletree89 wrote: »
    I have no debt or financial issues, I rent, I have a stable job, and have £5000 in savings (roughly the same for my pension).

    These are all positives! You're looking at your situation like it's a bad thing, but it's the opposite :)

    Heck a lot of people I work with may have material things, like two cars, a big house etc. but then you talk to them about their debt, and they're paying for everything on credit cards, got loans, 30 years mortgages, and so on to try and maintain all of that.

    I don't know where you're getting your perceptions of most people your age from, but I definitely don't know many people in the type of position you've described.
  • aj23_2
    aj23_2 Posts: 1,155 Forumite
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    Sweetcake wrote: »
    Hey, good for you! Could you share tips on how you managed to save that amount in a short amount of time? Or what worked for you to enable you to save that amount :)

    Thanks. I do live with parents.

    I had a crisis about not having any money, and I wanted to do something about it.

    I really curbed dinners out, drinks out, buying clothes I didn't need, online shopping etc. It's just lifestyle choices.

    I opened two regular savers, and very quickly it started to build up. Then a HTB ISA. So three accounts to save in a month. Now a Lifetime ISA. I save about 60-70% of my monthly wage. Plus I contribute into a workplace pension above what I need to.

    Leaves me with about £500 to live on, which I use most on bills and petrol etc., and obviously socializing. But I'm saving about £900, so I don't mind that that money gets used. As you can see, I don't even have a high wage, yet I manage to save that much a month and have built it, yet still enjoy myself.

    I still go out with friends, but I just don't spend as much. Have one course, not two. Have courses, not three. Use promo vouchers. Don't leave tips. Don't get car washed so much. Don't get haircut every two weeks, go every three. Lots of choices in a short time can save a lot of money.

    Yes to the person above, can't take it with you, but that poster probably has a house, or a mortgage. You and I don't. And that's why I'm saving hard. I am happier as a result of being more secure financially.
  • Terry_Towelling
    Terry_Towelling Posts: 2,279 Forumite
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    aj23 wrote: »
    Don't get haircut every two weeks, go every three.
    Crikey @aj23 your hair must grow really quickly!:)

    BTW, do your parents make you pay any rent to stay there or are you one of the lucky ones? I think OP has to pay rent to stay where they are and it sounds like they can't easily cut down on socialising because they say they don't have much of a social circle.

    With our children, we charged them a nominal rent (after they'd started working) to live at home and then saved it without telling them. Then when they were ready to leave home we gave it all back to them as a gift. The only downside to that approach is that they may have to stay at home for longer. Thankfully they've all left now!
  • atush
    atush Posts: 18,726 Forumite
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    aj23 wrote: »
    Thanks. I do live with parents.

    I had a crisis about not having any money, and I wanted to do something about it.

    I really curbed dinners out, drinks out, buying clothes I didn't need, online shopping etc. It's just lifestyle choices.

    I opened two regular savers, and very quickly it started to build up. Then a HTB ISA. So three accounts to save in a month. Now a Lifetime ISA. I save about 60-70% of my monthly wage. Plus I contribute into a workplace pension above what I need to.

    Leaves me with about £500 to live on, which I use most on bills and petrol etc., and obviously socializing. But I'm saving about £900, so I don't mind that that money gets used. As you can see, I don't even have a high wage, yet I manage to save that much a month and have built it, yet still enjoy myself.

    I still go out with friends, but I just don't spend as much. Have one course, not two. Have courses, not three. Use promo vouchers. Don't leave tips. Don't get car washed so much. Don't get haircut every two weeks, go every three. Lots of choices in a short time can save a lot of money.

    Yes to the person above, can't take it with you, but that poster probably has a house, or a mortgage. You and I don't. And that's why I'm saving hard. I am happier as a result of being more secure financially.

    I hope you pay your parents some rent. I charge the two of mine still with me.
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