Poll: Do you save any money each month

[jesus2nd]

Got into the habit of putting whatever cash I have left over from nights at the end of the weekend into a pot, and recently I've matched that amount in getting myself some premium bonds, being looking into investing either both or just the cash into an ISA but I can't work out which one to go for!

 

[Jegethy]

A picture is worth a thousand words. My savings account.

 

[blitzwing85]

I knocked up a spreadsheet for this recently and basically on the day before pay day I just stick whatever is left into the savings account.

The average so far is about £1200 a month as sometimes there are extra costs we didn't plan for and sometimes we are so busy we barely spend anything.

I did work out our 'leisure' spend though which includes anything that is not entirely necessary. 98% of it was her. haha. I actually spend 2% of our total leisure spend each month on average.
Mind you, it's a little unfair as I do surveys and research panels on my lunch breaks at work which pays for my blurays and video games so all I really buy after that is beer.

Missus has 2nd interview for a new job at our company though so that'll be £5k extra a year so got everything crossed for that then i'll no longer have any any reason to wind her up about how much she spends compared to me! lol

 

[platypus]

Reminds me, in case anyone is interested. We recently switched to First Direct and they have a sweep you can set up on your current account. Ours runs before pay day (direct debits are set to come out pay day), and moves everything into a savings account. It's a nice way of automatically saving - anything we don't use that month is tucked away .

 

[Craig1981]

Yes, though I do still live at home so I have it fairly easy compared to most I'd assume. I pay about a fifth of my wages to my parents for my upkeep and I buy all my own stuff, but that still leaves me with excess money at the end of the month.

 

[blitzwing85]

Reminds me, in case anyone is interested. We recently switched to First Direct and they have a sweep you can set up on your current account. Ours runs before pay day (direct debits are set to come out pay day), and moves everything into a savings account. It's a nice way of automatically saving - anything we don't use that month is tucked away .

I'm with first direct, i'll see if they can set that up for me then. Saves me keeping up with my spreadsheet.

I have £300 going into their 8% savings account and £500 off into NS&I bonds each month so if they can automatically store the rest in my e-saver then that's it all done automatically. Thanks for the tip

 

[gillywibble]

Reminds me, in case anyone is interested. We recently switched to First Direct and they have a sweep you can set up on your current account. Ours runs before pay day (direct debits are set to come out pay day), and moves everything into a savings account. It's a nice way of automatically saving - anything we don't use that month is tucked away .

Although I don't use the sweep facility, you can't fault First Direct.

 

[aln]

Any extra money I get goes to overpaying debt which usually just the mortgage. Once I'm done there I intend to be saving 2/3rd's.

Although I don't use the sweep facility, you can't fault First Direct.

I really want to like them but I find the popout window for online banking horrible. I'd be using them otherwise because they have a great CS reputation.

 

[lordhughes]

not currently as we are paying of a mountain of student related debt (overdraft, bank loan (why an MSc is not worth it)). but once they are cleared then savings away.

 

[platypus]

I'm with first direct, i'll see if they can set that up for me then. Saves me keeping up with my spreadsheet.

I have £300 going into their 8% savings account and £500 off into NS&I bonds each month so if they can automatically store the rest in my e-saver then that's it all done automatically. Thanks for the tip

If you use their online banking, there is a menu option on the left of the pop up window .

Although I don't use the sweep facility, you can't fault First Direct.

No indeed. I'm quick to criticise so I'll be quick to praise them here. They're helpful, the customer service team are pleasant and polite, and I've had no issues whatsoever.

 

[easyrider]

Could the mods add:

Do you pay into a pension please?


Thanks

 

[Maccy]

There's no point adding a poll option if we already have over 200 votes.

 

[boxman2000]

make a point of heavily overpaying the flexible part of our mortgage.

The smartest thing you can do with your money at the moment!

 

[easyrider]

There's no point adding a poll option if we already have over 200 votes.

Ok....Just that I pay a pension but I don't class this as saving in a saving sense if you know what I mean

 

[Sonea Fifer]

I pay into an attractive company pension scheme and a private one so I suppose that is classed as saving albeit long term.

Short term I pay into my companies share scheme which pays out dividends every quarter which is nice.

 

[easyrider]

I pay into an attractive company pension scheme and a private one so I suppose that is classed as saving albeit long term.

Short term I pay into my companies share scheme which pays out dividends every quarter which is nice.

How much if you don't mind me asking are your returns on the share scheme?

 

[iMacMart]

I'm 37 and have been paying into a pension since I was 18, I have one that is with an old company that has a nice lump in it, and have been paying into the current one for 10 years my partner and I save £500 a month but this (at the moment) pays for decorating the new home we moved into last November and a holiday we have booked, I own another 2 bed flat which I rent out so I suppose that is an investment also...once the house is done then we will be saving for a rainy day ....

Mart

 

[inSilica]

Apart from putting money aside I manage my own pension.

 

[Mr^B]

I put £625 pounds into a pension each month, which only costs me £100. I can choose what funds to invest it into, at the moment I'm getting 7-12% a year return.