+1 You simply never know what's ahead of you, you just have to have a buffer of some kind.
42.3% of Londoners have less than £100 in savings
- Thread starter Gustov
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+1 You simply never know what's ahead of you, you just have to have a buffer of some kind.
I have a few grand in savings but it's for completion on my house purchase. After that I likely won't have any savings until at least a year afterwards as I'll have to use any residual money to repay and overpay debts from buying the house and stuff needed for the house. Once that's done I should get savings up relatively quickly as I have a decent disposable income.
The problem these days is that there is very little in the way of consequences if you don't save. There are a huge number of people who spend every penny they get on whatever they want and then when it comes to something vital they expect someone else to foot the bill. Either that or they just stick it on a credit card.
We also live in a society that punishes you for saving over your lifetime and quickly knocks you down if you ever need help.
Work for 30 years and save money and if you become unemployed you will be asked to use those savings to live on while people who have never worked are paid by the state.
Work your whole live and save diligently and need a carer or need to go into a home. That will chew through your savings super quick and yet again you will be in the same position as someone who hasn't bothered very quickly.
Personally I think people should spend their money while they are alive and well to do things. Screw scrimping and saving to leave money to your kids. If you have plenty then go for it but I think its sad when you see hard working parents in their 60's using all their money to pay for stuff for their lazy kids who think they are entitled to it.
We also live in a society that punishes you for saving over your lifetime and quickly knocks you down if you ever need help.
Work for 30 years and save money and if you become unemployed you will be asked to use those savings to live on while people who have never worked are paid by the state.
Work your whole live and save diligently and need a carer or need to go into a home. That will chew through your savings super quick and yet again you will be in the same position as someone who hasn't bothered very quickly.
Personally I think people should spend their money while they are alive and well to do things. Screw scrimping and saving to leave money to your kids. If you have plenty then go for it but I think its sad when you see hard working parents in their 60's using all their money to pay for stuff for their lazy kids who think they are entitled to it.
Soldato
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A lot of businesses make millions of pounds a year if not more in profits,In comparison they pay the workers peanuts a year..sure smaller businesses may struggle with this but the larger companies can defiantly (and should) step up the wages..they always seem to forget its not only management (who usually get paid a lot more + bonuses) that run the place..they're not really the backbone of the company...its the workers.
This country needs a more fair pay system that not only benefits the fat cats,but also we need a more affordable housing system,More regulations and caps on how much landlords can charge rent etc..otherwise this country will continue to go down the pan even more.
Soldato
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£13.5k job here, and £2500 in savings. That would keep me going for 3-4 months if made redundant, although I should be aiming for 6 months' worth of savings really.
Yes but that's not how it works. Companies like to keep their profit margins as they are so they won't be eating into their profits to cover the extra wages they up their prices and get the best of both worlds or remove some of the workforce to cover the others wages.
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I think that's is the right goal; six months is a really sensible amount of time to try and secure another position, and you can always stretch that money out if needs be.
That's a feckless way to live. The formula for success in saving is not difficult. If you haven't got the cash for something then you can't afford it. When you have the cash you can buy it. When you've bought it then you can save up for something else you want/need or simply save it for a rainy day.
I started with a piggy bank when I was small and have continued the saving ethos all my adult life. I'm now retired and still saving.
However, far to many people have been brought up to believe in the 'self entitlement I want it so I should be able to have it NOW' school of thought. That is/was always going to end in tears.
And I'm sure if you were a business man you would be paying your workers huge amounts of wages and saying to hell with the consequences.
We aim for 6 months of survival: mortgage payments, day care, bills, food, consumables, car running costs. With a 25% margin on top.
That way if one of us or children gets seriously ill//accident and neither parent can work then we have a reasonably safety margin to get things sorted out.
Is that full time?
Good for you on saving a decent amount (for the wage you're on)
However lets say you can reliably save 200 quid a month towards your desired object (a 2000 pound new pc say) that wpuld take you 10 months just under a year to save up.
In contrast you could have put it on a 0% interest credit card paid it off 200 pounds a month and its paid off at exactly the same time.
Only now you've gotten 10 months extra use out of it.
Soldato
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Crazy article, I save more than that every month and I only work 3 days a week!
But we rent; have no car; don't smoke or drink; no silly money Sky subscriptions; don't go out much etc.
As the saying goes, people live within their means... Or pay the penalty on their credit card interest or repossession!
But we rent; have no car; don't smoke or drink; no silly money Sky subscriptions; don't go out much etc.
As the saying goes, people live within their means... Or pay the penalty on their credit card interest or repossession!
Soldato
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I'm on £32k but my partner is currently stay at home mum to my 1yr old son. So I'm currently paying mortgage, bills, car loan. We currently have £2k saved for a wedding earning 4% in a TSB account, £1200 in our joint account to cover any service charges and unexpected costs to do with the flat and i have £600 in cash savings earning 6% from First Direct. Although I have a big loan for the car it's on a 3.4% interest rate and I'm paying it off every month and more than manageable. Still rather put £300 a month away in the FD account as it's only going to earn 6% in the first year.
It's important to have a fund that is easy to access (i.e. within a week) though. Investments are often difficult to get out of easily.
My emergency fund is split between an instant access bank account earning 3% (I think) and P2P with Zopa. I can get at the P2P within a week but I lose 1% interest bonus.
Long term savings are in ever falling shares
Most people can afford to better themselves though.