42.3% of Londoners have less than £100 in savings

itchy · 29 Sep 2016 at 21:23

Saving is ridiculous at the current interest rates.

I have more money in my sock draw than I do in the bank.

This day and age just pay your debts down and do not even think about saving as a money maker.

Sock draw and mattress.

regulus · 29 Sep 2016 at 21:24

Chojin said:
It's sad that we have to horde things to provide for a rainy day. In hunter gather times we didn't need to do that. Now we have nothing on hand that doesn't require a money transaction, and a typical household can't go more than a few days without having to stock up again. We are truly slaves to the system and there's no going back.

Apart from food and shelter, you're about as much as a slave as you choose to be.

Honestly, to reach for a dramatic term here; you can unplug yourself from the 'spending' matrix at any time.

I won't bore you with details but I find so much joy in my life and it cost me pennies. Sometimes literally.

Read this good thing on Reddit a while back that can solve about half the money troubles out there. Just two points.

1). Recognise when you're trying to buy happiness or impress others
2). Eat at home

Number one has never ever been a problem for me as I don't give a crap what others think or say. And the 2nd one I had to work at getting better at. And the money just suddenly started building up fast.

Tefal · 29 Sep 2016 at 21:26

Chojin said:
It's sad that we have to horde things to provide for a rainy day. In hunter gather times we didn't need to do that. Now we have nothing on hand that doesn't require a money transaction, and a typical household can't go more than a few days without having to stock up again. We are truly slaves to the system and there's no going back.

Hubter gathers had to do exactly that.

Do you think hunting is like popping out to the shop's? Hunting trips could be days to weeks and end in failure.

If they didn't have anything stored theyd die.

Also we live in an area with a winter whoch means we rely on stores even more as its impossible to live through the winter day to day in any kind of worthwhile life.

Its funny you're a "slave to the system" because you have to work 35 hours a week, but doing 70+ hour weeks every week of the year as some kind of subsitance farmer is freedom

Nitefly · 29 Sep 2016 at 21:37

6 months in savings is kinda a lot! I suppose it's more relevant if you are tied to kids and need security. I just tend to spend all my monies on shiney things wooooo!!

I seem to recall going to a general financial advice seminar and £5k was a suggested rainy day fund... enough to offset the hardship of an emergency purchase.

Merlin5 · 29 Sep 2016 at 21:43

Breaking news.. 92.3% of GD have less than £10 in savings.

Alex_6n2 · 29 Sep 2016 at 21:53

Meh

The attitude of "You're spending money on pointless crap" is all subjective. It's rather silly to be critical of someone's monetary choices if they're within reason.

Someone has said it already, do what makes you happy. So long as it won't make you miserable in the long term (i.e. don't burden yourself with unmanageable debt)

In my opinion: Go out. See the world. Bang the flights on an interest free credit card and pay it off when you return.

Merlin5 · 29 Sep 2016 at 22:05

Alex_6n2 said:
In my opinion: Go out. See the world. Bang the flights on an interest free credit card and pay it off when you return.

This is why people have no money and also get into debt. Very few people choose saving as a priority in their life. They think only about now and not tomorrow. They expect instant gratification and buy whatever they want on the never never with a credit card. The last time I owned a credit card was over 30 years ago. I only ever use my debit card. If I don't have the money, I don't buy it.

Sayso · 29 Sep 2016 at 22:20

Would be silly to save at the moment the intrest rate is so low, you have to invest any spare cash you have or the moneys dead.

Housey · 29 Sep 2016 at 22:26

Sayso said:
Would be silly to save at the moment the intrest rate is so low, you have to invest any spare cash you have or the moneys dead.

Well that assumes every financial decision is about return and not risk reduction or precaution. I think people are foolish in most situations if they can't cover 12 months of mortgage payments with their savings/insurances or earnings if they are able to, having that sitting in your account is wise. Having loads more just because you are of the mind that having lots of cash in savings is security for you is a choice, but is in my eyes overkill and at that level could be doing something more useful, exciting or earning based on current interest levels.

Merlin5 · 29 Sep 2016 at 22:32

Sayso said:
Would be silly to save at the moment the intrest rate is so low, you have to invest any spare cash you have or the moneys dead.

Lol what? There's never a bad time to save money. Have you not heard the saying 'look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves'...

Pawnless Endgame · 29 Sep 2016 at 22:52

Clipsey said:
Is that full time?
Good for you on saving a decent amount (for the wage you're on)

Thanks buddy :-)

I'm on 30 hours per week, so part-time, at just under £9/hour.

Faustus · 29 Sep 2016 at 22:59

Tefal said:
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.

Well let's expand it a bit further. You suddenly lose your income, how do you then pay off your credit card? You can't beat having the cash in your back pocket and never will. If you pay cash for what you want then it's yours and you aren't going to lose it if the worst happens.

Faustus · 29 Sep 2016 at 23:09

regulus said:
That's because you're older and wiser. Like me, you've realised that expensive fads are just that. An utter waste of money leaving half of people with pretty much nothing.

I'm with you there. I used to love buying the latest gadgets and new cars etc. when I was younger. As I got older I realised what a mugs game it is, there's only one winner and it wasn't me.

Take mobile phones. Most people in the trade will tell you that a phone from a couple of years ago will still do just about everything that a new model will do.

You can buy what was a flagship phone a couple of years ago pretty cheaply so the smart thing to do is exactly that. If I could go back and speak to the 25 year old me I would kick myself from here to kingdom come for the money I have wasted.

dowie · 29 Sep 2016 at 23:11

Faustus said:
Well let's expand it a bit further. You suddenly lose your income, how do you then pay off your credit card? You can't beat having the cash in your back pocket and never will. If you pay cash for what you want then it's yours and you aren't going to lose it if the worst happens.

Well yes in the quoted example you could sell the laptop and if you lost your job while saving then you'll never have had a laptop in the first place.

Faustus · 29 Sep 2016 at 23:12

Phate said:
I know someone with over 75k in the bank. She saves nearly everything she earns. Only buys the cheapest things. Doesn't treat herself. Doesn't go away. Doesn't go out. She has a kindle and reads books, that's her thing.

I asked her why she saves so much and she said "well I need savings"

When you ask her what for she just says "well because everyone needs savings"

I remember when her kindle died and she freaked out that she would be putting £100 less in savings due to having to replace said kindle...the amount of pressure she puts on herself is incredible.

Thats a bit too far imo...I do think she will be someone who takes it to the grave and doesn't really enjoy much of anything in life. She has been completely and utterly brainwashed.

Have you considered the possibility that she gets pleasure from saving her money?

Faustus · 29 Sep 2016 at 23:14

dowie said:
in the quoted example you could sell the laptop

But then you wouldn't have the Laptop whereas if you had paid cash you would still have it regardless of your circumstances.

dowie · 29 Sep 2016 at 23:23

Faustus said:
But then you wouldn't have the Laptop whereas if you had paid cash you would still have it regardless of your circumstances.

you wouldn't have the laptop in either scenario

how much cash you'd have depends on how much the laptop depreciates

the idea that there is simply one good answer, that never using credit is good, is silly

frankly we'd not, as a society, be in the position we are in today and able to have the same quality of life if it weren't for access to credit (obviously when it goes out of control it has its pitfalls too!)

Faustus · 29 Sep 2016 at 23:25

dowie said:
Well yes in the quoted example you could sell the laptop and if you lost your job while saving then you'll never have had a laptop in the first place.

And you don't miss what you never had. You can argue this until the cows come home but at the end of the day paying for something and owning it is a much better system than paying on the never never.

dowie · 29 Sep 2016 at 23:49

it really isn't black and white like that - it depends on circumstances, preferences, utility etc...

EdGey · 30 Sep 2016 at 00:03

Got so many friends who live month to month. When they say they're skint, they mean it.

Never understood it personally. Even when I worked part time in retail (albeit quite a few hours) I still wasn't comfortable without at least a few grand buffer.

I experienced the true 'no money' feeling when I bought a car and decided to invest every last penny rather than borrow and well, never again.