To think it’s very bleak to be saving this and getting absolutely nowhere? What’s the point?

They really aren't. A series of expenses like that would have put half the country into debt.

Also, if you have a garden with two trees that need to be removed, I'm guessing you own a decent sized house. In that case you need to be budgetting to spend several hundred a month, or say £4–5k annually, on maintenance, whether that's new carpets, the boiler, the soffits, or whatever. There is always something.

So instead of saying that you are saving £1500 per month, try telling yourself that you are saving £750 for the longer term and £750 towards the "stuff that isn't in each month's budget" fund. The financial hit to your discretionary (booze/restaurants/days out) spending is the same, but at least you went be setting yourself up for disappointment.

I'm not a single parent, but I am single. Everything is just so extraordinarily expensive. I'm much older than you OP and it's still hard. I was in a really good financial position before covid, but I lost my job and income overnight when lockdown hit, spent the next year and a half living off my savings that I took years building up, and ended up having to retrain and look for a new job in my 50s as my old industry (travel) was decimated. I have still not recovered financially and still have twinges of envy sometimes for those who kept their jobs and stashed away all their commuting money. But it is what it is - I try to remember to count my blessings. I have secure work again, I own my own home and can still pay my mortgage. It could be loads worse. But I get it - it sucks sometimes to feel like you're on the treadmill and going nowhere.

Exactly. You're also not in debt and could pay big unforseen expenses. Seems pretty stable to me.

Why couldn’t you get root canal on the NHS? How depressing

Do you not pay into an occupational pension scheme? That will give you security. I've never known anyone save £1,500 a month and can't imagine how.

Try not to lose heart OP.

There will always be emergencies and it’s great you had the money for these issues

It sounds like this is your first year doing this?

Next year could be better. You just never know.

it’s hard to keep working and feel like it’s never ending but you’re not on a downward spiral really.

You’ve got a good job, your own home and you’ve got plans for the future. These WILL happen but it might take a little bit longer.

Is there a long weekend you could do with your DD? Any deals on groupon or cheap flights on EasyJet? Where there’s a will there’s a way. Don’t give up. Your plans will work out but life is never plain sailing. Look at how far you’ve come. You will save more eventually. This is just one of those times when there’s a crunch. But hopefully that’ll be it for now. Keep on keeping on and stay positive. You’re actually doing better than most.

You’ve saved so that you do have the £3k to spend on the boiler etc

You own your own home and can afford to save £1500 a month? You’ve had a few unexpected costs which have reduced your savings, but going forward you can build them up by £1500 a month again?

Sorry but I can’t feel too sorry for you. You are in a great financial position compared to many.

I just wanted enough to pay my mortgage for a few years without working,

Hardly anyone is able to do that.

so I wanted 60k in the bank ideally.

As a PP pointed out, one in four people only have £100 in the bank. One in three have under £1000. Two in three have less than 3 months expenses saved.

Your expectations, and perception of other people's degree of financial security, are unrealistic. You are saving vastly more than most people can, and have been able to cover several significant, unexpected expenses.without going into debt.

Do you have to take out a £30k loan?!

How the fuck do you actually pay £30k for a roof?? How??

@Wehah why won't you ever have £60k? You are saving £18k a year. Even if you spend £8k per year, you will have £60k in 6 years' time. That's not far away and is a really decent chunk of money.

Keep going @Wehah. These things are one off costs - it’s ok to take them from savings! Many people would struggle to find the money or deliberately have to save in advance so whilst it might not seem it, you are doing really well. Keep going: you will get there!! Well done- you sound very organised & capable. Lots of luck to you xx

Had to laugh at this thread. Imagine being able to save that much a month.

I'd say that's a lot and this feels like a bit of a stealth brag. Where are you planning to go on holiday? Because saving that amount you'd be able to afford a good holiday easily! Most people don't even have 1.5k to live on a month.

This ⬆️

I also think you’ve set your mindset up
to fail with the leap from £1.5k per month to wanting £60k in the bank. I’d recommend having milestones along the way. Dave Ramsay’s baby steps might help.

I would also add that you need to change your mindset a bit. Things like a new boiler are things that you should be planning for. You may not know exactly when you’re going to need a new one, but everything has a natural lifespan. Same with dental bills, if you have teeth then you need to plan for them to go wrong and to have to pay to get them fixed.

So if you aren’t planning for repairs and replacements then you can’t really afford to save 1500/mo for your not working… which by the way very few people in this world have that luxury.

Well it surely hasn't got you NOWHERE. You've saved £18k and the expenses you outline are less than that? You're up!

The amount you’re saving is genuinely more than many are able to do. For many years DH and I weren’t able to save a penny and we used to pray that nothing would break that we couldn’t afford to fix. I get it. It’s frustrating when you set a goal of saving and then life happens, things break or need replacing. You should feel proud that you had savings to fall back on to cover these set backs.

It would have been much worse without your savings. You’re doing fine!

I wouldn't worry what position you think "most" people are in. I've never really been in a position to save, although that probably comes down to lifestyle. Not that I'm living it up, but we could cut back on nights out etc and likely have more in the bank.😀

I'm about £8k in debt, which has come down from around £11k last year, but is still debt. When our house needs something we borrow. We needed a new roof a few years back, so we borrowed. We do need a new boiler, so that will have to be borrowed.

If you must compare yourself to anyone, compare yourself to me 😂. You're doing very well, just keep going with it. When I have been able to save the odd bit of money, and even paying off debt, it does take time. The best thing to do is keep putting that money to one side and forget about it. Over time it will build up.

What's a premium bond?

No, you're doing brilliantly to save so much. You just need a little tweak to make it FEEL better.

I think you need two savings pots - fun money and rainy day money. If you put £500 into the fun pot each month it will keep building up then put £1k into the rainy day fund for unpredictable expenses like the boiler, slush fund, and regular costs increasing. That way you get the feel good factor of seeing your fun money just go up AND the financial security of having a buffer for emergencies. Numbers aren't exact but that sort of ratio should sort you out nicely.

Financial security doesn't happen in year, unless you win the lottery. It is a slow process of gradual improvements. You have made a great start, and in ten years, or even five years, you will be glad you did.

We also need a new roof. Had a few quotes between 5k-10k depending on if it's a full or partial replacement.

We can't add any more to credit cards, so DH has been up on a ladder several times, patching up the roof every time rain starts leaking into the bedrooms upstairs!