To be shocked when adults have absolutely no savings at all?

I actually consider myself lucky to have savings at this time, most expensive time in my life, teenagers, mortgage, COL issues, it’s so easy to find yourself with no extra money. I have a friend, and this isn’t uncommon, where her husband fucked her over, left,
doesn’t pay a penny and gets away with it as he’s paid under the table, he now has a new family and pays sod all for his first child. So she has to pay for the mortgage, bills and food/ child costs alone.
one of the main things though is investing in your home, if you can do this and pay off the mortgage then release capital when you downsize that at least ties money, if you’re able to buy a house of course

Very crass to judge people for not saving, plenty of previous posters have said there are lots of reasons why somebody might not have saved.
Personally I earn very little as I work part time so only have about a grand saved. However I thank my lucky stars that my tiny house is paid for and I have a halfway decent work pension to come. Plenty of people much worse off then me!

When I had DC at home I used to put aside £100 a month into a savings account, which was a struggle and all that was left after the mortgage, bills and food/fuel was paid.

Most months it got transferred back into the current account at some point because children needed shoes. Or a school trip had to be paid for. Or the exhaust fell off the car. Or the washing machine packed up.

This is how many people live, day to day.

Go and do some deep reading about poverty. Do you get off on feeling better than poor people?

When I left my EXDP, the day I completed on my new house, I’d paid £131k to Santander, and I had just about £1,000 left in the bank, £800 of which I had to use on the removal men.

I then had legal fees of over £30k going through court with my ex, all while paying a mortgage of £30k, and childcare of £50k. By the end of this year I’ll have paid all those debts off and will only then, 4 years after leaving my long-term relationship, will I be in a position to start saving again.

There are many many reasons why people may not have any savings.

When I was first married at 25 my new husband and I planned on saving up as much money as possible and then retiring young. That was what we did for the first few year. Then he “suddenly” acquired a gambling addiction that ate through our savings, his salary and most of mine. He also ran up £000’s on credit cards, took loans out and forged my signature to remortgage our house. Oh and he hid it for 3 years, taking out more and more loans/credit cards/borrowing from family
/occasional big wins etc, until he could hide it no longer. You may ask why I didn’t notice, but I was busy with two young children a full time job and he was a very good liar. I noticed when the bailiffs turned up on the doorstep. I lost everything and, even worse, my credit rating was so horrendous that I couldn’t even get a loan for a deposit on a rental, let alone a mortgage for many many years. I was then a single parent and also paying back my ex husbands loans etc that he’d taken out in my name. I’m now 51 and just have enough of a pension to make sure I can live in old age (I can’t afford to retire until I’m 70) and I can sell the house to pay for care. I haven’t been able to help the girls out at all with uni fees and definitely not house deposits.

Ffs
we went into our overdraft pretty much every month when the kids were little.
all good now, we have savings and money to spend but it was really tight for a decade.

You obviously have no idea how little some people are earning out there.
They literally live pay check to pay check and some don't even make it to that.
Think you really need to shut up now.

Are you joking?

You think people dont have savings because they dont think its important?

Really?

I’m going to be honest, I find it quite hard to understand when adults have no understanding of why some people have no savings at all. I cannot fathom their inability to put themselves in other people's shoes, to fail to understand what the phrase 'Cost of Living Crisis' means, or to question how they would manage on Minimum Wage.

And then to say something as crass as 'Personally, I try to keep around £10k as a buffer'.

Well you are a total idiot if you can’t see it. I went through uni and PhD and had nothing mountains of student debt. Then I got a teaching job -my outgoing didn’t cover my incomings. Gradually I worked my way up at work and got married - then got hit with a divorce which wiped out any savings we had and the house was sold. I had no choice but to go into rented and this time I had one income, rent of £1400 for a tiny 3 bed in Bristol and no maintenance. Honestly it was awful I went without food so the kids could eat. We were properly on a breadline. £100 in the bank was a pipe dream I literally had to save money wherever I could charity shops etc

Now I have remarried, and put bluntly he is loaded we have our dream house, 3 dogs and savings and cruises but without him I would still be renting and still be on the breadline and unable to retire. Most adults in the uk can’t afford to buy or move out of home. So you are just goading others.

Well aren't you lucky

No, I don't feel shocked. I feel grateful that I had some help from parents to set up my first home and that I've had stable employment. I can see how easy it is to spiral into debt when you start with nothing or end up losing everything and have a low income.

Maybe your shock would better channeled into wondering why so many people have no spare income at the end of the month to save.

I will have a small payrise this year but my rent, council tax, fuel bills, water rates etc are all increasing far more.

So please tell me how people in this position can afford to save?

I feel sorry for young people nowadays. It must be hard to build up savings.

Today is a bad day to be poor on Mumsnet 🙈😑

I have savings and really appreciate how fortunate I am to have the spare cash each month to save.

But I'm not thick as shit so very much understand that not everybody is able to save because all of their money is accounted for. I'd recommend just being ever so slightly less stupid.

Explain to me how I can save on the carers allowance and disability benefits I receive for my disabled husband and I'll save. Honestly what planet are you on

We’re in our mid forties and not poor but don’t have any cash savings <shrug>

I was in my early to mid 30’s before I got out of debt and acquired some savings. Lived from Month to month. There was never anything left to save. Single incomes don’t go far once you have paid housing costs, running a car, paid debts etc.

This only applies to very poor people though, since the majority of people could buy a kettle with little concern

Some people have to look after kids and other relatives not just themselves

Some people can’t afford to live! Let alone save. And circumstances change. You can lose a job, become ill, disabled, death in family resulting in not working. Your savings soon get used up then!

I'm poor as shit and I couldn't ever imagine being as delusional as you. You don't even have that much in savings in reality? This must be a wind up.

Oh ffs! 🙄