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Original poster

If you losy your job.... (savings)

41 replies

PinkGin24 · 16/01/2019 16:02

How long could your savings last you? I have £6k in savings (goes up £500 each month) but I am FOREVER worrying about how long I could survive if I lost my job. It would be 2 and a bit months for me on the £6k savings. I want to get to £10k savings before I even consider using any to spend on holidays or home improvements.

OP posts:
OnlyFoolsnMothers · 16/01/2019 16:05

just on savings or using credit too? Just on savings and the bare minimal c. 6 months

DrMadelineMaxwell · 16/01/2019 16:10

10 months. More if we tightened our belts. I also save that amount monthly and am a bit obsessed about having a bit more left at the end of this month than I did last month.

Original poster
PinkGin24 · 16/01/2019 16:24

Ah sprry I calculated that wrong because I factored in 'surviving' as still saving my £500 a month. So 3 months max. This really panics me! 4 months if I used credit too.

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General money
sailawaywithmeagain · 16/01/2019 16:26

If it makes you feel any better we have no savings. None. Zero. Nada.
Not out of choice I hasten to add.

Not sure if that makes you feel better or not!

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 16/01/2019 16:28

If you lost your job are there contracts/subscriptions you could cancel (even with a months notice) to stretch the finances...

Sooverthemill · 16/01/2019 16:30

I think the rule of thumb advice a financial person would advise is you should have enough in instant access for 3 months equivalent of all your costs. Then other savings in higher interest savings. Does that money you have cover absolutely everything eg. Could you still afford to go for job interviews?

We do at the moment but it's about the only time in our 20 years of marriage. We are working hard to save everything we can in case my DH gets made redundant ( I can't work)

Original poster
PinkGin24 · 16/01/2019 16:31

The only contract I have is for my phone (recently taken out for 24 months and £31 a month).

It makes me REALLY anxious and I know there are people out there with no savings so I should think myself lucky but it is getting to the point it keeps me awake at night.

OP posts:
Oly4 · 16/01/2019 16:32

6 months if we lived frugally.

Kemer2018 · 16/01/2019 16:32

6 months in general savings.
After that, I'd be onto my investments.

KitKat1985 · 16/01/2019 16:35

None. We moved house last year and used pretty much every penny we had towards the deposit, and then I ended up having to buy a new car at the end of last year by taking out a loan and the last of any savings I had.

Luckily me and DH both work full time so in the unlikely example one of us lost our jobs, we would have the others wages to fall back on.

We did have the situation of DH losing his job a few years ago, and I picked up a couple of extra shifts a week and could so the same again if necessary. (I'm a nurse and given that everywhere in the NHS seems to be permanently short there's no shortage of extra work if I needed it).

RussellSprout · 16/01/2019 16:36

I lost my job earlier this month, actually I started a new job and hated it so walked. So this is a very relevant thread for me.

I have £5k in savings, and was planning to use this to cover my debt repayments and personal money. DH's salary could cover mortgage bills and food/essentials but its tight.

Luckily I have just started some temp work for 8 weeks which is reasonably paid, and they are allowing me time off for interviews so i can try and get a perm job during this time.

so we can survive but its been very stressful and I don't want to go through this again!

KitKat1985 · 16/01/2019 16:38

Can I ask why you are so anxious about this? Is losing your job likely?

Villanellesproudmum · 16/01/2019 16:39

I have redundancy insurance which covers most of outgoings, plus if I factored in contribution based JSA and redundancy pay I would be ok for a year. If I got sacked, 4 - 6 months max.

Original poster
PinkGin24 · 16/01/2019 16:40

@RussellSprout how easy is it to get temp work (slight tangent!) I am an experience professional working in Marketing. Is temp work more admin roles? Not that i would mons that if it came to it but my background is 't in PA/Admin etc.

OP posts:
RussellSprout · 16/01/2019 16:43

Hi @PinkGin24: In my field it was ridiculously easy, I wasn't even really looking but saw this job advertised and I was the only candidate on the market with these skills available at short notice. I also got approached by recruiters about 3 other roles at the same time but took this one first.

I work in HR btw... I thought the market would be tighter and it is for perm roles, but i think if you are immediately available and ok to do short term work it puts you at a distinct advantage.

brick15 · 16/01/2019 16:43

I have 10k is savings so it could last 3 months, more if I tighten belts. I need a few bits down to the house but won’t touch this just in case. I can’t add any more savings to it at the moment as things are tight and not sure when I’ll be able to again. I worry about it too but not to the point of losing sleep. Try not to worry too much OP, at the end of the day we just have to deal with whatever comes along.

AnnabelleLecter · 16/01/2019 16:46

We're unlikely to both lose our jobs but if that did happen our holiday cottage will bring in about £10k a year.
Savings alone would last 3 years and by then DH will be receiving his pension.
Then a couple of years later my pension kicks in.
So forever technically.

Original poster
PinkGin24 · 16/01/2019 16:48

@KitKat1985 it is more I cannot stand my manager and she is making my life miserable. She is also totally unpredictable so who knows!?

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Original poster
PinkGin24 · 16/01/2019 16:50

@Villanellesproudmum if you don't mind me asking how much does your redundancy inaurance cost? I enquired about it with my mortgage broker and he said none of his clients in the South take it out and the cost was coming back at like £100 a month

OP posts:
JustanotherCHRISTMASuser01 · 16/01/2019 17:02

if I lost my job we would manage on dh salary however my car is linked to my job so that would be gone my personal direct debits i could as things stand manage about six months taking up to 8 months with my final pay cheque but it literally would be surviving with not much fun if I had to get another car that would be hopeing for a short term family loan

caffeinebuzz · 16/01/2019 17:07

We keep 3 months in an easily accessible account. There is scope for us to quickly reduce our outgoings, so could probably make it last 4-5 months at a push.

RaininSummer · 16/01/2019 17:12

I could probably manage for 18 months or so as my outgoings are pretty low. We already live on one income as it is.

Longdistance · 16/01/2019 17:24

We too could survive on dhs wage, so no issue with that. If he lost his job his contract has a clause saying 3 months gardening leave paid.

Ariela · 16/01/2019 17:35

DH and I can last till we retire/die in theory. Obviously situation might change if inflation went up vastly after we have started drawing our pensions.

Original poster
PinkGin24 · 16/01/2019 17:38

That is just MY savings not DH, and just covering MY half of bills etc.

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