£3050 a month after tax, NI and pension contribution how much is realistic amount to save?

[Figaro88]

I want to set a standing order up to go into our saving account each month, with the above take home pay what would you see as a realistic amount. Family of 5 the 3 dc range from 13-7.

To quote another example that you give - if a DC loses a £50 coat, instead of just buying a straight replacement, you could look at hand me downs, charity shop, or one from Primark/a supermarket, ie You maybe need to shift your attitude to "do we really need this

This is the sort of thing Moneysavingexpert is good at. Getting the best value out of your money, thinking about what you spend, but not necessarily having a grim life, there's still room for treats, but there's often ways to do those same treats cheaper. For example, it's almost never necessary to pay the full price in a theme park type attraction or chain restaurant, there's almost always a deal to be had.

Have a look at:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/stop-spending-budgeting-tool/

Also remember that regular little spends can really add up. A single coffee on the way to work might only be £3, but if you and your DH both do this every working day, that's over £100 pm, or over £1k per year, just on coffee.

@BarbaraofSevillle I will take a look at that Thank you. We lucky don't waste money on coffee eating out etc as one dc has multiple allergies so we don't risk it. We waste money on crap, comics and bits of tat for the kids and clothes which we don't need.

I have set the standing order at £1000 for October 1st, going to have a good a go at it and then look at the figures again come the last week of October and take it from there.

I want to live near you, OP. It sounds great!

@Figaro88 Thanks for that. I thought I must have a massive leak somewhere :-)

Where do you buy the 'crap, comics and bits of tat'? Do you go to the shops for something to do? Can you not go to the NT place with out going in the gift shop?

Maybe stop going to the shops if they inevitably lead to you buying things you don't need? Tell the DC that the gift shop is closed?

Is your house full of crap, comics and bits of tat? Could you do a car boot sale to have a clear out and make a bit of money?

Is this a 'we don't know where all our money goes' post?

On Shop Well for Less (look on BBC Iplayer to see if there are any episodes available to watch) they sometimes mention toy, game and even lego libraries, plus a craft warehouse place where you could buy bags and bags of all sorts of craft bits for pence.

The toy and game libraries, you paid a small monthly sum to borrow toys and games, so the DC always had new things to play with, but you could keep swapping them for new things, and it was much cheaper than buying new all the time, and didn't fill your house with things you don't need. Can you get comics at the library - or electronically?

We really should save more, does anyone else find that something crops up every month that unexpected ? Therefore stops us putting as much away as we would like

Define unexpected?

If you have a car, house, household appliances or pet, they will inevitably need money spending on them sooner or later. It's nice if they don't, but you should 'expect the unexpected' and budget accordingly, put money away, and not regard that money as 'savings' rather essential expenses that haven't happened yet.

This month our skylight frame has somehow become twisted we don't have a clue how that's happened, the upstairs shower is just a trickle(water co. saying not their problem) felt sorry for DS,(circumstances beyond his control re hurricane Dorian) so put money in his account to help him out a bit just bits and bobs really! But October is a new month so hopefully nothing will go wrong !

What an odd thread.

You're asking total strangers to answer something that only you can know. Why do you need randoms to tell you how much to save, surely only you know the answer as, you know, it's your life and choices.

How about travel insurance? Car breakdown insurance? MOT & service costs. Dinner money/pocket money/activities like swimming & music lessons for the DC. Do you set aside money for an annual family holiday let alone a budget for christmas & birthdays?

I think that saving £1k is tight if you have omitted quite a few of the above. If you save nothing at the moment, you won't be able to manage saving £1k straight off without accounting for all your current expenditure and scrutinising whether you need it.

If you’re not saving for anything in particular, I’d put in £1000 with the understanding that it can be dipped into for unexpected spends like you mention.

See how that works for a few months and adjust as needed.

If I was to transfer £1000 into 1 savings account and £200 into a clothing/christmas/birthday account that would leave me £437 a month for general spending. Does that look realistic or a bit miserable?

It doesn't sound miserable at all! We have £1200 a month after tax and zero to save

Good luck with it