No savings but a happy life….. is it just me?

[CanICelebrate]

I read a lot of threads about savings and I wonder whether we are alone in having pretty much no savings despite earning a fairly good wage (although not rich by mn standards!)

For context, we have paid off quite a lot of our mortgage, have life insurance and have good pensions (also I will inherit a lot although hopefully not for a long time), so we definitely have money in the future, just no savings account right now.

We spend most of what we earn on having a better life with our dc.
I have had a number of tragedies in life and my own childhood was tough at times, so life seems fragile. I want my years with dc at home to be as good as they can and so we spend what we have on holidays, school fees (with huge discount as I work there), clubs/ activities and days out in school holidays. We don’t spend as much on ‘stuff’ but more on experiences. I’m pretty sure when dc have left home we will save more.

Am I being irresponsible? I don’t feel it day by day as I have no debt apart from my mortgage and a small car loan and my disposable income is high enough to cover minor emergencies, but reading threads on here I wonder whether I’m in a minority.

I like having savings , but I do think you can end up not wanting to spend them so I have a few savings accounts 2 large ones that I don’t touch , 1 for a new car ( which will be spent soon ) and 2 smaller ones that I will spend from as and when if something crops up or I want something that requires more than my current account . I also put money into my daughters account each month and have a stash of cash in the house which I add to and use when we go away for spending money . I like having the knowledge that whatever occurs day to day I can cover it .

Awww There’s no need to feel like that ! 🙂

[quote CanICelebrate]@GreenClock
Thank you. You’ve summed it up really well. I think I’ve always thought the future will be ok so don’t worry now whereas I do think I need to start saving now too.

I though chat on mn was a good place to muse and think aloud….. obviously not as i now feel like shit for posting this![/quote]
Don’t feel bad Op.

Just keep in mind there are people hiding in the wings here and all they do is wait for innocents like yourself to post and give them an excuse to vent their spleen ……. till the next person comes along.

Just ignore them and make no more apologies.

My children have savings accounts which grandparents pay into which will cover some things when they are older but no where near enough for uni fees or a house deposit.

I am privileged financially but have not been privileged with the shit life has thrown at me and I think I overcompensate by spending on family stuff and creating happy memories for us all.

I do think it's important to have accessible savings if financially viable. You really don't know what life might throw at you - illness, redundancy, major house repairs etc. Or even just random things that come up (like pricey school trips for DC). I wouldn't enjoy holidays or 'nice to haves' if I knew there was no money to cushion us.

We have assets but not savings. We can’t afford private schools or holidays abroad but we are really fortunate to have a very comfortable life. If we suddenly needed the roof replaced we’d have to put it on the credit card and pay it off over a couple of years. We are slowly building up a savings pot but won’t have 6 months salary in there for about two years!

Please don't feel like shit for posting on here. I do think posting can give you a different perspective.

Savings also gives you the upper hand in life. I live by the rule of, "expect the unexpected" whether that is a negative outlook for some, I don't know but we also live happily.

Depends what you plan to do if you suddenly need money. Say you lose your job, or the house needs expensive work, or something like that? What will you do?

I've known a couple of people who didn't build up savings (when they could have done fairly easily). When they suddenly needed money, they basically took advantage of the people around them who did have savings, in one case by borrowing money from parents and in another by moving themselves, their partner and 3 kids in with a sibling for several months to give them a chance to save up. I don't think that's fair.

If your plan for that scenario is to sort it out yourself, then that's fine, work away!

You really do need a rainy day fund. Equity in the home and theoretical inheritance is all well and good, but you can't buy a new boiler or car with that. Presumably you have had savings so you could make large purchases - do you save for a specific thing then stop saving?

Your approach sounds v balanced op, your experiences have taught you to cherish the present and live in the present, with some safeguards( pension, good sick pay, insurance) in place.
Doesn’t sound smug to me.
There is balance to be had.

Just keep in mind there are people hiding in the wings here and all they do is wait for innocents like yourself to post and give them an excuse to vent their spleen ……. till the next person comes along

True.

It's recommended that you have six (?) months worth of mortgage, bills & food money in savings.

CanICelebrate I don't think you sound smug either. I think we're in a pretty similar position to you although we do have a small pot of savings.
I don't worry. I am early 40's. Myself and dh both work full-time with small pensions. We have a BTL property which has reliable tenants in and we also have a mortgage on our home. In ten years time our last DC will probably be leaving home. I want to enjoy them and give them opportunities.

We also have the potential for a large inheritance although I never consider it. What it does mean is that if everything went horribly wrong right now, I know that PIL would let us live with them and would never see us on the streets.

I also read threads on here that make me panic and whilst I'd like to have more savings, and hopefully will as the children get older, I don't want to suspend my life in pursuit of it.

You have a good pension, equity in your property and life insurance so you are definitely not irresponsible.
In your position I would save for a rainy day fund and also as pp have mentioned not rely on any inheritance.

@CanICelebrate we are in the same boat. No current savings at all but are saving into pensions etc. I'm also of the mindset to try and enjoy life now as you don't know what tomorrow will bring.

Oh my goodness…OP, you’re not being smug at all in my opinion and also this talk about privilege…OP is talking about her own position, not that of others, it’s irrelevant to talk about privilege.

I’m inclined to say that if at all possible you should have an emergency fund because you don’t know what the future holds but otherwise you seem quite secure and living a happy life. Personally I’d like to know if I could cover big unexpected expenses eg a roof repair as mentioned above. But also I’d want to be able to cover living expenses for a few months in case of redundancy/illness. For a lot of people, saving that kind of money is nigh on impossible but if you have the capacity, I’d aim for that, for peace of mind.

Enjoy your life OP, it sounds wonderful 🙂

I simply can’t comprehend anyone who sits and thinks I’m going to inherit a lot. I don’t know anyone who thinks like this. It’s just really grubby,

I don't think you sound smug but you are privileged. Probably do need to save something for a rainy day.
I'm a little older (mid 50s) and in a similar job (not teaching but keyworker kind of role). I was bumbling along and became ill (long covid). In the next few months I may have to go onto half pay. My dp isn't particularly well paid (self employed but regular income), poor pension, so I cannot necessarily rely on him in the future. I'm privileged in that I benefited from a relatively large inheritance but my plans for a comfy retirement are pretty much on hold. So in a nutshell save if you can !

You are in a pretty fortunate position, with lots of things that sound like they could be cut if required. I guess the question is could you fund a couple of hundred pounds of car repairs next month? What happens if you need 2K to replace the boiler next month? Or a new roof? If you can dump that on a credit card, and pay it off by cutting back over a few months, crack on. If you genuinely couldnt deal with one of those surprises, it might be worth putting some money aside, and cutting a treat occasionally to fund said emergency pot.
But the fact that you have the possibility to do this makes your position way better than many of the posts talking about no savings.

I don’t think you sound smug either Op, it’s an interesting subject. Mumsnet is really funny about money, I like discussing it on here as you just can’t in real life!!

You have a very secure job which is good. As others say, I’d definitely build up a small pot of savings for emergencies e.g new boiler, roof etc.

I think we all do the best we can, with the resources we have. In your case, your resources have been able to stretch to cover a mortgage, some pension, school fees for your children and having regard to your personal values - good times for your family and children - at the expense of a savings pot of sorts. Many people do something similar. You could of course reduce the family spending and create a savings pot - but do you really want to?

As to what others do, does it really matter if how you are distributing and spending your income works for you and your family?

You don't sound smug but good pensions, inheritances and making serious inroads to being mortgage free are all savings under another name imo

I think it’s wise not to rely on inheritance but I get where you are coming from in regards to life.

I don’t have kids so different situation and I do have some savings as I like being more secure after being skint most my life.

However I’m absolutely with you on the life and experiences side of things. I’m not that materialistic and prefer experience over ‘things’. Life is so so short and so much can happen so I do enjoy that side of life as much as possible and it’s great that your kids have experienced it too.

I do think maybe it would be wise to have a small amount of savings.slowly building up for emergencies or a rainy day. Oh and ignore the overly negative, some on here just like to make posters feel like shit.

Don’t sound smug op- ignore the ridiculous posters ready to vilify.
Do you have any debt? If not that I would say it’s fine because worst case if something happened, broken boiler, no car etc you could borrow- if you have debt and something comes up than you may be in trouble

Presumably you have very good incomes.

How will you pay for

Christmas
Holiday
Anything out the blue like car havibg a big MOT or something breaking
A new car.

Of all these things can be just bought that month withoit saving for them you must be very well off.