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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how much you have in savings...

224 replies

MakeAHouseAHome · 09/10/2018 20:25

We have just transferred virtually ALL our money over to our solicitor for our first house. I have gone from having nearly £60k to much much less than that.

I know everyone does it haha, but just feeling un-nerved at losing that nice safety blanket and I will be immediately starting to build it back up again.

Just interested in how much people have in their savings accounts?

OP posts:
Lovemusic33 · 09/10/2018 21:30

£250

bridgetreilly · 09/10/2018 21:31

£350. But I have just finished paying off all my credit cards, so now I can start building up some more than that.

SandysMam · 09/10/2018 21:31

Can anyone explain how I over pay on the mortgage? Do you literally just transferr a bit extra when you can? Or do you just up your direct debit? Mine says no more than 10% overpayments but 10% of what? The monthly amount? Sorry, totally detailing the thread!
10k savings, emergency fund that we never go below. Live very frugally as I am terrified of having nothing.

cptartapp · 09/10/2018 21:31

A couple of hundred thousand almost due to an inheritance. No mortgage. Investing it to retire early. Lucky in some ways but not others.

LookMoreCloselier · 09/10/2018 21:31

£8k which I'm saving to put towards a new kitchen. Couple of thousand quid worth of shares. Dh has investments but I don't know what they are worth. We overpay the mortgage by £600 per month and will increase to £1k overpayment in 2 years. Aiming to be mortgage free before saving really.

SandysMam · 09/10/2018 21:31

Tired eyes, lots of typos!

MiddlingMum · 09/10/2018 21:32

About £750k plus house, but we have been fortunate and not really had a mortgage.

I still buy most of my clothes in charity shops and look for bargains at the supermarket though. I was brought up to believe "If you look after the pennies the pounds will look after themselves" and find it hard to get out of that mindset.

crimsonlake · 09/10/2018 21:32

Agree with that horror shock feeling when all your money goes on paying for a house. I paid cash following a divorce and downsizing. One minute my bank account was very healthy and then in a click of a button it was gone! I was also terrified it had just disappeared into space.

bridgetreilly · 09/10/2018 21:33

I don't get why people with lots of cash penny pinch, why not enjoy it? Might get run over by a bus tom.

Well you might. Or your car might be a write off, your boiler might break, your child might want to go on a school trip, and a ton of other unanticipated expenses might come in. In which case, you'll be glad you haven't frittered all your savings away.

ladybee28 · 09/10/2018 21:35

I don't get why people with lots of cash penny pinch, why not enjoy it? Might get run over by a bus tom.

I think that's HOW a lot of people end up with lots of cash... my grandad's favourite saying was: "Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves."

It sounds cheesy, but it got him from rags to riches over the course of his lifetime and he took huge pride in being able to leave it to his kids and grandchildren when he passed.

thecatsthecats · 09/10/2018 21:35

If you ignore the wedding money, which is all being paid out next weekend, 2k.

Went straight from house deposit into wedding savings and bumping my pension. Looking forward to increasing savings amount after the honeymoon.

Celebelly · 09/10/2018 21:36

I think there's a balance, really, about enjoying life but also being sensible. Just knowing that I have a financial safety net has made my day-to-day life a lot less stressful (I'm not panicking that the car might break down, or that we need a new boiler) and has taken the heat off my impending maternity leave a bit as I don't feel pressured to get back to work. I still like to find bargains where I can and don't want to dip into it for everyday stuff and living expenses so we still live within our means in terms of salaries.

mloo · 09/10/2018 21:36

Penny-pinching: I'm sure is partly why we have a healthy bank balance. At least, it must help.

I hate waste. Buying something I don't need would be wasteful.
Replacing my perfectly good things with 'nicer' versions would be wasteful.
Something like posh hotel rooms: stupid waste of money.
I could give lots ££ to charity. That may happen yet -- & wouldn't be a waste.
Expensive meals out = not very healthy food at (wasteful) prices.

I think i"m the opposite. I can't fathom why people spend ££££ on things they don't need or aren't good value.

If the bus collision injures me badly, at least I know I can pay any bills until I'm well enough to work again.

5foot5 · 09/10/2018 21:38

House paid for several years ago. About £35k in joint savings accounts and about £450k in my pension fund. DH has various pension funds too but the value is hard to estimate as one is a final salary scheme.

Yes we are hoping to retire in the not too distant future!

RuthW · 09/10/2018 21:39

2.5k. Homeowner on my own with dd at uni. Trying very hard to save another 1.5k so I have three months wages saved for emergencies. This is the most I've ever had.

VanGoghsDog · 09/10/2018 21:40

It's pretty much irrelevant to anyone else, unless they are in exactly the same situation as me - 50, no kids, never married, mortgage paid off, reasonably frugal, high earner.

I have c£30k in cash and £50k in investments but all my savings now go into pension which I am aiming to get to c£400k within 5 years (it's just under half that now).

I bought my first flat, on my own, in my mid twenties and was broke then, interest rates were going up every month and my mortgage with it, and I was suddenly £300 overdrawn which scared the life out of me, so I cut unnecessary expenditure and paid it off. Never been overdrawn since. Always overpaid the mortgage and paid a bit off each time I changed to a new deal. Once mortgage was low, and then paid, transferred savings to pension. I keep monthly outgoings low but am happy to splash out on things I want which I value (handbags.....but still never paid more than £100 for one).

Orangecake123 · 09/10/2018 21:40

About 3k. I'm saving for my first home.

I've made it a full year without buying any new clothes and cutting back on my bad spending habits.

LookMoreCloselier · 09/10/2018 21:40

Sandysmam, it's probably that you can't pay over 10% of the total debt within a year. We do a recurring overpayment monthly and planning to do a one off overpayment at some point too.

EK36 · 09/10/2018 21:41

Dont see the point in these sorts of posts, e.g. how much is your:- savings/benefits/salary/mortgage/ Christmas presents. It seems to be either a frugal amount or a shockingly obsene amount, with absolutely no middle ground whatsoever!

Celebelly · 09/10/2018 21:42

@Sandysmam It's no more than 10% of the total debt remaining in a year, but if you have a big chunk to pay off, you might save in interest more than what the early repayments fees are, so it's worth checking that.

Thatstheendofmytether · 09/10/2018 21:45

230k we are both quite low earners but we are very frugal, we barely eat and hardly leave the house except for work.

Chesterfieldsofa · 09/10/2018 21:45

£20k in an ISA, two endowment policies for old houses finish in about 3 years so another £20k ish (it's a bloody good job that I'm not relying on them to pay of a mortgage!!!!!!). However we don't have a house (get one 'free' with dh job) so would all have to go asap on house if his job changes. On paper have over 100K in a business, but don't think it would actually be there if I tried to take it, so pretty much ignore it really.

8FencingWire · 09/10/2018 21:46

sandysmam, yes, you can hust transfer money into the mortgage account, just like you transfer any money into any account.
10% of the whole mortgage in a year. Say you have £100,000 mortgage over 25 years, in a year you can’t repay more than £10,000. So, if the repayment is set at £400 a month, for instance, normal repayment over 12 months is £4,800. You could double that, making £800 a month payments, but not more, it would take you over the £10,000 (or 10%) limit.
That’s how I calculated mine. Mine is, say, £500, and I overpay to £750. By doing that I am saving a fortune in interest, plus it shortens my mortgage years. HTH

Zara87 · 09/10/2018 21:47

£8,400.
I'm 30, dh 33
2 kids under the age of 3
We own a house and have 38 years left on the mortgage (!!) But we overpay by £200 a month which will reduce our term quite a lot
I'm currently on maternity leave and imagine when i return to work next year We will have around 4k left
I also just booked a 2k holiday that needs paying off. So by June I will probably have around 1k left :-(
And with childcare bills set to be £1600 a month for the next 2 years I can assure you I don't think I'll see 8k in the bank for a very very very long time

MiddlingMum · 09/10/2018 21:48

I can't fathom why people spend ££££ on things they don't need or aren't good value.

I find it odd, too. I don't understand people who buy endless coffees or ready made lunches, then complain they are broke. I might technically be a millionaire, but I'll still make sandwiches (probably from bread I got at the end of the day for 20p) and take my Tupperware box and bottle of water. I also darn my socks and save bits of soap in a special container Grin