To ask how much you have in savings and what you are saving for?

[Watermelonade]

Before anyone jumps on me, this is not a boasting thread. A few years ago we had nothing and felt like we were drowning, so now I am very cautious with money and save, save, save.

I have 8000 which is strictly for emergencies and is never touched.

Then I've just started a holiday fund which has a small amount of 550 in it.

What about you?

I’ve got savings, for masters, ds’s uni and ds’s first car almost, I’ve also got a loan and CC debt, if I died it’d probably even out - the life Insurance and house. 2 years I will be debt free

I’ve got about 5 months salary saved, mostly because during lockdown I’ve not had any nursery fees and I haven’t spent anything on going out or takeaways.

I can’t understand why people wouldn’t count pension contributions as savings. Each month I have £x that I could choose to put into my S&S isa but it is more tax efficient to put it into my pension fund instead. It doesn’t magically disappear though, its still being saved.

I guess because it's not immediately accessible, people don't count it? When I think of savings I think of immediate, liquid capital -- not the equity in my home or our pensions.

But if it needs to be liquid I guess stocks and shares don’t count either - it’s purely cash (which isn’t a great way to hold too much money)

I don’t count pensions as savings as they aren’t accessible and can only be used for one thing - providing an income in retirement.

Of course they are savings!! It's savings for retirement!!

I'm 40. I have 3k in an everyday accessible account.

Plus sinking funds for Xmas, car etc.

Then I have about 165k spread across pension, LISA etc.

Mainly funded through pension contributions since I was 21 and house sale.

tbf, Xenia never lies & she has been outed on here a few times. I believe Xenia.
The rest of us, not so much.

4 months wages, currently on mat leave and wanted to have a buffer if I decide not to go back. We also have some emergency fund savings put aside x

To people asking what’s the point of these threads, I think they can give a wider perspective than you might get from your own circle. I find them quite helpful in that respect. For instance, DH and I both come from poor backgrounds, went to good unis and got very good jobs. As a consequence everyone we know, apart from our extended families, is much richer than us because of their ‘invisible cushions’ of inheritance, family support, help with house deposits, etc. Occasionally I’ve found that a bit hard but remind myself most people are like us and don’t have those advantages. Threads like these could certainly be enlightening to some of our friends and acquaintances......

I've got about 6K of ready cash, that I can get access to right away.

About 11K of money in ISAs, that I could get to if required, but would rather not.

And thanks to some very generous parents and grand-parents, about 90K in various investments/stocks and shares etc, that would be a right PITA to get to. And that money is ear-marked for a deposit for a house, when we decide to move from rented to purchased. The reason why we haven't yet is too long and boring to explain.

Thanks. I tend not to lie. I think it's interesting to hear what people have. Eg I was looking at my 1979 university account book - yes I wrote every penny down. I have always been interested in tracking income etc. My parents made the minimum grant to the full grant. I saved £10 a month or something regularly anyway into a SAYE product- save as you earn scheme you could save into even when not earning so have always been a reasonable saver (and I graduated a teetotal virgin so not a big spender at university other than on law books)

Savings for us we very few in the early days of a baby and full time babycare costs and have gone up and down over the years. We used 100% of all savings and the children's savings eg to buy this house in 1997 and the one before that in 1990 - big risk, big mortgage and cleaned us out. My divorce was similar in order to save the house - the children's home.My savings have usually been out of earned income taxed at 40% plus and principally because aged 14 I picked a high career deliberately (law and commercial law in London specifically). I am also not a very big spender other than on children's education costs so that tends to help with saving money.

Personally no savings, I had 6 children to raise and a low paid job.

The hubs has a few grand in the bank to do the garden and bathroom but Covid wiped that out as he's self employed and needed for float his business.

In saying that, I've been working extra, paid my credits cards off and I'm nearly ready to pay off my overdraft so it's not all doom and gloom.

Have struggled in the past so when mortgage was paid off we saved same amount every month.

Have also saved since lockdown - previously spent a fortune on fuel to bring DS to school 30 miles away (times 4 a day ie return journeys) and trips between times to shop, volunteer, after schools etc. (DS at a very specialised special school and school transport would add 4 hours to his school day).

No buying lunches, coffees, school canteens, etc has also saved a lot. Now shop weekly only and no waste. Haven’t bought new clothes in an age and both DS live in shorts and T-shirts at the min so growth spurts not noticeable.

I reckon we have about a year’s salary in savings.

Now I remember why threads like this make me feel inadequate - inheritances and family gifts are alien to me. I didn't really know about this until I came on MN 15 years ago.

But as somebody mentioned upthread 'comparison is the thief of joy' and I'm proud of the small amounts we've saved towards DS' uni/house deposit expenses.

Nothing. I'm deep in the minuses.

There's nothing inadequate about not getting an inheritance or large gifts. Life is unfair. Is a fact.

I would rather people didn't mention whether they worked hard, though. I'm sure workshy people come in all wealth brackets. You don't need to look for ways to apologise for life being unfair.

40k - Probably pay off a chunk of the mortgage when it renews

Nothing yet as I’m clearing my debts off after that I’ll be re-putting money into savings so we can buy our dream house 😊

@miljea did you know because of covid 19 situation you can withdraw superannuation tax free at the moment

Nada! The kids and home eat it all!

£4500 in my own savings account, rarely touch it, mainly for emergencies and around £6000 joint savings with DP. We have just bought a house last month though so we are building our savings back up.

i had 400.. its now 0 and what we have left for this month.. lets just say im grateful for tesco value food..

@dahlia83 - can you provide a link please regarding withdrawing superannuation tax free at the moment due to Covid.

We have pensions with a large online provider and have not been told that, despite being over 55 and therefore eligible to access our pensions.

Thanks Op, I’ve found this an interesting read. Yes everyone’s situation is different but somewhere in the thread there’s someone like you.
So, we bought a very old, big renovation project 3 years ago. It is now thankfully coming to an end but took a lot of our savings and has worried the hell out of me. Then 6 months ago, I lost my job for life, made redundant just before COVID started.
So, we have £40k plus about £30k in children’s savings. I’ve just overpaid £20k on the mortgage (from redundancy) and we’re now overpaying mortgage by £200 a month. Hoping to have the new remortgage paid off in max 5yr. For the first time in a long time, we can start saving again albeit that I now work for a charity on a much lower salary.
We make sure we have good holidays every year. I don’t want to save over travelling, I’ve lost too many relatives that never got to go to where they wanted to go. Like another poster, my husband and I are first time family uni attendees, are on a much higher salary than our family therefore no inheritance or help on way. I’m hoping my pension pot will be my house which now it’s finished will hopefully secure us some funds in 10-15 years time when we come to sell.

About £2.5k. Trying to put about £1200-£15000 between us away each month. Firstly to finish the last little bit of credit card debt, then pay off the car and a 2021 holiday, then some home improvements and a 2022 holiday. Eventually, in around 5 years, a loft conversion without getting in to further debt.