1 in 4 people have less than £100 in savings.

[cakeorwine]

And of those, 1 in 6 have no savings

moneyandpensionsservice.org.uk/2022/11/07/one-in-six-uk-adults-have-no-savings/

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63517823

And it's only going to get worse with fuel bills and inflation.

It must be such a worry. And I bet that within that data, there is going to be wider variation (in general) with age, location and income (obviously)

It doesn't surprise me. Years ago husband and I didn't have any savings at all. We did have overdrafts! We lived from pay day to pay day. I don't see anything unusual in that, many were and are in the same boat. People with mortgages and young children often struggle financially, that's life.

It gets better with time. Now I am retired I am 'comfortable' and was for a good many years before retirement. I suppose everything comes too late in some respects but I have no complaints.

Some people would never have savings regardless, they spend every penny they earn, and go into debt spending money they don't earn.

That doesn't tally with some numbers I remember from elsewhere.
Iirc it was 10% having no savings.

Is this like the survey from Lloyds when headlines proclaimed only x percent has more than £900 saved and then it turned up it's only x percent of Lloyds customers saving with Lloyds because Lloyds has embarrassing interest?

My DH spends his wages, then gets the credit card out, and pays it off with our savings. He is the type of person who would have none if it wasn’t for me.

No savings here, just debt.

Although an alarming figure it’s not representative

the money advice service surveyed the people who use their services. So will already be less likely to be financially secure than average.

It’s also a small sample size

What's the AIBU here?
People see things from their point of view, so if you have savings then possibly YANBU to be surprised that so few of the rest of the population does, and vice versa.
We don't have savings, so it's really not a surprise to me.

I definitely lived like that in my 20s/30s - had so much coming in and it went out at an alarming rate.

I eventually sorted my shit out when I became a single mum. Maybe this can help someone else - I started by just putting £10/month into an ISA (via quidco so I got £50 cash back). I ignored it and it grew and grew and I now put a lot more in.

I recently became very I’ll and had to take 2 months off work and was on SSP - 15 years ago I’d have been fucked.

so if anyone is struggling, try that £10/month - better still, if you’re claiming benefits do the DWP one where they match a percentage.

Its difficult, I used to live paycheck to paycheck because there wasn't much left over after bills came out. Redunancy really kicked me up the butt though because the fear I felt about losing my house and the desperation to find a job (I only have 2 months of money) meaning I look a paycut just to get a job. I never wanted to go through it again - you'd think I learned a lesson but as years went by I got complacent again and then covid hit and job was at risk. It reminded me I never want to feel like that again so I used covid to build up 6 months of savings. Luckily my job survived but now with these savings I never have to fear losing my job either or feel pressured to just get a job and taking paycuts.

Where people can they should save some money because the immense pressure you feel is not great

😳

Yes I can believe. I'm a single parent and had zero savings until I went to uni and managed to save some of my student loan. Was living week to week. If there was an emergency I'd rely on my credit card or finance. Very stressful way to live

If you're in debt the best way to kmprove your situation is to pay off the debt, as soon as possible. A 35% APR is crippling a doesn't come close to the money earned from savings accounts. Getting out of debt will give you an instant payrise, then you can look to save.

It is obvious some people are just too hard up to have savings. But it’s hardly a shock that a family with six children is going to be hard up is it.

Ah I wondered if that was that

My husband is military. Rubbing two homes plus travel it's horrendous. We can't pay all our bills. I can believe this is true.

Running*

What’s the DWP savings thing @Hooverphobe ?
Full time carer here for sen child and I’m dependent on benefits, it worries me a lot I have zero savings

It's called Help To Save and has a 50% interest rate I believe.

I've always been a saver and have invested in our most recent house purchase. An upcoming divorce will mean that anything I'd contributed to this house will be split 50/50. That's just how it is. I earn a decent wage but 90% of that goes on nursery fees. I live on my overdraft currently but remain hopeful that I'll manage. Some people get lemons thrown their way, other people like me have got used to getting the rancid ones. Again, hoping things get better.

My mum was widowed at 32 so money was tight, she was working 3 jobs at one point relying on family to babysit a 4 and 9 yr old,

she learned to budget well and save and gave dh and i the advice that we should always have 6 months of savings to cover all bills and outgoings to cover all eventualities….. just in case,.

wise words which dh and I have always remembered .

I know times are hard but at first when we started Saving it was loose change or the odd fiver each week until we felt we could save some more. We all need an emergency pot .

I think that's it's also easy to think that it's only low income families that have no saving.

I deal with plenty of people who have good incomes and live beyond their means and have zero safety net if things go wrong.

@CryingInTents here www.gov.uk/get-help-savings-low-income - good luck!

Low income and no savings here.

no extravagances - last holiday was 2 nights in Dublin in 2018.

that’s how it is. Been like this for a while.

Zero savings and no safety net are shocking indictment of our government. Given they are bringing Osborne back as an advisor and are looking at 5.5 billion savings from public sector, it is sady going to get harder for the most financially challenged. Benefits dalloway for saving and if they attack UC, they aren't going to cover basics. I expect Braverman and the Daily Fail to start mentioning vouchers instead of money and workhouses by another name soon.

Just shocking lack of compassion and no understanding that this impacts on everyone- not just the poorest. I benefit financially from Tory government but sure as easy are eggs, I don't benefit overall. I want lower crime rates not higher. I want high standard healthcare and education for all because it benefits me. I want streets free from homeless rough sleepers. I want families to flourish not to be destroy and ripped apart by stress and poverty. Compassion in society isn't all about giving!

Some posted something here a few weeks ago about how many people had savings & there were significant levels.