to think living comfortably means you're saving at least 20% of your salary?

[rosiesfarm]

Wasn't sure how to title this but don't want to write the whole backstory as I worry it will be identifying but AIBU to think if someone claims to be "living comfortably" it's not having nothing of your salary left at the end of the month, even if you didn't have to think about your spending?

I'd say if you were saving 20% and then it was that way on top, that's living comfortably, but just affording your current lifestyle, but without saving doesn't mean living comfortably to me? Just curious if most people feel this way

The point is if you thought about your spending you would be able to save. Saying you can’t afford to save 20% (or anything) but also saying you don’t think about your spending is just stupid.

I save over 20% (excluding pension) I don't consider myself comfortable as we don't own our own property.

I think comfortable is too subjective a term.

I'm a single parent, disabled child means I can't work. I bought my house before I had kids was renting it out but had to move back in when I had to give up work and the 'lifestyle' stuff to care for my child. not entitled to housing association because I own. So I have a small mortgage compared to how many in the family but I sleep in the living room with youngest as we don't have enough bedrooms. Much cheaper in bills to on a small house.

I think people are entitled to quality of life definitely. But you can save even on benefits if you live somewhere small enough and watch your spending. I think if I could just have the break of working or my child in respite I'd happily stay home napping and watching Netflix in a tiny house saving my money and think my life is great

We save around 20% excluding pensions, and live comfortably. But if I didn't save 20% I'd literally be living no different. It would be my savings taking the hit, not the way I live.

However, I dont think it's sensible to live comfortably whilst not saving. Savings wherever possible should be factored in. Obviously this is not going to be the case for everyone, I've also been there when I couldn't put a meal on the table never mind save.

To me it means, having no debt, money in the bank and not really looking or caring about what things cost eg buying whatever you want within reason 'because you can'

It's pointless saving whilst you have a large mortgage you are paying interest on.

What total cobblers. The whole point of a mortgage is that it's long term debt hedging against inflation. If you can make a higher percentage investing than the interest rate on your mortgage, investing is clearly better. Whether to pay down your mortgage or not is a balancing act.

Isn’t the aim to have 6 months take home in savings and then be sensible with the rest?

Six months emergency fund in savings and then invest the rest is what I stick to.

For me it's got nothing to do with savings and is more about being able to live without too much day to day financial stress. So it's subjective but means you can do the weekly shop without calculating the price as you know you have enough to pay at the tills, you can buy a spontaneous meal out or new clothes without budgeting, that kind of thing.

I was on a low wage and topped up by UC for years. Every month we were trying desperately hard to manage our money but there wasn't enough coming in to cover everything and we were constantly taking money out of other pots to pay for something else, like whack a mole.
Now I earn more, don't claim UC, have enough to pay for everything by don't have enough to save 20% although I do save.
I feel very comfortable where I am now compared to where I've been in the past.

3k a month is our household income... It's another world on here.

Yep. I know few people in real life who are likely to have that much income after expenses.

childcare means no WAY can we save 20% a month

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz - that’s an interesting way to do things. We do the opposite - have pots for holidays, mortgage overpayment, Xmas and gifts etc and then save so much each month towards annual bills for the coming year. The rest is regular monthly bills and then food etc.

3k a month is huge..I take home (fulltime work) just under 2k. I'm a SP so no other income other than CB and CMS which doesn't touch the sides. I don't get any tax credits or UC. I have just recently started to put £50 a month into saving so when it's Xmas or whatever I have extra rather than just juggling 0% credit cards. I have a mortgage and do use that to keep afloat.. couple of extensions at remortgaging points have paid for capital projects. I play the (very) long game. In about a decade when my kids are adults I'll have more opportunities to save, can have more flexibility to move or downsize and in the end, by retirement age (Im a teacher so good pension since 22) I'll be fine. I simply cannot save 20% at the moment. Prev CoLC I maybe could have but I also think life is for living and you're a long time dead.

I'd say I'm comfortable. We could get by on one wage and any kind of job if it came to it. Have reasonable savings but I'm no longer adding to them much as trying to pay off mortgage.

But I have a small house and extremely low outgoings. Plenty of cheap UK holidays (camping etc) but not been abroad in decades. So I suspect my lifestyle and income wouldn't be classed as comfortable. But I've been very careful over the years

I suspect others with our same income would really be struggling... and so would we if we'd spent 5k on holidays each year rather than putting it in the bank. Some people would rather have the memories and worry about it later. But I grew up knowing the mental toll of that and a week in the sun just isn't worth it for me over having peace of mind. It's all relative.

We are probably a family who you would think this about but we save, overpay mortgage, pay large percentage into pensions and have holidays because we live well within our means. Each time a cost has dropped (childcare being the main one) or salary went up we overpaid the mortgage or saved the extra rather than just spending it in normal day to day spending. We live more frugally day to day than some friends but We've always had a plan to be mortgage free early whereas they have borrowed more to build an extension for example,have car loans whereas we save and buy outright. They never go abroad but would spend £1,000 on a week uk holiday whereas well save and go on big abroad holidays
different priorities I guess.

Well I save less than 20% of my salary and I think I'm living comfortably. I could save more if I wanted to, by forgoing luxuries rather than essentials. That's a pretty comfortable position to be in.

If you can afford to save, you're living comfortably compared to someone who needs every penny to pay bills.

Yeah I wouldn’t feel comfortable without a lump sum buffer and savings every month. Means you have the flexibility to absorb any unexpected bills. If everything that was coming in was going out I wouldn’t feel I was living comfortably. I grew up with debt juggling parents so it takes a bit for me to feel relaxed about my financial security.

Living 'comfortably' is so subjective though isn't it? Basic bills presumably include housing, heating and food ... but within those there are so many choices and what one person sees as 'essential' another sees as a luxury . And do you 'choose' to live in a cheap area or not? Many people wouldn't consider moving to a different area for cheaper housing, even taking out the actual costs of moving, because they won't live away from family and friends for example.
Personally I've always prioritised saving over unnecessary spending and live a frugal life ... now mortgage paid off early etc .. my sibling has a much more exciting lifestyle - many long haul holidays, new furniture, designer clothes , new car every couple of years etc etc ... occasionally 'accuses' me of being 'lucky' and very well off .... but I absolutely know our household income is less than theirs but we make different choices.

Comfortable is definitely subjective. We don't have a 6 month buffer, but we have very secure jobs, insurances, access to credit and parents that would help us out so I still feel comfortable without a large buffer 🤷‍♀️

'Annual income 20 pounds, annual expenditure 19 [pounds] 19 [shillings] and six [pence], result happiness. Annual income 20 pounds, annual expenditure 20 pounds ought and six, result misery.'

We have a high income and do save more than 20% including pensions, although some of that is short term savings for e.g. holidays and house stuff. I think saving is partly habit and partly opportunity. Some people will save small amounts even on a relatively low income, some will only save on a very high income. DH seems to worry about money more than I do, even though I'm the one that has driven us saving as much as we do. I think for him it feels like a chore and something to stress about whereas for me it feels like an opportunity, I like to plan how I'm going to spend money and discuss possible alternatives but he gets no pleasure from that.

I think you should worry about your own finances OP and not concern yourself with how others are doing.

I don't agree that it's about making active savings. I think living comfortably is about having decent options if things go wrong.

We don't save anything at the moment because I'm a SAHM and DS goes to nursery two days a week. But we can afford the lifestyle we live, already have significant savings in the bank and could "downsize" our life a lot if necessary and still live happily. To me, that makes us comfortable.

As others have said, comfortable is very subjective.
For me comfortable living means I feel comfortable in my home and can afford to keep it that way, not have to plan for what I need that month and not fussed about how much going out with friends is going to cost a few times a month.
I still need to plan/save/use saving for big purchases/repairs/whatever.
I will say, one thing that helpd me massivesly was totaling up all my annual charges (car tax, animal vaccines, insurance etc) then divide the total my 12 and make sure I put number plus at least little extra in savings every month. It's makes yearly payments much easy to handle, budget wise.

If I could afford everything I needed along side even some of my wants every month without a thought about affordability I'd say I was living a cushy life.

We live pretty comfortably in that we can afford food, bills and don't have to think too much about low level spending. We can afford to save 10% a month but absolutely not 20% unless we cut every single non essential thing so hair, gym, pets, spotify etc but that is a very miserable way of living.

I don't worry too much about our savings, we add to them and take them out for things like holidays, home repairs. If anything major happened we have insurance to cover us.

Life is for living, not counting every penny for a rainy day that may never come. Be sensible but not a misery.

I always think comfortable is such a funny phrase as people seem to start throwing in a lot of luxuries to feel comfortable. . Not having water, heat, food, a bed, clothes all sounds very uncomfortable so to me if you arent uncomfortable, you are comfortable
For me feeling insecure is a very uncomfortable feeling though, so I do tend to not stretch the mortgage as much as others do and I do like to have a buffer. So a 'if the boiler broke'plan and a 'we both lost our jobs overnight' plan.