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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think most people don't have savings?

366 replies

horseyhorsey17 · 05/09/2023 14:03

I realise this is going to get a whole range of different views and experiences and I am interested to hear them all, but I recently read some research saying that most families in the UK have less than £600 in savings. This got me wondering - I am a single mum with two teens and a mortgage, and I don't have savings as such but I do have a private pension (had it for nearly 20 years now) that I pay roughly 5% of my salary into (as well as a work pension) and I overpay on my mortgage. I consider this a more effective use of my money than saving, which I can't afford to do as well. Do most people have pensions AND savings? Or neither?

Just really curious as I spend my salary every single month and all my friends do the same. That might be just my peer group! I suppose I could save if we never went on holiday - but I'd rather have the holidays tbh. You only live once and you can't take it with you, etc etc.

OP posts:

Dramatic · 08/09/2023 13:05

Cluelessat33 · 07/09/2023 21:39

I'm a single Mum. I save probably obsessively. I have a low income, but have set up several savings accounts for different things; 'oh shit', holidays, Christmas and birthdays, school stuff for my daughter, home stuff, daughters isa. I put £5-10 each in these per week, and have done for years. I also have 6k which came from the sale of my marital home when we separated. It was money I didn't realise I would get above what I'd accounted for, for the deposit on my home. It's in the 'absolutely never touch' pile, until my mortgage comes up for renewal, and I will add it to my deposit. In the meantime it sits in a savings account.

Since day one on my own, saving was a must and I cut all other spending to the absolute minimum. I have nobody else to ask for financial help I'd never countenance asking my parents for help if I needed to pay for repairs in my car.... so I've saved like a daemon. I've also skimmed off of my current account at the end of the month, if I've had anything left, have been paid a bonus, or overtime etc, and that has always gone straight into savings. I'm getting a pay rise this month and have set up a direct debit to take that amount straight into savings. I can't miss it if I didn't have it.

This is what I did as a single parent, I saved as much as I possibly could for things like Christmas, birthdays, emergencies etc and it was a life saver for me.

Notagains · 08/09/2023 13:06

When our children were young and we had a mortgage to pay we lived from month to month, we certainly didn't have any savings we were lucky to get to the end of the month in credit !
Now we do have savings but I'd say it's not unusual to have have no savings during that phase of life

TeamGeriatric · 08/09/2023 13:30

@ginandtonicwithlimes Ouch! Seems a bit harsh. The house was our home, we lived in it for 6 years, it's the house we took our kids home to when they were born. It holds lots of memories and it's in the city where my husband's family live. When my Mum was widowed, I couldn't cope being on the other side of the world, we moved to the UK and we rent a house here. We may go back to live in it at some stage. My husband will not budge on parting with it, so it's rented out and the rent is slowly paying off the mortgage. I don't see why that means I have no morals.

Insomniac33 · 08/09/2023 13:51

We have savings and pensions, but it's a sad truth that so many people are living month to month and can't afford savings. I grew up in a poor family with no savings and that was the norm for people in our peer group.
Our savings aren't huge, enough to cover 6 months of us both losing our jobs /12 months of one of us losing our jobs, but the security of it is nice - I know if anything goes wrong at home, I can afford to get it fixed.

Samlewis96 · 08/09/2023 15:52

BoredZelda · 07/09/2023 10:37

I suppose I could save if we never went on holiday - but I'd rather have the holidays tbh. You only live once and you can't take it with you, etc etc.

I have an elderly relative who lived like this with her husband. She is now widowed, living on a basic state pension in sheltered housing paid for by her children (who, as a result, can't save for their futures) She has said with hindsight she wishes she had foregone some of the spending and planned better for the future.

Why are the kids paying for your friends sheltered housing? If they are on a basic state pension they should get housing benefit

BoredZelda · 09/09/2023 08:46

Why are the kids paying for your friends sheltered housing? If they are on a basic state pension they should get housing benefit

The benefits they get don't cover the costs of the accommodation.

Letitgonowgr · 13/10/2023 16:47

We started saving and had like £500 and then the car needed MOT, service and tax. So back to square one! Everything is so expensive now so we have no easy way to save!!

Annoyingfly · 13/10/2023 16:49

CatsOnTheChair · 05/09/2023 14:09

I'd say you are saving. Just not into an instant access savings account. You are saving into a pension, and into the house. If you had to cut back spending there are 2 really easy cuts that you can make without impacting your (current) ability to spend day to day.

This, OP. You are saving, in a tax efficient way.

coxesorangepippin · 13/10/2023 16:53

I've always wondered how people retire early

Why is this such a puzzle???

They don't have a brand new car on lease every five years, don't have massive holidays and have a house they don't need.

They cut their cloth accordingly: which means they have enough to retire early.

It's not sorcery

whatkatydid2013 · 13/10/2023 18:41

coxesorangepippin · 13/10/2023 16:53

I've always wondered how people retire early

Why is this such a puzzle???

They don't have a brand new car on lease every five years, don't have massive holidays and have a house they don't need.

They cut their cloth accordingly: which means they have enough to retire early.

It's not sorcery

They have to earn quite a lot too to be fair. Below a certain level no amount of cutting your cloth lets you put away enough to fund retiring early.

The people I know who’ve done this kept expenses at a £30-40k salary while earning a £60k+ one

Applesaarenttheonlyfruit · 14/10/2023 15:05

coxesorangepippin · 13/10/2023 16:53

I've always wondered how people retire early

Why is this such a puzzle???

They don't have a brand new car on lease every five years, don't have massive holidays and have a house they don't need.

They cut their cloth accordingly: which means they have enough to retire early.

It's not sorcery

I think you’re missing the big one actually, they are a LOT.

thecatsthecats · 15/10/2023 11:17

The people I know who’ve done this kept expenses at a £30-40k salary while earning a £60k+ one.

This is the basics of it for us.

Our one luxury is travel, but by estimate, we spend the same amount some do on one holiday on several through the year, with bargain options.

Whenever I get a payrise, I spend the extra for a month or two, then whack the extra to savings. We've both been doing this since roughly 35k salaries.

KittenCatt · 22/11/2023 01:11

I’m 27 and used to be an excellent saver, but when my partner and I bought our first house 5 months ago, all of our income after mortgage payments, bills etc. gets spent on furniture and home improvements. My £3k emergency fund has been wiped out by moving costs and legal fees.

I have just started to save £100 a month to build up my emergency fund again. Wish I could save more each month, but I’m glad to be able to save at all.

irregularegular · 10/12/2023 20:03

We've always had quite a lot of savings, at least since I've been with my DH (I was a graduate student at the time, so didn't have savings then, these days I earn at least as much as him). We've always had a sufficient buffer that if there are unexpectedly high outgoings one month, it wouldn't be an issue. They tend to build up for a while, then we have either used them for something like buying a car, doing work on the house like a kitchen or extension, even moving house, but we never take them right now. We've never borrowed other than the mortgage to buy the house. To be honest, it has been fairly accidental rather than carefully planned. We earn very well, but naturally spend a bit more modestly on most things. One big thing is that we don't pay for private school, whereas some people on our incomes do. I think it's partly because my husband's income comes largely from self-employment and is quite variable and lumpy. So we tend to live pretty much as if we only have our salaries, while his self-employment income builds up. We are very lucky to be able to do that.

laclochette · 10/12/2023 21:35

I think you're doing pretty well/sensibly. But I'd change a few things.

First of all, stop benchmarking yourself against others or letting their example lead you.

Secondly, I'd stop overpaying the mortgage until I had at least 3 and ideally 6 months' of living costs in an emergency fund. That's in case you get made redundant. You can't pay your mortgage or bills with a credit card. There are lots of easy access high interest accounts out there at the moment, which makes it all the more rewarding.

ArsenicInTheAppleTart · 10/12/2023 22:04

Instead of a Netflix account, play charades

lol

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