To think that saving £600 a month on a £3,000 salary isn't bad

[rephles]

Take home is £3k after 13% pension contributions. Had a conversation with colleagues who all earn the same as me and they said it's stupid I can't save more than £1,000 a month.

I thought saving £600 was decent. I still get to have a good quality of life, eat out, go to the theatre, go on holidays, etc.

If you are saving anything at all, you are ahead of the game. More people than not in the UK have no savings at all.

Comparisons like this are pointless as it depends entirely on your circumstances.

At 21 I could have easily saved 1k a month out of 3k. Now with kids/a mortgage etc that doesn't cover my outgoings.

How much have you saved so far?

Sounds mega bucks to me. I struggle to save £250 a month.

Yes to be honest these conversations (two threads about this at the moment) are weird, when the uk is going to pot and mist people aren't coping. Maybe ordinary people have become financially anxious.

Your saving habits are fine, but your colleagues sound like twats. Did they really come out and say you were stupid?

We save about 20% of our take home most months, which will go up in 18 months when nursery childcare is a thing of the past.
Your colleagues opinion isn't important, there is more than one way to live!

You are doing fine. Any saving is good and as others have said it's totally dependant on other factors!

I take home slightly more and I aim for £500 but more often it's £0.

If the conversation was in the context of comparing notes on saving up for a flat deposit, the colleagues were absolutely right. If they were badgering the OP for financial details and then judging her, they were obviously being unreasonable. I think the first scenario is more likely, as their savings rate sounds unusually (though not unreasonably) high otherwise. OP, you should save now and party later because you don't know when you'll suddenly get a rent hike or an eviction letter.

I wouldn't take on your colleagues' comments as ironically they cannot even use the word stupid correctly.

In what world do you have these conversations with colleagues?

It's quite common tbh. My colleagues and I discuss finances a lot - often they ask me advice as I'm under 30, have my own home and had no financial support to do so. I'm more than happy to talk to them about how I managed it

On the months I bring home £3K a month, OP, I save about £1-£1.4K of that. But I don't have meals out, or takeaways as I have always been frugal and prefer a safety net over a few Maccy Ds.

It's all relative.

Sounds like very good savings to me. I didn't even know that 20% was recommended.

You may have different definitions of saving.

Some people in this thread class saving for a holiday as saving, whereas I don't class that as saving as we spend it every year.

Eg we save £1,200 each month for holidays, kids activities and annual bills on car etc (we have 4 kids).

We also save around £400 into our rainy day fund and only this is really saving imo.

Why did they say it was ‘stupid’? Do they all have exactly the same essential outgoings as you, as well as the same wage? Do they all have the same goals? That would be … unusual.

You know what they say about free advice? It’s worth exactly what you paid for it.

We need context of conversation really.

If the conversation went
"although I take home £3000 a month I find it really hard to save more than £600"
and the response was "that's stupid" - it might well be a comment on the cost of living being so high rather than the OP's saving habits being below par.

I think you're doing great! I mean that also makes me feel better to say, because I take home about £5300 a month and save £1000 (but I do own/run a home on my own, which is more expensive). Everyone's circumstances are very different - especially living costs. Some people may share a rental room with a partner or have bought a place together, and mortgage costs if they secured a fix before last year will almost certainly be lower than rents. Also, are your pension contributions elective? I choose to pay a lot more into my pension than some colleagues, I know, so will have less take-home.

£2400 a month, with £1000 rent, plus all your bills and travel, isn't exactly masses to live on. I think you should be proud of yourself.

I take home 4400 after pension and I save about 500. I think you are doing really well

I think that is a fair amount

For people saving 1k out of 3k, who on earth is able to save a third of their income every month??

How longs a piece of string?

A save £750 on £2050 take home.

It’s impossible to determine as income is only one side of the equation.

They might live with a partner and their rent/mortgage is £500 compared to your £1000. Big difference right away.

I think you are doing really well. I only save £400 on that income. My mortgage is similar to your rent, but I also have to top up adult DC income otherwise they would starve/default on their rent due to the low pay crisis.

Yes it’s very much how long is a piece of string.

You might have a single person on the same salary living in a cheap-ish flat share with 4 flatmates. You might have someone on that salary who bought a house years ago and has a cheap mortgage. You might have someone on that salary who is the sole or main earner for the family and is supporting a number of children on that…

It’s all relative but MN sometimes feels like that’s not taken into consideration at all.

I literally cannot reconcile the amounts people say they save with other threads eg amount spent on holidays, cars, clothes etc. Unless that’s what these savings are being spent on? In which case I don’t count them as savings at all, just money put aside until later.

I suppose saving a third or more seems very likely if you are say, in a couple with no children and both adults earning. I mean it’s all context isn’t it? Pointless to compare really.

I take home around £1400 a month and I’m miffed if I don’t have £700 at the next payday that I can transfer over to my savings account

i take home £3,500 and save £200 a month at most 😂