Should I be worried about my savings?

[Sosomuchpain]

or lack thereof

We’ve got 20k between us. I don’t know, it hit me today that some people might consider that incredibly low. Is it? Should I be putting my sole focus into building back up my savings.

2 adults 2 children (one nursery- 15 hrs)

atm it’s a moderate focus. Spare cash goes towards travel and savings

from my old financial advise days it was around 6 months living expenses in savings which I think that is. Am I flapping over nothing?

(we just shelled out 40k for our htb and 20k for a new car)

Yes my pension was like that, I put in 5% and company put in 10% but if you put in any more the company max was still 10% so I stuck with 5%

You do realise that millions of people have literally so much money they don't know what to do with it 🤷‍♀️

I have £30 in my savings. You’ll be ok

It’s fine, just try and rebuild it.

We only have a couple of grand saved after buying a house (heavily mortgaged) and treating ourselves to a couple of nice but modest holidays as DS didn’t go on one until he was 4 because we were broke.

I’m concentrating on building savings back up after the summer, with a view to overpaying the mortgage, but you’re better off than most OP, so I wouldn’t worry too much.

Why is it a baity post? People are allowed to discuss money. Questions are not limited to those who don’t have any savings.

Mumnsnet is obsessed with saving. It’s like the land of the lower middle class.
20k sounds fine to me but then I have always flown by the seat of my pants and have never really saved in a long term sense. You are young. Live your life and stop worrying about boring things.

@Overthebow coming on here and asking "is 20k not a lot" is absolutely baity because everyone knows that in this day and age (actually I'd argue any day and age but especially during a cost of living crisis) that any savings are a luxury and 20k is definitely not a "small amount". As I said previously it's either baity or completely oblivious to the struggles people are currently going through.

Discussing money is not the issue but there are more sensitive ways of doing it.

No, savings are a luxury for some people, and for some it’s easily manageable, but that doesn’t mean those people are immune to feeling insecure.

Same ! Not sure how old you are OP but most people do not have an extra penny to save. We now have extra money but that is from inheritance . We were earning quite well 20 years ago but never had any money for savings.
My children all have professional jobs but are absolutely skint at the end of the month.Absolutely no chance of saving,live frugally and are all renting.
That is the reality for most!

Oh jackanory! It started off with my goady alert just going off intermittently. And then when I read the "by the way we've just spent £40k and another £20k" bit it started going off continuously and now we're having to evacuate the building.

@Sosomuchpain of course you can ask for advice but you should also be aware of how privileged you are to have 20k in savings. You also should try to understand the frustration from people who have absolutely nothing and no chance to save through no fault of their own when you say you think that it's not a large amount.

Take a read of the no child benefit payment thread.

You are more than alright

OP should have maybe posted in 'money matters' section rather than Aibu

I have zero in my savings as constantly battling paying off debt. You’re good.

I didn’t say though that I don’t think £20k is a large amount, of course it is, I’d cry if I won it and I’d cry if I lost it.

rather is it enough. Is it a pressing need to cut back to build back up the savings or can I chill out. I get quite anxious with money, especially now as my disposable income has got less and less. And when you’re anxious it’s hard to see what’s real and what’s anxiety. I also think my mortgage is expensive and we have high outgoings

yes, aka I just pillaged my savings that took me best part of a decade to build and then rebuild after initial house purchase

@westisbest1982 did I say these people shouldn't want to feel secure?? Every single person in the world would like to be financially secure! It is not OPs desire to want a buffer that is an issue but the insensitivity of the "20k is not a lot for savings" comment.

So you had EIGHTY THOUSAND POUNDS just sitting in savings... But you bought a fucking house and a car, so now you're only sitting on TWENTY?! An absolute privilege OP and I absolutely cannot see how you could worry about it.

We live in a low cost area, and earn £60k between us, we have plenty money month on month. But we only have £1000 in savings. Wouldn't even consider worrying!! You're living in cuckoo land

But her “20k savings isn’t a lot” comment matters to HER so there’s nothing insensitive about her post.

I wouldn't feel comfortable having that as a buffet.

Since OP and her DH earn £110k plus bonuses between them it would be more concerning if they hadn't bought a house, car and had that amount of savings

But I never said it’s not a lot for savings, what I said is ‘some may consider it incredibly low’

some not me.

and there’s been people on the thread who’ve said, kindly, that they wouldn’t feel comfortable with ‘only’ 20k

@Sosomuchpain I get the anxiety and I'm not trying to be a b*tch to you. But you ARE in a very privileged position to have that amount in savings. Are you in a position to rebuild it?

If it makes you feel any better, we are just to plough the majority of our savings into our new property purchase and will probably only have 10k in savings left. I do understand the anxiety when you have had a large amount in savings and then you suddenly spend a lot of it - even when it's on something essential. But you will be able to rebuild, maybe not to the level you were before but you will be fine. And even if you were to lose your job, it's highly unlikely both of you would be out of work at the same time and that it would take you 6 months to find something else. And even if that did happen, you would find a way to deal with it.

Well technically I bought my house 5.5 years ago, I just paid off part of the equity loan and needed to buy a new car (aging parents)

I’m not fussed if you’re trying to be unkind or not, rather that what I’ve said not be misrepresented. We’re in a position to rebuild yes, but it’s a question of what urgency.

we (Mainly me) like to take a lot of breaks and hols, so actually if that’s just stupid for me right now given I’ve drained my savings.

yes we’re privileged as in the real world we have ‘good jobs’ (jury’s out on MN standards) and a lot of benefits through our employers that save in outgoings (health, dental, protection, HI etc)