Do lots of people have these sorts of savings? Or am I bloody right?!

[moneuapme]

I feel like utter shit after a meal with friends at the weekend. We all have decent jobs but I am still a long way down the ladder after re training. We don’t usually talk about money but will go to nice places for a dinner etc which I can afford easily too. But it turns out that 4 out of the other five of them are saving between 1k to 1,500 a month and already have over 50k savings?! The other woman there said she has no savings and I just said I had some but not that much. The truth is I have 2k to my name and save around 150 a month usually. I earn 53k. I feel really stressed and worried about the future now as I have nowhere near the security they are talking about. I have tried to keep telling myself this week that that’s surely unusual but is it? Have I just massively fucked up somewhere? Last week I felt really content and lucky and now I just feel like a failure.

how old are they?

but yes…. i save £800 a month and i suspect amongst my friendship group… im one of the lower savers

the devil is in the detail

are you single? children?
are they?
age?

how’s your pension pot?

In the nicest way you need to stop comparing yourself. It doesn’t matter who has kids who doesn’t or what your pension pot is.

We save £1500 a month. We decided not to upsize on house and keep saving instead

It's hard to compare, size of mortgage/house, childcare options (family/paid for), partner's income all have a big impact. It may also be that they are more frugal and spend less than you do?

Do you have a good understanding of where your money goes?

Where are you in life? We are mid forties and are saving about that a month. But we had years of being skint to overpay the mortgage to a now, manageable amount. We also have just finished using childcare so are making a saving there. I've just gone back to work and dh just starting in a higher paid job. Prior to all that we were saving closer to what you are. Being partnered makes a big difference.

Also you will find that you and your friends are well well above average wage so are certainly not representative of the UK population, many of whome have zero savings and are scraping by every month.

There are a lot of factors. When saving to buy our house/ get married (pre-kids) we put away a lot. Now, not really. Childcare, mortgage, cost-of-living etc. we have some buffer, but not 'save £1500 a month'. But that's just the stage of life we are currently in.

We do save for bits and bobs through the year. But then spend it. For example the occasional holiday/ Christmas.

When kids are older, we can put some of the childcare costs saved into savings.

But it is a real privilege to be earning enough to save over £1k a month. Most people's earnings do not allow for that much free cash, whilst also covering the essentials.

But if you believe MN, everyone is on £100k plus a year and also super frugal.

Wow mid 40s and we save 100 a month but it gets spent throughout the year on things like school trips.

OP what did you train as? I'm looking at retraining and am curious.

(and Id love to be in a position to have proper savings)

Well most people have no savings and are earning a lot less than 50k but comparing your finances to others is never going to go well.

So many contributing factors here that you can’t possibly compare.

There are too many variables really to say - as others have said, it depends on age, relationship status, whether you're a homeowner, kids, how much you put in your pension. It's quite difficult to compare like with like.

My friend shares around £1500 a month and the rest of us are a mix of not saving or saving £50 here and there

I don't know people who can save amounts like that each month - most of my friends just manage to get by on their monthly income. I've never been in a position where I was able to save in my adult life, and until I took my lump sum pension payment, I was always in debt to some extent. I think it's only on Mumsnet where people can save more than many people earn in an entire month.

Are they older than you? Family status? What variables are at play?

OP I am a teacher, top of scale still in starter home after 24 years and have hardly any savings- less than 8k.im 54. No.kids.

It varies, I bet if you asked everyone in the country savings pots of £50k and saving that amount a month wouldn't be overly common.

I have friends that are left with pennies in their accounts at the end of the month, and others who are open about being able to save a fair bit; far too many variables to really make much of a conclusion.

A single parent has less potential to save than a couple without children. Don't compare yourself to others, just enjoy your own life and if there are things you want to change make that change for you and no one else.

I'm a relatively good earner, but over half of my take home goes out immediately on bills and mortgage, and that's before groceries, petrol, school dinners, DD's swimming lessons etc). I "save" about £750 a month, but it's for specific things (Christmas, holidays, summer childcare, DIY projects) and most of it gets spent throughout the year. I aim to have a month's salary in emergency savings but the reality is that this also gets used – broken washing machine, wedding gift, new shoes for DD etc.

Honestly I don't know how people build up so much in savings. I never thought I would earn what I do now, but the cost of living has gone up so much that I genuinely have to watch my spending every month.

I have no savings at all. I wish I did. But it isn't possible right now

I don't earn enough to save anywhere near £1,500 per month, I'm on just over £30K. As for £50K in savings, I would feel like I had won the lottery!

I have roughly £10K in savings (for the first time in my life!) but have a couple of holidays coming out of that. No mortgage but tiny house in a cheap part of the country and a small, paid for, car so no PCP or loan payments.

As others have said - without context, there's no way anyone can comment usefully.

If you are single, then that seems very little to be saving off such a big salary.
If you are paying 80% of your income in mortgage or rent, then that is different.
Also, depends what you mean by 'saving' - some people count 'saving' as 'putting money aside so I have money when I need to pay for my holiday / MOT / boiler to be serviced / etc - that you know is allocated. Others mean "spare money at the end of each month, that I didn't need, so will save vaguely for no particular reason". Others mean saving for a specific purchase.

OP I'm sorry if this sounds harsh but if you have only 2k to your name then you really cannot "easily afford" nice meals out. you should aim for at least 6 months living expenses in reserve.

It's incredibly privileged to be able to save that much. You have a good job, are moving up in your career a d are comfortable enough that you are having a good life and able to enjoy it. You have so much to be thankful for. Don't ever compare yourself to anyone else. You have no idea what their lives are really like. If you are happy and content it's worth so much more than having excess savings. Some of the unhappiest people I know are millionaires

It’s not only about your income, it’s about your outgoings

Is there anything in your outgoings that can be reduced if desperate? If not, then it’s irrelevant.

If yes, then consider whether you would prefer to save.