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.

£200 a month is a decent amount to save, RM2013.

We have cover for those sort of situations but who would want to live life worrying that they might get ill or die. It’s pointless. And yes we do have good pensions and both have very well paid jobs as well as a business to fall back on.

People have mentioned covering all bills as a single person. I lived in a succession of three shared houses after I left home until I was 30.

Really the only way to know about op is if she posted her entire budget and people could then truly see where her money is going. There is a rough calculator called where do you fit in on the Institute of Fiscal Studies website. All it asks is income, council tax and dependants.

Well you worry less if you have savings!

My decision to live in shared housing, bills split up to four ways was a huge saving. My friend could never tolerate shared accommodation so she rented alone for 20 years. All your choices voluntary or involuntary will have led to where you are now. What you now need to do is sit down and work out what yirj spending on and see if savings can be made. This doesn’t mean going without it’s just stuff like do you shop around for all your insurances? How do you pay for your goods? Does your credit card give points or cashback, stuff like that. I have paid on a credit card for everything as has DH, we have never paid fees but points accumulated have paid for car hire, hotels, car ferries, Legoland, seal life centre, safari park and many days out.

It was a previous poster who introduced the word "evil" to misrepresent what I was saying. Of course I don't think saving is evil. Saving is fine. Save as much as you like for whatever reason you choose. But that's the point. It's a choice.

What the earlier poster said was the OP "cannot "easily afford" nice meals out" because she has "only 2k to [her] name." That is patronising rubbish. There's no obligation to have a lot of savings. Many, many people have little or no savings. The OP can afford what she can afford and it's not for anyone to tell her what she should do with her money.

Your language is much calmer and more reasonable. It's fine to suggest considering cutting back on discretionary spending in order to save. That's very different from saying someone can't afford something.

I don’t worry at all 😂 money is money who cares could die tomorrow.

I suppose it depends what circle you're in, I live in the NE in a working class town, none of my friends have any savings, they're living month to month and struggling even then. So to me it's absolutely not the norm to have £50k of savings.

We save loads but earn loads and mortgage is very manageable compared to income

We have kids but are past the brutal childcare costs stage

Do you have insurance if either of you loose your job? What happens if the money stops coming in even for a brief amount of time ?

The likelihood is that most people have a period of old age first.
I'm not scrimping on food and heating in my old age.
No thanks
If I die then my DC will be very fortunate financially indeed.
It's a win win

@MasterBeth
No one is under any obligation to save, free choice etc

But Op is on a reasonable salary , no DC
As they say " a fool and his/ her money is soon parted"

It’s not just on money threads though I agree those are the worst, people cannot imagine that anyone has a different life style or views than them. Is it a lack of critical thinking or actually is it wanting people to confirm back to them that their views are right so they don’t feel bad?

Your last sentence has nailed it.
Cognitive dissonance.
No one can possibly have saved without being miserable and a fun sponge
Same on the booze threads.
If you aren't caning it you must be a miserable, unsocial hermit

Saving is a habit
Yes times are rough and there are many people struggling-agreed
However Op is not and that's what pp are replying to.
Society doesn't currently encourage saving it encourages spending
Fine when borrowing money is cheap, those times are gone.
£100 a month is a great start, once you get going and saving is the priority then those expensive meals don't look so appealing.
Most of the stuff people spend daily on are easily subbed so no real loss

Pay yourself first

I work in care and am about to start a course to retrain in a different area so I'm a low earner, my fiancé earns around twice what I do and we have 2 DC each and 1DC together. He still owns a property with his ex wife but she can't afford to buy him out yet. We have £5K saved which was an inheritance and literally nothing else. I have some credit card and loan debts and constantly live in my overdraft. We've just moved in with a family member in order to save for a house deposit so hopefully we'll be a bit better off soon.
I sometimes worry about having no savings but at the end of the day we have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and our kids are well provided for. We are happy, my fiancé and I are happy and our relationship is solid so I try not to compare myself to others. Money is just a means of having what we need to live and we have that so there's no use in worrying!

@ThisNoisyTealLurker
Have you looked on MSE for advice?
Absolutely brilliant.
If you haven't considered it already they have tools as to how you can pay down your debt effectively then save.
Tbf the Op is on 53K ,no DC and that's what I was replying to.
Good luck!

Money is just a means of having what we need to live and we have that so there's no use in worrying!

I posted before I replied to this and tbh it's a worrying take on finances.
As you have 5 DC between you I would consider financial security long term .

To the op.
Open a first direct account regular saver. You can choose when the money leaves your account. Mine goes out on payday. The maximum you can save is £300 and interest rate is 7%. When the year is up transfer the money you’ve saved and the interest you get (gross interest is about £135 ) to an isa. Mine is with Moneybox but there may be better rates around now. Look at MSE!

NatWest regular saver is 6% but the max you can save is £150 a month. Do the same thing with this account. That’s £450 a month which on your wage should be possible. £5500 a year in your isa will give you interest of almost £300 the following year. Compound interest is wonderful. Rinse and repeat.
If you do this consistently you will start to enjoy it and the freedom that having savings brings. I grew up without a lot of money. We had everything we needed and I had a good childhood but there was nothing extra. It’s not a life I wanted for my children. Having a cushion of savings knowing that I can cover living expenses for months if necessary feels better than a weekend away, a lunch or a new car ever could. We still have a good standard of life but we live below our means.

@Sugarcoldturkey
When a certain poster throws the below quote at me (MasterBeth), do you wonder why I think they don't believe in saving. I think I was the one being misrepresented. I 100% stand by my opinion (and that's all it is) that someone with no kids, earning over 50k cannot "easily afford" nice meals out if they only have 2k in savings and IF THEY SO WISH, should look at ways they can increase savings. Many people don't have savings because they have no option, but my take out is that is not the OPs situation. Anyone can spend their money how they like, but at least one poster doesn't think it's worth saving because benefits will pay!

"It doesn't only sound harsh, it sounds completely unreasonable for you to have any kind of say over what anyone else does with their own money. Your prissy "best practice" finance industry nonsense is absolutely fine for you, if that's what you want to do. If the OP feels the joy in a nice meal out while you smugly sit at home with a cold tin of beans on your lap and a lump sum in the bank, it's not your business to tell her otherwise"

You do realise it’s not a choice between a meal out and baked beans!?

We save a lot (me late 40s, him late 50s). We both jumped around a bit and didn't really settle into our careers until about 15 years ago so we had to make up some time! Individually I save $2,500 a months into my retirement fund, and then jointly we put another $2,000 a month into other savings (largely earmarked for college.) We are high earners now but as I said, we didn't start saving until later.

There's a financial advisor who often says, "Pay yourself first" which we've taken to heart. First day of the month - automatic transfers to savings accounts.

I absolutely do. Others don't!

Virgin Money has a 10% one at the moment.

Well said!

I absolutely loathe the type of posters who kick off at sensible advice and just want to drag others down with them.
So selfish

Anyone who is struggling or not please give MoneySaving Expert a go.
It's a fabulous supportive community on there.
No judgement just helpful advice and lots of tips and support.
The forums have debt free wannabe and it's just amazing how many people in serious ( 60K plus)debt have worked their way out of it , turned their lives around and became financially stable.
So much debt is due to emotional spending and more support is needed

Is the 50k Inc pension? I’m on £45k and have about £7k savings. Tempted to stop saving soon and overpay my mortgage instead. Why does anyone need £50k savings? It’s a huge amount!