To think you should save money as soon as you get paid rather than saving the leftover?

[ZanyWriter]

I’m trying to get my finances in order and have been debating whether it’s better to set aside a portion of your pay immediately - treating it like a non-negotiable expense - or to wait until you’ve covered your monthly spending and then save whatever is left over. I’ve noticed that people who pay themselves first often seem to have better control over their money, but I wonder if this approach works for everyone.

AIBU to think that automating savings is the smarter strategy or does waiting until the end of the month have its merits? What do you do?

You should do whatever works for you. I've been known to try to save money after I got paid but realise I need it for something at the end of the month and transfer it back again.

I do this. I have separate pots of money for separate things. When my money comes in I make a budget for essentials for the month and set a limit for what I can spend on groceries. That's all I keep in my main account. Then I put some into a long term savings pot, slightly less into a short term emergency fund pot, and whatever else goes into a fun fund and use that for days out etc. I also pay a small amount into ds account each month. If I left it until the end of the month to pay in I would have had a great month and no savings. If there's ever any money left over at the end of the month I move it into my long term savings and start the next month from scratch again.

I always put money in savings first. I have a few "pots" via my bank account so it's divided into savings I don't touch, larger expenses I'm saving for, then a small pot that I can dip into if necessary. It's the first thing I do when I get paid.

It works for me personally. I'm not the worlds best at budgeting but I do save more via this method.

Also if I left myself tight at the end of the month I'll use the emergency fund to only pay the minimum of what I need to get through to payday.

Yep this is what I do. A certain number leaves my account on payday automatically and then I only have to spend what's left.

I work out my expenses for the month and then give myself and allowance each week and then put the rest into savings at the start of the month. Each week if I spend less than my allowance I put the remainder into savings too.

I have a regular saver with a good rate but limited monthly deposit so I have an automatic payment going to this just after I get paid. Then, if I need more I take it out of a different savings account. I try not to take more out than I put in, unless I needed to pay for something big that month. Sometimes I top up my savings at the end of the month, but mostly leave it in my current account if I have extra.

I do both.
Regular Savings accounts funded at beginning of pay month along with all other bills by way of Direct Debit / Standing Orders. Remaining balance is spendable as necessary.

On the receipt of next pay, leftover balance transferred to Savings.

I have several standing orders set up to go as soon as I am paid to cover household bills, food, joint savings and my individual savings. It works well for me as I don’t have to think about it.

Mine isn’t automated, but I always transfer money to savings on pay day.

Save first, spend what's left. You'll save more than if you spend first, save what's left.

I have three savings accounts, for long-term, mid-term and short-term purposes. I'll dip into the short-term one if I run low towards the end of the month, but I usually manage to keep within budget.

Another one who does both. I have an allocated amount each month that goes into my savings which I do quite soon after pay day so its gone and I don't touch it! Then I log all expenditure throughout the month and if I have a little left over which sometimes I do, that goes into savings too or I put it towards something I'm saving for so it will get spent at some point. I'm in a position where its all about FIRE so I'm quite focused on increasing my savings.

Whatever works.

We've saved from pay over the years on our employers share schemes. So that money we never saw as it came out of our paypacket.

Then we saved what was left at the end of the month which varies widely as we pay insurances etc annually so some months its quite an expensive month so can't save.

This is how I saved

Paid into work pension, since early 90s

Paid into work share save
Or
Paid into a regular saver outside work

Paid into a tax free ISA

Paid all bills

Paid off credit card each month

Swapped bank accounts for the highest savings rates

It worked for me !

Pay yourself first ! And then if anything left at the end of the month from your disposable funds pay yourself again

You need a budget. So you know how much is going to be left over. Use something like Toshl and put in your spending over the past 12 months, so everything is covered - birthdays, car service, insurance, Christmas, holidays. And then you'll know that you have to have 50 per month away to go in the car service fund for the year, 20 per month for birthdays etc.
Then you'll know whether you can put £200 a way for savings.

It's motivating to see it add up - and when you realise that you could spend £100 on takeaways in a month - or buy a pizza from the coop instead - it makes you value your treats.

I do both, savings go out at the beginning of the month to various savings pots and ISA, the at the end of the month any of my spending money that is left over goes into savings too.

I was taught to do this as soon as I got my first job!

Always pay yourself first!

I do both too. £250 a month straight into savings. Then the day before pay day whatever is left in my current account goes into my savings.

I do a bit of both. Save some at the start of the month for specific pots and whatever is leftover at the end also save that.

Always save first or you just won't do it.

I do both. I save some money straight away into an account I can only access three times ina year so I don’t spend it and forget about it. Then day before next payday I switch any remaining funds into a savings account and start again at nil in my bank account

It depends how much money you have to start with really. If all of it is spoken for it’s a bit difficult.

I've always paid myself first (saved).

I then have an allocated amount for discretionary spending throughout the month.

I used to have a certain figure in mind that I needed to have each month in my current account to cover the essentials plus a bit extra (say £1500) and anything over £1500 in the account I would skim off and put in a different pot.

It really helped me save well. Once you have saved a decent cushion, then you could consider setting up a standing order from your savings to your current account of just a little extra mid-month to tide you over, like an extra "pay day" mid month to reward yourself for doing well with your savings. Obviously don't be draining your savings again by doing this, but pay yourself just a little bit extra each month (say enough to pay for a couple of additional food shops, or a hair cut etc - something that makes your life a bit easier) and it helps you feel rewarded for doing well with the savings and keeps you motivated to keep going. Doing it this way helped me stop just dipping into the savings willy-nilly if I knew that the set amount was coming to me each month. I guess other people will have different ways of doing it but it helped me.