How much do you have in your emergency pot?

[brownbearbrownbear123]

Modest incomes only please! Kindly, I don’t need to hear that you’ve got £20,000 stashed away for a rainy day. Id love to hear from low/mid range earners please.
how much do you have saved for emergencies?
we bought our home 5 years ago and we seem to be spending any little savings we make on things that need doing to the house, I feel like we’re never going to get anything saved for emergencies and it makes me so so anxious.
im constantly worried that we’re going to be hit with a big repair bill for the house, like new roof, new boiler etc and it fills me with dread that we don’t have the cash in case this happens.
can anyone make me feel a bit better and let me know I’m not alone on this?

10k in premium bonds

Nothing. I'm poor.

3k in savings and 1k in premium bonds.

£200 and a credit card for emergencies, single parent to a disabled DC who I have 50/50 court ordered custody of and I have to share the DLA, Carers allowance and Child Benefit with ExH while having all the expenses for the DCs disablity

£3k, we have no credit cards so that money is basically our savings/emergency fund and fun money. I generally try to avoid letting it go below £2000 in case of suddenly having to move, appliance breakdown or family emergency visits (my family live abroad)

Nothing plus debt. I’m going my best to get out of it and plan to save £100 per month for an emergency stash. There’s always someone better and worse off. No point being anxious just do your best to put as much aside as you can.

Currently about 400 quid. Just spent £2.6k on my car from my savings. Whenever I manage to save something like this always happens. 3 young children. Have no credit cards but good credit so could get one if needed. It's a worry but I try not to get too worried, easy come easy go....

The jargon for this financial position is financially precarious - where one big bill would tip you over. In the county I live in that's over 40% of households, with less than £200 savings, not including those already in priority debt (utilities, council tax etc). In the nearest city it's over 80% - scary stuff.

Pretty much nothing (what there is, is stashed away for income tax bill!). Having to extend mortgage to fix the roof. One income household (which is fecking stupid, I know) DH is a professor...

Does that make you feel any better?

Time and lucky enough to buy my 'up North' house 25 years ago before house prices went crazy. My mortgage was never more than about £350 pm.

I'm probably more frugal than some people, e.g no interest in fashion or driving a posh car etc and tend to replace things when they are past their best instead of keeping up with the Jones'.

I have 750 in personal current account, 6k in personal savings, 7k in joint savings, 1k saved for Christmas and husband has a business account from which he pays his tax so no idea what he's got squirreled away in there. He's cautious so always has more than is needed when he goes to the accountant and they do his yearly tax return. So about 15k or more. I try to overpay mortgage every month and also pay in to a private pension once a year

£10k in an emergency fund plus two credit cards with high limits. I used to keep more in available cash but have prioritised investments / pensions over the last year which takes up a big chunk of income each month.

5500 on credit card interest feee that will be paid off in 10 months and 3400 in savings. I have no spend months when I put the money in the joint account for bills pay my personal bills ie telephone car insurance credit cards etc I find I can save an extra 300 as make my own lunch not buying clothes or coffee

Earn under £30k, no savings at all and no credit card. Just a current account, currently containing about £1000.

I saved up 3k to put a deposit on a new car. I've now got £79 left in my savings and £150 left on a credit card. My 2026 task is paying off the credit card (£1650) then I'll start on my savings again in 2027. Oh and I'm 41 with an 8yr old.

I could put my hands on a lot - 5 year's salary - if necessary. Some of that was inherited. About half was a high risk investment that fortunately paid off made when I was single and had fewer outgoings (I do not recommend this strategy, I lost a lot too). The rest was saved before I was married. I guess I'd have said I was lower-middle income but lived very frugally.

Now I'm a sahm. DH was made redundant last year so we don't feel particularly safe even though he has a new job now. Although I could spending all my savings, since I'm not earning or saving anything atm I view it as pension money ideally.

I earn £12,570 a year (every year for the last 6 years and even less before that) and I’ve got over £27,000 saved (over 20k in an ISA, and another 7k+ in a high interest account). I do drive a Yaris that’s over 20 years old however!

I keep one month's salary as untouchable savings, approx 2200, and a clear credit card. And its always been a struggle to maintain, but I grew up with financially irresponsible parents so I need the safety net. I'm overpaying into my workplace pension and I am the breadwinner due to husband's ill health.

It is just my savings. My husband has not any left. If repairs come and so on and we can afford it, we will.

Currently £1500 in emergency savings. But paying off £15k loan for car. No other debt except mortgage. Save for Christmas all year, and put money in S&S ISAs for us and for kids. Put more in DH's pension to maximise tax benefits. Am quite obsessive about savings pots and living within means/budgeting.

I'm not going to give you my current figure because I'm in my 60s, on a much bigger income than I earned when my DC were small, and I live independently as both are now in their 30s. So I'm saving as hard as I can so as not to be a burden on them as I move towards retirement.

When my children were younger I tried my best to keep a sum equal to three months' take-home salary in the emergency pot. What usually happened was that the pot built up through the year, and then got depleted towards Christmas because I simply didn't earn enough to finance presents, extra food, and the heating costs that school holidays in the winter entail without dipping in.

We used to have just over 10k in our easy access saver, which is earmarked for emergencies. Our flat roof started leaking (well, tbh, it started leaking a lot worse than the damp patches we were prepared to live with) and we are now 5k down. But that is what it was there for, and it meant that we haven't had to take out a loan, and the roof was done before winter set in.

We are on a fairly low income, we bring in just under 30k a year between us. Our mortgage is paid off, and we have no debts. It took us years and years to get to this point, saving hard, both working full time and then downsizing to a cheaper area. Its going to take a long time to get the savings up to 10k again, so hoping for emergency free few years.

£5k and another 11k in the kids savings if it was a real emergency which I'd replace first if we were ever in the position to have to use it. If we had to access credit probably another 8k of credit limits and overdraft available. Roof replacement last year meant we took a hit.

Haha absolutely nothing usually. I do have good credit though. I'm not in debt either. I'd use credit in a emergency.
I do have 100 in my savings account right now but I don't usually have anything.. I've just started saving this month for a holiday next year.
I'm on minimum wage work part time and have 3 kids. My DH is the high earner... he doesn't have any savings either though.
But we have nearly paid off the mortgage which is good.
I've never had any savings really apart from just before I bought the house I had saved up the deposit
If I save money it's usually for a specific purpose rather than emergencies.

You sound very sensible, well done