To ask how people built up savings of £5k to £15k?

[ThatOpenPoet]

For those who’ve managed to build up savings of around £5k, £10k, £15k - how did you actually do it in practice? Was it consistent monthly saving, cutting back, a one-off boost or a mix of things?

I would like to hear what realistically worked for people rather than just general advice.

Thank you.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/stocks-shares-isas/

I am with Moneybox (other platforms available) and it’s very easy to set up the transfers into the cash and stock and shares ISAs (assuming you haven’t used up this year’s limit).
Broader exposures (global shares) give you exposure to many countries / companies. These are a good starting point.

Damien Talks Money on Youtube is an excellent source of information that goes through all of the basics. I only started getting into it in January 2025 and although I've been exceptionally lucky with the market and I don't expect it to continue like this, I've made just over 30% rate of return on my investments so far. As Damien says, its about slow, boring investments, not risky individual stocks that makes money over time.

Yes I second Damien talks money. He’s great. Also Pete Matthew’s meaningful money YouTube channel and podcast. He also has an excellent book. https://amzn.eu/d/0bC31AL8

For example, if you have a S&S shares account, starting with 0 and invested in something like the S&P 500 (top 500 companies in America) or the Global All-World Fund, putting in £100pm. If it grows by 8% yearly on average (average for the S&P is approximately 10%), after 10 years you hypothetically would have around 18K. Obviously less in buying power due to inflation but not a bad sum compared to 12K in cash. If you can do that for 15 years (33K) or 20 years (56K) you can see how it compounds over time.

I try and minimise the outgoings. I have a calendar reminder on my phone to check the best deals for my utilities and insurances about a month before they're due for renewal.

Best thing we did when I was working part time was to take advantage of the Married Tax Allowance.

My local council allows you to pay your council tax over 12 months which whilst it doesn't reduce the annual amount due spreads the monthly cost and doesn't lull me into thinking "2 free months, wayhay more money".

My bank (hsbc) has a projected balance facility. After we have been paid and the bills have been debited we look at the projected balance and transfer that into our hsbc savings.

DH has an employee benefit which allows him to buy vouchers at a discounted price. Eg he will buy a £200 voucher, but with 4% discount it only costs £192. We regularly buy Tescos ones and do our food shop with the vouchers.

Everything else we buy goes on my credit card. Then when the bill comes in we take the money from our savings account (so it has earned interest whilst waiting to be used).

I also save into an ISA which only has a passbook so means a journey into town to get money out and save into premium bonds (I get a small win most months).

The best bit of advice that I had from a mortgage advisor was when you reach the final years of paying your mortgage is not to transfer to a new lender when a fixed deal comes to an end, because savings made on monthly payments are outweighed by transfer costs. Look at the best deal with the existing lender. Then overpay.

On the last year I have managed to buy a brand new car. Paid in full. Our next big expense is roof and chimney repairs. We have the cash ready.

Finally when it comes to spending is identifying the difference between WANT and NEED.

Another one to say save on the day your salary comes in.

I transfer the same amount to our bills account each month on payday. Then I estimate what I’ll need for food shops, fuel, commuting, haircuts, birthday gifts, meals out etc and then whatever is left over is automatically sent to my savings account.

Saving is ultimately about limiting “lifestyle creep”, but I’d acknowledge that for low earners saving is far more challenging, particularly in the last few years with the cost of living increasing so significantly.

Also, shop around for the best savings accounts. When my savings were lower, I couldn’t be bothered. But I recently moved my savings from a 1.15% interest account to a 4.5% account. That rate lasts 12 months, then I’ll shop around and move my money again.

Others have mentioned investing. We need to use our money in the next 12 months so a high yield savings account gives us more certainty, but if you had money you could put aside for a few years then S&S accounts are worth looking at.

@OctaviaC74 completely agree with that. I have a cash ISA for imemdiately accessible funds (emergencies, big ticket items), a medium risk Nutmeg S&S ISA that I am using for longer term saving (I started it with a modest work bonus about 10 years ago and DD £100 a month and essentially forget about it) and very small high risk pot with Monzo that is just for fun really. I put £10 a month in that and I have made enough this year to pays for treats and meals out on our summer holiday.

I’ve just looked at my stick and shares isa with Moneybox. I would think that’s not a bad place to start ;-)

I have multiple savings for different things - smaller chunk monthly into a S&S ISA, that money is dead to me. Bigger chunk into a savings account held in a different bank so I don’t see it when I’m checking my main banking app.

Daily standing orders into pots for Christmas, DH Tax and a Sofa I bought on finance that I want to pay off. for some reason £3/day in the Xmas pot feels easier than £60 at the beginning of the month!

£2.5k plus child benefit is more than my total income let alone savings!

I have a direct debit of 200 pounds goes into my savings account as soon as I’m paid. That soon adds up although I do have to dip into it from time to time when things come up.

Our total take home (after everything including pension contributions ) is a minimum of 7480, if we do overtime (which we do most months) then it’s more. I budget everything thoroughly. No childcare costs as dc are 10 and 13. Mortgage is 1900, 400 of which is an overpayment.

I started with a high interest regular savings account. Then added small amounts into a s&s ISA each month. I have had to dip into those over the years, but much better to have the option when I needed a new roof etc than have to get into debt

I've mostly been on benefits over the last few years so I just about managed the 1p challenge (from money saving expert).

I have had to dip in to it a bit but I can usually get it back up to the balance I had.

I also bank with Nationwide so I have had £150 last year and I am due another £100 this month.

Thanks. I just have no idea about how money markets work and feel like I’d lose it all by making a silly mistake. My DP used to work in financial services and has amazing knowledge, but even if I ask him to talk to me about it like I was five it sounds like gobbledygook to me!

I'm paid weekly so every week I have a standing order straight to my savings, even small amounts soon build up but I don't really notice missing it weekly. Some savings are locked away for a better interest rate, some are easily accessible. I recently spent a huge chunk of mine buying and doing up a house so starting to build the pot up again.

I also have round ups attached to my savings, so I have a weekly standing order for £100 but it's normally more like £110-120 with the round ups, which isn't really noticeable but helps build the pot

Only invest in what you like, understand and know.

The Scottish bloke who won the biggest lottery jackpot had £20,000 in Greggs - apparently he liked Greggs - so do lots of others - and that’s why it was a good investment - is it still - I’m not sure!

So either way it saves £10 a day so £300 a month as either sunny and dry or rains ?

I budgeted my salary for my bills and what was left was for fun stuff. Then I viewed making extra money as a hobby - eBay, vinted, overtime, mystery shopping, surveys etc. All money made this way went into the savings pot. Half of any birthday money went into the pot. Interest on the savings stayed in the pot. Bank account switch incentives, nationwide fairer share payments etc. Spent nectar / club card / advantage points and transferred the equivalent cash amount into savings. This was all “extra” money that I hadn’t budgeted for and therefore could afford to live without. It became addictive looking for ways to make extra nuts and pieces.

Investing in one company is not a good financial decision. Better to buy the entire market. Stick to passive global trackers.

We're on our 2nd low spend year in an attempt to pay off our £100k mortgage at the end of this year when the 5yr 0.99% fix ends. We are both BR tax payers so it's a big challenge.

All income goes straight into savings. This is a mind trick as spending from savings is mentally different than from a current account. The expenditure has to be worth it.

We're stoozing which isn't for everyone (got to be comfortable with debt and organised with deal end dates) but we are spending on 0% credit cards and saving the cash in min 4% accounts. I have £30k spread over lots of cards, costing me nothing but the equivalent in my savings is earning me at least £1200pa in interest.

I only keep subscriptions that we use on a weekly basis. I use discount codes or offers on something I want, unsubscribe to all marketing. I always shop around. I love Vinted, someone else has taken the financial depreciation of buying brand new and I'm gaining the benefit of a good quality item at an excellent price.

I have never subscribed to the fact that expensive is better. Brand marketing is just marketing. I have been challenging myself to buy the best quality at the best price. Quality is so subjective especially now with extra sustainability and environmental factors involved.

I don’t know how it’s calculated but it saved £95 this week from raining and sunny- maybe half days or both rainy and sunny 🤷‍♀️

For the past 2 years, I’ve been putting £400 a month into a high interest account. I now have over 10k saved up, which is a huge amount to me. One more year and I’ll have 15k…I’ll feel so much calmer at this point.

My saving bug kicked in when I was saving deposit for first time buyer house. I was a single parent and serial renter however once DS came along I realised I was limited by him starting school and not wanting to be having to change schools should rental become unavailable (happened twice in 3 years).

I had to imagine every penny I spent and what it would means in terms of deposit and how much I could borrow. I even had a spreadsheet on my phone that I could plug numbers into to tell me how much buying whatever item it was would impact my house buying goal.

After a few months it just became the norm and the saving continued beyond the house purchase to where I am today.

An obvious thing to say, but sometimes money attracts more money, and being poor is expensive and is a trap

Take cars for example. Paying tax and insurance yearly is cheaper than monthly, having a better credit score means you get better rates on them, being able to afford better repairs (even if not a better car) often costs less in the long run. Your insurance etc is also cheaper in more expensive areas, and with cheaper cars.

Often once you have a savings buffer it's amazing at how many things become cheaper!