To think that if you’ve got savings, you’re not poor?

[CleverTealGoose]

I’m not saying that having savings automatically makes someone wealthy or financially comfortable, but I do think there’s a difference between being poor and having money set aside.

If you’ve got savings that you can fall back on, even if you’d rather not touch them, surely you’re in a different position from someone who has absolutely nothing to fall back on?

I sometimes see people describe themselves as poor or broke while also mentioning that they’ve got thousands sitting in savings accounts.

I appreciate that savings can be earmarked for particular things but ultimately that money is still there.

Like there is a difference between being genuinely poor and simply not having much disposable income.

Yes! I've heard someone at work say 'we sacrifice so much to send them to private school, we can barley afford to get by every month and have to have camping holidays, we're so poor. The fees are crippling us.' Genuinely, I have come across this. They plead poverty because they're 'scrapping the school fees together' , no self awareness that those fees are more than many people actually earn in a year.

I don't personally say that I'm broke. I'm just saying that when some people say it I don't think it should be taken too literally.

Do you reply?

Think its 16k

Not really. There is a recognised definition of "poor".
Sure, if you're going to add context and nuance then you can use any words you like!

I think being poor is not having a back up plan, and the closer you are to being out of options the poorer you are.

So people with kids in private school might be needing to watch every penny closely but they have a massive safety net that is the state school system, and could remove their kids and reclaim their private school fees into their budget at any time.

However, I think it is possible to have savings AND be poor. If you live rurally and the only means of getting to work is by car, and your savings are your car fund, that isn't really available money, it is just a pot buliding to go on your future commuting. Obviosuly there will be people more precarious, who relie on a car for work and don't have a penny to their names, but that doesn't mean the first person isn't poor, they might be redirecting money that they could do with spending on basics like food, heating and clothing in order to ensure they don't end up in the impossible situation of having a job but no means of getting there.

So it isn't straightforward.

This is so weird.

Clearly everyone could be harder up than they are, when they say 'I am broke'. Until we are all homeless and eating from soup kitchens?

I often feel a bit stretched and the last couple of months I have been reduced to borrowing from the window cleaning money for example in the last couple of days to pay day. This is despite having equity in the house and some money in savings (not easy access). This is because I have had to drop my hours due to family caring responsibilities and these have also been expensive in terms of parking fees and prescription charges etc. At the same time as petrol prices have shot up. We jad a couple of unexpected household issue that required a plumber and electrician to come out etc etc.

I am not poor by any means but I do feel 'broke' at times. I have no easily accessible extra money and need to budget carefully pay day to pay day.

It is fine for people to mention their reality without having to caveat that they know other people are more financially disadvantaged etc.

I agree. I'm not old yet (60) and still need to work till State Retirement Age but for the first time in mine and my husband's lives we have a small amount of savings sufficient that if we have a repair bill or need to replace something we don't have to go into debt. We can also afford to live in a tiny house (with a mortgage) and run an old car that we bought outright. It makes a huge difference to peace of mind feeling that we're not living from payday to payday - but we're not extravagant.

As someone said, real poverty is worrying about putting the heating on and feeding and clothing your children. I don't know how people survive these days. I think if you're working full time you should as a minimum be able to afford little treats and one UK family holiday a year otherwise you're just surviving. And why SHOULD people live like that in the 5th richest country? Anyway, surely it's bad for the economy for people to have no disposable income?

On the other hand I agree with the OP that lots of people live beyond their means for the sake of appearances or what they feel they should have.

During my divorce I was on the bones of my arse but I was militant in putting a little away each month towards known expenses so I wouldn't be eating toast for a month after Christmas, or when the car insurance/tax/MOT was due.That money was not luxury spending but it was in my head absolutely allocated for those bills, I would absolutely have still described myself as poor but budgeting appropriately

Month to month I’m struggling but I know I’m privileged that I do have a pot that I can fall back on if needed. It’s not the same. I act as if I don’t have it so I don’t spend it on day to day and it disappears leaving me in an even worse position.

I’ve never heard anyone IRL say they’re broke while also mentioning they’ve got thousands sitting in savings accounts. If you’re reading it on social media, they’re probably trolls. Can you give an example of where you’ve seen this?

That sounds logical but isn't so easy in practice. The downsize property needs to be suitable for their needs- accessible bathroom or the space to create one, no unsafe stairs (many cottages have dangerous stairs), proximity to a shop and healthcare etc, and ideally in reach of a younger relative or friend who would help in an emergency.
A house owned outright but not well maintained may not sell for enough to pay for a suitable property. Bungalows are expensive and flats with high service charges may become unaffordable especially if one partner dies .
I have discovered all this from recent experience with older friends and relatives.

But I enjoyed it so time well spent.

OP didn't come back did s/he.

There are ‘savings’ and ‘savings’ though. There is a big difference between having say 2K saved (which would be wiped out in a flash should something happen to say your car or all your fence panels blow down) and having 100K saved.

It evidently was a source of enjoyment to you, but it's been deleted.

No I completely agree, we are very fortunate and I have learnt the hard way to live within my means. It was just in response to the OP’s question- I absolutely do not consider myself as poor for not being able to afford a coffee this morning 😬.

What do you define as savings? £10? £100k?

The word poor is subjective Op. So it doesn’t really mean anything.

Its like trying to define skint, cheap, spendthrift… all mean different things to different peoples

If you mean being in poverty that has a definition and is much easier to use for that reason.

I'd say my suggestion of poor is anyone who has less than £2k to fall back on savings wise.

Unfortunately that's about half the UK!!

Well iit depends on the amount of savings I suppose. If you have savings over £16,000 you don't qualify for means tested benefits so I imagine that the savings would soon disappear and you be poor quite quickly.

Funny that posters can start any bullshit thread and there they stand.
Point it out and you're deleted.

I find it odd that some people view not dipping into savings for something like a coffee is being tight.

The whole point of savings is surely that it's money you don't use for day-to-day costs. So if I've exceeded my spending allowance for the month, what's wrong with going without till the next payday? Different if it was for an absolute essential, but when the alternative is to take money that's earmarked for another purpose, then I'm just robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak.

I class myself as skint rather than poor, having watched my savings dwindle horribly from too much dipping in for non-essentials, and I now try very hard to live within my low income. I have set amounts for different things and when it's gone I just stop. My last remaining savings will likely be wiped out shortly with a major repair, so I can't use it anyway. This month, the food money ran out after 12 days so I've just been living on what I can cobble together from the cupboard. Still don't consider myself poor because I have got stuff in the cupboard, and I'd rather live on rice for a month than not get a building repair or I won't have a home fit to live in, on top of being skint.

I don't think that's being tight at all.

What you describe is not tight.
That's sensible.
However, if you have ample savings say 100k, nothing in particular you are saving for, then deny yourself a night out which you would enjoy.
On top you claim your can't attend because you are 'broke', that is tight.

You wouldn't get much UC if you had £15,000 in savings though, you'd be expected to be topping up the UC with money from your savings.

Yep, if you are on UC, the amount you get is tapered down after 6K, and stops totally at £16k.
No one gets the full amount of UC if they have over £6k.
If you have £15k in capital, you will be down several £100 in UC.