No motivation to save because I’ll always be poor

[Fallguyshotdog]

I’m quite bad with money because I just have no motivation whatsoever to save. I know how to keep costs down and be frugal, but what’s the point of making sacrifices just to have a meagre few thousand in the bank?

I’d love advice or inspiration to help me change this negative mindset that I’ve fallen in to. I’m a single mum so I’ll never be able to afford to buy my dream house, and I’m really late in starting a career after many personal and health issues over the years so I don’t think I’ll ever manage much over £30k salary wise.

How do people keep up the motivation? I’m not comfortable relying on the idea of a future partner, as my DS won’t be his so finances would never be truly equal and there’s no guarantee I’d find ‘the one’ anyway. It just feels like it’s not possibly to ever make it to a position where I’m comfortable and well off.

Anyone else feel like this?

What is your career? And have you reached the highest level of qualification in it? (As that’s the most likely route to increasing your salary / income.)

A few thousand in the bank is not to be sneezed at! It might not buy you a palace but it might make the difference between being able to say an easy yes to a school trip; or extra tuition in a subject your child needs to improve in, or simply music lessons or transport to a sports meeting. Or, frankly, unlimited books.

But if you want some inspiration, have a look though some of the threads on the Mature Study and Retraining board (under Education) - there’s always something you could be doing.

You could save in case your child needs private dental or health treatment, or for their driving license, or for furniture when they move out. If you don't want yo save a few thousand for yourself, do it for your child(ren). It will come in handy some day.

just to have a meagre few thousand in the bank? that's a few thousand you could need at one point. It's not to be sniffed at.

I save money for whatever comes up, I don’t save for a particular reason.

Well being able to afford the replace a car or washing machine without credit will save you £££ in the future - even saving for a holiday …

When I had nothing I chose to save because having nothing & not even £100 saved is WORSE than having nothing & having £100 saved.

Things come up.
You have a really bad day & want to buy yourself a new pair of shoes because the heel fell off yours, or you want to get a haircut, or your kid needs something & with a tiny bit of savings you can do it.
Without them, it's just another unsolvable problem to add to the rest.

With a little bit more, when the washing machine breaks you can replace it.

Having a small amount of savings is a security blanket & it honestly does feel better than having no money & not even an emergency £100.

Having £1000 saved might mean you can choose to have a cheap holiday somewhere, or pay for a private dentist if you can't find an NHS one.

It's always going to be better to have something rather than nothing.
Even if you lose your job you are allowed £6000 in savings before they start deducting money from your benefits, so even being unemployed having some savings is better than not.

I found that the more I saved, the better & more secure I felt.
I could use the bit of savings to stock up on things I would use anyway when they were on special offer which meant my weekly shopping started to drop in price so I could actually save a bit more or have a tiny bit nicer lifestyle for the same money.

I used my own savings to be my loan if I needed one, so I didn't have debt or interest to pay back.

Starting from very little I used it to massively improve my life.

I actually used my savings, which started very small, to create a new income for myself & now I'm sat here with everything I could possibly want AND savings.

I'd still be stuck as a single parent with nothing if I hadn't started with saving that first hundred pounds.

Savings give you options.
Savings give you opportunities.

If you really don't like having them, you can always just spend them.
It's a nice problem to have.

@Fallguyshotdog if you're on certain benefits the government will help you by adding to your savings.

www.gov.uk/get-help-savings-low-income

this is such an inspiring message

Love this line:

Savings give you options.
Savings give you opportunities.

Having zero savings can be expensive- needing to take out a loan if the boiler breaks, or paying more to buy a new washing machine on credit. Not having to buy the cheapest car which will ultimately cost more in repairs.

I've heard of families having "washing machine insurance", as they don't have savings to replace it if it breaks. Having savings means you don't have to worry about most things breaking.

If you can't work temporarily due to sickness, savings will keep you afloat.

And you can afford to take some time to retrain in a better job in future.

Also if your child needs speech therapy, or an ADHD or autism assessment, or extra tutoring, you will be very glad to have the option of private which could end up being life changing for them.

I’ve just started studying this year, I’m thinking of going into finance or computer science but I do have another year to branch off to med school if I change my mind. All the standard finance roles I can find only seem to be around £30k a year though which isn’t great as a single income, and I doubt I’m assured enough a person to become a manager or director where the big money seems to lie.

I understand what you mean but everything you’ve listed is things that I’d buy INSTEAD of saving money, as they improve quality of life and I can afford them at short notice.

This is a good way to look at it, I think I’m just lost for inspiration as to what I could possibly achieve with such a small amount of savings. Would you mind sharing how you succeeded, did you invest in starting your own business?

I have enough disposable income monthly to comfortably buy a washing machine, pay for school trips, new shoes or book a holiday without having to save so that doesn’t motivate me much as I never need to take out any credit. I’m actually really good at knuckling down and working hard when I have some kind of aim, it’s when there’s no goals and the future feels blank that I start struggling!

I understand that savings give you options but it feels like I’m taking options away from me and DS by ring fencing that money. So no we can’t go on holiday this year because the money needs to be saved, no you can’t go to this sports club because the money need to be saved, no I can’t pay for an extra qualification to further my career or private medical appointments because the money needs to be put away for some mystery future event. Im struggling so much with the whole thing.

I’m quite bad with money because I just have no motivation whatsoever to save. I know how to keep costs down and be frugal, but what’s the point of making sacrifices just to have a meagre few thousand in the bank?

Its a safety cushion, an emergency fund. So that when something goes wrong you can pay an unexpected repair bill, tide you over a lost job or missed payment.

A meagre few thousand???

What's your pension like? Do you have enough to perhaps retire at 62/63? Since I turned 40 I have really taken my pension savings more seriously, because I know that I don't want be poor at the age when I have no option to make more money.

Saving and seeing it going up is actually quite fun. I have an excel sheet with my monthly outgoings and log everything I spend there and I calculate how much I can save each month. Then I divide that up between different saving accounts. I have one for holidays, one account for emergencies, a savings account for my youngest, some additional pension savings, and the rest goes into a high-ish interest rate savings account where they are locked in for a number of years. I am a single mum like you and it gives me such peace of mind to have these different pots of money that I can use if something unforseen or fun happens.

All the standard finance roles I can find only seem to be around £30k a year though which isn’t great as a single income, and I doubt I’m assured enough a person to become a manager or director where the big money seems to lie.

Where have you got this information from? Starting salaries on training schemes are usually at least this amount, often more, and then increase substantially once you are qualified, without even getting promotions to senior positions.

just to have a meagre few thousand in the bank? that's a few thousand you could need at one point. It's not to be sniffed at.

^^ I've been dirt poor and if an emergency happened I had to rely on credit. It's an awful feeling. I now have a small emergency fund and it's amazing for your sense of well being. Cars, fridges, washers ect all break down at some point. That sense of security is amazing for your mental health

So you are not actually poor then, OP.

It’s on the majority of results when I Google it, and it says that even finance managers only earns £42k. I’ve searched a few different roles like accountant, analyst, advisor. I also have a few friends working in finance who only earn around the £30k mark despite being in the industry a good 5 years or so, though they don’t have degrees.

Do you know a more reliable source I could find some information from? It would certainly motivate me if I felt like I could actually ‘get somewhere’ in life.

I can afford all the basics but as I’ve said, I’ll never be in a position where I can buy a nice house. As a single parent starting late I’ll probably never be able to afford to send DS to private school or be able to pay for really expensive hobbies long term, and managing to save up a few thousand with years of hard work won’t help either - it would all be gone within months.

It’s on the majority of results when I Google it, and it says that even finance managers only earns £42k. I’ve searched a few different roles like accountant, analyst, advisor. I also have a few friends working in finance who only earn around the £30k mark despite being in the industry a good 5 years or so, though they don’t have degrees.

Do you know a more reliable source I could find some information from? It would certainly motivate me if I felt like I could actually ‘get somewhere’ in life.

I can't see how that can be the case unless what is being included in those figures as "finance" is basic stuff that's pretty much like data entry (payroll processing, accounts payable/ receivable processing etc)?

Have a look at the graduate programmes offered by the Big 4 accounting firms (PwC, EY, KPMG and Deloitte). Starting salaries would be at that level during training contract (where they are funding your qualification and study leave from work to do it) and post-qualification, even newly qualified and still pretty inexperienced 3 years later, significantly more. Not too much dissimilar in mid-tier firms (the top 10 rather than 4). Or similar graduate programmes in banking/ investment. Lots of these programmes have deliberately opened up criteria to try to up their intake of mature students/ people changing career etc in recent times so not being 21 is not a barrier. Some now don't even require a degree at all! I don't know anybody in these sectors earning only £30k with 5 years of experience.

You'd have to work lots of hours, but career progression is there if you do. If you're good in any of these areas and put the effort in you can expect six figures within 7-10 years, depending on area.

A family member is a software engineer. Similarly in that sector there are people who say they work in "IT" or "coding" in low level roles who might earn £30k and scew the figures you find online. But someone properly qualified in computer science can achieve a starting salary on graduation of more than that, and again achieve six figures within another few years if they are good, choose employers etc. wisely and put in the hours.

High salaries won't fall into someone's lap, the people who earn them work very hard for them and have a high level of technical skill, but if you have the ability and motivation then it can be done.

To be clear you can apply for a training contract with the accounting firms - where they fund your qualification to become a chartered accountant and give you paid study leave from work to do the training and exams - without a degree now. They will work you bloody hard to get their money's worth! But options like this do exist.

Pay yourself first. Treat savings like a bill that has to be paid monthly. Decide how much to save and set up a Direct Debit to your savings account.