Saving £15k from scratch on a low income.

[Bookaholic73]

I have £0 in savings and want to save a £15k buffer for emergencies.

I make just under £3k a month, and my expenses are around £2.5k per month.

My plan is to lower my expenses as much as I can, pick up any extra shifts at work (few and far between) and save save save.

Anyone else on a low income, starting from scratch and want to save as much as they can?

You're calling £55k/ year a low income? Okay then.

It’s all relative isn’t it? OP might be a single parent with no additional income coming in, high housing costs etc.

I would love to save more, but I have a dreadful Vinted addiction that I am trying to wean myself off!

I will be looking for some cunning ideas…

Good plan.
Have you identified the definite savings you can make each month and taken action (e.g. ceased subscriptions, reduced phone tariff, stopped take aways?). If not, then do that and take action. If you saved £250 a month it'll take you just under 5 years (assuming you generate interest on what you save). You could do it incloser to 2 years if you aim for £500 per month. To truly save it, open a dedicated savings account potentially one that you can regularly pay into, but not make withdrawals from. To avoid being taxed on interest, open a cash ISA. Good luck.

YABU. You are not on a low income, you are overspending.

While I agree it's not a low income, it's not as high as £55k.

Op makes less than couple on NMW would have. It's about 48k, not 55k.
Bet you wouldn't tell them they are not low income household

There was a thread on here a while ago, something along the lines of “how long would 50k last you if you had no other income or savings”.
Most people said 12/18 months. It’s not a huge sum of money anymore

Op, you need to look at the expenses and see what can be lowered. When you say expenses, do you mean everything icl fun money orjust bills and food?
That will allow for more savings. And no. I don't mean "cancel netflix". Energy and broadband comparisons, food swaps, and if you REALLY wnat to push, swapping some "luxuries" for something less. All these sound like tenner there and there butonce that tenners startmaking interest, it makes sense.

I also utilise cashbacks and point where I can. I alsoove money to savings at the beginning of months after DDs came out and then add whatever is leftover at the end of the month.

Why £15k?

I am on a low income....

I have to say my low income is less than half of what you're earning

Genuinely why did you say you were on a low income
It's just not true. If it's not true don't say it

I had to go cold turkey, deleted the app off my phone and in it's place I put the kindle app.
Everyrime my brain automatically reached for my phone and vinted, I hit the kindle app.

I'd read a bit, great distraction made easy by having the app in the same location as vinted has been!

I've done it before using different apps eg crosswords, art, photo gallery etc anything that doesn't involve spending money and takes your mind off the urge until it passes.

It’s a bit tone deaf to call a salary of £48k “low”.

Anyway - one way that helped me save was to save in Premium Bonds as I found it motivating - the more bonds you have the more you’re likely to win.

@Bookaholic73 good luck!!

We were crap at saving while we both worked. Not much easier retired!!

easy peasy tbh, your outgoings are already lower then incoming so straight away you can shove half of that into savings. Do it on payday, SO, so its not there to to be spent

It's not that low an income and you should be able to save a decent amount fairly easily. Work out what your expenses are, remembering to factor in annual expenses like MOT and car servicing. Include a realistic amount for discretionary spending. Work out the difference between income and expenditure and set up a standing order for that amount to move into your savings just after payday.

Brilliant idea. Check money saving expert for the best deals on savings accounts. Every £1 you can move over helps.

Set yourself a challenge each month like: eating up what’s in the cupboards and doing a smaller shop than usual; no new clothes; finding low spend activities to do with a friend (it’s picnic in the park weather!).

Enjoy watching your balance grow.

I would.

I appreciate that I have a good income compared to some. That makes the fact that I have zero savings and struggle to afford things like new clothes even worse.

I have already reduced a few things this month. My pet insurance was £180 per month and I’ve reduced that to £50 a month.
Still the same level of care and cover, just a cheaper insurer and a higher excess.

I am also going to be changing my phone sim plan to a cheaper one and focus on spending less on food.

One major area that I can spend less is on my hobbies. I spend around £500 a month on various hobbies which bring me an immense amount of joy. But realistically I can put at least some of these on hold until I’ve got some savings under my belt, halving that amount to a more realistic £250 a month.

Your outgoings are really high. How many are in your household? Your income isn’t too bad but outgoings compared to income is huge.

Come back to us when you are actually on a low income with no expensive hobbies

I think this is the main issue, my outgoings are so high.
There are 3 adults. I support myself and my disabled son on this income.

Or you can just ignore this post.

3 adults? Are the other adults contributing to the household?

What are your hobbies? It sounds from your name like you enjoy reading, which is nice and cheap! I agree that building up some savings will put you in a better position.

Thst £130 you've just saved on pet insurance? Set up a direct debit for the day after pay day into a savings account.

Once the hobbies savings have been realised (ie activities cancelled) increase that direct debit to £380 a month.

That's just over 3 years to achieve your goal.

Add in the phone and food savings, along with any overtime earnings, and thst will be under 3 years.

We also add half of any payrise to the savings direct debit - so say i get a payrise that increases my takehome by £50, 25 of that is for spending, and 25 gets added to savings

You need to reframe things. Your earnings aren't low. Your spending is high.