How much are people saving each month compared with five years ago?

[Orangeducks]

How much do you save a month?

How does this compare to say 5 years ago before the CoL crisis?

This is purely out of interest and there is no shame or judgement if you either save high or low. I'm just curious.

If comfortable, please share your family set up, maybe salary? And whether you are happy with the situation.

Unless you are going to ask everyone to give you a precise description of what their lives were 5 years ago compared to today your research is largely meaningless. In a 5 year span people can have retired , no kids to 3 kids, SAHM to working full time, not working due to ill health, divorced, now married / remarried , toddlers now teenagers, teenagers now left home, we have doubled our salaries the list could go on. Just telling you my circumstances today is irrelevant. If you are planning on writing an article based on the responses you need to set some proper parameters

You go first?

@Orangeducks why haven’t you answered your own questions in your Op?

As @Jellycatspyjamassaid you go first.

We save considerably more now than 5 years ago, but 5 years ago we were new graduates with a 1yo and only one salary... so it is not difficult to be in a better financial position to save now than we were then, regardless of a CoL crisis.

We save about £2.5k a month at the moment (including our mortgage overpayment).

Sure, we have around £1200 disposable a month. 2 children, live in the north East.

5 years ago we were saving around £1500 so a decline even though our salaries have increased and we haven't uplevelled in any noticeable way.

It not research for any academic purposes, just out of interest. You are welcome to share or welcome to ignore this post as I know its not for everyone.

Im grateful we are in a position to save but feels a bit disappointing that we have less money than we did.

I’m saving half of what I used to.

did you have 2dc 5 years ago though?

we save a minimum of 2.5k per month. 5years ago we saved 2k

Probably similar. Prices have gone up, salaries gone up at a lower rate, kids clubs have decreased now they’re older.

I’m saving about 200 per month, this is an increase from five years ago where we saved nothing, however it’s not really a fair comparison as husband s wage has doubled in five years . (I’m a teaching assistant, mine has not doubled 🤭 my work load has though interestingly 🤔)

our life is better, but that’s due to having a bit more money. ( when I say his wage doubled he went from 1.5k monthly to 3k plus monthly)

a lot of our spare money comes from my booktok account, we don’t factor it in to monthly income (except to do the tax form) but this month has been an extra £389 which has meant we haven’t used credit cards end of month . Obviously this money isn’t a definite income, and next month I might only make £50 say , (indeed I made £75 in may but didn’t spend a lot of time on it) I wish I ha d started that side hustle years ago

This. People also make different decisions about spending vs saving their spare money. Plus you're asking an unrepresentative sample of the population, which will also make the answers as meaningful as a string of random numbers.

The only conclusion you can draw from your question is that many people have less spare money than they did 5 years ago because overall costs have increased more than incomes. However that doesn't apply to everyone - we're much better off than we were then because we've paid off our mortgage and our household income has nearly doubled.

I think some people are thinking too deeply about this. Mumsnet isnt a place for scientific research, sometimes people seek anecdotal answers like you would from a group of friends. I totally understand everyone's circumstances are wildly different. Its just out of interest.

The problem is that life 5 years ago was different for everyone especially given we were still dealing with covid. My expenditure went down hugely in Covid, while my salary stayed the same so I could save much more - nothing to do with cost of living. We now have a good balance of saving and spending but are in the final stages of renovating our house, so saving less than 5 years ago. Again nothing to do with cost of living.

Folk see threads like this, see people saying they’re saving less and create a narrative that we’re all doomed, which isn’t necessarily the case.

But what purpose does the thread serve when the answers vary depending on who posts on the thread?

You could get a few people like me answering and you'll be thinking 'what CoL' and other people reading the thread who are struggling will then worry that it's only them in that position.

You're effectively asking for people to post a random number between 0 and 5000 or more. What is interesting about that?

I’m saving the same. But waves have gone up but due to COL I cannot save anymore as the extra wages have gone towards all the extra bills.

OP is interested in other people’s finances and that’s fine. So no purpose as such, they just want a nosey. I agree with them - people are thinking too deeply here. This is only an online forum, nobody’s seeking to do an official research survey.

It can simply be a conversation about money. End of story. When I talk to my friends about money every single gle one of is living a different experience but that doesn't mean it isnt of interest. Not everything everyone says is relevant to me but im still interested in how people are living their finances.

I never understand why people click on these threads to only say 'whats the point in this thread?'. If you see no purpose on it, scroll by.

Others do find it fascinating to understand how others are living even if it bears no similarity to their own experience.

Well, I’ll answer but I am a prime example of why differing experiences will colour things. We are saving nothing now, but that’s not due to COL but due to retirement.

I'm saving less than I was able to save 2019 with massive childcare bill (£950/month nursery + extra for weekend work,etc).
Our rent was £1500 in 2019, and now - £1900.

Honestly nothing 🙈 We have about 5k in the credit union which has been there for years but not added to. We both work but pay insane amounts on childcare, mortgage, food & bills. Any bit that is left over I spend on treats for dc and me.
I often wonder how people on low incomes afford holidays. It's not cheap to go on holiday - even if it's a good deal for 2 adults & 2 kids will be at least 2k plus spending money. It seems impossible for us to save up for a holiday, or anything really.