What do you save at the end of each month?

[pastabakewithcheese]

And is having £600 to save every month quite a lot? I think it is but I'm getting the impression DP doesn't think it's a lot. There will be around £350 odd left that's to be spent on anything he wish (not bills or direct debits, money that's free of all the normal monthly costs so can be spent on days out, or clothes for DC etc) and for me that's a LOT. We're in London if that makes a diff but not in the inner city

Yes, £600pm is a lot. It's all relative, blah blah, but it's a lot.

We usually spend some of our savings each month, so maybe - £100? We're bad with money!

I think we manage to scrape £200 into our savings each month at the moment.

I dont earn enough to save at all so I think 600 is loads.

Thanks, thought it might be. I haven't saved anything for a good 6 months so my outlook on savings was a bit biased to begin with as I didn't earn enough

I sweep £100 a week (about 23% of my usual net income) into a separate account, but it builds up to about £1,000 and then I get utility bills, buildings insurance, school trips, instrument lessons, car repairs etc. wiping it all out so it's not really saving, it's just setting money aside for inevitable expenses. It's rare to have enough of a surplus to move it into my savings account proper, and usually only happens if I get some freelance work and have a chunk of extra cash.

600 is loads! We have nothing left at the end of the month so no savings whatsoever

I have been working two jobs like a mad lady to put away about £1000 a month.

This will all go next month when we move, but I hope to still save around £650 a month after.

No idea what my OH will save

It's all relative. Some people are fortunate enough to be able to save a lot. Others are not able to save anything at all. Whether it's a lot or not depends on your income as well. If you take home £1200 per month, £600 would be a lot. If you earn £6000 per month, it wouldn't be much at all.

I've always been a saver, since my first Saturday job. It seems very odd to me to be an adult and have no savings. If you want to save, saving has to come first. i.e. you make a conscious decision to save a set sum at the start of the month, not whatever's left at the end of the month.

I always like to save something but it varies as work for myself and has varied over the years. Most people feel happier if they have at least something over to put into savings each month.

As for what is a lot it depends on your income. It really depends on your earnings so impossible to judge and also your view on money and savings. If you and your other half can't agree you couldj ust split finances and each save what you choose from your savings and have a post nup that says if you split up each can keep that savings element that is in their names perhaps.

depends as our childcare costs vary from month to month. On a good month we will save £500 on a bad month £100. I am upping my hours in September so hope to make this £500 consistently

It depends what it's supposed to cover whether it's a lot.

If the £600 is before you've accounted for things like holidays, insurance, car and boiler servicing, house maintenance and decoration, Christmas, birthdays, broken cars, pets and white goods, then it's not much and you still might struggle as you could still keep running out of money.

But it it's genuinely spare after all bills, food, DCs costs, annual and irregular costs like those examples above and adult personal spending money, then it's quite a lot and you should be able to save a decent amount.

It is often suggested that you put savings away at the beginnining of the month, when you get paid, rather than hope there is money left at the end of the month.

Yes agree that money is best put away at the beginning of the month. Since l started doing that mid 40s l don't know mysef. Know heartstopping moments when boiler breaks or whatever. Actually what happens is l manage all money better as l don't want to touch my savings. Great security after years of high income no savings. Now half the income and a nice bit of savings. 500 a month standing order.

I put savings away at the start of the month and if there's money at the end of the month that goes in too.

I put away a minimum of £250 away at the start of the month, and can put away and extra £180 throughout the month.
It's not a great deal, but it will create a cushion.

We had no savings for years, we lived (happily) payday to payday. SO now I'm slightly obsessed with saving money, and watching my savings account rise. :)

I agree, it depends what you count as savings. Savings that go into an account and grows months on months for years? Or savings that is then used towards a nice annual holiday or a new car for instance?

I suppose it’s what you’re saving towards? We have a house deposit in our savings but now with a DD and busy lives any spare money goes towards holidays, days out etc.
I do put quite a chunk into my pension each month though which is me saving towards old age

We save at the beginning of the month as people above say.
It is a priority along with our bills then overpayment of mortgage and our charitable giving.
The exact amount doesn’t matter as it is proportional to our income.
Fun / discretionary spending comes out of what is left...

I think it depends on a few things

1. Do you have any debts? Cash savings don't mean anything if you have credit card/loans

1. Do you have a pension?

1. Are you saving for something specific or is it also your emergency fund?

1. What your income is.

Our joint net income, after pension contributions, is around £5000 a month but our mortgage/childcare/shopping/bills equate to around £3000. We save £1,000 a month into an emergency fund (job losses, massive unexpected bills etc) and £500 a month into a separate account that we tap into for holidays, birthdays, treats etc). We have a new baby though so our social life costs us around £10 a month for Netflix and £20 a week for a takeaway on a Saturday night - if we were more fun we'd definitely save less!

£10-20 at the moment for xmas/birthdays. I'm on mat leave though currently & we're working hard to clear debts

Set up direct debits for savings for the day after you are paid.
Save what you can without leaving yourself short, otherwise you'll be dipping into it every 5 minutes. Have some fun with your money.

Between us, it bounces between £400-600 a month. Leaving each of us with £250-300 a month “spends”

When we move that saving will double, as currently saving for a house deposit and paying rent.

Have to keep in mind though, we both have company cars so no running costs, fuel or insurance to pay.

We also don’t save at the end of the month, we put it into savings the day we get paid.

I save around £350/400 and squirrel away any surplus. My basic monthly wage with no overtime is around £780. I save my no longer needed mortgage payment and also my monthly standing order.

We save loads.

I was a SAHM til 2 years ago, we got used to being without my salary. So now it gets saved - what was never had, doesn't get missed.