What savings did you have by age 27?

[Sweetdisposition91]

Starting to panic a bit as I’m nearly 27, I have absolutely nothing in savings and still live at home!
Been quite frivolous with money I guess and enjoy nice holidays and cars etc, but think now I need to start being sensible and think about the future!

So pure nosiness really, how much do you aim to save per month? And what position were you in when you were 25-30?

Between the other half and I we have £150k in savings, both of us are 29. No kids, live pretty cheaply, work hard, and the other half got £35k from a relatives death in service payout.

The problem is to get that degree of financial surplus we are always on the move, no geographical stability, never in one place longer than twelve months. We can't wait for enough stability to buy a house and be part of a community rather than a nomad.

At 27 I had bought a flat and had been paying in to a pension for six years. I had a few thousand in savings. But this is 25 years ago, I earned quite a lot of money in a short lived career and started investing when young. I was very driven from a young age.

I had none at 27 but I did have a pension and I bought a house when I was 24 so all my savings went into that and doing the house up, it takes a while. I would start saving now even if its a little bit then at least you have something to fall back on in emergencies.

I had £26,000 in savings at 27. Enough for a deposit on a house in London. God, those were the days!

At 27 I had £700. I was really proud of it as I had worked two (minimum wage) jobs to save it up.

The money was to get me out of a shithole town and moved to a university city and start my self-funded degree. I still have the debt from the student loan, but got a good job as a graduate, and bought a house with DH when I was 32.

I did all my wild and reckless stuff between 18 and 25. At 27 I was ready for the sensible career amd mortgage. I didn't really go travelling abroad, I may have to save that for retirement

Surely if you were going to go travelling you would have done it by now?

Zero in savings but about £8k in pension... bought a flat with someone who had saved for a deposit... lucky me.

It's never to late to start - save some for house, some for a pension, some for a holiday. You might have to trim the outgoings first of course.

Champagne taste on a lemonade budget springs to mind!

It took me years to save a deposit so I started as soon as I could and bought when I was 25.

At 27 I had a lodger paying off my mortgage and plenty of savings and equity.

I am 32 now and earn a lot more than OP but still wouldn't dream of spending 17k on a car or going on multiple foreign holidays a year. You can't have it all, if the holidays are the reward for working hard, what is he car for?

OP can you increase your salary to match your expectations?

I have approx 13k in savings, mortgage on a 3 bed house at 24, own my own car (although it’s nothing special and my car before was also nothing to shout about)
Partner also owns his own car
No debt.
Just got back from a 4K holiday which we saved up seperatly for.

Op you are living way beyond your means, 17k car yet you feel you deserve holidays and you still live at home

Car insurance £160 a month!! I'm intrigued to know what car you have.

You’re right I have been living beyond my means! Interesting to hear all your responses thank you. I have a 4 series bmw.

Nice. I like my cars too and it's one thing I can't be without. You can easily make cut backs and keep the nice car. Good luck.

User I know I love having my nice car it’s worth the expense for me with the joy it brings me every time I drive it 😊 will have to cut down on the going out and luxuries instead!

At 27 and 29, we had 100k between us but we bought a house. Now at 29 and 31, after a maternity leave year for me and a masters year for my partner, we only have about 2k for emergencies but it will be different next year!

How on earth did you save £100K....?!
What salary are you on to be earning enough to pay all your bills and then save that much...

I'm 25, £234k house, £150k mortgage left on it and a grand total of £700 in savings.

Doing ok house wise but I am utterly hopeless at keeping savings these days.

Blimey, at 27 I was about $15k in debt!!

I paid it down significantly, then moved offshore just after my 28th birthday and thankfully got very well paid. Cleared it within a few months and built up a lot of savings.

I'm 29 now and have zero savings, around 20k of debt, rent a house with my partner, and with 3 stepchildren and a baby on the way this summer no cha 've if having any savings in the foreseeable future. But we get by and we are happy and that's all that matters

I got a mortgage with my bf ( now DH) and bought a car when I was 27. I had almost finished by professional qualifications and was confident of a steady income. Small deposit required but no other backup.

So your take home is £1850

Your outgoings there are £1100 even including the expensive car, and £30 of nails a month.

There’s still £750 or £9000 per year vanishing that you haven’t accounted for?

£2500 holidays, £400 car service. Still £6000 missing!

What about MOT, tax, tv license? Still not gonna make up that sum of money do work out what Is making it up!

Ultimately you earn a good wage but you are doing yourself out of a good pension by not saving now - everything you save into one (assuming you have a student loan) will be worth 1.7x the cost from your take home instantly (20% tax, 12% NI, 9% student loan = 41% effective tax rate: 1/(1-0.41)=circa 1.7 and compound interest can then multiply that up fourfold over time.

I pay myself first (ie save as soon as I’m paid), but I also have a waaay less fancy lifestyle. I only budget loosely - but that’s because I’m saving plenty. I put £175 into a savings account monthly - this covers car insurance, house insurance, MOT, and the other irregular bills. I then save separately for holidays and long term. I can budget loosely because for years I budgeted rightly so now I can let things slide a little.

But letting things slide is a holiday to France with friends that should be less than £400 including spending for the week. My phone is £7.50. I drive a car that was (to me) mega expensive and does everything I could want: reliable, Bluetooth, air con, power steering, reversing camera. But it came out of savings and will last years.

You can choose something you don’t want to scrimp on - you’re well paid. You at that’s your car -fab! But then you also want mega holidays and a mega fancy phone, and nails done (local beauty college instead? They’re £8 there near me!) and wherever the remaining £6k a year is going! So if the car is non negotiable then the other things need to flex. If you don’t even know what the £6k is to write it down - clothes? Hair? Is it worth it?

I'm 27 now and only have about 3k saved. Having a baby in November so saving with DP for childcare, baby stuff etc. Bought our house when I was 26 and DP was 27. I do have a 5k bank loan however which I took out to pay for my masters degree (already paid off 5k) and a big student loan! This sets me back about 250 a month. I currently save £500 a month and DP another £500. That's living extremely frugally!

You know what though? I wish I went on more holidays. We are squeezing a couple in before baby is here! Everyone is different and 27 is very young. I spent my whole life studying, working, with me head in books and working 3 jobs at a time. You have spent yours in a more free spirited way. You have this wonderful thing called LIFE EXPERIENCE and I bet you've had fun a long the way. Money is not everything.

Etymology, I’ve not always had the second job I’ve only had it a few months so before that I was taking home around 1600 a month.

I don’t save for mots, service, birthdays, Christmas etc, just pay them as they come, my auntie trims my hair for free and I have balayage every 6 months at £90 a go. I suppose the rest goes on food, clothes, make up, and going out.

Laurelie, that’s what I keep telling myself, that I only live once and that experiences and memories are more important to me, but it’s time for me to also think about the future going forward!