What percentage of income is realistic to save.

[Anotherusefulname]

DH and I are not massively well off but we are certainly comfortable we don't go without anything we want but we don't have any savings.
I have set up a standing order to my savings account for £200 a month, this is about 9% of our after tax income and just under 1/2 our mortgage payment.
This is money I feel we won't miss, but doesn't seem a lot to be putting aside. If we made some cut backs (no weekly takeaway, shop at Aldi - although I would have to top up another supermarket) I could increase that to £300 so just under 15% of our household income.
DH feels that it would be better to have only £100 going to savings and that anything left over would accumulate in the current account and could be moved manually at the end of the month so that if I am right the amount we save is the same.
I think if it is in the current account I am more likely to fritter it away a few pounds here a few pounds there.
What do you all do, have a standing order or move left over at the end of the month.
We aren't saving for anything in particular I just want a safety net.

I would do it your way until you have a safety net. Can switch to dh's way then (though it does be triggered then one!)

*Flittered, not triggered

I agree - save properly until you’ve built up a pot. In my experience leaving money in the account to transfer at the end of the month usually meant little/nothing to transfer as it did get frittered away.

Do you pay into a pension ?

I pay X & my employer adds the same money for free

ISAs are tax free savings

try and build up 3 -6 months living expenses first, ( if secure jobs 3 months is OK if not or self-employed 6 months ) make sure you have a pension as your employer has to contribute so that is basically free extra money then save in a better long term format either to pay off mortgage early or if you decided to to take a sabbatical later or retire early or if you have children to take more time out or to enable you to go back more part time
if an emergency occurs or even if you decide to go to an expensive restaurant you can always move money back to current account it takes about 2 minutes so if you need it it is there if you don't it is earning a tiny bit of interest

We have ours come out automatically with the other bills and straight into a savings account. Seeing what is left at the end of the month doesn't work for us - tried it for years and it was always "there's money left let's go out for dinner / to the pub / get a takeaway"

We both have pensions I have always seen that as an essential like the mortgage or council tax - non negotiable.

I don't have an ISA but will look into getting one.

Save at the start of the month. We save annual expenses - Christmas, birthdays, insurances etc, plus £50. Works out at £250 per month.

A regular standing order that treats your savings like any other bill is the single best way to save if you have a regular income. You are far more likely to be able to build a pot that way. I invested £250/mth as a minimum from the age of 16, reviewing the exact amounts annually with inflation and my salary (and making savings where I could), and as my salary increased I eventually went to saving 60% of my gross income. Like you I would have spent it if I transferred the money at the end of the month - the only reason why I’ve been able to build the pot I have is because of the regular standing order.

We aim to save £500 a month. If we have something that month like a birthday/wedding/Xmas then we reduce the savings for that month only. We are using the savings atm whilst I'm on maternity, as for us, that is worth it. If we have anything spare in the account at the end of each month, then that gets transferred across. Whilst I'm on mat leave there is nothing left each month, but when I'm at work there is. I would say transfer a set amount across and treat like a bill. Only lower it in a time of need, not just takeaways or night out, but things like Xmas

We save to various “pots”. £250 per month goes to our emergency-not-to-be-touched savings then some to an account for annual purchases (we save monthly for things like insurances and Christmas etc). Also a fixed sum to our holiday account and another amount to our house projects account. Altogether we save over 40% of our income into those accounts but obviously all bar one of them are save-to-spend pots.

I don't think it's helpful to think about percentages, it all comes down to your income and outgoings. If the £200 is doable without any major sacrifices then that seems sensible. If you were saving for something you really wanted rather than just security then it would be easier to cut out the takeaway etc so I would think about that. Do save the £200 but would you rather have a nice holiday or something special instead of the weekly treats?

£200 a month would add up over the years as long as you don't spend it. So another thing is looking at how to avoid spending your savings every time an unexpected bill comes along.

teacakeandlatte

I think why I think in percentages is that my parents always said it was best to have 1/3 for essentials 1/3 to spend and 1/3 to save. Something we have never managed.

I won't fly so I don't save for holidays we have all camping gear so sometimes just find a farmer who charges a few quid a night and sometimes pay more for a proper campsite depending what we can afford that year. I would rather stay at home though.

We have a direct debit for £500 a month, but we have paid off our Mortgage. Prior to that we struggled to save at all. How much you can save depends on your income and outgoings (obviously). I would build up a few months salary in reserve, then prioritise paying off any debts.

Percentages don't work because it is income dependent. For your parents rule of thumb to work, your income would need to be high enough for it to be triple your essentials, so that there was enough left to spend and save afterwards.

Also you need to think about whether these savings are before or after annual or irregular essential expenses like insurance, car expenses or white goods replacements, because you will need all these things sooner or later, so you need to save for these separately to savings that are for the long term, or to cover loss of income etc.

You need to find the right balance between not spending every penny you earn now, but not trying to save too much that you can't afford to have a life now.

you could look at some FIRE ( financial independence retire early) websites for ideas not necessarily buying into the whole thing
it is not necessarily about retiring but not expanding lifestyle as salary expands, if you are living ok on say £2000 a month and you get a £200 a month payrise you can automatically afford to save the whole £200 living frugally not tight but not wasting money and investing wisely

I'm a huge saving to pots fan as well.
It means small incremental build up for huge expenses like Xmas.
Also if I see gifts I was going to buy anyway on sale that money is there and won't impact on anything else.
Same with Xmas days out. Same with bday. I saw a lovely like new bike for dd and was able to take money from bday pot instantly even though with school hols we are being £ stretched. But bday money is there.

Saved up slowly over the months.
Still have not got hang of bigger savings though. That's next goal.

I've just started looking into the whole fire thing too and Mr moustache.

I've realised because we have been on such tight budget but worked out budget it's so much safer when yiu do get more money, for it not to be frittered away.