How much do you have for a "rainy day"?

[ChochoCrazyCat]

Just curious...how much do you keep for emergencies and how much would be your ideal amount?
I'm trying to work what a sensible amount would be so that there's a cushion, but also not having lots of money in a bank depreciating...as interest rates are so low.

@fromdownwest

It wasn't always like this for us, things are not set in stone and do generally improve.

Hold hard.

Access to 30k if needed.

@ChoChoCrazyCat

We still have an offset mortgage so that we can access our credit line should we need to.

Savings - we mean stock & shares ISAs NOT savings' accounts so you need to comfortable with investing in the stock market.

I've got enough to live on for two years but I'm mortgage free so outgoings not enormous. I intend to shop around for everything that comes due for renewal this year to try and reduce outgoings even further. Just shipped around for building insurance. Renewal quote came in at £500/yr!!! I've managed to get the cover I need for £128/yr, paid as a single lump sum.

We have a significant (life changing) amount thanks to a recent inheritance. Most is tied up in investments but could be accessed if needed.
Going to leave it for a while and then make some plans for our futures.

I feel quite down/panicky when I read about others savings on here.

God yes!

£0.00. single mum on a zero hours contract.
We just have to manage.

Don't know why I read these as well.

We have just over 1k but also a similar amount in debt which in theory could pay off today but then would have nothing to fall back on. So would rather do it this way and continue to pay smaller amounts on the debt

I'm surprised by how much everyone seems to have stashed away! DP and I are both self employed and put 1/3 of our earnings away for tax, so often have a pot of £20k+ at the end of the tax year. I always think of that as our 'emergency' fund, which isn't ideal but I could arrange a tax repayment plan if anything happened. We spend anything left over after tax on a holiday and start again. So sometimes we have nothing, sometimes we have £20k-ish, but it's not designated savings if that makes sense!

In terms of cash not loads but would tide us over for a couple of months.

Stuff I could sell easily (including our cars) about 6 months, probably a little more.

Access to credit around 60-85k so a couple of years.

I’m assuming from the above DH lost his job and we’re cutting back to bare bones spending.

No cash. I hold all domestic money in global equity funds, alongside ISA and SIPP. Never had to draw on anything but it would come from the equity free account if needed. Don’t see the point of holding cash now.

£25k in savings and always try to increase it back up to that mininum if we dip in.

In cash, enough for 2 years living expenses and school fees if we both lost our jobs.
We are lucky and we earn well.

Those of you who say you have money in investments...what do you mean by that exactly? Stocks and shares?

For us, it's a mix of individual stocks, mutual fund shares, and shares of ETFs (exchange traded funds).

The investments that I would draw on in an emergency are money market funds that function like bank savings accounts. In the past, we have sold stocks for big expenses, like replacing a car.

I have £7,000, which is 6 months living expenses.

I feel like these threads tend to attract people with huge amounts or people feeling bad because they have a low amount.

I have different pots, so long term savings I have nearly £1,300. I have £450 in either stocks and shares or various Bitcoin.

Then I have disposable savings, for miscellaneous, smallish unexpected things, eg I’ve decided to try applying for teaching jobs after a career break to be with baby DS but it was £45 to register with the teaching regulatory body again, so I took it out of those savings. There’s currently around £80 but it tends to sit at roughly £200.

Finally, I have what I call sinking funds. I use Monzo and have various pots, like Christmas & birthdays, car, school etc. By their nature, they rise and fall, but it’s sitting at about £300 right now.

All in all, I’ve got about £2k. This time two years ago I had basically nothing, I’m on a low wage, lived week to week as paid weekly and was always at the bottom end of my £1k overdraft, then DP got sick and tried to kick me out and I literally had nowhere to go. It was awful.

I sorted myself out, have paid down most of my debts and have scraped my savings together. I fully intend never to be in that position again but I almost definitely won’t have some of the amounts on this thread I am, however, incredibly proud of myself.

I sorted myself out, have paid down most of my debts and have scraped my savings together. I fully intend never to be in that position again but I almost definitely won’t have some of the amounts on this thread grin I am, however, incredibly proud of myself.

As well you should be! Well done, Molly.