How much do you save each month?

[glastomummy]

Bit of a random one... I am trying to get my partner to get better with money and saving. We have decent salary's - me £58k and him £50k - neither of us are great with money but I have worked hard to get out of debt, my credit score is good and I am saving each month. He still has debt and his credit score is dreadful! I do often wonder how my friends always have so much money - some earn similar to us but some much less. I know it depends on circumstances/outgoings but I wondered how much people save each month/how much you earn. I am pregnant and I want us to get into good habits before the baby comes. I also want to buy a house as we are still renting. TIA x

About 33% into long term savings (isa and mortgage overpayment)

And about 10% into short term (Xmas, holidays etc.)

The above doesn’t include pensions which come out before take home pay

Thank you @Mushrooms0up x

Knowing how much other people save is not going to help you imo. You need to look at your situation and how you spend your money.
It’s straightforward to write down all expenditure in one month and look at where your money goes and where you can make savings.
Dh and I had savings targets which we reviewed every quarter and new targets set for each year.
You could look at:
Better deals for insurance
Subscriptions you don’t use
Sky/Netflix etc
Taking sandwiches to work
Takeaways

@ShanghaiDiva thank you for your reply. I am just interested to see how much people generally save. I understand how to budget- but am I giving myself too much money to spend? It's difficult to know what is 'normal' when you've not been great with money in the past. If I want something, I'll buy it. Now we are having a child that just change. That's all 😊

• must

Yes, you need to take a close look at your out goings. I earn 50k and save 1k a month after a good pension. Single mum.

@TurtleBackUp

Yes I do! I don't understand how people have families and still manage to save! 🤣 so much to learn!! Thank you for your help! X

I don't think you can 'make' someone better at savings ... both you and your DH earn very good salaries but it seems that neither of you have any savings ... even though you are expecting a baby? My DS is 21, a Uni student but has already accrued decent savings from part time jobs on minimum wage ....
I know I sound old fashioned and boring but you need to really discuss your outgoings, make a budget and just start saving.
It doesn't mean anything if I tell you how much I 'save' ... but we had paid off our mortgage by our early 40s and well on the way to be able to look forward to a comfortable retirement. (And our joint salaries are considerably less than your's and your DP's). How are you planning to finance your maternity leave?

I’m not quite sure. Breaking it down…

I try to save practically all of any bonuses I get - perhaps treat myself to 1-2 things but no more than 5-10% of the bonus

I try to put aside for savings about 20-30% of my usual monthly pay - this also gets chipped into for stuff like holidays / bigger home purchases if needs be

This doesn’t include pension / childcare vouchers which all goes out before I get paid and basically ignored

@Ragwort I have savings, enough for maternity and the rest to put towards a deposit but we need more for that. It is more my DH that I am trying to give a nudge, he thinks he is saving as much as we can but I just want us both to see that people on much less save much more than us and we could tighten our belts considerable. Appreciate your reply! Thank you.

[quote glastomummy]@ShanghaiDiva thank you for your reply. I am just interested to see how much people generally save. I understand how to budget- but am I giving myself too much money to spend? It's difficult to know what is 'normal' when you've not been great with money in the past. If I want something, I'll buy it. Now we are having a child that just change. That's all 😊[/quote]
If you want to have savings then the mentality of buying something because you want it has to change. Save at the beginning of the month into an account you cannot access instantly, if it’s already been transferred you can’t spend it.

I earn about the same as you, OP, and I have saved more than £20k since the start of the pandemic. That’s all the holidays which were cancelled, weekends away & nights out that didn’t happen, restaurant meals never eaten, concert tickets never bought, etc etc.

With a joint income of £108k and no children you should be saving at least £1k a month, each. If you aren’t, you need to seriously look at what you’re spending and make some major changes if you want to buy a house. Which is something you should definitely be able to do on that income unless you want to buy in central London.

I save for yearly expenses every month - Xmas, car insurance, home insurance, holiday etc. I never ever get these on pay monthly and I always pay them off asap.

I also save £100 per month into a stocks and shares isa.

I put 15% into my pension.

I overpay mortgage by 10% each month (ie put in 550 rather than £500.

I'm also saving for my other king term goal of buying a house.

Oh and I am single and earn less than you

@PlanetNormal

I earn about the same as you, OP, and I have saved more than £20k since the start of the pandemic. That’s all the holidays which were cancelled, weekends away & nights out that didn’t happen, restaurant meals never eaten, concert tickets never bought, etc etc.

With a joint income of £108k and no children you should be saving at least £1k a month, each. If you aren’t, you need to seriously look at what you’re spending and make some major changes if you want to buy a house. Which is something you should definitely be able to do on that income unless you want to buy in central London.

Agree with this - £1,000 a month at least.

The other thing if you are not married and expecting a baby, please make sure you have wills and insurances in place so that you are secure in case of a break up etc with regards to your property...

I save 17% into my pension, employer puts in 10% plus then I save about 20% of my take home pay. Any bonuses will go into my pension.

We have about £10k in savings. Currently not actively saving up so anything spare at the end of the month is going on overpayment for the mortgage. We don't need more than 10k in the bank with interest rates so low.

@PlanetNormal @D0lphine
Thanks guys!! That's what I was thinking - about 1/3 of our monthly salary. I've been saving about £750 a month plus my annual bonus but can definitely make that up to 1k.
Really useful comments thanks! We are going to have a look at where our money is going and I can show him this thread and hopefully get him to see that we are just spending too much!! Thanks all!! X

Good luck with your journey! X

You Need a Budget.

Google it, or come and join us on the YNAB thread on here.

We earn about half of your joint salaries but have no debt, low mortgage. We save 20 for each child monthly. Grandparents also save for them.
We overpay the mortgage by 350pm, put 150 into medium term savings for things like new kitchen, new car in a few years, 200pm into long term savings not to be touched til our late 50s when we want to retire (aiming to save enough to let us both finish work at 58). Lastly we save 450 into short term savings for things like holidays, Christmas, car insurance, home maintenance etc.

You need to know what your savings are for so you won't dip into them. I'd hammer the debt now then knuckle down and save.

[quote glastomummy]@ShanghaiDiva thank you for your reply. I am just interested to see how much people generally save. I understand how to budget- but am I giving myself too much money to spend? It's difficult to know what is 'normal' when you've not been great with money in the past. If I want something, I'll buy it. Now we are having a child that just change. That's all 😊[/quote]
I agree with @ShanghaiDiva, what others generally save is not relevant to your situation. There is no normal.

But on your incomes, unless your fixed, basic outgoings are extremely high, eg large mortgage and transport costs, you should be able to save a lot.

Our incomes are about 2/3 yours and we save £1-2k pm, because our outgoings are very low. But everyone has different definitions of saving - are you talking about money that will be later spent, eg on car maintenance and replacement, holidays, home improvements, Christmas, insurance, white goods replacement or genuinely spare money?

Your problem is that your DH is not on the same page financially and is not managing his money well. On those incomes, you probably shouldn't be in debt at all, or should at least be working hard to pay it off, restricting unnecessary spending, living frugally, getting it all on 0%, paying it off as quickly as possible, then saving hard to 'catch up' and put yourself in a position to buy.

I have heard a rule of thumb that you should limit your basic essentials to 50% of your income. This includes any debt repayments, all essential bills, food, travel for work etc. Then spend no more than 30% of your income on fun stuff, including leisure travel, eating out, clothes, gadgets etc and save 20% in pensions and long term savings.

But that doesn't work for everyone, as some people's basic essentials cost more than 50% of their income, others could afford to save more than 20% and still have a good standard of living, and this would be a sensible thing to do in the right circumstances, eg if they want to save a mortgage deposit, or aren't on track with pension savings.

[quote glastomummy]@Ragwort I have savings, enough for maternity and the rest to put towards a deposit but we need more for that. It is more my DH that I am trying to give a nudge, he thinks he is saving as much as we can but I just want us both to see that people on much less save much more than us and we could tighten our belts considerable. Appreciate your reply! Thank you. [/quote]
It's all a balance though isn't it? You also have to factor in your lifestyle and how you both want to live. Saving is important, but so is enjoying life, and you are earning a very decent amount between you to be able to do a bit of both.

I think rough suggestions are
20% saved
Max 30% rent\mortgage
50% on everything else