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Original poster

How much money goes into your savings account each month?

42 replies

fixitfixit · 22/02/2023 01:36

I was wondering if £200 a month is enough savings?

OP posts:
IrritableCowSyndrome · 22/02/2023 01:54

Zero

Valid8me · 22/02/2023 07:35

Well £200 is a heck of a lot more than some people can afford to save every month, me included.

Overthebow · 22/02/2023 07:39

Enough for what? Do you own a house, already have emergency savings, already save into a pension? Surely it also depends what you can afford.

We overpay the mortgage each month and save £200-£400, but we already have £30k in savings so and decent house equity.

Notellinganyone · 22/02/2023 07:40

IrritableCowSyndrome · 22/02/2023 01:54

Zero

Me too - unless you count mortgage. We earn 100 k between us but three children at uni means no spare money.

CheeseSquared · 22/02/2023 07:42

None

Xmasfairy86 · 22/02/2023 07:43
  1. But it’s not a secure savings account as I always take it out by the end of the month 😆😆
Xrays · 22/02/2023 07:43

We aim for about £200 but at the moment we’re just borrowing it back again by the end of month to make ends meet - so zero.

BarrelOfOtters · 22/02/2023 07:45

Enough to have at least 3 month’s expenses….

Findyourneutralspace · 22/02/2023 07:46

Enough for what? On what income? It’s all relative isn’t it?

PetitPorpoise · 22/02/2023 07:55

There isn't a right amount. It's going to be different for everyone.

At the moment, we're saving for a 3 month emergency fund and for a holiday. We've both thankfully got secure jobs, but the principle is that we have an accessible pot sitting there that we can use for unexpected costs rather than taking on debt.

I'm also 'saving' into a high interest regular saver but this is actually going to be used to pay off part of a loan so it's not really savings, unfortunately.

Hedjwitch · 22/02/2023 07:57

300 a month, but well remember the days when it was zero

BarbaraofSeville · 22/02/2023 07:59

That's a real 'how long is a piece of string' question OP.

What do you count as savings? Some people count all money they don't spend that month, others only genuinely spare money after money budgeted for annual and irregular expenses are accounted for.

How much spare money do you have? If you're struggling to cover the basics, £200 savings a month is probably unachievable. If you're living with your parents, earning a professional salary and are supposed to be saving for a house deposit, you could probably save a lot more than £200.

How many people is it to cover and what are their circumstances? If you're mortgage free, in a secure job, and have a paid for car and nothing needs doing on the house, it might be OK, but if you have a precarious high paid job and are the main family earner, then you should probably try to save more than £200 pm.

I don't know how much we save, I don't really count it. But seeing as our circumstances are almost certainly very different to yours, telling you a number doesn't answer the question in your thread title, or the different one in your post Smile

Doyouthinktheyknow · 22/02/2023 08:00

Trying to save to enable me to reduce my hours and stress at work so we save just over 20% of our income but that is for everything, holidays, Christmas, work on the house as well as longer term savings.

We are also paying for 2 dc at university which is a huge burden and means life is a little more frugal than I would like right now.

QueSyrahSyrah · 22/02/2023 08:10

How long is a piece of string? DH and I save a good amount more that between us most months, BUT we have decent salaries, don't have children and we rub along in a small flat with a small mortgage as that's all we need.

There's been times in the past when I've been lucky to save £20 at the end of the month, or even not to go into debt by any more.

If £200 isn't leaving you desperately short (and you're not splashing out on unnecessary things while saving for a purpose like a house deposit) then £200 is perfect.

Musicsoundsbetter22 · 22/02/2023 08:13

ive been in debt and had no money so I’ll admit saving is the first thing I do on payday.

I have a small pot for premium bonds which I save approx £50 a month into. I like the chance of winning. I have every day savings for house renovations which are on going holidays/emergencies etc. About £150 ish. As projects ongoing I also over pay the mortgage by about 30% a month. We have a small mortgage though!

It’s all relative. We have no kids so no fees and expenses. We aren’t married and have separate finances. I’m on £24k. I use Vinted for clothes nowadays. We like a meal and drinks out. We do like a euro city break and and a U.K. break which we do as cheaply as we can but no all inclusive type hols to fork out for.

Should add though I’m noticing my money getting stretched further and further now.

bonzaitree · 22/02/2023 08:13

OP it depends what you can afford to save.

Some people can’t save £2. For others they can save £2,000 per month.

It depends on your income and outgoings. if you post those numbers, people will be able to help on here.

Cornelious2011 · 22/02/2023 08:20

Zero. I'm rubbish at saving, but I do pay £350 per month into a LiSA and additional pension payments and £50 for dc ISA. I do have access to money through my Ltd company (I'm the director) if there was an emergency though.

Noshowlomo · 22/02/2023 08:25

About £2…

Dyrne · 22/02/2023 08:26

Depends.

If you’re spending £800/month on your nails while in a precarious job position and wanting to buy a house next year then I’d say you probably need to reprioritise and save more if you want to meet your goals.

if £200/month is what you’ve got left after all bills, sinking funds, and a modest amount of personal spends; then you’re doing pretty well.

Finances are very personal. I personally save a lot more than that but that’s because of my own situation and my own finances; so it has no bearing on what others do.

Obstackle · 22/02/2023 08:26

None.

But a four figure sum into my pension.

rexythedinosaur · 22/02/2023 08:40

How can anyone possibly answer this without knowing what you are saving for?

If you mean for old age/ retirement, again, how can anyone know without knowing your current age and pension situation?

If you mean for a house, how can anyone know without knowing where you live, whether you currently rent/ have a mortgage, whether you have kids/ your family size, what kind of house you want, etc.

Sorry OP but it's a daft question without any context.

kimchifix · 22/02/2023 19:00

I put £25 pm into a savings account which I don't often look at / doesn't have a card attached and it's come in handy for unexpected expenses or in months when I've been a bit short at the end of the month. I do have other investments where the money is tied up and not easy to access though.

SweetPetrichor · 22/02/2023 20:04

Whatever you can afford is the answer here. I save £450 per month. £200 of that goes into a pot for annual expenses like car/home insurance, car tax, MOT and maintenance, etc - any spare accrued after the year has been paid gets moved into regular savings. The rest goes straight in regular savings.
As a household we also put aside £300 per month into a home maintenance saving account which pays for any call outs, repairs or maintenance required to the home.

In the past the answer would have been more like £50…maybe even zero on a skint month. So it really is just what works for the household. We don’t spend money on things we don’t need, so once bills are paid a fair chunk gets put away.

TomatoSandwiches · 22/02/2023 20:10

We have an annual budget, very detailed and reviewed each quarter, effectively we save for the next year, any excess from the previous goes into joint savings and then we have our own separate personal accounts including the children.
They get £60 pcm direct into savings and £40 pcm Pocket money.
I put roughly £150pcm away and my husband a bit more plus pensions.

Girliefriendlikespuppies · 22/02/2023 20:14

I put £150 into one savings pot which is for Christmas, birthdays, emergencies, holidays etc

I also have a separate pot which I put £50 into which is just for car related expenses.

The last three two months have been awful and I've ended up taking most of it back out for essentials 🫤

I used to be able to save this fairly easily but not anymore.

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