Saved my first ever £1000 at 20 with a 18 month old and feel amazing!

[Amyjo2003]

I've never been great with money. Usually living pay check to pay check and be broke by end of the month. In the new year my mind set shifted on money wanting more stability for my family. So I wanted to get a "rainy day" fund behind me for those unexpected events.

I don't have loads left over after paying rent and bills so only been able to put away £150 a month, but today for the first time in my life I've managed to save a whole £1000 into my savings!!

If anything goes wrong- we're okay!

I know it might not seem a lot to a lot of people but I see this as an amazing start and I'm so proud of my self! This is a massive accomplishment for me!

I hope to carry on and put even more in each month. Hoping for one day to own my own house😊

Well done you, that’s an amazing achievement, you should be very proud!

Well done, if you claim any universal credit look into help to save, I did it a few years ago and put by £50 a month (plus my partner did too) and the government give you a huge chunk of money too at a couple of intervals x

That’s such a great achievement. My guilty pleasure is moving £10 or £20 when I can into a savings account and watching it slowly grow.

Well done!

Tell me more! I thought the more you had saved the less you get from UC?!

Well done! It's a lovely feeling 😊

Well done!

Yep, definitely look into a Help To Save account. I have one and you can only top it up by £50 max a month.

@Amiable have a look into it here https://www.gov.uk/get-help-savings-low-income

What a fantastic achievement! Well done to you @Amyjo2003 you should be so proud of yourself! X

Well done! Invest as well as save if you can.
stocks and share isa - start small

That's amazing! Thankyou

I really don't have much spare at the end of the month but if the gov are going to give me free money, I'll take it!

Well done, what an amazing achievement. Your little baby is so lucky to have such a smart mummy. Keep going xx

Well done OP! Keep going!

Get a stocks and shares isa and round ups to it. Small amount each month. Well done

You could earn 5% interest with a chip easy access ISA, and get at it whenever you want.

Maybe something for the future but right now for the OP that's a bit 'running before she can walk'.

Current savings are a great start but she probably wants a little more cash savings, which she can get a guaranteed 5% interest on, before gambling on the stock market.

Amazing, amazing job!! There's nothing you can buy that makes you feel as good as having savings does; to paraphrase Kate Moss!!
I hope the rainy days are few and far between so you can continue to grow your savings 💓

Brilliant and as mentioned if you do universal credit we only had to put in £50 a month and you get a chunk back with it from the government after saving it

At 20 and prticularly with a small child that is a fabulous achievement. The best thing about savings is that you can spend it in your head over and over and it's far more fun that frittering it away. It becomes addictive!

"Maybe something for the future but right now for the OP that's a bit 'running before she can walk'.

Current savings are a great start but she probably wants a little more cash savings, which she can get a guaranteed 5% interest on, before gambling on the stock market."

Nope. I'm hardly telling her to go study the FTSE 🤣. Even a few quid into it here and there will show decent returns.

She should, of course, have savings too. Rounding up a few pennies into an S&S isa is extremely sensible for a young person to do. Choose the lowest risk and see how you go.

Have a look at money box. Some great accounts and maybe think about a LISA for you and JISA for the child

Well done. I know exactly how that feels. i was always in a bit of manageable debt with no savings when i was younger. Once that was clear i never wanted to do that again. Im a lower earner but saving has become very addictive to me. I love having a buffer and everything i do is saved for nowadays. No credit bar mortgage.

Well done you. At 20 that's you off the blocks. You will amass a secure financial future if you carry on saving and investing. Learn as much as you can about finances and keep going. You have time and the right mindset on your side and those are the best two assets you can start with. ✨️

On another note... although you have had a good response this time on here dont come back in ten years time and tell them you've just reached your first mil, you'll probably get lambasted.

What I'm saying is move in silence in the real world and let people think you're poorer than them! You'll avoid a lot of envy and problems. But go slay....

Congratulations :-)

I'd recommend you don't share your achievement with your friends or family though, as a surprising number of people seem to think other peoples savings are available for them to borrow.

Help2Save account is amazing, definitely look into that if on a lower income it's not just for those on benefits. You lock money away for 4 years, pay in a max £50 a month and at the end of two years you are given a govt bonus of 50% of what you saved, do the same again and get another 50% of what you saved in years 3 and 4.
Mine allowed me to pay the £2.5k for DDs private autism assessment instead of going on the 4+ year NHS waiting list. If she hadn't needed that I would have kept it aside to pay for the expensive Secondary school overseas trips.

MoneyBox is also great to start paying into even if you just set it up to round up your normal spends to the nearest £. I have a LISA 3.5% at the minute which will be for my retirement, and an easy access account at 5.5%. I save into this weekly with £25+ round ups and then transfer 50% to the LISA in Feb to make use of the interest and the govt bonus.

I also set up a SIPP for DD through AJBell and save money into tracker funds for her. I do a couple £100 a year for her and like the idea that when she's retired and I might not be around I'll still be looking after her and at least be buying her a coffee.