Single parents - how much do you have saved?

[Evecob]

Hi all single parents out there owning it in this climate!

Just wondering how hard it is for those of us who are doing it all alone, and if you are able to save and if so how much of an emergency fund do you have? Do you budget?

When I was a single parent on 42k and paying half my wage in rent I saved about 200 per month.

Evecob, what a thoughtful question to put out there — please don't compare yourself to other single parents, every household is different and Upsetbetty's £200 a month is a lovely example of how even a small amount adds up over time. If budgeting feels heavy, one thing that helped me was putting the money aside the moment it arrives and barely noticing it; I used to round up my weekly shop to the nearest pound and tip that spare change into a separate account just labelled "just in case," and before you know where you are it snowballs into a proper little buffer. Sending you a big cuppa and a well done for asking, that first step is often the hardest.

Zero. The ex owes me about 25000 in unpaid child support so I guess technically I gave that saved - but only in the land of Never Never

Ha ha ha, two hundred pounds isn't a small amount to many people. Wow.

The most I ever saved was 2k and that got wiped out by the car MOT, urgent roof repair and having to overpay £900 on the mortgage when I remortgaged to bring equity down so the rate was low enough to afford it.

no longer a single parent but have even less in savings (excluding the kids accounts which I wouldn’t touch unless we were starving/about to lose our home) as everything just keeps going up in cost and things like cars breaking wipe out any savings we do manage to make.

I don't budget but I (usually) make sensible spending decisions. Only 5k saved at the moment, though a lot of equity in the house and a lot saved for the dc.

I save about £150/month between the 3 of us, and have income protection insurance.

But how secure we feel depends on much more, eg income from a job, family support, etc.

What about you OP?

I currently have 4.5k saved but I got that from an inheritance. I’m only able to save £50 a month which I’m putting into the help to save scheme for people on UC.

I've got £154.60.

I’m a lone parent not single parent. Ex husband doesn’t pay CMS at all for our 3 children - I don’t have anything saved!

Single parent with owed child maintenance here too… I’ve got £8 in my savings account which I plan to withdraw today for a coffee 🥲🤣

I think there’s more to it than what do you have saved, do you have life insurance, home/content insurance, a pension etc because if so, I think it’s good enough. We are balls deep in a cosy of living crisis too, and things like petrol go from being £100 to fill up the tank to £180 overnight it seems.

@MyWildOliveGoose
i agree - I try not to let lack of savings worry me. I have life insurance, critical health insurance and unemployment insurance, a good pension as I’ve always worked in a good career. What little I manage to save goes on simple things which makes the kids happy - a day out here or tin of roses for film night there.

I have under £500 in savings but I have a mortgage (eventual full ownership) and really good pension, life insurance and sickness/unemployment cover. These things give me some peace of mind that in a worst case scenario all would not be lost.

I’ve got about £4.5k now as I got some inheritance from my Nan. But I also have a load of credit card debt 😬

It’s so much harder in one income. I think we have to remember that we’re doing well to keep our heads above water and make sure our priority bills are paid and we can buy food and clothes.

I have 0. Every month I say I’ll save and I don’t. I earn well above average and my actual outgoings I’ve kept low. But there’s always something to pay for, especially with teens

"I think we have to remember that we’re doing well to keep our heads above water and make sure our priority bills are paid and we can buy food and clothes."

I love this, so true.

And as a pp said, do look into the Help to Save scheme, it beats any other saving account interest out there!

I have £1000 in an isa but about £10k on zero interest credit cards which essentially function as my emergency fund at the moment. Really want to get that down next year, this year was bad with having to replace the boiler and other stuff, and almost no maintenance as ex was out of work. Losing sleep over it at the moment.

If you can afford 50 quid a month and your eligible, I’d suggest the help to save account, no where else will you get a pound for pound bonus from the gov. When I did it when mine were small you could only run the account for 4 years, but it was manageable and a nice buffer at the end