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Original poster

How much do you have in savings?

217 replies

Lasvegas · 04/04/2006 13:00

Saw thread about spending more than £130 on yourself without consulting partner and it shocked me how much DH & I spend on luxuries compared to the rest of you. Him about £400 a week on betting, clothes, eating out and drinking, cabs, presents for me. Me about £100 a week mainly on dinner out, baby sitters and cabs. We are not particularly wealthy just that we spemd just about everything we earn, but we don't have any debts at all except the mortgage. We have a total of 12k in savings which would cover the mortgage for 6 months. If car needed new engine that would be £6K. So 12K not a massive amount. Maybe we should save more given we have 3 kids to support but DH loves to spend on himself and on me and tbh I'm not that worried as we both have good pensions, life assurance, critical health assurance etc. Also bro in law died aged 38 so we both kinds think enjoy life while you can. Is my attitude different to the rest of you? Do you save a proportion of your spare cash each month?

OP posts:
EnidFord · 04/04/2006 17:09

ah

betting

how depressing

geekgrrl · 04/04/2006 17:10

TBH saving £100 a month if you're used to spending so much is going to be about as much use as pissing on a house on fire.

EnidFord · 04/04/2006 17:11

lol @ fire engine

jmum6 · 04/04/2006 17:11

pmsl geekgrrl

EnidFord · 04/04/2006 17:12

agree geekgirl

in fact 12K is bugger all considering how much you spend

you could give up work and stay at home btw if your dh didnt spend anything on luxuries

zippitippitoes · 04/04/2006 17:15

I keep hearing Hercule Poirot commenting

" ah I see ee 'as 'is leetle luxuries, mon ami"

Screwballmuppet · 04/04/2006 17:18

Savings what are those

spacedonkey · 04/04/2006 17:19

£0.00

flutterbee · 04/04/2006 17:20

I have to say that I'm not offended by the post at all just a little bemused.

If like you say you know what it is like to be poor then you can not for one second think that earnings of 7k a month make you "not particularly wealthy" you and your dh earn in 2 months more than what a single person on minimum wage earns in a year.

Do either of you have anything to show for your luxuries?

I would love to be able to spend the same amount of money on luxuries as you and your dh do, I think most people would. But having said that if dh and I were in your position I can assure you that we would be doing a hell of a lot more with it than just wasting it, in fact I would have to be set up for life before I wasted that type of money.

I think this is a case of each to their own.

In answer to your original question dh and I have no money left in savings as it is all going to dissapear when the purchase of our new home goes through (if it goes through) but we do have about 7k in shares that dh's dad left him when he died.

I would also just like to ask how cramped can you be when I presume their is just you, your dh and your dd living at home as this also bemused me. Do you live in a 1 bed property??

jmum6 · 04/04/2006 17:31

£2.200 a month on mortgage - you must have the biggest smallest house ever.

Uwila · 04/04/2006 17:31

I'd be happy if I had £7000 take home each month. Just thinking about it makes me Grin

Actually this thread has me thinking I should shut up. I moan about my finances all the time and it appears they aren't actually THAT low. However, sadly they are not £7000.

I just need to hold out until we pay off debt and get kids into free school.

Thank you for this thread. It has shown me that I am not so poor after all.

handlemecarefully · 04/04/2006 17:32

Since you ask, I think that savings of £12,000 are fairly paltry relative to your household income.

(It's obviously all relative).

And that you have the ability to save more, and should do so.

EnidFord · 04/04/2006 17:32

tbh you sound scared of your money lasvegas

EnidFord · 04/04/2006 17:33

If we took home £7,000 a month we would be paying off our mortgage in HUGE chunks

Uwila · 04/04/2006 17:33

However, if I am to be frank (and I usually am), not saving with that level of spending cash is a bit foolish. You should be establishing education trust funds for the kids, if nothing else. £200 / month for each kid will set them up nicely if anything should ever happen to you.

Saggarmakersbottomknocker · 04/04/2006 17:34

£2200 is my annual earnings Grin

Gawd - how the other half live!

SenoraPostrophe · 04/04/2006 17:34

if we took home 7k we might be able to get a mortgage

KristinaM · 04/04/2006 17:34

Las Vegas - other posters have suggested that you have instant access savings to keep you for 6 months. For you that woudl be about 45K , right? So 12K is not nearly enough

If I were you I would also be puting lots of cash into savings for your childrens education. Even if you dont need it for school fees it could cost you about 8K per annum for each child at university. You are legally obliged to support your children thro uni if they are under 25. If you put the accouts in your childrens names you get some tax breaks on the interest.

If I were you I woudl also be paying off my mortgage, not spending so much on myself. I'm sorry if it sounds harsh, but if one or both of you has a serios illness, all the more reason for you to provide for your children ( and for whoever will raise them ). You cant just " live for today" if you have children.

Most life insurance policies are about paying off the mortgage, not replacing your life time earnings and all teh unpaid labour invloved in bringing up children eg if you died, woudl your Dh have to hire a nanny and a housekeeper? ( I knwo you are not a sahm but you get the idea???

That is what I would do if I had your income. But I would also get some advice on finiacial planning from an expert

handlemecarefully · 04/04/2006 17:35

Not necessarily the best returns to pay off a low interest mortgage Enid when you could be making more of a return from investments...

Northerner · 04/04/2006 17:35

Yes jmum - over £2000 mortgagae is hardly a 2 up 2 down is it?

Anyway to answer Lasvegas's question - yes, with that kind of disposable income you should save more.

SenoraPostrophe · 04/04/2006 17:36

"you are legally obliged to support your children through uni..."

no you're not. But the state won't pay for them.

EnidFord · 04/04/2006 17:36

yes true

but reassuring nonetheless

tbh lasvegas could probably do both

MissChief · 04/04/2006 17:36

you know, it actually could be a 2 up, 2 down, round here they sell for around £400k..

CountessDracula · 04/04/2006 17:40

Actually £2k only buys you about £320k mortgage over 25 years repayment - in many parts of london you can't even get a two bed flat for that - around where we are you certainly couldn't even get a 2 up 2 down

£7k is not much really for London but I do think you are wasting it. As for spending on betting, that is just money down the loo. He may as well chuck it down the loo and flush.

Northerner · 04/04/2006 17:40

Blimey - where do you live?!!!