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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:
frogs · 04/04/2006 17:41

Most of the advice books/websites on financial planning suggest that whatever your income, you should be saving at least 10% of your monthly income, more if possible.

katyp · 04/04/2006 17:42

In LasVegas' defence, I think she is recently remarried and I think (but I may be wrong) her dh earns a lot more than her. Up to now at least she has preferred to be in a position to be financially independent from him (due to having been let down before) and maybe only now is looking at the overall picture. I don't think she personally is spending a lot on "luxuries" each month but her dh's spending is obviously a lot more. I assume her stepchildren visit regularly, hence the need for more space.

LV, do you need to stay in London and are you absolutely set on private education for your dd? I only ask because there are many places outsside London with v. good state schools which are a very easy commute to the City, for example (easier than commuting from S. London). If you found somewhere more affordable in terms of housing costs and education, you might be able to direct your dh's money towards a new house rather than what he spends it on at the moment!

CountessDracula · 04/04/2006 17:44

SW london

Northerner · 04/04/2006 17:45

Thought so CD.

How are you anyway? Not 'spoken' to ou for a while.

SenoraPostrophe · 04/04/2006 17:46

but didn't lv say she got on the property ladder over a decade ago?

CountessDracula · 04/04/2006 17:46

Oh yes pretty good and you?

CountessDracula · 04/04/2006 17:46

Yes senorap but is the principle of it

A £320k mortgage in London is not unusua

TheBlonde · 04/04/2006 17:47

We save at least 10% of our monthly income each month. I am a natural saver and we have 6 month's worth of income squirrelled away for emergencies, next home, school fees etc

Northerner · 04/04/2006 17:47

I'll be much better in 10 mins when i leave the office and go home.

Bad day today.

NomDePlume · 04/04/2006 17:49

I don't think a £320k mortgage is unusual at all, not just in London or the SE.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 04/04/2006 17:49

no, not unusual at all.

Would say 10% if you can is a good estimate. If you cant, anything is better than nothing.

We are currently paying into DS and DDs savings accounts even though we cant really afford to. Its always worth having something put aside. I am clinging on to some shares for dear life to LOL!

Northerner · 04/04/2006 17:50

In my world a £320k mortgage is unusual.

Screwballmuppet · 04/04/2006 17:52

I'm going into the wrong job!! I'm student nurse halfway through my first of three years and already raised a few thousand pounds worth of debt covering childcare and cost of living expenses. I've experienced the worst stress in the past 6 months than would care to ever remember and though other students in other healthcare professions get up to 4 months off over summer. Nursing at the uni I attend gets 3wks. Last years students struggled to get jobs because of the cutbacks the nhs are making so there might not even be a job for me when I qualify. Even if there is and working up the ladder which I intend on doing I will not likely be earning thousands of pounds a month at the end of my career. I have loved my first placement but am wondering if its worth it, especially if theres jobs out there where I could earn anywhere near that amount of money.
Just having a moan...I know its not right or very PC but apart of me feels so Envy. I have to look over finances again this month to try and find away to make ends meet.

If you've got it then why not treat yourself I know I would and I'd start on a holiday.

CountessDracula · 04/04/2006 17:57

How do you pay for holidays etc if he blows all your cash on betting?

KristinaM · 04/04/2006 18:09

senora - you are in scotland

Under the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985, parents have a general obligation to support their children depending on the particular circumstances of the case. This obligation also applies to children over 18 and up to 25 who are in further education or training.

thought it was the same in england?

jmum6 · 04/04/2006 18:13

Oh God it's another world out there! £350K mortgage? I can't even conceive that. It is unusual round here (wiltshire) and I think wiltshire is fairly expensive although not like London of course.

Well good luck to all of us, big mortgages or not it's all relative at the end of the day, and as long as your happy then you can have a big a mortgage as you like!

zippitippitoes · 04/04/2006 18:20

In your position I'd be pushing to buy a bigger house instead of wasting the money

ssd · 04/04/2006 18:23

I don't think Lasvegas is showing off at all. She and her dp have got a huge amount of money coming in each month but it's all relative. She says she works full time, so to me she's missing loads with her dd as she's working. I know it's controversial on MN to say this but I think money is immaterial compared to being with your kids in the early years. I've got another thread somewhere complaining we're skint and money wise we are. We live on just about £230 a week and somehow scrape by (we live in Scotland and have a small mortgage). I gave up (to me) a good job to be at home with the kids. Now we're suffering the financial consequences, but although I sure do moan I knew we'd be skint. But I've been here with my 2 during all the pre-school years and I think that's worth more than a load of cash (although both would be great!)

Threads like these always open my eyes to how lots of other people live, but I'm so against putting the kids into childcare that no amount of money would make me. I know that's a really unusual point of view, everyones different and so it should be. But when I see posts that say "we have lots of money and I work full time" I'm never jealous. mind you threads that say "we have loads of money and I don't work" DO make me jealous!

I'm not posting this to open up the old SAMH V WOHM debate!!!!Just replying to the above posts that suggest Las Vegas is showing off a bit.

Sparklemagic · 04/04/2006 18:43

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Sparklemagic · 04/04/2006 18:45

yes, bracing myself for the 'not everyone wants to be a SAHM' controversy.

And I know! I'm just saying I'm so glad I feel the way I do. It's given my DS and me so much happiness, that's all.

NomDePlume · 04/04/2006 18:47

It's the betting thing that bothers me.

crunchie · 04/04/2006 18:57

TBH LV I think you have your answers here.

Underneath it all you sound like you are possibly concerned about how much your DH is wasting, and I think you need to address this.

Our situation is a little different, but recently we have got 'into' saving in a big way. We watched pay off your mortgage in 2 years!!

Basically we did our sums and I realised I was spending up to £600 a month on clothes for me and kids, going out for all of us, magazines, coffees etc etc. It made me re-look at things and put myself on a budget for 'pocket money' eg frivilous spending money of £50 a week. This way I can still buy stuff, but I actually think about it now.

In the last few months we have seen our savings jump from £2k - £5K simply by stopping wasted spending and a nice £1.2K tax rebate (put away in case we need it next year) DH and I get really excited when we save more thsn £300 in a month :) (we direct debit £100 each, so if we have more leftover we save it). Since we have an offset mortgage this saving is really helping paying back our motgage quicker as well. It also means if we decide we want to go ski-ing next year we can, and we are getting a conservatory too!! We suddenly realsied we could afford decent things if we simply stopped wasting money.

We also have other stocks/shares which are real emergency stuff, but I don't even think about those.

You do have a great household income, I'd be mad if I said I wasn't jealous!! But we save approx £200 - £300 a month on a take-home income of £3k a month (about 10% I suppose!! :) )

scienceteacher · 04/04/2006 18:59

I can't even get my mind wrapped around spending £500 a week on frivolous things. Surely it all gets old, very quickly, and doesn't feel like a treat or a moment of luxury at all?

If we had this kind of disposable money, I'd be inclined to reduce the mortgage. I'd also think about investing in a second property. If I didn't care so much about the long-term, I think I would then put the money against a really fab holiday or three - ie condense the weekly fun into something more substantial and memorable.

We actually have a similar income to LV's, but much lower mortgage, offset with lots of school fees and little disposable income. The one thing we think we miss out is going on exotic holidays and seeing the world.

Sparklemagic · 04/04/2006 19:01

wow, crunchie - respect! You are doing exactly what we hope to be able to do when DS is at school and I am earning again. And since we sold our house and paid off the silly debts(credit card, loan) we have become very very aware of what every penny goes on.

SimilarIncome · 04/04/2006 19:05

We have a slightly higher household income than LV and her Husband, live in a nice (but not ludicrously expensive) house, both drive reasonable cars, and yet there is NO WAY we could sustain £500 per week on luxuries. We do save a small(ish) amount and have very good insurance/pension provisions, but £500 a week on frivolous stuff is more than we could afford !