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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:
Piffle · 05/04/2006 10:09

Any of our savings go striaght onto our mortgage! According to Alvin Halls calculations - liquidity assessment - we score very highly indeed. Only debt is mortgage and we have 75% equity - this was luck due to dp and my old properties rising dramatically but we'll take it thanks.
We have pensions, although are concentrating on mortgage for now.
I have a bro in London who earns £100k He gets an annual bonus of £45k
He lives in a shared flat has little spare cash.
We are tenhically wealthier on paper - if he lost his job he'd have nothing
Wealth is truly relative.
Thre are few people who have spent frivolously at one point, who do not later regret wasting that money....

Sparklemagic · 05/04/2006 10:11

ta SSD Smile

I have obviously led a sheltered life but just can't BELIEVE how much some jobs pay!!!!!!!!!

I know one of these super earners is a financial advisor - is it JUST the financial services that pay this much?

Thinking of re-training, ha ha [weak smile emoticon]

oliveoil · 05/04/2006 10:23

Bit of savings, v small mortgage and lots of equity, no debts, and am going to win the lottery later so all is well.

And my dh is home for 5pm every day, huzzah.

lockets · 05/04/2006 10:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DaddyCool · 05/04/2006 10:51

there's alot of money to be made in the UK. Alot of money.

the problem I have is the work/home balance. I hate my job and career and I hate long hours.

I had to make some tough decisions regarding my earnings potential vs. my family. I've chosen my family but I'm still trying to try out flexible working and alternative careers.

if you are willing you work very long hours and dedicate yourself to the job, you can make a massive amount of money in this country. six figures is not out of sight. not in the least. I know flunky 22/23 year olds making six figures in accessable areas such as recruitment. It isn't difficult... but kiss goodbye to family life... or any life at all that is.

FairyMum · 05/04/2006 10:55

Not always true DaddyCool. We are high earners with flexible working hours and get to see our children. Not being smug, but earning a lot of money doesn't necessarily mean you have no life outside work. And the other way around as in lockets example.

DaddyCool · 05/04/2006 10:57

i'm generalising. what do you do fairymum? and what do you consider high earning? (if you don't mind me asking)

I can't get a job paying 60K to 70K without sacrificing some serious family time or going into business for myself but of course there are risks in that.

hulababy · 05/04/2006 11:01

We have sufficient savings in various guises to see us through. We save regularly, and we also make sure DH's pension is doing well. We also have different insurances. We save out of our income and it is a prearranged thing. It's not counted as spare cash IYSWIM.

DH is lucky enough to have a job he loves that pays well, and it allows him to have a good family life and social life as well. He leaves work at 6pm and is always home for inner as a family and bedtimes. He is able to take DD to nursery, and eventually school, in a morning as well. I work PT but earn a pretty reasonable PT wage. All this helps.

Although we are saving we also have a great life. We don't have to worry about what money is coming from where and we don't put big restrictions on what we can buy. We don't go mad though and we are pretty snsible on the whole. I don't think our lifestyle is compromised at all by saving.

DaddyCool · 05/04/2006 11:03

i find the flexible working hours thing still really hard to find.

I work 9-5 and access in remotely in the evenings after I've had dinner with family, bathed ds and put him to bed... but I still get the hassle from work and the dirty looks and the whispered comments from a director who seems to be stuck in 1977. problem is, she is the majority.

our remote access is unreliable, nobody except myself works like this... what bloody chance have I got!? this is the year 2006 ffs, people should be working smarter, not longer!

FairyMum · 05/04/2006 11:03

Daddycool,I am middle management in an investment bank. Our combined income is probably around 150K. DH spends 2 hours with the children in the mornings, I spend 4 hours with them in the evenings. I am ageing quickly from getting up very early in the mornings, and me and DH don't have much time together in the evenings so we do make compromises. I don't see them as sacrifices though.

FairyMum · 05/04/2006 11:05

And yes Daddycool flexi is hard to find. I see flexitime as the solution for the future. When DH applied for flexi, his boss nearly fainted. A man wanting flexi to spend time with his kids? Wake those dinosaurs up!! It's 2006!

bossykate · 05/04/2006 11:06

hi fairymum. i was in a similar position to you - working in an investment bank but with flexible/reduced hours. however, i'm now looking for another job and i don't think there's any way i will get any kind of flexible working arrangement on entry to a new job - it'll be something i'll have to negotiate 6 - 12m down the line - and even then i might not get it. so although there are opportunities out there, i'd broadly agree with dc's point about high earnings and work/life balance being hard to achieve.

DaddyCool · 05/04/2006 11:07

sounds fairymum, you've got a good thing going and you've found an employer that accepts the flexible working hours.

I'm an accountant and there is still a really depressing work late culture which is killing my soul. i need to branch off on my own.

DaddyCool · 05/04/2006 11:09

yes, fairymum, it's the year 2006. Why can't these idiots wake up to the current technology.

FFS, they still fly me to the US incurring great cost, inconvenience and time away from my family for a meeting which could be covered within 4 to 5 hours using simple video conferencing.

and you can't tell them! you can't! they don't listen!

blueshoes · 05/04/2006 11:14

Daddycool, if you consider a high earner to be on £100K a year, then IF this person can get flexible working (and I mean a big IF), it is possible to earn £60-70K prorata after flexible working. In the City, this is not completely rare. The real trick is to be in an organisation that is prepared to give flexible working for that (or related) role. Possible if you have been with the company for a relatively longish time and hint at discrimination/employment tribunals.

CountessDracula · 05/04/2006 11:15

DC dh and i were having this very convo last night

He has two options atm

  1. Take a new job, loads of dosh, prob have to work harder but in a year or two serious dosh
  1. Stick with current job where he doesn't work really long hours (takes dd to nursery, almost always home for stories/bedtime). Talk to boss in current job about going p/t to do some writing etc in spare time and get a better work life balance

I am for option 2

We don't need any more money! It would be nice of course but we are both high earners and could easily survive with both of us p/t (i am 4 days a week atm)

Some people seem to think he is mad turning down £300k+ a year opportunity. I think he would be insane to take it

DaddyCool · 05/04/2006 11:19

absolutely blueshoes but working in the city means big commutes if you don't live in London and like you said, an employer who is willing to offer flexibility for that level of employee.

the culture in the midlands seems to be that if you are a high earner, they expect you to be available 24/7 and that you shouldn't be asking for flexibility because it was this type of role you signed up for... so tough titty.

nevermind. i'm packing it all in next month and emigrating. I don't do things in halfs Grin

DaddyCool · 05/04/2006 11:22

absolutely countess. i spent my entire 20's thinking money was everything. after ds was born i quickly realised that wasn't the case. we don't need any more money either but I want more freedom. i want a happy life, not a rich life.

blueshoes · 05/04/2006 11:29

Agree, daddycool. I think money lends itself well to the law of diminishing returns. After a certain basic level (everyone's is different), that extra 200% more won't make a huge difference, only ups your spending and expectations. But to earn that 200% more is the difference between having a home life and having no life beyond that of being glued to your desk or on the road. CountessDracula, I too would go for option 2.

Chloe55 · 05/04/2006 11:33

My dh is a training accountant dc and we have a 7wk old baby, he has started trying to get home for no later than 7pm and he tells me, when I get mad if he is a minute late, that he is also in the minority of people who leave the office before 6.30pm (he starts work at about 7.30am most days) Where's the logic? It really pees me off that he works bloody hard, is missing out on family time and doesn't even have a wage worthy of showing it Sad He is in the middle of his finals too so stress! stress! stress! Any little time he gets at home he has his head in a book. Work sucks!

drosophila · 05/04/2006 11:42

Las Vegas how much of your spending to do with the death of your BIL? I ask cos we have had two tragic deaths in the family and I suspect you are doing a bit of retail therapy.

DaddyCool · 05/04/2006 11:42

tell me about chloe. it can get a bit manic when you have an employer who wants you there all hours and finals at the same time.

now I don't regret my training and I don't want to scare your dh but be very aware of the long hours expected in finance related fields. it can be a real struggle to juggle it.

CountessDracula · 05/04/2006 11:48

I told my new boss recently (who is fantastic and v cool about these things) that I was not interested in taking over the world, rather that I wanted to come in, do my job (well) and get home to my family.

He thanked me for being honest. Why should I sit at my desk for long hours working just so I can advance my career when I really couldn't give a toss about it? It does help that I got to a high salary before I took this attitude, they can't take it away now Grin

Issyfit · 05/04/2006 11:56

All things are relative. I once sat on Concorde (long story) next to the CEO of The Bank of Scotland who complained to me about not being paid enough (i.e. less than his peers). He was completely serious about it. He also used the same phrase about 'diminishing returns'. In his view, at some points extra money becomes life-changing and is worth going for, but if it's not, you are looking at diminishing returns.

(Issymum)

blueshoes · 05/04/2006 11:56

Lasvegas, each person's attitude to money is so different and complex. It looks like you are happy to fiddle in the summer (with only your pension, life assurance and critical illness policies as backup) whereas others (me included) would still squirrel away for a winter.

Fair enough you do not want to take your dh's income into account, but you could still do a lot with £100 a week. Let's say you half your spending, that gives you £200 a month. That monthly sum invested in a equity ISA, say, could potentially yield £100K over 20 years. Let's see, £100K could be the cost of tuition fees, gap year, wedding, car, down payment for your children. I weep to think of that money going down the drain ... but that's just me.