How much should I save?

A question about : How much should I save?

I have a (small) emergency fund of 3k and I am drip-feeding it each month

What I am wondering is, what is a good amount of money to be saving each month ???

For example, 5% or 10% of take-home pay ???

Leia

Best answers:

• Well, how about 50%? Then you could really build it up.
  There is no real answer to this question. The right amount is the amount that you can afford to save within your priorities.
  If you are saving up for something very important to you, you might want to cut back on some things you would normally buy so as to save more quickly. If you are saving because your "rainy day" fund is too low, you might do the same.
  If you are saving just because it is a good idea without any real need, the savings might not be as important as some things you would want to spend money on now, so you might save less.
  It really is simply a matter of what is important to you. If the savings are important, set a higher percentage.
• @Leia
  It is also important to get the best return !for your savings. Where do you have them and what rate of !interest do you get. To me they would fit into a cash ISA
  very nicely.
  Regards JB.
  Sorry Leia I caught your full circumstances in the
  Anything Else section under the title Spend Savings or get a loan.
  I know you have an ISA and Ј1500 credit card debt
  Quote your interest rate you are paying on your debts and to whom as well.
• Sorry, JB, I am posting a lot at the moment, and often forget where I have added to threads :-[
  I have just checked my credit card debts and my Mastercard currently has a NIL balance ;D Just after Christmas it was just over 3k
  I have done a BT back to my Barclaycard for the 6.9% life of balance deal, unfortunately I missed the 2.9% deal by a couple of days
  Fortunately, I only have 1 credit card debt, which I want to get as low as possible before Christmas
  Leia
• I wish I could save 50%, DO
  I have just over the equivalent of 3 month's take-home pay in my ISA, but its interest rate is pretty good and I
  obviously like its tax-free status ;D
  When I get on top of my credit card debt, which hopefully won't be too long, I am hoping to save at
  least 10% of my gross pay in ISA monthly
  Thanks for your suggestions, DO.
  Leia
• @Leia that 6.9% is not a bad rate compared to the high teens% that you could have been paying . As you have only one active card and a modest debt, it might be worth while applying for 0% products. Off the top of my head I suggest Mint, MBNA, Sainsburys, Nationwide, there are many others. You can BT to this new card and try negotiating again with Barclays. You will save your calculated charges at least.
  Regards JB
• Thanks again, J B. ;D
  In December I got a 0% deal for 6 months with RBS Advanta (now MINT) and I managed to avoid paying any interest because I transferred back to my Barclaycard at the beginning of June.
  I tried to BT to another 0% deal, but gave up after
  7 refusals. My partner advised me to stop applying then
  I checked my credit report with Experian and found no problems, in fact I have never made a late payment, missed a payment, or gone over my credit limit
  Leia
• It could be the number of searches you've had close together.
  These are visible to other lenders and if you have had 7 in a short space of time, then it implies that you've been turned down and are desperate.
  Wait until some of them dissapear (searches stay on there for 12 months).
• I would be inclined to keep your savings at their current level and get the debt cleared. 6.9% is not a bad rate, but still higher than you can earn on savings.
• I agree with digging out, saving any money whilst having a card debt at 6.9% is losing money (assuming best interest rates on accounts are still 6% max as they were recently). Clear the debt asap then start the saving, for time being you can use card as rainy day fund for time being
• Thank you, DO and WT ;D
  Yes, it does seem sensible to "kill off" my debt as soon as I can, I don't want to dibble into my ISA but I am thinking of not adding to my other savings until I am
  in credit with my Barclaycard ;D
  Hopefully Ј200 to Ј250 a month will "kill it off" before
  March
  Leia
• I would like to ask a nosy question
  Generally how much do you Regular Savers out there save monthly ???
  I shall start the ball rolling:
  when my credit card debt is "killed off" I am HOPING to save 10% of my gross pay each month
  Leia
• 10% of gross! wow wish I could! I suppose in fairness it's all about circumstances as to what to save. Personally unless we're saving for something specific i.e. holiday, home improvement, children etc. any spare money goes on our mortgage as we have a semi rainy day fund already. If we didn't have a mortgage then yes probably would save whatever we had left over. For last few years we have always just worked on a set amount of money each month that we both put Јx into a main fund to pay all the bills/mortgage/food/car etc. We then have a set 'allowance' for ourselves, then any money over that amount each month is 'savings/mortgage overpayments' etc. rather than just seeing us fritter it away on a new gadget or something!
• 5-6% of gross in overpayments on flexible mortgage.
  8% of gross in stakeholder pension.
• "Generally how much do you Regular Savers out there save monthly"
  Out of my net income, I generally put away about 35%. No, I'm not a single person still living with my mum - I've got 2 young children, a wife who looks after them and a (small) mortgage.
  I just view saving money as a powerful means of gaining financial freedom and peace of mind in life.
  Balraj
• I have heard somewhere that a good rule of thumb for saving is half your age as a percent
  for example -
  a 32year old earning Ј30,000/year should save 16% of 30grand = Ј4,800/year
  by using this method, it takes age into account, however doesnt apply to everyone.
  hope this helps
  Halc
• I agree too that it is preferable to build up savings and financial freedom, rather than wanting to buy things NOW and using up money immediately
  However, my impulse to spend is stronger than my impulse to save, even though I have enjoyed watching my ISA holdings build up since '99 ;D
  As well as hoping to save 10% of my gross pay in my ISA, I am currently saving 5% gross in my occupational pension scheme, I believe my employer pays 10% gross into my pension pot ;D
  I don't have a mortgage at the moment because my partner and I rent, but we are continually looking at house prices and hoping to buy soon.
  My Dad advises me that it won't be practical for me/us to save when we have a mortgage ???
  Leia
• Thank you for your thoughts, everyone ;D
  It is pretty motivating to read of savers notching up savings of 30 or 35% each month
  Once I have no credit card debts I am hoping to drip-feed small amounts of money into other savings accounts - I currently am saving with Smile, ING and Halifax - as well as saving 10% gross in my ISA.
  I am thinking of transferring my ISA to another provider though, NS&I's interest rate isn't competitive, even though I appreciate the security of this "bank".
  Leia