Do you have much savings incase you need it for sick pay or losing a job?

Until you live alone you won't appreciate just how much your parents are saving you, even if you can find a place that cheap, you still need to add energy, internet, council tax, house Insurance..buy your furniture and all the little incidentals that come with living alone. You might buy food, but I bet you don't buy cleaning supplies, bathroom stuff or replace the things that break day to day

I didn't get it either until I lived alone, the upkeep on a house is a drain

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Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit

not sheltered mate, just a bit of common sense. i thought we were talking about day to day living, not moving house? of course moving house is expensive. but cleaning products and furniture don’t need replacing daily.

and yes, i do buy cleaning products and regularly replace things like soap, shampoo and toothpaste. however, that is besides the point

if you get rid of your car and move to a cheaper area, you’ll be able to find a mortgage for £500. the rest of the bills would likely cost £2-300 at most which leaves you with a decent amount of money to save. you live a lifestyle you can’t afford

while i don’t have a mortgage i do other expenses that i pay for myself, such as my driving lessons, phone and transport. i think you just need to budget better

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louwyatt@reddit

You're being extremely sheltered if you think everyone can get £500 rent. It costs a bunch of money just to move somewhere new. You need to have a job set up and a place to rent (which you can't do without said job). You need to travel for job interviews, which you'll probably go through a lot. Its not cheap to take the bus or train how far how many times.

You just lucked out being born somewhere very cheap where you could live at your parents for £500 a month.

Especially when other people have familes or want them soon. I live in a very cheap area and a very cheap 3 bedroom house is costing £890 per month just for the morgage. Likely cost £1300 a month, also need to keep another £2000 odd a year for repairs.

Sure my misses and me could move somewhere cheaper. However when we have kids in a few years, we'd have no one for support. Which means she'd either have to not work much or pay a bunch for child support.

You are in an extremely privlaged postion.

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Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit

everyone can get £500 rent… my family used to live in london, we moved because things were too expensive. it’s a one time expense to move but it’ll give you the opportunity to stop moaning that things are too expensive. we didn’t luck out, we simply put in a bit of effort

a lot of places also do virtual interviews, and if they don’t, there’s cheap travel options such as flixbus. it’s very cheap to take the bus, 2 weeks ago i went from manchester to london and back for £10.

kids are a whole different story. they fuck your finances over majorly so if you choose to have them then there’s not much avoiding the costs that come with them

but again, kids are a choice. you can’t make a choice and then complain about the consequences. all decisions have consequences. you aren’t forced to have kids, and i’m not more privileged than you. i just make better decisions, such as not deciding to have kids, not being lazy and always making sure i find the cheapest option possible to everything

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Just_Hamzah@reddit

Also 22 and save from £650 to £1000, been working retails for years and have 47k saved

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Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit

that’s awesome! hard work pays off

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That_Comfortable_366@reddit

I'm 29 with only £200 left after rent and bills to last me 4 weeks of groceries. I'm currently -£300 into my overdraft which I've had since I was in university 8 years ago. Yeah growing up in poverty is not fun

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Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit

i also grew up poor, extremely poor. hence why i like to save because my family would go hungry when we never had money to eat. i never want to do that and having savings reassures me. all of my money is mine, i never got handouts. i just work my arse off

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Gingergamer56@reddit

How do you feed yourself on £10 a week?

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Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit

easy

breakfast is off brand cereal from asda which costs £1. i eat small portions naturally so i buy a new box once every three works. also have a cup of instant coffee with no milk

lunch i eat for free at work. i also take advantage of my work’s free coffee station and make myself a nice caramel iced coffee for my break. i babysit for extra cash on the weekends and i either skip lunch them or just have a bag of crisps

for dinner i cook once a week, make five portions and freeze it to reheat during the week. i eat a vegetarian diet so i save a lot of money on meat. me and mum also grow our own veggies, and i buy off brand everything. once a week i’ll eat a pot noodle and a takeaway with the family. i don’t include my takeaway costs in my food budget

i don’t really enjoy food so it’s easy for me to not overspend

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That_Comfortable_366@reddit

See I wish that could work for me but i work 40 hours a week in a nursery and it's physically and mentally exhausting. I've had about 5 stomach bugs already this year. I don't get paid enough for my responsibility. Minimum wage despite having a degree.

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Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit

snap! i also work in a nursery. i’m not degree qualified though, i just have my level 3 in childcare. i do get a little more because i’m a room leader though. 45 hours a week so i feel you HARD on that

have you tried babysitting for your families? that’s largely where my extra income comes from, and why i’m able to save

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ScratchFamous6855@reddit

Are you me? I'm also 22 and just hit £28k I savings

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cmpthepirate@reddit

Wow thats really great, well done to you two!!

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Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit

haha did you also have a mother who ended up in debt because of her shopping addiction which scared you from spending money? if so, hi twin 👀

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Flippin_Heckles@reddit

As long as you're also enjoying yourself and not letting life pass by. That money ain't gan with ya!

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Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit

i have an allocated fun budget (:

i am saving because i want to put a deposit down on a house by the time i’m 24. i also want a nice holiday in new york

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PepsiMaxSumo@reddit

You can do New York relatively cheap, I did it last year 4 days for £900. Flights, hotel, accommodation, food and a few beers each day in dive bars. Flights were £370 direct from Heathrow.

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Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit

i kind of want to go all out because i’ve never been abroad before. so when i do go i wanna make the most out of it!

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Flippin_Heckles@reddit

Good stuff!

I personally like states such as Georgia and Oregon, but you go get yaself that New York holiday!

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Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit

new york has always been my dream :)

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thedudeisalwayshere@reddit

A year ago I had 20k saved

A year later I have 0 saved

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Broccoli--Enthusiast@reddit

Same, this year wiped out the few thousand I had

Everything is going up at a stupid pace and like lots of little things keep popping up.

I owe my parents a few k now actually

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Miserable-Ad7835@reddit

Your OnlyFans addiction is out of hand brother...

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CarpetPedals@reddit

Well… it may well be very much in hand

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Appropriate-Roof1422@reddit

underrated comment 😄

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Bean7894@reddit

How did you lose £20k + a years savings In a year?

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thedudeisalwayshere@reddit

I decided to go gallivanting around the globe for a while since l still live at home.

I probably spent too much because I'm back now and finding a job isn't exactly easy.

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1968Bladerunner@reddit

Been a self-employed sole trader for decades &, 'cos we don't get sick / holiday / redundancy pay, having a min. 6-month emergency fund is vital.

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morebob12@reddit

About £70k saved across cash and s&s ISAs. Moved out and worked since I was 18 and I’m 31 now.

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PermanentSend1983@reddit

42M, earning £95k. I have £27k in an instant access cash ISA (T212), and about £5k in a regular savings account. I pretend that £20k is zero so I won't ever let my liquid cash bet below that. I also have a couple of things I can easily turn into cash quickly (£15k watch that goes up in value) and a powerboat I could sell tomorrow for maybe £25k. Had the watch for 20 years so would never want to sell it but it's a nice safety net. I do consider my boat as emergency cash too, or if I really got into long term trouble and lost my house, I could comfortably live on it.

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I_could_be_right@reddit

I find it wild that you own a boat

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PermanentSend1983@reddit

I live on the coast about a 5 minute drive from the sea, and grew up with them as a kid so it's not in the slightest bit wild to me. It's a great safety net to have as fall back accomodation. I could ditch my £1800 per month mortgage for a £300 per month mooring rental if ever I needed to.

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That_Comfortable_366@reddit

Lucky. I'm 29 and on £28k a year. Us early years practitioners are not paid enough for what we do

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PermanentSend1983@reddit

There's no luck here mate. 24 years in the same security industry. When I was 29 I had a full time policing role in a counter terrorism team, studying for an open university degree, and a Royal Marine Reservist. I've always taken risks, always studied to stay current (about 500 hours last year on one certification) and always said yes to the next leap of faith (risk) that could pay off. I've taken jobs in Saudi Arabia, or commuted 240 miles a day just to get to an office 5 days a week. I peaked 2 years ago on £133k, lost my job in a start-up company, and had to rebuild, which I'm currently doing (3 final round interviews next week). No luck, I just did one simple thing; consistent application of a career plan over two and a half decades.

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hopeelizabethhh@reddit

absolutely not lol i literally don't have a savings account anymore

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jbkb1972@reddit

😂😂😂😂😂😂

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poshbakerloo@reddit

I put £150 per month into a high interest bank account. I have about £8k saved in 3 years.

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MycologistEvening745@reddit

No but I get 6 months full sick pay and then a further 6 months on half pay, so something would have to be seriously wrong health wise for me to need it and if it was at that point I’d be getting pensioned off anyways.

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That_Comfortable_366@reddit

I get 3 days sick pay a year. That's it

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Dualyeti@reddit

My work officially gets 0 year they give everyone full sick pay, really confusing

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Thelichemaster@reddit

I have IP insurance, at my age would be a fool not to. Already came in handy and paid out 4k while I was off.

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Frilly1980@reddit

Who with?

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Thelichemaster@reddit

Royal London.

Thing about IP better to get it while you're young and hopefully have little to no existing health conditions that usually would be excluded.

Unlike car insurance unwise to keep chopping and changing as the premium will only go up the older you get but mo harm looking every 5/10 years.

Speak to a reputable adviser and they can shop around for the best product. It should be free (the consulation) as they get commission from selling the plan to you but some may charge if you cancel the plan so look out.

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Makemeup-beforeUgogo@reddit

Yes, I am super cautious, I am always anxious in case something happens

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Infinite-Pop306@reddit

I can't and I don't want to get any UC or job seekers allowance.

I loan 25k on last December before redundant, saving, final payment, loan total around 35k

I'm so silly for I imagine I can find a job in spring

Every day I see the job board, apply the job, prepare interview test, read the unfortunately letter I sent 400+ application, 21 times failed at first HR screening, 1 time failed at second interview

I hope I can get the job on this summer, otherwise I think I can afford to live

I don't know how the job market before COVID, but I feel hard to looking for a job after 2019

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bulldog_blues@reddit

I have enough savings that we could manage for around 7-9 months depending on frugality. But that money is intended for a house move so that figure is likely to go down substantially in the near future!

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nibor@reddit

yes, I can cover at least 6 months expenses in cash in an emergency fund outside other savings and investments.

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rockdecasba@reddit

I earn 35K. Have a flat with a mortage. £1400 savings account £2000 premium bonds £2250 cash isa £4500 stocks and shares isa.

I could last between six and ten months.

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Vivid-Bottle789@reddit

No. We have equity in our house, but we'd have to sell it to get hold of the money, and then we'd have nowhere to live.

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sinkh0000le@reddit

Yes, I have a few months worth of pay saved, ironically mostly accumulated ftom a redundancy payout.

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sleepyprojectionist@reddit

My ISA currently contains four pence.

Other than that, all I have is debt.

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Blind_Warthog@reddit

6 months worth of monthly outgoings stashed away. Took me ages to get there but it’s a huge relief to have it.

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Head_Lie_1301@reddit

Think I've about £1500 in the credit union atm which I put money into every pay day. Try not to touch it if I can.

Saving to buy a house, so most goes into my Moneybox isa.

But if I really tried hard, I could probably save about £1000ish a month.

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mister_meaner7@reddit

Yes it’s all I’ve ever done it’s almost an obsession. I can spend like no other as well it’s not like I don’t use it. I’m 44 now I decided to stop working last June. I was going to do something part time thinking I’d get bored. But I’ve really enjoyed myself this last year, remodelled my home from top to bottom, now I’m getting up whenever and just pottering about going to the cafe most days, messing around in the garden doing what I want. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to work. Hopefully my savings will see me out.

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cozywit@reddit

Hmmmm. I've got about 15 months of my monthly salary.

Maybe I should buy something.

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Capt_Bigglesworth@reddit

Have you seen the price of second hand yachts?

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cozywit@reddit

No. What about them? Are they low or high?

Thinking of buying myself a nice drone though. Fancy flying around my village and spying in people's gardens.

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Capt_Bigglesworth@reddit

You know what they say… “If you want to make a small fortune, buy a boat/plane/horse”

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Capt_Bigglesworth@reddit

It’s a given that you need to start with a large fortune… ba’dum.. tish

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outlawsmokeyscottish@reddit

I have friends rich one way. Financially fucked however. No family at all. Get a job and their like what's your emergency contact when I was young 999 sounded funny. Like now I'm completely stumped like who is my emergency contact for I'd like to know too. I'm well loved down the pub but it doesn't even have a number lol.

I am truly alone. No cunts coming to post my bail.

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simundo86@reddit

Same for me no family

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outlawsmokeyscottish@reddit

It's shit but should you need a talk I'm always no far.

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outlawsmokeyscottish@reddit

Folk down voting for having no family this is amusing lol.

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zzkj@reddit

For those situations where they ask for an emergency contact you can put down your GP name and surgery number.

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outlawsmokeyscottish@reddit

Aye because I've saw him in how many years lol. I'll be on the records sure but I couldn't tell you who's there now.

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KeyJunket1175@reddit

shit. not having livable sick pay is such an old-american fever dream for my european mind.

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badger906@reddit

My company used to give 3 weeks. Same people would take their 30 days holiday, and magically be ill for 21 days spread out when they ran out. They cut it to 5. Magically people got a lot less sick post running out of holiday pay. Same people still always use it up though.

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drugstoregirl@reddit

I ran down a lot of my savings when I was made redundant last year, so trying to up my savings again. Got just under 3k saved at the moment, looking to get to 10k before I feel like I can breathe easier again.

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badger906@reddit

Umm enough for a years mortgage and bills.

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WinkyNurdo@reddit

I’ve got about 10k saved in a few accounts. Live on my own. Take-home is 4k pm. Mortgage and bills are 1k. Had some expenses lately (mum passed, paid for funeral and expenses, and helped sister out) but paying them off. Should be back to zero on the card by Xmas.

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Imaginary_Anywhere50@reddit

£100,000 excluding the money my partner has. About £140k including her money.

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Pristine_Winter_5513@reddit

5k emergency fund which would last us 1 year in terms of basic bills (no mortgage)

All my money goes into stocks ISA

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Prologic87@reddit

Due to an unfortunate life event I had to burn all my savings and go into quite a bit of debt.

I'm now paying it off and I estimate a year before I'm debt free and able to start saving again.

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Bean7894@reddit

What was the life event if I may ask?

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Prologic87@reddit

Moved abroad with my partner, spent quite a lot on the move and new place and furniture etc.

Relationship broke down, had to then spend even more moving back and get a place to live and rebuy all the furniture I'd given away or gotten rid of.

Not to mention that my earnings were zero for about 5 months during all of this since I quit my job for the move.

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Organic-Violinist223@reddit

I currently have 5 months of my share of the bills if I was let go tomorrow! We bought a house last year and my savings took a beating !

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No-Garbage9500@reddit

Yes, we have about £15k we can draw on easily and a good bit more if needed.

I appreciate that not everyone is in a position to easily accumulate this, but if there's anything at all you can save, do it. I'm not one for bashing people for spending even when they're not making a lot, but if you if you have zero savings your priorities and budgeting need working on.

Saving some money is as important as paying our mortgage or utilities.

Being brutally honest about what you spend is the most important thing that I reckon 95% of people never do.

Once you know where every penny goes, you can start being honest about where you can save.

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BalthazarOfTheOrions@reddit

At the moment a pitiful amount because in a relatively short space I got married, bought a house and had two children. Hopefully when we're not paying insane amounts for childcare we can start putting more into savings.

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Ready-Fox-3264@reddit

I’ve had unfortunate experiences in previous jobs and learnt very quickly that I’d need savings to be able to say No in liberty and quit whenever required. A full year’s salary gives me some peace of mind.

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AlwaysTheKop@reddit

Probably got about £7k in total savings which these days doesn't seem like much, although sadly better than some.

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Fragrant_Bandicoot54@reddit

I'm oldish but have enough to cover us both out of work for 2-3 years if needed.

Ideally it's not used for that but is there if shit happens.

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Many-Giraffe-2341@reddit

I have about a year's salary stashed away... However it's put tonije side to be able to hopefully pay for our loft conversion if I still keep saving & investing.

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cryo_coreo@reddit

You should have at least a few months wages to take the pressure off if possible, easier said than done though. I keep around 5 months worth in an instant access saver.

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ooh-sheet@reddit

We have three months of income that would cover us and very flexible household outgoings. We’ve had it for years and did think at one point we might have had to use it, during Covid I was cev on immunosuppressants and my husband was going to take unpaid leave to keep me safe before his union stepped in and made arrangements.

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PickleBarrel-@reddit

I moved out (expensive) and shortly after went off sick around Christmas for about three weeks (the most expensive time of the year). Come January I get the sack despite not even having a return to work meeting, any warning whatsoever and despite working overtime everyday and skipping my lunches to catch up (no wonder I went off sick). It definitely happens 🙃

I had about 3k + 2k of overdraft and it was nowhere close enough for bills, rent, shopping over time. Of course I worked really hard to find a new job but what I found didn't start till mid may and I couldn't even find anything crappy in-between. I highly recommend saving up way more than that and having some kind of backup plan because you never know what's going to happen.

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griffaliff@reddit

Wife and I bring in around 6k a month, no savings, we're too busy paying down personal debt. Bought a gaff ten years ago though, so that's something

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MultipleScoregasm@reddit

Don’t feel comfortable with 10k in cash saved personally

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FlaviousTiberius@reddit

I'm aiming to have about £100k in the next three years because I have no doubt after the next election it's going to be a massive shitshow.

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ReputationApart5983@reddit

About 20 grand saved up since 2024. I put away about 700 a month but sometimes I needed to pay for other things. Still not much though because I didnt save anything earlier when I was younger foolishly.

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simundo86@reddit

Your still doing better then a lot of people

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superflick_x@reddit

No, I just have a semi regular panic attack about it. Turns out it was scheduled for today and I had it earlier, so your post is timely

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Better-Employ-4495@reddit

I'd be ok for 3 years

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itsheadfelloff@reddit

I do but it's all in investments, used a lot more f my liquid cash on a new (second-hand) car.

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BenjiTheSausage@reddit

Not right not no, should have in a few months though.

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WindTurbine16-27@reddit

Yes I have savings. But I would barely be able to save if my partner didn’t subsidise my portion of the rent honestly.

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ClassicFun2175@reddit

I have a 6 month emergency fund which covers all my personal costs as well as all the house bills. That plus my 3 month notice period means I'll have 9 months should the worse happen. Would highly recommend the same for everyone of you are financially able.

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imtiramisu2025@reddit

I did but its going to cover my 6 months of unpaid mat leave

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sgst@reddit

We had savings until we burned though them all to cover maternity leave (also 6 months).

Small wonder why we're not having a second child given that we're paycheque to paycheque now.

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Azuras-Becky@reddit

Ideally, three months wages.

Like everybody else though, I'm having to dip into it more often nowadays and I'm struggling to get it higher.

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