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How much do you save?

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lovegem

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We have talked about a lot about spending, but how much do you save per month?

We spend ~20% of our pay (after tax) on rent, ~8% on food. Maybe 6% on entertainment and 3% transportation. The rest goes into saving. So that''s about 60% saving.
 

Dancing Fire

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ZIPPO !!
 

monarch64

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That''s an awesome amount to be saving, Lovegem. I usually read that you''re supposed to save 10-20% if possible, so 60% is amazing! I wish I saved more...but am currently paying down debt so am only saving 5%!
 

lovegem

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DF, what does ZIPPO mean?

Monarch, I don''t know how much other people save, that''s why I am asking. I believe we are able to save so much now is because we paid off all our student loans last year. We weren''t saving much before that.
 

icekid

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I estimate we''re saving about 40% of our take-home pay right now. However, we are not paying my exorbitant school loans, which are in deferment.
 

Dancing Fire

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Date: 3/29/2009 8:41:22 PM
Author: lovegem
DF, what does ZIPPO mean?

Monarch, I don''t know how much other people save, that''s why I am asking. I believe we are able to save so much now is because we paid off all our student loans last year. We weren''t saving much before that.
fat 0
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chrono

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I have an automatic 10% going straight into my savings account each pay period that I never touch. I also have an additional money that I claim from my dependent care account (tax free). I usually have extra/left overs from each regular pay period as well which is my slush fund.
 

chiapet

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Date: 3/29/2009 6:23:54 PM
Author:lovegem
We have talked about a lot about spending, but how much do you save per month?

We spend ~20% of our pay (after tax) on rent, ~8% on food. Maybe 6% on entertainment and 3% transportation. The rest goes into saving. So that''s about 60% saving.
Wow! That''s amazing! I don''t think many people can save 60% of their income. Good job!
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My income varies depending on how much independent work I take on (in addition to my job) but most of the time I save 35-40% of my salary. I wish I can save more but it is super expensive living in Manhattan. Food prices are literally double what they are in other cities
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Plus, rent is expensive too.
 

Haven

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The only percentage I know is that I transfer 20% of all deposits straight into our savings account, which includes our incomes and anything else we happen to deposit. Oh, and my employer takes 9.5% of my pre-tax income and puts it straight into my pension account. (I''m a public HS teacher, it''s a mandatory contribution.)
I put $1600 per month into my 403(b) account. DH puts more than that into his 401(k).
We max out our IRAs every year.
We put various amounts into our short-term savings account, depending on how much we have left over at the end of the month.
Now I want to nail down a percentage!
 

Mara

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Not enough.
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Esp with 2 mortgages right now.
 

Diamond*Dana

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Date: 3/29/2009 11:26:37 PM
Author: Mara
Not enough.
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Esp with 2 mortgages right now.
I hear you
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Phoenix

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As we're now living in two different countries and paying for both our huge mortgage and his rent, and I've already stopped working in preparation of my moving to where DH is now, we're not saving very much - abt 20% or even less (if we have a spending spree which luckily doesn't happen very often. Our airfares flying back and forth to see each other every two weeks or so eat into our savings too). But once I'm up there and our house is rented out, we should be saving about 50% of hubby's take home pay, hopefully! And once I've started my business and/ or part-time work, that should go up.

We're trying to save as much as we can for our retirement funds sine neither one of us has rich parents to fall back on, and frankly if they did have the money, I'd rather they spent it on themselves.

(Oh, and we used to save 70-80% of our after take-home pay, but our mortgage now takes a big chunk out of that. And our mortgage is only something like 40% of our home's current value. Singapore is like the 9th most expensive city in the world. Welcome to home ownership!
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).
 

PilsnPinkysMom

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Reading responses makes me feel not-so-bad about not saving a lot right now...

Being that i''m in school full time & have 0 income, I really do not save much of anything. Instead, I try to slooowly spend what loan refunds I receive
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My fiance puts about 2500 into savings each month, but its as good as spent (wedding in Dec & house down payment in...er... a month?).

I only hope that we''ll be able to legitimately save in a few years, but by then my law school loans will have kicked in, and, well, I''m just certain we''ll be perpetually living a "student" lifestyle
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strmrdr

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about 20 empty Pepsi bottles.
 

swingirl

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Let''s see. 2 kids in college...that puts me pretty close to zippo, too!
 

PilsnPinkysMom

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Date: 3/30/2009 12:54:15 AM
Author: swingirl
Let''s see. 2 kids in college...that puts me pretty close to zippo, too!

:) My parents resent (lovingly resent?) both me and my sister for our undergrad... While they didn''t pay for it all, they helped us with tuition as much as possible... and for that, I believe they''ll be eating Mac & Cheese for the rest of their lives. So says my mother, anyway. I''m sure she''s being a biiit dramatic, but I imagine its not too far off from the truth
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bee*

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As a student I don''t save too much money at all. It all goes on rent or living expenses. Luckily D is a good saver so he has plenty set by for a rainy day should we need it.
 

swimmer

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Date: 3/29/2009 6:23:54 PM
Author:lovegem
We have talked about a lot about spending, but how much do you save per month?


We spend ~20% of our pay (after tax) on rent, ~8% on food. Maybe 6% on entertainment and 3% transportation. The rest goes into saving. So that's about 60% saving.

Wow, you don't have any utilities or taxes? I'm impressed. Heating bills kill us.
 

steph72276

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Date: 3/30/2009 6:31:19 AM
Author: swimmer
Date: 3/29/2009 6:23:54 PM

Author:lovegem

We have talked about a lot about spending, but how much do you save per month?



We spend ~20% of our pay (after tax) on rent, ~8% on food. Maybe 6% on entertainment and 3% transportation. The rest goes into saving. So that's about 60% saving.


Wow, you don't have any utilities or taxes? I'm impressed. Heating bills kill us.
That's what I was thinking....we do a monthly budget and have everything broken down into several categories that I don't see here, but maybe she doesn't have these expenses like utilities, cell phones, insurance, gifts, clothing, charity, taxes, etc.

We are saving 10% into a money market acct. and then 15% into investments. We are also funding our son's education. Then if we know we are doing a big purchase (new furniture, car, etc.) we will save on top of that for those things.
 

April20

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Not enough at the present. We have one thing to pay off and then we''re seriously upping what goes into savings.
 

purrfectpear

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20% of the gross pretax in a 401K, and another 40+% of the net in savings.
 

TravelingGal

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17% of my salary goes into 401K, and TGuy has his at 15%. Actually, I don''t know why I have 17% - you max out at 15K anyway.

Then we put $1000 away every two weeks to save for a downpayment.

Another $400 a month goes into a travel/rainy day fund

So I guess we are saving on average about 2500 month - 30K a year.
 

simplysplendid

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Currently slightly over 20% goes directly into the savings account, another 7% goes into an investment account for purchasing my company'' shares, another 7% goes into purchasing insurance for myself and my children, and another approx 5% goes into contribution to a scheme that is similar to a pension fund. I have approximately 40% of fixed expenditure on children''s education, domestic help, car etc and I try to limit my spending to the remainder. If I have leftovers from the remainder, that goes into savings as well. My weaknesses are bags and jewelry and I hope I can be more disciplined in this area as any money not spent will be money saved.
 

MichelleCarmen

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Date: 3/30/2009 8:42:30 AM
Author: steph72276


Date: 3/30/2009 6:31:19 AM
Author: swimmer


Date: 3/29/2009 6:23:54 PM

Author:lovegem

We have talked about a lot about spending, but how much do you save per month?



We spend ~20% of our pay (after tax) on rent, ~8% on food. Maybe 6% on entertainment and 3% transportation. The rest goes into saving. So that's about 60% saving.


Wow, you don't have any utilities or taxes? I'm impressed. Heating bills kill us.
That's what I was thinking....we do a monthly budget and have everything broken down into several categories that I don't see here, but maybe she doesn't have these expenses like utilities, cell phones, insurance, gifts, clothing, charity, taxes, etc.

We are saving 10% into a money market acct. and then 15% into investments. We are also funding our son's education. Then if we know we are doing a big purchase (new furniture, car, etc.) we will save on top of that for those things.
If she's renting an apt, she probably doesn't have garbage/water/sewer, but still there's got to be other expenses, such as clothes and a telephone (of some sort - landline or cellphone). I take the 3% transportation means bus fare? So no car insurance? Though it's wise to have renters' insurance. What about internet?
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Oh and yes, heat (either you turn that on or buy a thick winter coat - aka clothing expense)? Hmmm. . .okay. lol - to the OP -> At any rate, saving 60% of your income is wonderful, I'm just wondering if you've done a true sitdown budget and calculated all your expenses.
 

Rhea

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We don''t save a regular amount, our expenses vary a ton each month right now. My goal is about 19% each month, but that hasn''t happened lately.
 

fleur-de-lis

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Date: 3/29/2009 6:23:54 PM
Author:lovegem
We have talked about a lot about spending, but how much do you save per month?


We spend ~20% of our pay (after tax) on rent, ~8% on food. Maybe 6% on entertainment and 3% transportation. The rest goes into saving. So that''s about 60% saving.

Heh, Lovegem, I can''t even focus on answering your opening Q because I''m still in awe of your transportation costs being only 3% of your takehome pay. A few years ago, I helped a friend with setting up a basic budget and recall his car payment (~500/mo), insurance (~200/mo), gas (~200/mo), and incidentals (oil changes, wiper blades, car washes, etc.) and was blown away by "even basic car=$1000/mo" for some people. To have 3% transportation costs, that would mean a post-tax income of about $30,000 a month, or post-tax of $360,000 a year, or an pre-tax income of around $700,000 a year!

Of course, it''s less if you don''t have a car payment or if you live in a public transportation friendly area (and partake of it). But to spend 3%.... wow, I hope you appreciate just how uncommonly lucky you are!
 

lucyandroger

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Well 10% is automatically taken out and put into my 401K. Then I''ve been putting $3,000/ month into a joint house fund with SO (he''s doing the same).

So I guess I''ve been saving about a third of my gross income.



P.S. - About transportation costs, I just did a rough calculation of mine and they are less than 3% of my take home pay. I take public transportation to and from work everyday. I own a car with SO - our insurance is less than $100/ month, we bought it cash so no car loan, and since we only drive on the weekend, we don''t spend that much on gas.

All that to say, I don''t think it''s crazy to have transportation at 3%.
 

lucyandroger

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Also in defense of the OP, maybe she included things like heat, water, renter''s insurance in the "rent" category and things like clothes & cell phone in the "entertainment" category.

I don''t think the point of the thread was to be a specific break down of her budget.
 

lovegem

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Date: 3/30/2009 3:04:13 PM
Author: lucyandroger
Well 10% is automatically taken out and put into my 401K. Then I've been putting $3,000/ month into a joint house fund with SO (he's doing the same).


So I guess I've been saving about a third of my gross income.




P.S. - About transportation costs, I just did a rough calculation of mine and they are less than 3% of my take home pay. I take public transportation to and from work everyday. I own a car with SO - our insurance is less than $100/ month, we bought it cash so no car loan, and since we only drive on the weekend, we don't spend that much on gas.


All that to say, I don't think it's crazy to have transportation at 3%.

Lucy is right. Actually, we are lucky that we live a city life. We have good public transport system. That's why we spend less than 3% on transportation. I also put a big blanket on my calculations re. spending. Our rent includes heat and water, but we pay for electricity which comes to ~$70 per month on average (we are heavy AC users in the summer). That's part of the 20% (renter's insurance etc etc are all included). Health insurance and retirement plan contributions are deducted from our paychecks every month. Yes, we do have internet and two prepaid cell phones. No cable TV though.

Actually this is the first year DH and I start to really save. That's why I want to know how much other people are saving. It is really never a thread meant to make people uncomfortable.

fleur-de-lis, I wish we earned as much as your calculation based on our transportation.

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fleur-de-lis

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Date: 3/30/2009 3:46:02 PM
Author: lovegem
Date: 3/30/2009 3:04:13 PM

Author: lucyandroger

Well 10% is automatically taken out and put into my 401K. Then I''ve been putting $3,000/ month into a joint house fund with SO (he''s doing the same).



So I guess I''ve been saving about a third of my gross income.





P.S. - About transportation costs, I just did a rough calculation of mine and they are less than 3% of my take home pay. I take public transportation to and from work everyday. I own a car with SO - our insurance is less than $100/ month, we bought it cash so no car loan, and since we only drive on the weekend, we don''t spend that much on gas.



All that to say, I don''t think it''s crazy to have transportation at 3%.


Lucy is right. Actually, we are lucky that we live a city life. We have good public transport system. That''s why we spend less than 3% on transportation. I also put a big blanket on my calculations re. spending. Our rent includes heat and water, but we pay for electricity which comes to ~$70 per month on average (we are heavy AC users in the summer). That''s part of the 20% (renter''s insurance etc etc are all included). Health insurance and retirement plan contributions are deducted from our paychecks every month. Yes, we do have internet and two prepaid cell phones. No cable TV though.


Actually this is the first year DH and I start to really save. That''s why I want to know how much other people are saving. It is really never a thread meant to make people uncomfortable.


fleur-de-lis, I wish we earned as much as your calculation based on our transportation.


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Ha, yeah $700K/year base compensation sounds like it''d be really great, but then you''d have the trade-off of constantly having to fly back and forth to Washington to testify before Congress and constantly explain yourself (and the like).
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Nah, in all seriousness you are doing a *great* job with saving. At 60% you really are way ahead of the curve.
 
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