How much do you save? - Page 3

[Montana Mom]

We save at least 20% of our net income. Savings is the second priority on our budget, just after tithing. I SAH, and having a cushion is very important to me. We also put aside money outside of this 20% for significant expenses like car insurance, car repair, presents, new furniture, and special events.

[kijip]

Around 10-20% of take home in any given month but I want it to be more. We have retirement accounts, an investment account and emergency cash accounts. It varies lower on months we have big bills- tuition due, car insurance for 6 months etc.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

I just wanted to add, that one of the biggest mistakes women make is saving for their kids to go to college instead of their own retirement. That, and taking the house (and nothign else) in a divorce. Too often women put themselves into the poorhouse for the sake of their kids.

Our goal it to save enough (hopefully) for one year of college, aprox. $12,000 for ds. Then, he's on his own. at the rate I'm going, I'll still be paying off my loans then! He'll have to suck it up and get a few of his own. If he wants to fritter away that money travellign the world or is some super genius and starts a billion dollar business, so be it.

[mrskennedy]

Originally Posted by msjd123

You put cash into a safe? Why not deposit money into a savings or money market account?

:! That's what we do, so at least it earns interest, but we still have access to it if we really need it.

[hellyaellen]

i put 5% in a 401k (which i just started this month so it hasn't added up to a lot yet) and its matched in full

other than that we are not currently saving anything but this weekend we're moving back in with my mom so taht we can can save

but it won't be going for retirement, but for a downpayment on a house

i don't kbnow when we're going to be able to save other than auto deducted 401k dcontributions

[BookGoddess]

Every month I put in 15% pre-tax income into a 401(k)type plan (it's technically not a 401k). We also contribute monthly to two Roth IRAs. And we save one entire paycheck of DH's for investment purposes. We pay the bills using my paychecks and one of DH's checks.

[amydawnsmommy]

We don't put savings in our savings account at the moment but we are putting $100/month into dd's RESP.

[prettymom]

Right now we are living off savings rather than contributing. DH is working on his MBA and I am home with DD. Before DD's birth, we were double income. We saved my income and lived off of DH's minus what went into his 401k (about 8% of his income). Now we have CD that matures every month that we live on until the next one matures the next month. Once DH graduates we will go into super-saving mode again. We will need to catch up on retirement saving as well as save for a down payment for a house. After that we plan to start a "family savings plan" where we will keep money for aging parents and future college kids.

[crunchy_mama]

Right now we have 12% go directly into dh's 401k, that will be increased to 14% as of next April.

We generally have an emergency fund of 1000 and 3 months or so living expenes. However, everything got thrown for a loop this year when the house burned down- along with the car. We are still working on rebuilding. We did have decent insurance, but we were a bit underinsured and we were 1 week away from a policy increase- we had already paid the premiums- this would have given us an extra $7500. So, I figure things will be crazy for a bit as we still have many things to replace.

Also, we have a large amount taken out in taxes and get a large refund every year. If we had that reduced it would likely amount to at least another 5% or so. That money is generally put back for short term savings- ie replacing vehicles when they die, or home improvement projects that need to be done. this coming year that will likely be used to finish up the house and replacing everything. Starting after that we will need to be saving for a replacement for dh's truck(it is 12 yrs now). {Yes, I am aware that I am letting the gov't make money off of me- however, I refuse to cut back deductions until dh agrees to have the money automatically sent to a savings acct.- he is far less frugal than me and I can see the money withering away}

[Llyra]

Right now? Not a dime.

Actually, some of DH's earnings go into the state pension system; I'm not precisely sure how much. That's all we can save right now. We need every dime just to get through the year, until DH can finish his degree and be able to earn more.

[PJJ]

Prettymom

Originally Posted by prettymom

Right now we are living off savings rather than contributing. DH is working on his MBA and I am home with DD. Before DD's birth, we were double income. We saved my income and lived off of DH's minus what went into his 401k (about 8% of his income). Now we have CD that matures every month that we live on until the next one matures the next month. Once DH graduates we will go into super-saving mode again. We will need to catch up on retirement saving as well as save for a down payment for a house. After that we plan to start a "family savings plan" where we will keep money for aging parents and future college kids.

Are you able to share HOW you positioned yourself so well?
I am hoping to go for PhD and that will be so little for the next 3-5 years.
I currently make $80K and have until next August to save.
Any suggestions?

[prettymom]

Originally Posted by PJJ

Are you able to share HOW you positioned yourself so well?
I am hoping to go for PhD and that will be so little for the next 3-5 years.
I currently make $80K and have until next August to save.
Any suggestions?

It of course depends on the cost of living in your area and how many kids you have. The trick is to live like you are already back in school and have no money. Can you live on 40k for the next year? Even 30k? We were making about 65k between the two of us and living on about 30. The rest went into a CD where we made 5% interest. While our friends were buying their first homes, we downsized into a one bedroom apartment. We had a strict grocery budget and only bought new clothes when we accrued gift cards from points on our credit card. Our main CD matured right when DH went back to school. We paid tuition, and put the rest of the money in CDs of incriments of $1600. We created a 2 month, 3 month, etc, so that each month the money would come available and we would be forced to stay on budget. 1600 is actually more than we need, but I wanted to cover for emergencies. The extra from each month is put into another CD. Right now we have enough money to finish the first year of his MBA debt free. I am looking for things I can do to make a few hundred dollars a month. This summer he will be able to work again. I think we will have to take out a loan his second year to pay tuition, but I am still trying to find ways to make it through debt free. Also, DH's tuition is $7000 a semester. Probably a lot less than a lot of people's. Hoping for a scholarship next year!
I hope some of what I said was helpful and I didn't ramble too much!

[EFmom]

Originally Posted by MissMommyNiceNice

I just wanted to add, that one of the biggest mistakes women make is saving for their kids to go to college instead of their own retirement. That, and taking the house (and nothign else) in a divorce. Too often women put themselves into the poorhouse for the sake of their kids.

Our goal it to save enough (hopefully) for one year of college, aprox. $12,000 for ds. Then, he's on his own. at the rate I'm going, I'll still be paying off my loans then! He'll have to suck it up and get a few of his own. If he wants to fritter away that money travellign the world or is some super genius and starts a billion dollar business, so be it.

I think that depends on your priorities. Yes, I think saving for retirement is essential. But it is also a top priority for us that we be able to pay for 4 years of public education for our kids. You mentioned that you are still paying off your school loans. That's exactly what I want my kids to be able to avoid.