Zac_A:
While Conor’s advice might be sound, for me it smacks of I’m-all-right-Jack.
I don’t know a single person who has a that kind of stash of money as an emergency fund, certainly not me, a single dad with two kids.
If you are one of those who lives pay day to pay day and aren’t willing to give things up then you’ll continue to be skint and be like the 16 million people without even £100 to their name paying through the nose every time the slightest hiccup happens or you want something because you have to use other peoples money to pay for it and if you’re unlucky you’ll maybe eventually end up where I did, banking and losing everything. If you’re willing to make some sacrifices and to live within your means it’s perfectly feasible to do. I have that kind of stash money as an emergency fund despite having kids and earning less than many on here most of my working life due to ill health however I had to learn the hard way, ending up bankrupt just a few months before my 30th birthday before I did something about it. I wish websites like this had existed…monevator.com/the-really-obviou … ing-money/
It isn’t something that you achieve overnight but if you just make excuses as to why you can’t do it and never start you’ll never achieve it at all. I kick started it off by saving just £20 a week which today won’t even buy you two packs of cigs (if you smoke 20 a day that is almost £4000 a year you’re setting fire to). That increased a little to £100 a month and then because I wasn’t having to pay through the nose for everything so had more money spare that increased to £200 a month after a couple of years and four years later with favourable winds even with a few minor catastrophes you’ve got £10k. I then discovered stocks and shares ISAs (about 5 years late starting one but ah well) so put the money in there instead of the savings. Then once the current account had built up to a decent sum I picked a date in the month where all the bills had gone out, decided on a level to maintain the account at and chucked everything above that amount on that date into S&S ISA. Within a few years with the help of the returns on the investments that £10k is then £20k. And then it starts to make decent money all on it’s own without you doing a thing, over the last year it went up £5k - even with the 20% drop in March 2020 when the recession happened, although to be fair the last 18 months have been a bit of an anomoly and 8%-10% is more the norm. And now I chuck that money into my SIPP pension (about 20 years too late starting that but hey ho) where the government is nice enough to give me my income tax back on the money I put in out of my wages so for every £100 I put in they chuck in another £25.
And all of that was started by just putting away £20 a week. To quote one of the people I follow: “Building wealth and becoming financially successful has nothing to do with how much money you earn, who your parents are or what degree you have. It has everything to do with how you use your money.”
Sploom:
I bet hes someone who bought a house for e times salary as well,something younger people can only dream of
My lad who is a tramper and his girlfriend managed it three years ago, age 23, when they bought a 3 bed semi and they managed to save the deposit even though they were renting and had a child. He was actually one of the last amongst his friends to buy a house. He did it by putting £50 out of his wage packet every week into savings, his girlfriend did the same. He’s continued to do that putting that £50 away a week because he’d got used to living on what was left after putting it away so didn’t miss it.
For anyone interested in getting started…
Websites:
mrmoneymustache.com/ (American but sets out plenty of principles)
theescapeartist.me/about/
monevator.com/highlights/
reddit.com/r/UKPersonalFinance/
monevator.com/category/investin … investing/
Books:
Rich Dad, Poor Dad. (Kindle, Audible, Paperback) amazon.co.uk/Rich-Dad-Poor- … 07C7M8SX9/
Tim Hale Smarter Investing: amazon.co.uk/Smarter-Invest … 0273722077
