Quiver0f10 Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 (edited) I am talking about total savings per month( rainy day, emergency, retirement, college , investing etc). What % of your take home do you save? I'd love to see it broken down into categories if that's possible and not too nosy. Edit to add: I know the economy stinks right now, but I am looking for your normal saving ideas. Thanks! Edited December 7, 2008 by Quiver0f10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Right now - nothing. The budget runs about $10/wk in the negative for just basic needs. DH is the sole employee so his job has no benefits that way. It's not ideal, and it stressed me out, but it is right now what it is..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Normal is 10-15%. Right now, nothing. But we plan to get back on track soon. Most of this does go to a 401k. My dh just began a new job and we're waiting for this benefit to kick in again (although, again, in this market, we're not sure if that's a great idea.) We also use ING which has high yield savings. We could always save more though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riada Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 We have 10% of our income go to retirement, 5% go to emergency, and 5% for savings. Typing it out is a sad realization that I wish it were more. We do not have a college fund for our children. We believe they will need to work for that and apply for scholarships to make that a reality for them. Both myself and my husband had our college paid for in full and we both agree that it would have been much wiser to have had to work for it. It would have been more appreciated and better used. :glare: I hope we don't kick ourselves for this later in life. I'll be interested to see how others divide out their savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 15%+ retirement 5% general household no college funds We have a 15 year mortgage that will be paid off in 9 years at the latest but most likely in 4-5. Instead of college funds we put our extra money towards the house so we can help the kids pay for expenses in college (since we won't have a mortgage), but we won't pay their tuition. We live in an area with many great colleges and they can at least start at home for the first few years and be rent free. If they choose to go away...that is their choice but also their dime (unless there are no local options for their chosen career). We pay for an elite swim team for ds, and with his ability he may scholarship into college. If he wasn't doing that...I would have $6000 per year for a college fund! This is why we won't be paying for tuition...he is is burning through his college fund now :D DD9 seems to be following suit so she will have the same scenario and we will see what dd2 decides. If one of our girls decides to do a cheaper sport (we require the kids to do some sport even if it is just for fun) then I may start putting the difference away for them in to a tuition fund, but we will have to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 (edited) We don't break down our income such that we put such-and-such percent here or there. Categorical savings does sound rational, and I think it serves many people well, but I don't think everyone has to be so structured. Eta: I am not dismissing the value in setting up categories, and I do have my boys handle their money that way. But sometimes people feel guilt-tripped to follow stereotypical patterns of savings that may or may not be best suited to their circumstances. In our case, for example, our method of "saving" money for twelve years was to double up on our mortgage payments and pay off our home/farm/business quite early. During that time, we didn't save a specified amount for other purposes. But we now have no debt and owning outright allows us greater financial freedom. Hth. Edited December 7, 2008 by Colleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 15% goes to retirement, 10% goes to emergency fund, and the rest goes to pay down debt (car, mortgage, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 currently 0% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Mouse Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 We tuck extra money away when we have it. Our income tends to fluctuate a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Currently not as much as I would like.:glare: We're doubling our mortgage payment up and putting extra money aside to meet the yearly 20% maximum that we can prepay so the mortgage will be gone in 3 years. On top of these additional payments we can only muster an extra 10% of our income for additional savings. Since we already have a sizeable emergency fund this gets divided up between retirement and investments. We plan to put away for the kids in 3 years after the house is paid off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 We save 22% (some of this percentage is contributed by dh's employer) and all of it goes to retirement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted December 7, 2008 Author Share Posted December 7, 2008 Thanks for the replies. Gives us an idea of what to shoot for when we are finally ready to save ( which I hope and pray is soon!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 (edited) so far none really....just the 6% through hubby's job (it's matched). the goal from now, at least through March, is 35%. The way I figured it was that unemployment will be about $330 so we want to live as close to that as possible. Reasonably, I don't think we can get QUITE that low. So I figured on what IS reasonable during a time we're trying to build up a little safety landing (it's probably not really reasonable for ALL the time). What is left is about 35% of hubby's income so that is what we're using to save up a "if laid off" fund. If he's NOT laid off, then we're in the habit of living much more frugally, and I think we could save at least 15% (planned). So that is the plan for now. Oh, so that is all emergency, basically. We'll work it up to 12 mo income in time :) Edited December 7, 2008 by 2J5M9K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIN Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 A little more than 10%. That all goes into retirement. We also have already saved 3-6 months of our daily expenses and enough money for our next car. We were gifted some money from my folks years ago which helped us tremendously. I would love to be saving for our kids' college. If everything goes as planned our mortgage will be paid off by then and we will be able to help with college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 We save 5% a month for retirement - most of dh's retirement is funded by his employer, so our contribution is pretty minimal. We also have a mutual fund, and college funds for the kids, but we aren't actively contributing to them right now. We need to get our debt paid down first, and then in a couple of years we'll be able to start funding them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cherrie Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 nothing left. I worry about it all the time but we are so far into the renos there is no going back plus we have large credit card debt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 5% retirement + whatever the company match is each year for DH (this year quite nice because of his industry 5% emergency 3% college (mainly for emergencies since they will pay for college by themselves the way we did) 10% in a medical savings account for our son Hopefully the price of goods will go down soon with the lower gas prices and we can get back to saving more for fun stuff like vacations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 We put 15% of dh's gross pay into an IRA and his company matches 4%. So 19% - all retirement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Our savings has fluctuated a lot over the years depending on what our goal was. We've always maintained an emergency fund of about 6 mos. For a while everything other than our emergency savings went on our mortgage to pay it off early. Right now we're trying to save about 40% to 50% - almost one paycheck a month. (I don't know the exact breakdown between retirement and emergency fund) There's a reason for that: my dh is probably going to be unemployed in a few months, and job prospects are worse than slim. So we're want to make sure we have enough to get by on - unemployment doesn't cut it. We're also trying to decide whether we should do some home repairs (major ones) we've been putting off such as replacing our roof while we have an income since the future is very unsure. If my dh's job was secure, we wouldn't be living this tight. Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiCO Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 nothing left. I worry about it all the time but we are so far into the renos there is no going back plus we have large credit card debt. What's a reno? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 16% retirement 10% savings (unfortunatly about half of this percentage gets used during the summer months when DH doesn't get paid so we really need to up this). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 I used to think we were saving a reasonable percentage of our money. What we were really doing was buying stuff. The stuff we bought were stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Recently they have lost so much value that we might as well not have been 'saving' that money. And I guess in a way, we weren't. We were spending in on things we thought would create income later for us, but the jury is out on whether it really will. Honestly, I used to read that people should have 6 months of income in "savings" and I thought that our mutual funds counted, lol. Now I realize that if I really truly want to think of myself as having "saved" money, it needs to be in a truly safe place. Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 The stuff we bought were stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Recently they have lost so much value that we might as well not have been 'saving' that money. And I guess in a way, we weren't. We were spending in on things we thought would create income later for us, but the jury is out on whether it really will. Make sure you are thinking LONG TERM. A temporary issue for a year or ten even, unless you were planning to retire in that time, isn't really that bad. Long term, the stock market has not only recovered from issues, but grown at a really nice rate, especially compared to banks and other "safer" options. Breathe :) But yes, you do need an emergency plan in a place that doesn't have the fluctuations as well as is easy to get it from if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 The money I have for retirement is "saved." The problem is when you are thinking about college "savings" and saving for more short term horizons, or when you are older. Honestly, I think it could be several years before the market really recovers. Significant college savings are lost to our son in college, and that's really okay. We will be fine. Pinched, but okay. But I feel so badly for people for whom that money was all they had and their children are scrambling to see if they can still get loans. I know advisors usually suggest moving money to more secure vehicles when you are within a few years of needing that money. But I honestly didn't think about that with the majority of money in our college funds and I bet a lot of people are similarly situated. I think this experience will change the way I think about investments - that until the money is in a secured form like a CD or money market account, it's not really "there." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 The money I have for retirement is "saved." The problem is when you are thinking about college "savings" I knew there was a good reason why I don't specifically save money for my childrens' (potential) college educations.:D Seriously, though, I'm sorry you've been hit with that unpleasant financial surprise, Dana. Pamela is right though in that historically, the stock market is a very secure place for long-term investment. I've heard some people say they'll never put money in the stocks/bonds/funds again, but as long as one can put the money in and essentially forget about it, there's no reason not to stay in the market. Still and all, I steer clear from the market. I know from past experience it's not a good fit for my personality.;) I'm all about CDs and money market accounts, aside from our Organic Valley stock. (As an aside, O.V. stock is available for public purchase at a 6% cumulative dividend.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 16% into the matched retirement fund We recently (after listening to Dave Ramsey and the current economy) began saving more. Right now we are working towards saving at least a full 6 months (currently we have 3) of pay in addition to our emergency fund. We have more cash on hand than we ever did and it feels pretty good. I'd guess the dollar percentage of take home varies from 20% to 39% most months and the kids each have their college funds added to monthly. We have been married a very long time and dh has his military retirement in addition to his current job. This would never have been possible just a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Since my husband is self-employed, our income fluctuates. We save whatever we can, when we can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Roughly about 6% of our take home goes into a savings account. (It's a set amount so the percent varies.) Pre-tax (401k) is about 7.5% right now (I think.) Dh changes it from time to time. He switched to to guaranteed quite some time before the stock market started dropping I know that much. He has had it as high as 15% most of the past few years but dropped it to equal a car payment last March (when our 12 yo Taurus with 220k miles on it finally fell apart). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillary in KS Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 We don't break our income down into a budget. Whatever dh gets paid, we pay bills with. The rest gets put into a savings account each week. If we're careful with our spending, then we can put between $1-2K into savings each month. We're not weathly (we are SOOOOO far away from Mr. Obama's $250K tax it's not even a contest). But we're currently renting. We have no debt. No car payment. No student loans. (We worked to get out of debt before the economy sank.) So, for us, we pay rent, food, gas, and utilities out of dh's paycheck. We should be putting money away for retirement, etc., but right now we're working to build up the emergency fund. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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