What Percentage of Your Take Home do You Save? - Page 3

tinapbeana · #41 (**permalink**) 10-11-2006, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Oh, I wasn't criticizing. I was just curious how that money got allocated. I think it sounds like you guys are doing very well.

Well, it got determined in a very non-frugal, haphazzard manner a a year or two ago

My allowance: "Can I get by on $100 per week? Surely that will be plenty, right? Well, it'll be a good ballpark figure, at least..."

DH's allowance: what's let of his paycheck after they take out medical, dental, vision, & life insurances, his monthly parking pass, a monthly United Way donation and $550 (which is direct deposited to the house account).

Since I control the house account, it always looks like I have WAY more money than him on paper

In reality, my money is stashed cash in an undisclosed location. For this week, at least.

happy camper · #42 (**permalink**) 10-16-2006, 07:15 AM

It was interesting following this thread and reading the responses about what percentage people saved of their incomes.

I did not see a lot of information about what goals people are saving for.

My wife and I have no debt including the house, 6 months of emergency funds and a pretty good amount of cash saved towards our goal of moving to a larger house. We save 20% into retirement accounts and average another 40% towards our house goal. Once we do the house, we will again have a mortgage for 5-7 years and along the way we will save to replace a couple of cars.

Anyone care to share what they have earmarked their savings for?

disneysteve · #43 (**permalink**) 10-16-2006, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by happy camper

It was interesting following this thread and reading the responses about what percentage people saved of their incomes.

I did not see a lot of information about what goals people are saving for.

Anyone care to share what they have earmarked their savings for?

We are saving for a variety of goals. Certainly, the largest is retirement. We are both 42 and I hope to be able to afford to retire at 62 with a nest egg between 2 and 3 million dollars.

In the nearer future, we are saving to help pay for our daughter's college education. She is 11. We put $400/month into her 529 plan and currently have over $17,000 in there. I don't expect to pay her way 100% but would like to be able to cover a nice chunk of costs.

Then there are all the assorted short-term needs, like vacations, car repairs, home maintenance, etc. My car had about 95K miles. I'm hoping to get another 2-3 years out of that.

Oh, and my daughter will have her Bat-Mitzvah in two years so we have money set aside to pay for that celebration.

tinapbeana · #44 (**permalink**) 10-16-2006, 08:00 AM

well, right now the savings is earmarked for debt reduction, so it isn't actually getting saved...

once that is in order i plan on saving for 'retirement' (i use the term loosely), new kitchen cabinates, and a vacation to argentina sometime in the next 5 years. not necessarily in that order

crazyBMB · #45 (**permalink**) 10-16-2006, 08:06 AM

As for me........not nearly enough.

joyride21 · #46 (**permalink**) 10-17-2006, 12:00 PM

My emergency fund is exactly where I want it to be, so after I pay all my bills I take the rest of monthly income and put it towards my mortgage. I'm currently making more than double payments. It's wonderful to watch the principal amount drop by so much month after month, and the money I'm saving on interest is great. (My fun money is worked into the bills; I use my credit card for everything. I've preset a spending amount for the card, and once I hit that amount for the month, the fun spending stops.)

savvy06 · #47 (**permalink**) 10-17-2006, 02:37 PM

Well, we live on one income ( I'm a SAHM ) but we also have no debt. My husband is paid biweekly, so we use one paycheck to cover all our monthly expanses, and the other paycheck goes into our savings. We also do our 401, IRA, US bonds and other investments each month, so our savings net for each month is about $1,800. We are thinking of selling our present home and buying another one withing the next couple of years, not a larger home, but a home with more land for a swimming pool, or stay where we are and buy a vacation home. We'll have to decide on that.

lrjohnson · #48 (**permalink**) 10-17-2006, 05:38 PM

My current savings (over 50% of gross right now, details somewhere above) are earmarked for house down payment and retirement. I already have zero debt and already have an emergency fund.