How Much Do you Save in a Month?

[mrpaseo]

Currently.... nothing... and I'm happy with that.

No, I take that back, I save my change at the end of each day

[Sian]

right now my saving r pretty paltry b/c i'm 33 & don't have hardly anythin in my 401k . but startin next yr i'mma start puttin a lot more in it. my expenses r very below means right now but the thing that hurts me the most is payin alimony which i'll keep payin until may 2016, that's 600/mo just 4 that.... so when i'm done payin that i'll b able 2 put that in2 my retirement 2 jump that up immediately. i'm scared of not havin enuff 2 retire but i can't put a lot of money in it right now b/c of all the debt that i have. i'm hopin in apr 2011 i'll have most of it paid off except 4 the student loans i have, which will give me a lot of stress relief.

u guys have given me several ideas 4 how 2 make my retirement funds work 4 me. i'll b talkin 2 my financial advisor as well early next yr (i'll b 34 then so not much time 4 me 2 b retirement ready by age 65).

[behing01]

I save as much as possible and the secret is to track your entire spending for a month or two and figure out where you can make some cuts. Even a dollar here and there can make a big difference.

[crazyBMB]

me: not enough

[MonkeyMama]

how about some input on where you are putting said money? How much interest are you earning from those savings?

Jack

Most of our savings is long-term/retirement. So mutual funds/stock market.

The interest on our cash doesn't matter so much. Past year has been below 2%, but most years we have had much higher interest rates on our cash. Regardless, our cash savings is for things we need to pay cash for in the near future (or emergency). The interest rate doesn't matter so much to me. (Don't get me wrong - I will always shop for higher rates, but I just mean I am not moving into more aggressive strategies on short term cash, just because interest rates our abysmal).

We don't have a lot of "in between" at the moment. Either I need it soon, or I need it in 30+ years. So we have an aggressive retirement portfolio and all of our other savings is cash. I expect more "in between" investments with age.

[JoshuaHeckathorn]

It's very interesting to read everyone's comments here. I love threads like this.

Anyway, I save 22% of gross income taking into account ALL savings. The problem seems to be not losing most of it in the market these days!

[mmgarren@yahoo.com]

I am retired and have a low income, but I save about 30% of my income per month. It's not easy but i do it.

[Redraidernurse]

We probably save 30% of our income, which gets deposited into retirement accounts, or put in a lump sum towards our mortgage.

[PMMM]

I save 29% of my gross. 59% of the savings goes into my 401K and the rest goes into a Bond Fund that I maintain at an online trading site. I'm earning about 3.2% on the bond fund. My bank savings makes virtually nothing and my 401K is going backwards. I'm hoping and praying for a turnaround.

I do this by strict budgeting and I have no debt save for my mortgage.

[personalbudgetstuff]

10% of everything your earn as general rule.

[zhuwh]

This month , i didn't have the lunch at the restaurant , and i brought the meal to my office , then i found that i have saved 40USD .

[tdls17]

The key is getting control of debt. We put away 25% of incoming cash flow by living within our means, which means our debt is minimal and free's up more $$ for saving/investing.

Denise
Eliminating Debt, Cures Offering Quick And Clear Solutions To Get Out Of Owing

[Coronet]

Having been a stock broker back in the 80"s, I always appreciated finding people who were actually saving money, but was appalled at thier investment porfolio. Although, I see a lot of people in this forum saving a good chuck of their earnings...how about some input on where you are putting said money? How much interest are you earning from those savings?

Jack

I just started working (fresh out of college) so for now my savings are in an easily accessible place. I have my 20% a month stored in a savings account earning 0.4% interest. Crappy interest, but all rates are pretty poor right now so.... After I save up 3 month's worth of expenses I'll start moving my excess savings into higher-yielding accounts. I have some money in a mutual fund so that's earning a lot more than 0.4% right now.

[cash4sure]

Having been a stock broker back in the 80"s, I always appreciated finding people who were actually saving money, but was appalled at thier investment porfolio. Although, I see a lot of people in this forum saving a good chuck of their earnings...how about some input on where you are putting said money? How much interest are you earning from those savings?

Jack

[savana]

I save 20 to 25% of my salary as, I have to pay for two loans and do have some responsibilities with my expenses also. Sometime, it happens that I cant save that much but, I manage to save it more not less.