saving money

What percentage of your money do you save?

I save around 35% to 60% every month and I hope I can soon be able to save around 75% of my money every month. And no, I am not rich. If I had a baby I would probably qualify for food stamp. And yes, I love Suze Orman's shows. She thinks like me (expect she knows a lot more about money that I do).

I *was* managing to save about 40-50%, but that was for a house downpayment, closing costs, etc. Now that I have one, my goal will be more like 10-15% because that extra cash I was saving will now be the house payment.

Seraa

Alright... this might seem BAD... but...

ZILCH.

NADA.

Of course, I have a mortgate, two cars, TWO kids and work full-time.

When I sold my old house, I did take 5k and drop it in a mutual fund and promptly forgot about it, so I guess you could call that savings ~ except I don't consider it money I have access to.

In my savings account, I have less than $100.

I have no ability to save any percentage at this time, as my household costs pretty much equal (or exceed) what I make. I am NOT a spendthrift, nor do I have credit card bills out the behind.

~phos

Fos, that mutual fund money still counts. Do you not count it as money that you have access to because it hasn't matured? Is there a large penalty for early withdrawal? It's still something, for sure!

I just bought a condo in November and it's been TIGHT for the last couple months! I'm hoping it starts getting better soon. The thing is, usually you have an entire year to put money away for property taxes (you can set it up with the bank where they take out a certain amount each month along with your mortgage). Well, I only have 6 months to save for an entire year's worth. So I've been trying to put a few hundred dollars a month aside, and... well, I feel BROKE. So that tells me that I'm not in a position to save much more than I do.

Other than that, I put 5% a month into an RRSP and my work matches it, so there's the 10% that The Wealthy Barber recommends you save a month. See Fos, I don't really have access to that money either -- I will have to pay taxes on anything I take out, and some of my investments are locked in. But I still count it! :D

BUT -- it's NICE to watch it grow! I started contributing when I got my first job out of university, and it has really built up. It's now at 25% of the value of my condo, which is nice.

I know how some of you feel, not being able to save. Seriously, sometimes that 5% is hard to part with.

Oh, and I just wanted to add that my banker/financial advisor told me that building equity in property is considered a form of saving too!!