I can't save!!

I currently have £200 in my current account and £0 in my savings until the end of the month. I can't get out of this rut, I feel I'm never making any progress with money.*

You need to create a second income....

1) You could work another job, do some tutoring on the side, do mystery shopping, work in general elections. Something to supplement your main income. This only has to be a few hours a week, but an extra £30-40 a week can make a difference.

2) You need to start investing in bonds/stocks which can produce a dividend. So steady income. Say for example, BP stock is yielding 7% in dividends right now, so £1000 invested in BP will give £70 a year, plus there is stock appreciation as well. For example my BP stock rose from 361 p to 455 p in the last 2 weeks, giving me £450 profit on the £2000 I invested.

I'm earning a decent enough wage, my rent is relatively low compared to London - I don't live particularly extravagantly (eg, most of my food shopping is done at lidl or aldi and I usually only buy cheap clothes from primark) yet I can never amass more than £1k in savings. Usually what will happen then is I will have to use them for something like a car repair or insurance, deposit on a place to rent, holiday, unexpected bill etc

Money just slips through my fingers, a weekend with friends can start off cheap but if you factor in £50 return trains, maybe £30 on alcohol, £20 on food and taxis that's £100 gone in two days. There are always things to pay for, and I don't feel like I'm even a big spender. Most people around me seem to be spending similar amounts (and earning similar amounts) yet able to save SOMETHING. Yes I do book the odd holiday but I stay in youth hostels and deliberately go at non-peak times with cheap flights.*

I currently have £200 in my current account and £0 in my savings until the end of the month. I can't get out of this rut, I feel I'm never making any progress with money.*

If he doesn't have the discipline to save then investing in stocks and shares would be really stupid.

I'm earning a decent enough wage, my rent is relatively low compared to London - I don't live particularly extravagantly (eg, most of my food shopping is done at lidl or aldi and I usually only buy cheap clothes from primark) yet I can never amass more than £1k in savings. Usually what will happen then is I will have to use them for something like a car repair or insurance, deposit on a place to rent, holiday, unexpected bill etc

Money just slips through my fingers, a weekend with friends can start off cheap but if you factor in £50 return trains, maybe £30 on alcohol, £20 on food and taxis that's £100 gone in two days. There are always things to pay for, and I don't feel like I'm even a big spender. Most people around me seem to be spending similar amounts (and earning similar amounts) yet able to save SOMETHING. Yes I do book the odd holiday but I stay in youth hostels and deliberately go at non-peak times with cheap flights.*

I currently have £200 in my current account and £0 in my savings until the end of the month. I can't get out of this rut, I feel I'm never making any progress with money.*

Well saving isn't enough these days, given your bank account will give you literally 0.5% to 1% interest (if you are lucky). Carney is cutting the base rate to 0.25% soon, so you will be lucky to get even 1%. So it's essential OP saves enough money to dump in the stock market and chase yield.

With the devaluing of the pound, inflation will hit 2% by the end of the year, given your bank account is not giving you 2%, you are effectively losing money.

There are a lot of wonderful stocks on the FTSE 100 which have become very cheap relative to the market because of brexit fears. Persimmon, Legal and General are ones to name a few.

I'm earning a decent enough wage, my rent is relatively low compared to London - I don't live particularly extravagantly (eg, most of my food shopping is done at lidl or aldi and I usually only buy cheap clothes from primark) yet I can never amass more than £1k in savings. Usually what will happen then is I will have to use them for something like a car repair or insurance, deposit on a place to rent, holiday, unexpected bill etc

Money just slips through my fingers, a weekend with friends can start off cheap but if you factor in £50 return trains, maybe £30 on alcohol, £20 on food and taxis that's £100 gone in two days. There are always things to pay for, and I don't feel like I'm even a big spender. Most people around me seem to be spending similar amounts (and earning similar amounts) yet able to save SOMETHING. Yes I do book the odd holiday but I stay in youth hostels and deliberately go at non-peak times with cheap flights.*

I currently have £200 in my current account and £0 in my savings until the end of the month. I can't get out of this rut, I feel I'm never making any progress with money.*

You can save.

You are choosing not to by prioritising other things above saving.

Make a proper budget and stick to it. And I mean a proper budget, as in a spread sheet with all costs and income.

You need to create a second income....

...

2) You need to start investing in bonds/stocks which can produce a dividend. So steady income. Say for example, BP stock is yielding 7% in dividends right now, so £1000 invested in BP will give £70 a year, plus there is stock appreciation as well. For example my BP stock rose from 361 p to 455 p in the last 2 weeks, giving me £450 profit on the £2000 I invested.

You have two options:

1) Earn more (ie; pursue a better paid job/career, get a second job, etc)

2) Cut your outgoings - move home, move into cheaper accommodation, flat share, shop around on utility bills, cut down on entertainment costs, etc.

The best thing to do now is sort out a proper budget. Get out your bank and credit card statements and double check all of your outgoings.

Ask yourself do you really need to spend that money or do you just want to?

Can you get those goods or services cheaper elsewhere?

Once you have crunched the numbers open a high interest savings account and set up a standing order to pay whatever 'surplus' you can reasonably afford into that account on payday. Once you have built up some emergency savings then focus on paying down high interest debt first (eg; credit cards, overdrafts, personal loans, etc) because the interest on these products will be higher than what you can make from the vast majority of savings or investments!



Pretty terrible advice for their situation.

Only invest if you can afford to lose 30-50% of their original value in the event of a "bad" year and be able to wait for several years* (if not more) for their value to rebound (which still might not happen!).

*while continuing to pay your rent/bills/etc.

Using your BP example, had you invested at the wrong time (ie; prior to the Deepwater Horizon disaster) you would have lost more than 50% of the value of your investment within the space of a couple of months. Several years on your stocks would probably still be worth 20-30% less than you paid originally!

Do not get me wrong, monthly investing is a key part of my retirement savings. However, that is based upon me having enough cash and emergency savings to pay my mortgage and bills for 6+ months. I can afford not to touch my investments and "ride out" any adverse events or downturns in the market - the OP cannot!

You have two options:

1) Earn more (ie; pursue a better paid job/career, get a second job, etc)

2) Cut your outgoings - move home, move into cheaper accommodation, flat share, shop around on utility bills, cut down on entertainment costs, etc.

The best thing to do now is sort out a proper budget. Get out your bank and credit card statements and double check all of your outgoings.

Ask yourself do you really need to spend that money or do you just want to?

Can you get those goods or services cheaper elsewhere?

Once you have crunched the numbers open a high interest savings account and set up a standing order to pay whatever 'surplus' you can reasonably afford into that account on payday. Once you have built up some emergency savings then focus on paying down high interest debt first (eg; credit cards, overdrafts, personal loans, etc) because the interest on these products will be higher than what you can make from the vast majority of savings or investments!



Pretty terrible advice for their situation.

Only invest if you can afford to lose 30-50% of their original value in the event of a "bad" year and be able to wait for several years* (if not more) for their value to rebound (which still might not happen!).

*while continuing to pay your rent/bills/etc.

Using your BP example, had you invested at the wrong time (ie; prior to the Deepwater Horizon disaster) you would have lost more than 50% of the value of your investment within the space of a couple of months. Several years on your stocks would probably still be worth 20-30% less than you paid originally!

Do not get me wrong, monthly investing is a key part of my retirement savings. However, that is based upon me having enough cash and emergency savings to pay my mortgage and bills for 6+ months. I can afford not to touch my investments and "ride out" any adverse events or downturns in the market - the OP cannot!

No it isn't, creating a steady income from dividends is amazing. I get given £130 a year from BP to do nothing, all I had to worry about was buying the stock at a good price. The whole point of investing is to hold the stock forever and reinvest dividends. You only sell if the company you think is not what it used to be, as in doing bad. By reinvesting dividends, it creates even more steady income. You can even pay your bills with that income!!

Even if the stock is worth less, why would I care, all I want is my 7.5% dividend (which also is increasing every year usually). So in a few years time I will be getting 10% just in dividend. Let the stock price fall!! I'm holding forever!

If you want short term liquid money, keep it in cash or short term bonds. Nothing wrong with keeping a couple of grand in cash for bills and rents. Any more you don't need for the next 5 years should be in the stock market, if it isn't then inflation and literally zero interest on your bank account will erode your life savings.

OP needs to start somewhere.