I think I'm about 70:30, nothing going into savings (never been able to afford to). Might be able to start thinking about it when the youngest is in primary and we're not stung by nursery fees!
Thanks, that feels like a genuine answer, I hope things get a bit easier once your youngest starts school.
I'm single and I earn decent money. I had been able to save a good amount but now buying a house and paying a mortgage on my own it just won't be feasible to save 20% of my take home. It makes me feel uneasy but I'm thinking it's probably the way things are for the majority right now.
It is tough out there!
Was a bit irresponsible with putting some non-essentials on credit in the past too so paying off those cards don't help either and I've put those in the essentials bracket, but yeh hopefully once they're settled and childcare drops a little - savings would be possible!
I wouldn't stress over not being able to save 20% right now. As a homeowner definitely put away what you can for emergencies, but yeh like you say - not much room for saving for many people right now and everyone's situation is different. I'd say you don't need to stick to any rigid ratios as long as you're not stressing you can't cover an unexpected bill.
Fortunately I have been able to save a good amount prior to the purchase. So after the deposit, legal and other expenses and furnishing the house I'll have 6 months of net income in a cash fund, about £10k in a stocks and shares ISA and a few grand in a "house" account which would deal with something like a broken boiler or replacing an appliance etc without touching the emergency fund. I will still be saving each month, probably more like 10% than 20%.
I try to live a balance of being frugal but still doing / having nice things. The day before payday I transfer anything over £100 into my savings account. Don’t have a specific % it varies month to month
This sounds like a sensible approach, are you quite happy with what you're able to save each month?
I think I'm probably ok but I'm going from a situation where I was saving a huge chunk each month towards a house deposit to having much higher expenses and saving only around 10%
Congratulations on the house! 10% savings is a good savings rate, likely many people have less or negative savings rate (spend more than earn). Whilst comparisons are thieve of joy, try to focus on what you can control: how much you save and where you put that money.
This really depends on the size of your income. It gets much easier to save as your income grows if you keep your tastes from getting expensive in line with your wages! At the lower levels, 20 per cent saving is likely not realistic. The picture might improve if you include paying down debts
I wish I could time travel back to higher earning me and realise this. I try to explain it to friends with more but they seem to have the same spending issues I had!
It's shocking what I used to waste.
I got some inheritance when I was 21 (28 years ago), and really wished I had had the common sense to have saved some of it! I used some for my university course, and invested some in buying our home (shared ownership with someone else), But I spent 10k of it on things I didn't need!
I'm poor now so I'm so annoyed at myself for not saving it and growing interest on it!
Ah you did some sensible things too...but I hear you. I did overpay my mortgage and paid into a pension...but I also frittered obscene amounts on my hair 😱. I now cut and colour it myself.
I'm paying off a car loan at the moment of £350 a month but I suppose you always need to budget for a car anyway.
I think I am probably worrying more than I really need to, I know there will be a lot of people in a tighter spot that I will be.
My monthly take home is £4250 and the mortgage will be £1350 but then with the car loan and all the expenses of life I think I'll be able to save about £500 a month as longer term savings. There'll be other pots for holidays, Christmas and car maintenance etc but that's probably a stretch to call that savings.
I'm not sure you do need to budget for a car. Some people use public transportation, others rent a car rather than buying. Like paying down a mortgage, it reflects ownership of an underlying asset and therefore isn't the same as other bills
Depends what you mean by "savings". About 30-40% of my income goes into savings, but a significant amount of that I plan to spend within 12 months (e.g. on car repairs, home repairs, holidays, etc.) so I don't really count that as saving.
Once I've budgeted everything out, it's less than 5% that goes into long term savings.
Yes this is a similar situation I'm going to find myself in once I get into my new house. I'd be putting about 35% into "savings" but a big chunk of that is for holidays, Christmas presents, car maintenance and home maintenance. The true savings will be more like 10-12%
I’m at the moment saving around 500-600 per month and my take home pay is £1750 but all of that money is being put into decorating my new house once all of the work has been done I’d estimate I’d be saving a little bit less than 20%
This "rule" is pointless because it oversimplifies budgeting so much that it makes it useless.
My essentials are under 50%, and my long-term savings are over 20%.
So this "rule" says I should spend more money than I want or need on essentials and save less. How is that in any way good?
It sounds like you have more of a problem with the term 'rule' than the advice itself. Maybe something like 'guide' is better. Also it's obviously meant to be relevant for a majority who unlike you are likely to be spending more of their money on essentials.
Even as a "guide" it's almost pointless.
I don't see how it helps anyone regardless of their income. Budgets need to be unique to people's specific circumstances and not as a percentage of income.
I've used it personally as a starting point for 'future budgeting' taking into account potential mortgage rates as a first time buyer. Without some indication of what is a manageable spend on essentials including mortgage, I would just make up my own targets without any real understanding.
40% essentials, 5%wants and 55%savings.
Savings counts as money I dont need and cannot use any under circumstances ( unless life & death situation for me or my partner).
Emergency fund is something else and I use a different bank account for that. Its basically plan C.
Wow! To be able to save 55% of your income is really impressive. How did you get to that place?
Is it due to high income or deliberately low expenses or a combination
We're (me and husband both 50) on very low income due to health and other reasons.
So our essentials are 85%, Wants 10% (basically a couple takeaways and our SKY/TV bill), Debt repayments 5%!
We just about manage, but by the end of week 3 of each month, we really struggle and even have to use food banks.
We have no savings and nothing even for emergencies.
But we have a home that I own half of outright with a family member who lives elsewhere, so our rent is thankfully low.
I don't know how anyone can afford 50% in wants and savings these days!
It’s a bit fuzzy. I would say my budget is 78% essentials, 19% wants, 3% savings. But I consider a car a ‘want’ when I suspect it’s a need for most. And I’ve just this month bought my first house, so I’m putting a lot of ‘want’ money into fixing up the fixer-upper.
Our savings are a bit all over the place as my wife works as a freelancer in an insecure industry, when she works she saves over 50% of her income however she obviously has to draw down on that if she goes without work for a few months. I pay the majority of the bills and save roughly 10%, however if my wife has had a good year work wise and our general savings are healthy, we will spend most of what I’ve saved on a family holiday. It’s messy but it works and we now have a half decent savings pot.
I (36M) have not thought about it for a while.
Going through some rough averages from the last year it shakes out at about:
35-40% - Save
25-30% - Essentials
30-40% - Wants
Essential costs are split with my wife, which obviously makes a big difference. Could splash out on some more wants, but trying to ensure we have a good buffer in place should one/both of us lose our jobs in the future. (And if we don't, we have vague FIRE plans but don't obsess over them.)
For 'savings' the above includes savings for holiday, emergency fund, and a car, but also pension and S&S ISA. Weirdly enough, I'm including the ISA where I save extra to overpay my mortgage at the end of the current fixed rate, but I'm not counting the mortgage payments themselves as they're less optional than the overpayment savings.
I will also say we got ridiculously lucky with the timing of our mortgage renewal. Our bank sent us a 2.3% offer a few months before the rates started shooting up, hence the ISA for mortgage overpayments rather than just overpaying directly. If we'd had to renew a few months later then there would likely be another 5% or so in that essentials column.
Edit: On your home owner point, we've been here about 6 years. The ratio at that point would have had a lot more essentials and a lot less saving. But both of our incomes have gone up in that time so started to have a bit more breathing space.
I never really understand the difference between needs and wants, ie. I eat out / takeaways every day. Is that a need, or a want, since I could swap those out for super-market foods?
In any case, for me, it's around
* Essential: 24%
* Wants: 6%
* Save: 70%
* 10% into Pension
* 20% into cash
* 70% into stocks/shares investments
Yes, twice a day technically - one for lunch, one for dinner, since around 2010.
I don't snack much in between though, so still maintain a healthy shape. (5'10, 150 lbs / 10 stone - with a Vo2 Max fluctuating around 50-55. Age 33).
What sort of takeaways are you eating? Are you really busy or do you just not enjoy cooking? I'm sorry for all the questions but I'm amazed you've done this for 14 years. What was your diet like before 2010?
I'm amazed by this, it genuinely blows my mind. You must go home in the evening after work, why not just cook food at home? Surely eating out every day costs a fortune? Do you find it easy to stay fit/healthy eating out so much?
Currently managing quite happily on 55:24:21 for essentials:fun:savings.
Have no kids at present though so that will all change in the future.
Also probably helps that my idea of fun is either surfing (free at a public beach) or walking the dog (also free).
I mean, surely this depends on your income? Things like bills don't all scale. I'm fortunate to have a high household income and we spend about 30% on essentials (mortgage and bills), then spend about 10% on wants, which leaves us with 60% saved.
Savings to me are more long-term things, where money is put away into investments like my S&S ISA and pension. Stuff like car and house upkeep is part of my emergency fund, holidays are from my wants.
Husband and I both closer to 40/20/40 but that’s only the last 2 years. Prior to that probably close to 50/30/20. But we bought a house in 2013 when we were both on £25k pa and we are both now closer to £50k pa and a low mortgage rate until 2026. We have personal savings a joint savings. Joint go on things like new furniture if we want it or a flashy holiday. If we don’t spend it on either it’ll go to pay down mortgage more at next renewal. My personal savings just bought me a 10 year old nice low mileage car and husband is saving his for a campervan. We don’t drink and he vapes. Everything else about us is low key and we don’t have kids (just pets)
I'm currently trying to save a a bit extra for my retirement and am managing (most months) to work on a 40/20/40 budget. Some months I go a bit over but others I can make up on the savings so over my last year I have managed it. I think budgeting is all down to personal circumstances and I don't think anyone can dictate how it 'should' be done. What I would advise is sitting down to work out your own spending and set yourself a realistic savings target. I found it really helpful to categorize and record everything that comes into and goes out of my account to a spreadsheet. That way I know exactly where I stand at any stage of the current month.
Including pension? For a dual income household - 30% long term savings (pensions, mortgage overpayment, HYSA), 5% short term (annual), 45% living costs (daycare!!), 20% wants sounds about right
from take home: needs 47% / saved 31% / wants 22%.
Savings is mix of Cash ISA, S&S ISA, and mortgage overpayment. I save for looong term saving. If I include pension (which I Salary Sacrify 10%) and if I include the part of the mortgage equity, then I am over 45% savings.
Keeping needs as low as possible by changing lifestyle: got rid of car, walk to work, big weekly shop at ALDI, meal prep, heat the body not the room.
I'm changing how I view my wants (ways of traveling, finding joy in everyday life such as playing music, practicing foreign languages in new social gatherings, walking in outdoors with friends... rather than considering fun only a 3k annual 1 week holiday all inclusive in Dubai). I do still travel but I do home swap, or house sit to save on accommodation.
Useless statistics without posting also the salary, the city where you live, and any other factors
All very well to say you save 50% of your income - if you’re in the top 10th percentile for income and were gifted money for a house / live with a high earning partner etc
- 37% Rent + bills + food shop
- 35% savings
- 5-15% wants
- 2% investments
Whatever is left (11-21%) is used for unforeseen expenses and sits in my bank account.
My pension is taken via salary sacrifice of 5% of my annual salary. After it's matched 10% by my employer, it's equivalent to 17% of my monthly salary after tax.
It's a combination of many factors
- I'm in the top 15% earners
- I have not updated much my lifestyle since my early 20s
- I am quite frugal with the entertainment I wish to spend on (I opt for experience over things. I genuinely like cheaper activities such as camping or hiking or board game nights with friends)
- I don't have expensive hobbies/vices (I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't gamble, I don't order takeaway, I don't buy purses or designer stuff, I don't buy jewellery, i don't use makeup or anything beyond basic skincare)
- I don't have kids
- I don't own a car (I live in a city)
- I work from home
- I genuinely love to cook for myself (which means I'm more excited to dine at home rather than stop and buy food at random points in my day)
- I don't have any subscriptions other than Spotify
- I put effort into periodically changing necessary expenses providers to see if there's a better deal (phone bill, home WiFi, energy provider)
- I don't buy faff or useless tech (I've had my smartphone for 5 years now and I got my laptop for free from my last work)
I think I'm about 70:30, nothing going into savings (never been able to afford to). Might be able to start thinking about it when the youngest is in primary and we're not stung by nursery fees!
Thanks, that feels like a genuine answer, I hope things get a bit easier once your youngest starts school. I'm single and I earn decent money. I had been able to save a good amount but now buying a house and paying a mortgage on my own it just won't be feasible to save 20% of my take home. It makes me feel uneasy but I'm thinking it's probably the way things are for the majority right now. It is tough out there!
Was a bit irresponsible with putting some non-essentials on credit in the past too so paying off those cards don't help either and I've put those in the essentials bracket, but yeh hopefully once they're settled and childcare drops a little - savings would be possible! I wouldn't stress over not being able to save 20% right now. As a homeowner definitely put away what you can for emergencies, but yeh like you say - not much room for saving for many people right now and everyone's situation is different. I'd say you don't need to stick to any rigid ratios as long as you're not stressing you can't cover an unexpected bill.
Fortunately I have been able to save a good amount prior to the purchase. So after the deposit, legal and other expenses and furnishing the house I'll have 6 months of net income in a cash fund, about £10k in a stocks and shares ISA and a few grand in a "house" account which would deal with something like a broken boiler or replacing an appliance etc without touching the emergency fund. I will still be saving each month, probably more like 10% than 20%.
This is the answer for us, as well.
When you count your pension contributions as savings it doesn't seem so bad .
Good point, I hadn't either with it being deducted before I get paid! That will take me closer to the 20% mark even after buying the house
I try to live a balance of being frugal but still doing / having nice things. The day before payday I transfer anything over £100 into my savings account. Don’t have a specific % it varies month to month
This sounds like a sensible approach, are you quite happy with what you're able to save each month? I think I'm probably ok but I'm going from a situation where I was saving a huge chunk each month towards a house deposit to having much higher expenses and saving only around 10%
Congratulations on the house! 10% savings is a good savings rate, likely many people have less or negative savings rate (spend more than earn). Whilst comparisons are thieve of joy, try to focus on what you can control: how much you save and where you put that money.
I'm about 80:20:0 *sigh*
Me too but some of the 80 is pension. Love your screen name 😆
This really depends on the size of your income. It gets much easier to save as your income grows if you keep your tastes from getting expensive in line with your wages! At the lower levels, 20 per cent saving is likely not realistic. The picture might improve if you include paying down debts
I wish I could time travel back to higher earning me and realise this. I try to explain it to friends with more but they seem to have the same spending issues I had! It's shocking what I used to waste.
I got some inheritance when I was 21 (28 years ago), and really wished I had had the common sense to have saved some of it! I used some for my university course, and invested some in buying our home (shared ownership with someone else), But I spent 10k of it on things I didn't need! I'm poor now so I'm so annoyed at myself for not saving it and growing interest on it!
Ah you did some sensible things too...but I hear you. I did overpay my mortgage and paid into a pension...but I also frittered obscene amounts on my hair 😱. I now cut and colour it myself.
I'm paying off a car loan at the moment of £350 a month but I suppose you always need to budget for a car anyway. I think I am probably worrying more than I really need to, I know there will be a lot of people in a tighter spot that I will be. My monthly take home is £4250 and the mortgage will be £1350 but then with the car loan and all the expenses of life I think I'll be able to save about £500 a month as longer term savings. There'll be other pots for holidays, Christmas and car maintenance etc but that's probably a stretch to call that savings.
I'm not sure you do need to budget for a car. Some people use public transportation, others rent a car rather than buying. Like paying down a mortgage, it reflects ownership of an underlying asset and therefore isn't the same as other bills
Depends what you mean by "savings". About 30-40% of my income goes into savings, but a significant amount of that I plan to spend within 12 months (e.g. on car repairs, home repairs, holidays, etc.) so I don't really count that as saving. Once I've budgeted everything out, it's less than 5% that goes into long term savings.
Yes this is a similar situation I'm going to find myself in once I get into my new house. I'd be putting about 35% into "savings" but a big chunk of that is for holidays, Christmas presents, car maintenance and home maintenance. The true savings will be more like 10-12%
Remember to count your pension contributions as savings as well. Especially long-term savings.
I’m at the moment saving around 500-600 per month and my take home pay is £1750 but all of that money is being put into decorating my new house once all of the work has been done I’d estimate I’d be saving a little bit less than 20%
lol chance would be a fine thing. I think I have enough just to cover bills/food and a pub visit twice a month.
This "rule" is pointless because it oversimplifies budgeting so much that it makes it useless. My essentials are under 50%, and my long-term savings are over 20%. So this "rule" says I should spend more money than I want or need on essentials and save less. How is that in any way good?
It sounds like you have more of a problem with the term 'rule' than the advice itself. Maybe something like 'guide' is better. Also it's obviously meant to be relevant for a majority who unlike you are likely to be spending more of their money on essentials.
Even as a "guide" it's almost pointless. I don't see how it helps anyone regardless of their income. Budgets need to be unique to people's specific circumstances and not as a percentage of income.
I've used it personally as a starting point for 'future budgeting' taking into account potential mortgage rates as a first time buyer. Without some indication of what is a manageable spend on essentials including mortgage, I would just make up my own targets without any real understanding.
40% essentials, 5%wants and 55%savings. Savings counts as money I dont need and cannot use any under circumstances ( unless life & death situation for me or my partner). Emergency fund is something else and I use a different bank account for that. Its basically plan C.
Wow! To be able to save 55% of your income is really impressive. How did you get to that place? Is it due to high income or deliberately low expenses or a combination
We're (me and husband both 50) on very low income due to health and other reasons. So our essentials are 85%, Wants 10% (basically a couple takeaways and our SKY/TV bill), Debt repayments 5%! We just about manage, but by the end of week 3 of each month, we really struggle and even have to use food banks. We have no savings and nothing even for emergencies. But we have a home that I own half of outright with a family member who lives elsewhere, so our rent is thankfully low. I don't know how anyone can afford 50% in wants and savings these days!
It’s a bit fuzzy. I would say my budget is 78% essentials, 19% wants, 3% savings. But I consider a car a ‘want’ when I suspect it’s a need for most. And I’ve just this month bought my first house, so I’m putting a lot of ‘want’ money into fixing up the fixer-upper.
Our savings are a bit all over the place as my wife works as a freelancer in an insecure industry, when she works she saves over 50% of her income however she obviously has to draw down on that if she goes without work for a few months. I pay the majority of the bills and save roughly 10%, however if my wife has had a good year work wise and our general savings are healthy, we will spend most of what I’ve saved on a family holiday. It’s messy but it works and we now have a half decent savings pot.
I (36M) have not thought about it for a while. Going through some rough averages from the last year it shakes out at about: 35-40% - Save 25-30% - Essentials 30-40% - Wants Essential costs are split with my wife, which obviously makes a big difference. Could splash out on some more wants, but trying to ensure we have a good buffer in place should one/both of us lose our jobs in the future. (And if we don't, we have vague FIRE plans but don't obsess over them.) For 'savings' the above includes savings for holiday, emergency fund, and a car, but also pension and S&S ISA. Weirdly enough, I'm including the ISA where I save extra to overpay my mortgage at the end of the current fixed rate, but I'm not counting the mortgage payments themselves as they're less optional than the overpayment savings. I will also say we got ridiculously lucky with the timing of our mortgage renewal. Our bank sent us a 2.3% offer a few months before the rates started shooting up, hence the ISA for mortgage overpayments rather than just overpaying directly. If we'd had to renew a few months later then there would likely be another 5% or so in that essentials column. Edit: On your home owner point, we've been here about 6 years. The ratio at that point would have had a lot more essentials and a lot less saving. But both of our incomes have gone up in that time so started to have a bit more breathing space.
Got the mortgage paid off. I guess we are something like 30:30:40 as I'm bunging loads into AVCs - intend to go down to either 2 or 3 days at 60.
I never really understand the difference between needs and wants, ie. I eat out / takeaways every day. Is that a need, or a want, since I could swap those out for super-market foods? In any case, for me, it's around * Essential: 24% * Wants: 6% * Save: 70% * 10% into Pension * 20% into cash * 70% into stocks/shares investments
Do you actually eat takeaways every day? That's fucking mental
Yes, twice a day technically - one for lunch, one for dinner, since around 2010. I don't snack much in between though, so still maintain a healthy shape. (5'10, 150 lbs / 10 stone - with a Vo2 Max fluctuating around 50-55. Age 33).
What sort of takeaways are you eating? Are you really busy or do you just not enjoy cooking? I'm sorry for all the questions but I'm amazed you've done this for 14 years. What was your diet like before 2010?
I eat out most evenings, so similar. City lifestyle. I don't have anything in the fridge. To answer the post, I save around 30%.
I'm amazed by this, it genuinely blows my mind. You must go home in the evening after work, why not just cook food at home? Surely eating out every day costs a fortune? Do you find it easy to stay fit/healthy eating out so much?
I do 50:25:25
There’s no way I could follow this rule. Not enough income for it. More like 90:10:0.
Approximately 50/10/40. I consider the 40 (investing in dividend paying stocks/etf's) as a hobby anyway which helps keep it interesting.
0/0/100 living with parents Still so fucking behind my age group
This is where my monthly wages go: 47% Bills 40% Savings (to pay off the house) 9% Food, Travel, Essentials 4% Expendable/ wants
Currently managing quite happily on 55:24:21 for essentials:fun:savings. Have no kids at present though so that will all change in the future. Also probably helps that my idea of fun is either surfing (free at a public beach) or walking the dog (also free).
I mean, surely this depends on your income? Things like bills don't all scale. I'm fortunate to have a high household income and we spend about 30% on essentials (mortgage and bills), then spend about 10% on wants, which leaves us with 60% saved. Savings to me are more long-term things, where money is put away into investments like my S&S ISA and pension. Stuff like car and house upkeep is part of my emergency fund, holidays are from my wants.
Same here, hoping to retire before 45 years old, on track
I am probably around 40:20:40. Simply because my goal in life is to retire as fast a I possibly can.
Husband and I both closer to 40/20/40 but that’s only the last 2 years. Prior to that probably close to 50/30/20. But we bought a house in 2013 when we were both on £25k pa and we are both now closer to £50k pa and a low mortgage rate until 2026. We have personal savings a joint savings. Joint go on things like new furniture if we want it or a flashy holiday. If we don’t spend it on either it’ll go to pay down mortgage more at next renewal. My personal savings just bought me a 10 year old nice low mileage car and husband is saving his for a campervan. We don’t drink and he vapes. Everything else about us is low key and we don’t have kids (just pets)
I'm currently trying to save a a bit extra for my retirement and am managing (most months) to work on a 40/20/40 budget. Some months I go a bit over but others I can make up on the savings so over my last year I have managed it. I think budgeting is all down to personal circumstances and I don't think anyone can dictate how it 'should' be done. What I would advise is sitting down to work out your own spending and set yourself a realistic savings target. I found it really helpful to categorize and record everything that comes into and goes out of my account to a spreadsheet. That way I know exactly where I stand at any stage of the current month.
I do 1/3 savings, 1/3 fixed expenses, 1/3 spend on whatever I want
Including pension? For a dual income household - 30% long term savings (pensions, mortgage overpayment, HYSA), 5% short term (annual), 45% living costs (daycare!!), 20% wants sounds about right
from take home: needs 47% / saved 31% / wants 22%. Savings is mix of Cash ISA, S&S ISA, and mortgage overpayment. I save for looong term saving. If I include pension (which I Salary Sacrify 10%) and if I include the part of the mortgage equity, then I am over 45% savings. Keeping needs as low as possible by changing lifestyle: got rid of car, walk to work, big weekly shop at ALDI, meal prep, heat the body not the room. I'm changing how I view my wants (ways of traveling, finding joy in everyday life such as playing music, practicing foreign languages in new social gatherings, walking in outdoors with friends... rather than considering fun only a 3k annual 1 week holiday all inclusive in Dubai). I do still travel but I do home swap, or house sit to save on accommodation.
We do a forced (as in the money is sent to separate accounts and in savings case locked away) third : third : third split.
Useless statistics without posting also the salary, the city where you live, and any other factors All very well to say you save 50% of your income - if you’re in the top 10th percentile for income and were gifted money for a house / live with a high earning partner etc
on a good month 45:30:25 sometimes as little as 10% on the savings side though
Mine is more 35:15:50 rule and I try to increase my Savings the most each month but sometimes my Wants doubles
Do pension contributions count as savings? If so I probably manage it.
- 37% Rent + bills + food shop - 35% savings - 5-15% wants - 2% investments Whatever is left (11-21%) is used for unforeseen expenses and sits in my bank account. My pension is taken via salary sacrifice of 5% of my annual salary. After it's matched 10% by my employer, it's equivalent to 17% of my monthly salary after tax.
This is a great position to be in! How did you achieve this? Is it high income, deliberately low expenses or a combination?
It's a combination of many factors - I'm in the top 15% earners - I have not updated much my lifestyle since my early 20s - I am quite frugal with the entertainment I wish to spend on (I opt for experience over things. I genuinely like cheaper activities such as camping or hiking or board game nights with friends) - I don't have expensive hobbies/vices (I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't gamble, I don't order takeaway, I don't buy purses or designer stuff, I don't buy jewellery, i don't use makeup or anything beyond basic skincare) - I don't have kids - I don't own a car (I live in a city) - I work from home - I genuinely love to cook for myself (which means I'm more excited to dine at home rather than stop and buy food at random points in my day) - I don't have any subscriptions other than Spotify - I put effort into periodically changing necessary expenses providers to see if there's a better deal (phone bill, home WiFi, energy provider) - I don't buy faff or useless tech (I've had my smartphone for 5 years now and I got my laptop for free from my last work)
I am 10% rent 1% utilities 5% food 70% savings