How Much Is Everyone Saving?

pf2 on 16/12/2022 - 15:59

How much of your take home pay are you saving? If you are a good saver are you living at home/rent & mortgage free? Are you happy with your lifestyle?

Did some numbers yesterday and between my partner and I we can maybe save $50,000p.a. between us if we want to make an effort, but don't want to scrimp on everything because who wants to live like that? Depressingly - that's only a $1.5m house if we did that for the next 30 years with zero interest, which if you are living in Sydney or Melbourne barely gets you a decent sized home these days.

Poll Options

  • 152
    0% live pay check to pay check
  • 84
    <10%
  • 95
    10%-20%
  • 68
    20%-30%
  • 65
    30%-40%
  • 403
    >40%
Financial

Comments

    • tommynolips on 16/12/2022 - 16:23
      +61

      Lol, thank god the RBA isn't politically driven / hellbent on staying in power like our other elected officials.

      • monkeyfood on 17/12/2022 - 10:46
        +10

        think the rba is doing a good job after screwing up and letting interest rates too low for too long now time to catch up to real world

        • brendanm on 17/12/2022 - 11:02
          +46

          They've done a terrible job. They should have lifted rates way earlier, blind Freddy could see what was going to happy with endless money printing during covid.

          • monkeyfood on 17/12/2022 - 11:07
            +2

            @brendanm: In that sense yeah I agree

          • itsme56 on 17/12/2022 - 12:15
            +12

            @brendanm: they should never have decreased rates in the first place with the amount of government handouts at the time. should have been one or the other, not both…

            • brendanm on 17/12/2022 - 13:29
              +7

              @itsme56: Rates were already low. Government shouldn't have given so much money out for nothing. Utterly ridiculous. The only.place that actually needed it, was the penal colony of victoria, where they weren't allowed to earn a living.

              • ajr5k on 18/12/2022 - 00:36

                @brendanm: Nobody should subsidies that horrible behavior.

          • drfuzzy on 17/12/2022 - 12:43

            @brendanm: blind Freddy didn't see it.

            • cloudy on 17/12/2022 - 14:58
              +4

              @drfuzzy: Nor did brendanm in 2020 but now its 2022 and he has perfect hindsight he is free to speak like everyone in 2020 was screaming at RBA to not ground rates.

              Truth is, when things don't go well, everyone complains. But when the punchbowl was flowing, no one complained.

              • brendanm on 18/12/2022 - 00:19
                +1

                @cloudy: Feel free to go back through my posts.

          • Krankite on 19/12/2022 - 10:26

            @brendanm: yes although the government should have stepped in so they they could target the ridiculous increase in house prices with a tool other than interest rates.

            • brendanm on 19/12/2022 - 11:29
              +1

              @Krankite: The government should have stepped in by not printing money.

              • Krankite on 19/12/2022 - 11:48

                @brendanm: That is just one of the many things they could have done yes.

              • The Wololo Wombat on 19/12/2022 - 12:53
                +4

                @brendanm: Government could’ve stopped COVID alarmism sooner - ie, when the data became available that COVID was no longer the existential threat we first thought. This is why we’re suffering now.

                • brendanm on 19/12/2022 - 12:55

                  @The Wololo Wombat: They sure could have. The whole thing was a joke.

                • ssfps on 21/12/2022 - 04:13

                  @The Wololo Wombat: It's ridiculous - the data never supported alarmism in the first place, yet almost everyone bought it hook line and sinker. The scientists that said its probably no big deal weren't the ones being put on the news, and nobody on the news was saying "the fine print is that these are all predictions based on extrapolation". Tonight, on sick sad world.

          • cadwalader on 19/12/2022 - 11:16

            @brendanm: When should they have lifted interest rates and which set of data/datapoints are you basing this decision on?

            • brendanm on 19/12/2022 - 11:30

              @cadwalader: When they printed billions upon billions of dollars. Weirdly, giving out money with no value attached to it, tends to dilute the value of the rest of it.

              • cadwalader on 20/12/2022 - 12:19

                @brendanm:

                When they printed billions upon billions of dollars.

                They've been printing billions upon billions of dollars for years, like almost every other central bank in the world.

                What data set are you referring to you get this number upon which you based your statement "they should have lifted rates way earlier"?

                Which month and years should they have lifted interest rates?

                • brendanm on 20/12/2022 - 12:20
                  -2

                  @cadwalader: I'm unsure if you are being serious. Jobkeeper, double jobseeker etc etc. Not things we normally had. Money for nothing.

                  • cadwalader on 20/12/2022 - 12:24

                    @brendanm: I'm being serious. I'm trying to understand what information you looked at to quantitatively decide that "they should have lifted rates way earlier".

                    Which month and year should they have lifted rates and why did the data suggest to you that it should have been that particular month and year?

                    Jobkeeper was announced in late march 2020. Are you saying that interest rates should have been lifted then?

                    • brendanm on 20/12/2022 - 15:42

                      @cadwalader: They should have been lifted when a lot of money was pumped into the economy, without being exchanged for work.

                      • cadwalader on 20/12/2022 - 23:49

                        @brendanm:

                        They should have been lifted when a lot of money was pumped into the economy, without being exchanged for work.

                        In which quarter should it have been lifted then in your opinion? "A lot of money was being "pumped" into the economy "without being exchanged for work" at many points in time during COVID and before COVID. When did you think should the RBA have started lifting?

                        • ssfps on 21/12/2022 - 04:16

                          @cadwalader: Could start by raising rates in whatever quarter they QE'd $200 billion.
                          Even that is still corrupt though, because it's used to hand out weath to some people by stealing the weath from others with savings. Of course this is how large scale lending already works (effectively theft) but they ramped it up to unprecedented levels in 2021.

                          • cadwalader on 21/12/2022 - 17:05

                            @ssfps:

                            whatever quarter they QE'd $200 billion.

                            By QE are you referring to the government and semi-government bond buying by the RBA? As far as their holdings data shows, there was no 3 month period where 200 billion worth of Australian Government Securities and Semi-Government bonds were bought.

                        • brendanm on 21/12/2022 - 07:33

                          @cadwalader:

                          and before COVID

                          Lol.

                          Go back and look.

                          • cadwalader on 21/12/2022 - 16:53

                            @brendanm:

                            Go back and look.

                            Go back to what? I've been asking you for the dataset to look at. The economic response to COVID in 2020 and 2021 was just a fraction of what is spent on social security and welfare in any preceding 2 year period - something you would qualify as "without being exchanged for work". Are you here to have a discussion in good faith or you're just looking to get your "lol" glib jabs and vague talking points in?

                            Why do you not want to say which quarter do you the rates should have been lifted?

          • The Wololo Wombat on 19/12/2022 - 12:35

            @brendanm: So, did you lock in your rates when they were low then?

            • brendanm on 19/12/2022 - 12:43

              @The Wololo Wombat: Nope, for various reasons.

              • The Wololo Wombat on 19/12/2022 - 12:49
                +2

                @brendanm: Yea… see I think this is a classic case of ‘hindsight bias’. If you out TRUELY thought it was obvious, you would’ve locked in. You would have.

                A number of my friends/family are saying how ‘obvious’ it was that inflation was going to happen… yet none of them locked their rates….

                Now (and here’s where I brag) I WAS posting about it at the time - imploring people (those same friends) to lock in (but they did not listen). It’s nice to be right, but sad when you see those you care about losing $1000s that could’ve been avoided.

                • brendanm on 19/12/2022 - 12:53
                  +1

                  @The Wololo Wombat: As I said, look through my old posts if you truly want to, I've been saying the same thing for ages. Money printing screws everything.

                  I didn't lock in because -

                  Planning to buy a new house at some point and convert current to IP.

                  Don't like being locked in and having to pay break fees if I want to move banks, sell, etc etc.

                  My loan is fairly low, the increase doesn't really bother me.

      • HeWhoKnows on 18/12/2022 - 22:44

        Pay off mortgage as quick as possible then you are free to do as you wish with your money.
        Keep in mind in the short to medium term interest rates are going up and staying up

        Forget about 2% mortgage rates.
        They are one for the history books now

    • Ghost47 on 16/12/2022 - 16:37
      +64

      People who listened to the RBA only have themselves to blame IMO.

      No one can forecast interest rates. If anything, it was obvious inflation would increase because of all the money printing that the government did as well as the supply side issues that kept getting mentioned during the pandemic, but you’d have to be clued in a bit on how macroeconomics works to see that, and yeah people in Australia in general aren’t exactly clued in.

      There was an ABC article about a lawyer who was sooking about rates going up and struggling to pay her mortgage. A LAWYER. Yes, law isn’t economics but you’d think a lawyer would have enough of a brain to not just think “I will believe what this person said with 100% confidence.”

      People are dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars when they buy a house, it’s not something to take lightly, yet people these days think $1 million isn’t much money, because why else would people go out and buy houses for that much money willy nilly? It’s as if when rates are 2% people somehow think they’re millionaires because the bank lets them borrow that much.

      Saying something like “oh the RBA said rates will be low so let’s buy” is one of the dumbest things someone can do, and it can literally ruin their life. It’s like saying “I’ll buy this house even though it’s on a flood plain and climate change is already here.” Fomo isn’t a good enough excuse for premature house buying.

      • Brianqpr on 17/12/2022 - 09:27
        +9

        No one can forecast interest rates. True. Nobody should know this better than Mr Lowe.

        But the head of the RBA did exactly that, some believed him and may now be in trouble. It was irresponsible, he's admitted that by recently apologising for it and he shouldn't have done it.

        • brendanm on 17/12/2022 - 11:03
          +7

          He still isn't the one that took out a loan. Also not sure how a single year would make any difference, if you're in mortgage stress now, you would likely also be when he forecast for rates to rise.

          • Brianqpr on 18/12/2022 - 15:28

            @brendanm: He made out nothing would change for around 3 years.

            • brendanm on 18/12/2022 - 15:50
              +7

              @Brianqpr: So you'd be in mortgage stress in 3 years then? Perhaps people should have based their borrowing on historical rates averages?

        • Ghost47 on 17/12/2022 - 22:46

          It was irresponsible to assert rates will remain low for two more years especially since rates are very much dependent on global factors as well. If the US, UK, Canada, NZ, China etc. raised rates and we never did the AUD would tank.

          But people shouldn’t go out believing what some guy tells them, because as I said they are putting hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. People shouldn’t listen to anyone when making decisions like that, not even their family.

        • pogichinoy on 18/12/2022 - 11:53
          +23

          The RBA quote is:
          "The Board will not increase the cash rate until actual inflation is sustainably within the 2 to 3 per cent target range. For this to occur, wages growth will have to be materially higher than it is currently. This will require significant gains in employment and a return to a tight labour market. The Board does not expect these conditions to be met until 2024 at the earliest."
          People tend to forget the entire quote and only focus on "not raising rates till 2024". Obviously inflation figures aren't in the targeted 2-3% range, which is why the RBA acted earlier than 2024 and increased rates.
          The media are also to blame for poorly reporting the actual quote.

        • [Deactivated] on 19/12/2022 - 11:42
          +1

          These people actually determine and predict the interest rates.

          Barclays manipulated rates for at least two reasons. Routinely, from at least as early as 2005, traders sought particular rate submissions to benefit their financial positions. Later, during the 2007–2012 global financial crisis, they artificially lowered rate submissions to make their bank seem healthy.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libor_scandal#Australia

          • MrMarket on 20/12/2022 - 10:57

            @[Deactivated]: these are LIBOR rate got nothing to do with official rate, these are rigs game played by traders

      • Dogsrule on 18/12/2022 - 09:01

        There was an ABC article about a lawyer who was sooking about rates going up and struggling to pay her mortgage. A LAWYER

        Article for citation:

        https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-23/homeowners-interest-r…

      • HeWhoKnows on 18/12/2022 - 22:46

        Well said!

        In fact rule of thumb for buying property is to try to buy when interest rates are HIGH. Not Low.
        Thats when property prices are most depressed and your repayments only have one way to go - DOWN!

        Unfortunately the HERD do exactly the opposite and so many get burnt when rates start going up and property prices come down.
        Its a classic double-whammy!

        And its happening right now!
        In fact we are still right at the beginning, contrary to what THE HERD are hoping…LOL

        • redfox1200 on 19/12/2022 - 08:16

          Yes I remember when rates went up last time and house prices came down. NOT

          • ssfps on 21/12/2022 - 04:22

            @redfox1200: This is what happened after the GFC & mining boom ended in WA. Housing prices hit ATH in ~2010-2012 then sunk for years until ~2018/19 they started picking up steam again. True they didn't return to 2001 prices, but they did drop massively, in fringe cases (like some pilbara regions) they dropped as much as 90%.

            Not saying this is all caused by the rate increases around the time, but i think it's interrelated.

      • BlahBlahBlaah on 19/12/2022 - 01:34
        -3

        You were doing well there, until you mentioned that crud that is climate change. Not everyone is falling for it you know

      • TheFreaK on 19/12/2022 - 14:19

        "people these days think $1 million isn’t much money, because why else would people go out and buy houses for that much money willy nilly?"
        That's probably because that's the median house price in Aus

        • Ghost47 on 19/12/2022 - 14:44

          True, but house prices are tightly correlated with interest rates and our interest rates have gone down steadily over the past 10 years, so it’s no surprise houses have only gone up. That doesn’t mean the “median house and land” are objectively worth $1 million, especially when people borrow 6-7x income to service a mortgage.

          I would compare spending that much on a house as buying a kg of apples for $200. To me it doesn’t make sense even if the entire market sets the price.

          • ssfps on 21/12/2022 - 04:25

            @Ghost47: You're absolutely right, however what are you going to do? Renting you're even worse off - you bear the brunt of the fickle market with less stability.

            • Ghost47 on 21/12/2022 - 08:37

              @ssfps: Move back in with your parents is one option, but this gets a lot of stigma in Australia.

    • SBOB on 16/12/2022 - 16:57
      +5

      Why? Did the rba give you a loan?

      • WreckTangle on 16/12/2022 - 18:02
        -3

        news.com.au report that the reserve bank Governor doesn’t have a mortgage and earns $1 million a year. Not sure how I feel about that.

        • soan papdi on 16/12/2022 - 19:09
          +31

          If I earned $1m a year I would not have a mortgage either.

        • Brianqpr on 17/12/2022 - 09:28
          +4

          To be expected but also means he's out of touch with average people.

        • drfuzzy on 17/12/2022 - 11:32
          +1

          Would you prefer a reserve bank Governor who is homeless and working for minimum wage?

          • Assburg on 17/12/2022 - 19:04

            @drfuzzy: Probably wouldn't have made a difference over the past 5 years

    • TheMindsetTraveller on 16/12/2022 - 17:20
      +11

      Cant afford a rate rise, maybe should have not taken on a mortgage.

    • nomoneynoproblems on 16/12/2022 - 17:42
      +1

      Have you seen Turkey lately? That’s what happens when the government interferes with interest rates.

    • brendanm on 16/12/2022 - 19:35
      -1

      How does the rba affect your savings?

    • JimmyF on 16/12/2022 - 19:50
      +8

      LOL the RBA made you borrow that much money did they?

    • payless69 on 17/12/2022 - 09:10
      -2

      Thank all them vacuum heads who wanted a likewise to run the country.
      America dictates the world, just make war as condoms cost money and cause allergies….

    • gromit on 17/12/2022 - 13:46
      +2

      If the RBA decisions are affecting you that much you need to take a hard look in a mirror to see the real problem.

      • AlexF on 18/12/2022 - 19:30

        Scapegoat, by definition, is someone else.

  • Gunnar on 16/12/2022 - 16:04
    +25

    Much, much more now that I stopped looking at the deals on OzBargain and started reading the forums!

  • jv on 16/12/2022 - 16:13
    +7

    How Much Is Everyone Saving?

    $12

    • DashCam AKA Rolts on 16/12/2022 - 16:34
      +10

      Tree fiddy!

      • Danstar on 17/12/2022 - 08:47
        +7

        God damn lochness monster

    • kaleidoscope on 18/12/2022 - 22:43

      are you sure it’s not $11.99?

    • BlahBlahBlaah on 19/12/2022 - 01:31
      +1

      $12.24 with cashrewards

  • Wiadro on 16/12/2022 - 16:13
    +1

    our mortgage is 20% of our monthly income (partner and I) it was less but the interest rate went up…..
    could save one of our incomes in full if we wanted to but it would be hard.

    • nobro25 on 17/12/2022 - 22:54
      +5

      It used to be 20% now it's 40% for me. All that hard work trying to pay it down I'm paying more than when I first got the loan. Lol

      • peterpaoliello on 19/12/2022 - 08:04

        Least your house has probably gone up in value

  • Ghost47 on 16/12/2022 - 16:21
    +3

    Around 50% - 60%. 75% easily if I tried a bit harder.

    High house prices are just great aren’t they?

  • bmxr on 16/12/2022 - 16:23
    +24

    Where's the option for no saving and spending more than you earn?!

  • MS Paint on 16/12/2022 - 16:30
    +10

    Did some numbers yesterday and between my partner and I we can maybe save $50,000p.a

    Obviously you aren't nurses then.

    Your effort is just amateur hour.

  • Some Human on 16/12/2022 - 16:31
    +2

    I'd say I save around 20 - 30% now that interest rates have gone up. And by save I mean on the mortgage.

    I'm single and paying a mortgage by myself on a crap by Ozbargain standards income.
    I live frugally and enjoy it.

    My cats do not contribute to the household income and this guestimation does not include my side hustle money.

  • AustriaBargain on 16/12/2022 - 16:32
    +7

    I save a few dollars a week, in bottle and can deposits.

  • denz02 on 16/12/2022 - 16:33
    +3

    I was saving a decent amount of money but now it's impossible once my mortgage vent to variable each month it is going higher and higher, meat is so much expensive now as are vegetables so anyone that can save I give them a credit.

  • ForkSnorter on 16/12/2022 - 16:40
    +31

    Have been putting every cent into mortgage. Will be paid off next month. No use saving or buying non-essential goods if you have a mortgage. Paying off your mortgage faster can save you tens of thousands (even hundreds of thousands) in interest. That means fewer of your hard-earned dollars are ending up in the hands of insanely wealthy bank executives who spend the majority of their working day opening their mouth to talk to people. Such a difficult thing to do, talking.

    • Ghost47 on 16/12/2022 - 16:46
      +1

      Congrats! Damn that must feel good.

    • Donaldhump on 16/12/2022 - 16:57
      +9

      not if your mortgage is fixed at 1.99% and you can earn 4.5% on a savings account, and 5-6% fully frank divdends.

      I don't see the point in paying a mortgage off, just offset it and give yourself the option to move it with you if you buy another house and rent out the current one

      • ForkSnorter on 16/12/2022 - 17:36
        +47

        In my opinion, complicating your life just increases the risk that something will go wrong. Fixed rate period could end, someone could steal your savings, one of your investment properties could be flooded and become uninsurable or get tenants from hell, stock market could tank, etc. Prefer to just have one property, simple life, not too many financial hassles to think about. Save brain space for more interesting things like studying physics, language learning, creative hobbies, writing, garden design.

        • monkeyfood on 17/12/2022 - 11:05
          +10

          Nice to see there is still normal people

        • Smol Cat on 18/12/2022 - 01:18

          This is a very sane and reasonable take on life. Not saying there’s only one correct path but there is something special about the simple path.

      • Benno007 on 17/12/2022 - 11:46

        Same, I have variable interest rate but savings higher than my mortgage for the last 2 years. Have been withdrawing from my mortgage to invest in the stock market while keeping additional savings in 4.75% interest account. My goal is to get my mortgage to 100k (currently 120) and keep offset account around 110, then invest/spend the rest

        I definitely could be saving more than I am though…

        • StalkingIbis on 19/12/2022 - 21:23

          youre missing out on all the 4k refinance cashbacks with a mortgage that low

          • Benno007 on 20/12/2022 - 08:12

            @StalkingIbis: How much do you get back after refinancing? Isn’t it a big deal changing banks for mortgages like fees everywhere? I also hate calling people 😅

            • StalkingIbis on 20/12/2022 - 09:34
              +1

              @Benno007: ive done it 3 times. got 4k, 3k, 5k.

              Doesnt take too long, costs (in QLD) are about $500 (So long as youre not breaking a fixed-term contract).

              The mortage guys at the bank get paid by signing you up to a loan, so they are proactive.

              I've found it very easy, but could take a month off work to do it for the amount of money I get back.

              Most banks require a loan amount of 250k.

              My amount owing is lower than that, but I just pull it all out of redraw.

              If your loan is too low, just reborrow more against your house to increase your loan, and then stick it in redraw!

      • AlanHB on 19/12/2022 - 10:07

        Of course that only works out if you actually invest that extra cash, which most people don't.

    • punter1 on 16/12/2022 - 17:21

      How long to pay off ur mortgage?

    • Name on 17/12/2022 - 09:29
      +2

      Have you talked about what you'd do when you pay it off?

      We paid off our first house a few years back now and ended up just getting another house with another mortgage.

    • GourmetFoodie on 18/12/2022 - 21:21
      -1

      Best comment in the thread.
      I think a lot of the people claiming to save >40% of their income are just putting it into their offset account which is not saving. That’s called paying off your mortgage and if the bank called that loan due tomorrow, that money is theirs!

      • StalkingIbis on 20/12/2022 - 09:37
        +1

        They cant do that with an offset. I think they have some power to do something like that with funds in redraw though.

  • bobbified on 16/12/2022 - 16:45

    I'm a single guy with a small mortgage. I can go pretty crazy sometimes and I just "save" whatever's leftover in my account at the end of the month, which is usually about 40-50%.

  • diguinBR on 16/12/2022 - 16:57
    +3

    Live with my partner, 24yo, no kids, don't have any debts but I pay rent,
    as per my financial plan for last FY (21-22), my average savings per weeks was about 42.37%, I still think it is a bit bad because I am still a mid-income earner. my main goal is to become a high income earner, slightly increase my lifestyle cost, but keep living with minimum costs at least until I turn 30y. made myself a promise of not having luxury until my 30s so I hope I can accomplish that.
    I just save and try to invest as much as I can (I have been investing for the last 3 years but always a bit scared of losing it all unfortunately).

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