I have no idea what is a good amount. I've done a budget and am trying to make it work. Is there a guideline for a good percentage to save each month? And where should it go? Savings acct, CD, IRA, a combination?

I tithe 10% and save 10% of each paycheck. Works for me.

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Mabennett - Proud Mommy to a Yankee, a Tarheel, and a cheerleader

We put aside 20% of DH's salary into a 401K -- that includes the employer match.

Then we each put a bit -- not a fixed percentage -- into savings for the 6 month reserve -- maybe $200 a month.

Then anything we came under budget on that wasn't moved around from somewhere else goes into the reserve too.

I am still trying to eliminate some CC debt so I don't save that much. I am applying maximum amounts to the debt to retire it quickly!! When I am done I will put those old cc payments into savings which will amount to about another 20% of both of our salaries.

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Grace

Wife to Stoney

Mommy of Sarah (9), Hannah (7.5), and John(5)

sorry, this isn't even related but I have to ask....I know what a yankee is (that would be me) and a cheerleader....but what is a tarheel?

10% Some goes into savings and some goes into an IRA

A tarheel is a native from North Carolina as well as, I think, the name of a basketball team in NC.

10% tithe, 15% into retirement (no match), 5% into car replacement fund (we've never had a car payment .. we buy pre-loved cars and pay cash and pay ourselves the car payment every month to save up for the next one). It sounds like a lot of savings but we work in non profit and dh is a student so 15% of not much is still not much.

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I don't know how, but somehow we save around 30% each month. I think any amount you save is good...keep working to improve your number every month or year. We have a plan where we just pay into our IRAs the $10K in April ($5K/ for both of us); then the rest of the monthly savings goes into our money market savings..then transfers into CDs once they hit around $5K. Every quarter we also buy bonds (backup emergency $ we can forget about). In between the CDs, we also buy more mutual funds if the prices look good. So, any amount you can save will add up.....just start saving!

I sometimes wonder if we are saving too much. I see how much the Jones (I know! I know! Not supposed to compare!) can buy with all that extra money they don't put in savings. But we save roughly 25% into hopefully long-term savings (retirement gets 28% of mine with the employer match and roughly 10% of his, then we have another 5% or so to a "no-touch" emergency fund that's only for a major crises). The reason I can't give an exact percentage is DH's income varies so greatly; we save a set amount but do occasionally throw in extra above that. Part of the reason my retirement percentage is so high is that I want my Roth to be possible as a fallback for DD's college funds if ever I leave my current position (which pays 80% of college tuition anywhere in the U.S., very generous).

BUT...given the way his income varies, we also set our lifestyle at a pretty low level (we aim for 75% of the lowest he's likely to earn in a month + my set salary, although we don't always manage it) and put the rest into savings for other, shorter term goals: primarily future house projects, his future business equipment, and travel. And self-employment taxes. That can be a LOT into savings; it just depends. But that all gets spent again eventually, as I said it's short-term.

To answer the Tarheel question, that was the name of my ds's baseball team. It was safer to put that than their actual names. That is where the yankee comes from as well. dd is too small to play so she is simply the cheerleader

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Mabennett - Proud Mommy to a Yankee, a Tarheel, and a cheerleader