Post # 1
Member
15288 posts
Honey Beekeeper
All this talk about having the ring paid off when you got it vs getting a line of credit makes me wonder about debt amount vs savings amount. If you have credit card debt, or opened a line of credit (even for 0%) financing, do you still keep a certain amount in savings? Or does everything go toward paying off the debt? And if you’re paying off debt and still have savings, and dont mind sharing, what is your comfort level to keep in savings? Or even if youre not paying off debt, what is your savings comfort level?
Post # 3
Member
4464 posts
Honey bee
We save, but that’s because I have a RIDICULOUS amount in student loan debt. Paying our savings on it would be sort of useless. So right now we make my student loan payment, and save on the side. If we get some sort of surplus someday, we will pay more on the loan.
Post # 4
Member
10355 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
We have no debt and about $80,000 in liquid savings, approx the same in retirement accounts. The thought of having only $5000 in savings is pretty terrifying to me – that is only a month and a half of bare bones living expenses in Boston! We are currently saving for a 6 month trek through Asia ($20,000) and a down payment on a house in the bay area where we are moving (20% for a 2-bedroom starter home will run around $100,000). So, as you can see, you need a LOT more savings for these things than someone living someplace much more inexpensive in, say, the rural mid-west.
Post # 5
Member
2088 posts
Buzzing bee
We have no savings, and are both paying off debt.
Post # 6
Member
4464 posts
Honey bee
@crayfish: WOAH. Lucky lady! I live in NYC and have no where NEAR $5K in savings at the moment. And yes, we would be putting down 20% on likely a $500K to $600K apartment.
Post # 7
Member
275 posts
Helper bee
@crayfish: Wow that’s great!
I will be done paying off my debt by September and will then be able to contribute more into our savings.
Post # 8
Member
10355 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
@hotchildinthecity: I don’t have student loans, so that helps a TON. My husband and I have cut out soooo much to live way below our means in the last few years! We knew we really wanted this trip, and that meant needing a substantial savings to come back to, since we have to quit our jobs to do it. So, i’m actually super proud of what we have sacrificed to get to this ppint :-). Makes me really sure that we’ll be able to make it through any rough financial times when we have kids!
Post # 9
Member
4464 posts
Honey bee
@crayfish: Student loans will do it 😉 And we also both moved straight from college out on our own, so we had no time to save living with our parents. Also we paid for grad school and the wedding out of pocket. I feel proud but also broke LoL
Post # 10
Member
10355 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
@hotchildinthecity: Boston is also a bit cheaper than NYC!! That helps too :-)!
Post # 11
Member
4883 posts
Honey bee
We have no debt, one credit card each, and between liquid cash and retirement savings/401ks/IRAs we probably have another $80k. We already bought our house and are constantly DIYing major projects to fix/update, so we save a ton of cash there. But yeah, we’re doing okay I think.
Post # 12
Member
5571 posts
Bee Keeper
We have no debt (we finished paying off all student loans and debt last summer) and we have almost $10k in savings. We’ve just started saving but we are saving for a downpayment on our next home.
Oh we do have debt if you count mortgage. We own a home but we do have a mortgage.
ETA: We have money in a 401k (FIs) but I’m not sure the total