So I was reading – yes contrary to popular belief I know how to read – my good friend J. Money’s blog the other day and came across a guest post on there from another friend, Paula Pant. The article was titled “Saving 50% of our income“. If you couldn’t guess by the title, Paula and her Boyfriend have committed to saving 50% of their pay in 2012.
This wasn’t the first time I’ve read about people who set a goal to save an “above average” amount each month. Heck, Jacob at Early Retirement Extreme challenges people to save/invest 75% of their take home pay and retire way younger than they ever thought possible. Pretty neat-o if you ask me.
I’ll be the first to admit, I love me some savings, but dang Gina…. 75%, or even 50% seems a little intense. My savings strategy differs from most bloggers. Instead of putting aside a set amount each month, I just sporadically throw money in to our savings account whenever our checking account gets too stacked. That’s right, I break one of the cardinal rules of personal finance:
I pay myself last. Not first like everyone else suggests.
Fortunately, we aren’t reckless spenders and we typically are able to throw a healthy portion of our discretionary income in to our savings account. But Paula inspired me, so I thought I’d take a minute to calculate just how much Girl Ninja and I are saving each month. Let me check Mint now and see what I find….
….Apparently we’ve added $20,200 to our savings account and brought home about $40,600 this year. This works out to an overall savings rate of 49.75%. Are you freaking kidding me?! Literally 0.25% away from getting to say I can join the company of Paula Pant and bank half of my take home pay. Lame-freakin-sauce.
Perhaps all is not lost, however? If I get to factor 401K contributions in to this equation then we are stocking away upwards of 58%. Do I get to join the club, Paula???
It’s kind of weird to be honest. I’ve always thought people who save 50% of their income are crazy-intense PF nerds, but as it turns out a few good habits can go a long way.
It’s probably also important to note that, although we are currently able to bank about 50% of our take home pay, I know this will not always be my reality. GN and I are in a financially awesome stage of life known as DINKhood. Once Girl Ninja becomes a stay-at-home mom, we lose her income, our expenses will increase, and the days of 50% savings will be long gone. YODO….You Only Dink Once.
So reader, do you have it in you? Wanna calculate how much $$$ you’ve thrown in to savings this year and divide it by the amount of $$$$ you’ve taken home (remember to do net pay, not gross)? What’s your percentage?
p.s. this isn’t a contest as I imagine some of you can save nothing (college students, single parents, etc) while others can save 80% of their income without batting an eye (40-somethings that still live with their parents, people with high paying jobs, trust-fund babies). I just like hearing about where y’all are at, and judging by the 87 comments on my Credit Card debt post, you guys don’t mind sharing 🙂
