Whatever happened to "saving for a rainy day"?

You can only save for a rainy day if you have money left over from necessary shopping and bills. Many people don't and Liz Truss does not seem inclined to help the poor. Unfortunately, saving usually disqualifies one from help from the State in old age: care home fees are an example which weasel Johnson said he was going to fix but hasn't.

Exactly libra10. As a child I enjoyed saving some of my pocket money, and I remember how much I loved to see it grow.
This habit has stayed with me for life, although of course there were a few times when we’d had a lot of expenses and saving was put on hold.

Overall though it has stood us in good stead.

I've never been able to afford to save, and never will

I have a small amount of savings, but only because I cut back a lot during the pandemic . I save all of that for emergencies like my car etc. My mom who is in her late 70's pays for a holiday for me so that we both get a break (if she didnt pay neither of us would go away as i cant afford it and she wont go on her own)
I work 2 jobs all year and 2 adhoc jobs when needed and i still cant save much due to bills rising.

my DC's try to save but my DD's student load means she is actually paying less than the interest each month (dont get me started on the interest free load she signed for before the Government sold the loans - which is now charged at more than a payday load interest), so after her rent and bills there isnt much left over to save, my DS has set up his own business so his salary is half of what he earned before he set up on his own so his savings are being pummelled paying bills.

I know that it is their choice to go to uni or set up their own business but i feel lately it hasnt paid the dividends it would have done when i was younger - tax tax tax now, so savings drop dramatically. i just have to hope their hard work will pay off before they start their own families.
Circumstances make it harder to save now that it did before.
Im just hoping my occasional lottery tickets will come up trumps one day so i can help them.

Younger earners don't save in my experience now, though many buy holidays on credit, paying something off every month so I suppose this is saving of a kind though they have nothing tangible to show for it afterwards. I suspect that not being able to take holidays during lockdown led to some surplus cash!

My late husband and I managed to save or invest in things for our old age. He retired in December 2019 and then Covid-19 hit the world so we were stuck at home more or less. He caught Covid-19 in hospital in February 2021 and never cane home. I was very lucky that I had money to last me for a good few years before I need to worry. At least I thought I did. If these current costs keep going up I don't know how long it will last.

We didn’t save while younger, because mortgage, energy and food for six didn’t leave any spare.
However, it paid off as after 25 years we owned a house, which was of more benefit than money in the bank!
Today’s young couples don’t often have this option.

Radio 4 is a bastion of the left wing leaning BBC and programmes like these do nothing but spread discontent and division. There are many, many poor and disenfranchised families and individuals who live on the breadline. Foodbanks are everywhere, a national disgrace that they are so needed. Homelessness is on the increase-again. The gap between rich and poor gets wider and social mobility is at an all time low. The people featured in this programme are obviously from the sunnier side of the street and the cost of living crisis currently escalating will in no way hit them as hard as the poorest members of society who, as admitted by the government itself, will suffer most. Savings? To the poor ( which includes some of our most needed workers such as nurses, carers, nursery and retail staff etc) they are a dream, along with the dignity of a secure home and lifestyle.

It's all well and good in theory, saving for a rainy day, but if you live hand to mouth, what comes in goes out each month, (with no extravagances like gym, nails, meals out) then it is not even possible to save!

No wonder I don't listen to Radio 4, haven't had those kind of luxuries for decades, if not forever. Was wearing 30 year old 'nice' top and skirt for daughter's graduation. Never believed in buying unnecessary stuff. And if we want our children and grandchildren to have a planet worth living on, EVERYBODY will have to give up luxuries. Our lifestyle is just not sustainable.

I have to be honest I have never had a credit card. I was bought up by a father that instilled it in to us that if you can't afford to pay for something then you don't buy it. I've never been tempted to sign up for one even through all the tough times including now

I was late to start saving but about 15yrs ago. I just went back to work after being on holiday to going into liquidation. Suddenly finding out that my monthly wages wouldn’t be there and Christmas round corner. It was very hard and tight for a while. Once got back to work I started to save incase it ever happened again. If I ever need anything I buy cash out so in away it’s a good job I did. As for young ones both my sons and their wife’s are and they also teaching the children to save. If my grandkids get money for birthdays etc it goes into bank accounts unless they need something and if they out grow toys the money goes into a bank account for Christmas

Interest rates have been so low that for many people saving has seemed a waste of time. On the other side, mortgage rates have been so low for so long that many better off homeowners have moved to bigger houses rather than saving any surplus income.
I think that higher mortgage payments will hit many people hard, with little capital to release to help and no extra left for saving.
I'm sure that many of you remember when mortgage rates were really high and people didn't take out bigger mortgages than they absolutely had to.
The concept of saving is totally alien to three of my four children, though one of them is self-employed and knows to keep a "buffer" for lean times.

libra10

The concept of saving was drummed into us as children.

Each Friday our parents gave us 6 pence to invest in a passbook at school. When the amount reached £1, it went in the bank.

Though neither my husband nor I have had particularly high salaries, we have always put money aside for emergencies, and knowing we have savings makes the current cost of living crisis less of a problem.

Many people rely on credit for everything, along with it being more expensive, when emergencies occur they haven't the resources to deal with them.

We all need to take responsibilty for ourselves, and try not to rely on others to help.

Did anyone else have savings stamps, Princess Anne for the girls in pink and Prince Charles for the We went to the PO every Friday, in green? We went to the PO every Friday with 6d (2 1/2 p) then when we were going on holiday we were allowed to draw it out, felt like millionaires!

I think this thread is getting confused, obvioulsy there are too many people whose circumstances don't allow them to save but there are also a lot of people who complain but do spend a lot of money of wasteful things, eating out regularly, coffees to walk round with, expensive phones etc etc.. Like many on here we were paying almost 18% mortgage on our first house and really struggled to pay it, the house had a lot of second hand furniture and even a home-made bed! Surely I'm not the one to have used the Readers' Digest DIY manual.

I’ve always saved despite not being a high earner. Apart from my affordable mortgage (now paid) I’ve never had any debt or credit card as my parents always taught me to save up for things. I’m not very materialistic so am content with the basics but with the cost of living and high energy prices my savings will dwindle and I’m frightened of getting into debt. Many define the pensioner poor as those in receipt of Pension Credit which is a passport benefit to other entitlements. If you’re a younger pensioner receiving the new pension you’re above PC limit so end up worse off than manny on the old pension

Whether you have any savings depends on many circumstances. We decided that I should go back to full time work when the youngest DC was 11 to pay for things like holidays, which we had never been able to afford. My H (not DH!) promptly stopped paying for anything! I paid the bills, divorced him 5 years later then had years on my own when saving was impossible. Eventually managed to save a little.

The concept of saving was drummed into us as children.

Each Friday our parents gave us 6 pence to invest in a passbook at school. When the amount reached £1, it went in the bank.

Though neither my husband nor I have had particularly high salaries, we have always put money aside for emergencies, and knowing we have savings makes the current cost of living crisis less of a problem.

Many people rely on credit for everything, along with it being more expensive, when emergencies occur they haven't the resources to deal with them.

We all need to take responsibilty for ourselves, and try not to rely on others to help.

Many people can’t even heat and eat , they would probably love to put something away for a ‘rainy day’ , for them it’s pouring at the moment with no help in sight

There are many families and single people in dire straights. Please remember radio shows are also for entertainment so will pick and choose their callers. Many people are genuinely living hand to mouth and not just those on benefits or with young children. There are millions of low and average paid people, with or without children, struggling now who don’t have “luxuries” to cut back on

You have to have spare money to put aside.
If the cost of living is taking more than you have coming in, then there won't be any to put aside.

People keeping their heads above water has taken the place of savings, I think.

Not everyone has the privilege of being able to save. Life is very different now.

Who is to say what is luxury and what isn't? For someone I know the gym saves their mental health. Not really a luxury for them.

I just worry about myself. Other people have different circumstances and priorities, reasons for which I may know nothing about.

I don’t want to derail the thread so I will start another.

I've always got a little put aside for a rainy day. It's a lifelong habit.

Are they little cheesy bites, Sago? If so I’d like the recipe please!

What are they? They look very moreish