how much do u have saved up ?

amother

Sat, May 28 2011, 11:28 pm

hi me and my dh work very hard and try to save up money ! about a 2yr ago we were down to 1000 dollars and bh then found a great job , we used up all our saving and therefor had to start saving again. im just very curiouse can u pls say your opionion how much u think is avg to have put away by 3-5 yrs of marriage ? I know it all depends on each persons situation but I always wonder how much we need to have put away to catch up on the lost time that we couldnt save and used up r last dollars n if u feel comf. annon. can u say how much u had put away by 3-5 yrs after wedding thanx

yummymummy

Sat, May 28 2011, 11:36 pm

I don't think there is an average amount people have save up by 3-5 years of marriage. As you stated, there are too many factors involved. You need to look at your short-term and long-term needs going forward (I.e., down payment for home, retirement, etc.) and start saving accordingly.

amother

Sun, May 29 2011, 12:00 am

amother wrote:

5 yrs down the lane around 40-50 thousand, we bought a car outright from our savings for just under 20 thousand but we live frugally and simply but not lacking in order to save

amother

Sun, May 29 2011, 3:21 am

Um....I don't think this is any more personal then the other thread asking how much your income is. Anyway, this is what the anonymous feature is for.

OP, back when I had been married 3-5 years, I don't think we had anything saved up. Maaaybe we had $1000 sitting for emergencies but no savings account.

Now, married almost 10 years, and I'm hyper-vigilant about saving. Back in the early years, we weren't sure where we wanted to live, what we wanted to do, etc. Now, BH, we are set in our decisions and happy with our work. Also, with the kids getting older, I know that my expenses will keep growing. In a few years my little kids will be entering their teens: Bar Mitzvahs, braces, food expenses(I have a lot of boys)! So I save like crazy so I can be prepared.

At the moment, I believe we have around $40,000 saved with more every month without exception.

ora_43

Sun, May 29 2011, 3:38 am

Five years after the wedding? Almost zero. And the only reason it was "almost" and not "below" is that we started marriage with savings (I had some money for educational expenses, DH had his post-army benefits).

Dh started working full-time only in our fifth year of marriage, so that's why. At the end of the fifth year we had about 40,000 shekels (from savings we hadn't depleted, and from suddenly having two incomes) but we spent most of it paying a year of rent in advance.

Now we're much more careful on saving. To be honest I'm not exactly sure how much we save per month although I'm sure I could do the math if I bothered - doubt it would help you though since our situations are probably very different. In general I'd say that what you "should" have saved depends on your lifestyle and what you're going to need.

amother

Sun, May 29 2011, 3:42 am

We are married just about 6 years. My husband was left a large sum of money from a grandparent and so we have not touched that and BH it has grown, but if we would not have been given that wonderful inheritance, we would probably have no savings at all.
We have roughly $ 50,000, BH.

amother

Sun, May 29 2011, 3:44 am

Im married for almost two years now and started out with prob 8 grand. BH dh and I try to save as much as we can so for now were up to 50-60k

Liba

Sun, May 29 2011, 8:00 am

I think what matters more than what others had was what you need.

Goals you could have:

3-6 months emergency fund (as it sounds, a fund to cover all of your expenses if chv"sh neither of you could work for 3-6 months)
down payment for a house
savings for a car
savings for a trip or vacation

amother

Sun, May 29 2011, 8:31 am

dh and I are both in school so we cant start saving any money yet...(married almost 2 years..)
but hopefully real soon....interesting forum!!

estibesty

Sun, May 29 2011, 1:16 pm

im glad to see so many ppl actually have saving and saving in the sum of 40-50 grand int this debt ridden economy count your blessings

mommyla

Sun, May 29 2011, 1:56 pm

I'm coming up on my 4th anniversary iy"H. We started with about $15k in wedding gifts and $30k in my savings from when I was single (I'm not a big spender, lived with my parents, and had a good job), and now we're up to about $60k including savings, bonds, & our recent (generous) tax return checks that we're planning to put into savings for our son. We don't yet own a house but are looking to buy one iy"H once my husband settles into a new job (his company is considering moving him). B"H can't complain!

amother

Sun, May 29 2011, 9:45 pm

nearing 10th anniversary and deeply in debt [50,000!] husbands mental illness undiagnosed lead to COSTLY mistakes... Rolling Eyes

Even now when we know his issue we are no closer to solving our financial woes - we barely cover monthly expenses. Crying

I daven for a yeshua all the time

amother

Sun, May 29 2011, 10:42 pm

Seriously, at this point I don't know anymore how much I have saved up. I would venture to guess about $30,000 and that's by our 8th wedding anniversay ka"h.

My husband and I both worked before we were married, so we started out with nice savings. We did not have good employment in the beginning year of our marriage and it has not been consistent throughout the years, therefore there have been times when we pretty much lived off savings and there have been times when we were B"H fine. We always made our best efforts to live within our means, finding affordable apartments etc... putting away money for a rainy day. B"H, we have always paid our bills on time.

Now that we have 2 children in yeshiva, we are unable to save anymore because of the high cost of tuition Sad

I'm hoping to re-enter the job force soon, but don't know how much I can make on a part-time basis. Being a mommy is my #1 priority.