What % of your gross income do you attempt to save each month?

I'm an idiot with numbers. I knew those numbers sounded weird, but again... idiot. I wish I could save an 40%!

Here's what I would have said were I not an idiot:

For the next few months I'll be trying to save about 28% from each pay check to pay for a honeymoon.

After that, it will probably go down to 15% and the difference will be added to my mortgage payments.

 

ideal is relative to your income. you save as much as you can by not buying a bunch of crap that doesn't add any value to life. if and when your income increases, your expenses should stay the same. people get in trouble when they think a raise means it's okay to spend more.

you shouldn't live like a miser. however, it's important to recognize needs vs wants. once your necessities are met, spend and enjoy your money within reason. save the rest.

 

12% into 401K with company match. Pretty much nothing beyond that only because I have had a ridiculously bad run of home/car/pet repairs and unexpected bills for the last two straight years. I can almost guarantee that several thousand dollars worth of unexpected something(s) will happen every month or two.

I would like to get back to 20% (in addition to 401K).

 

The percentage has varied greatly over the years. At one point it was nearly 80% (when I had a run of unbelievable good luck) as a single man....... then when I married my wife she insisted that I give huge amounts to charities.... as a result I now give well over 1/3 of my income some years to charities and very little to my 401K.... around 5-8%. Then again my wife is crazy and believes it is good karma. Luckily I have socked away money she is not privy to, so we will be taken care of.

 

YOLO so not as much as I should and nowhere as much as I could.