Watching the morning news on TV one morning last week, I was stopped mid-spoonful of cereal when a report came on about savings.
According to a study, it said, 1 in 10 people in the UK have zero savings.
I let my spoon fall back into my bowl and frowned – not because that figure seemed high and that I was saddened to hear that so many people had no savings at all, but because it seemed so low to me.
At 53, not only do I not have any savings now but I’ve never had any.
To me, having no savings is normal, and until that day, I’d presumed it was normal for most other people. How could I be so wrong?
Growing up in Sheffield, my mum worked in a betting office and my dad worked in the steel works and, from what I remember, that meant there was never much money around in our house.
We didn’t go on extravagant holidays and what money they did earn went on bills and food.
It wasn’t that they didn’t save by choice, it was that they physically couldn’t.
I never questioned this: Most of my friends were in the same boat in their families too, so it was hardly unusual. It was just how we lived.
But the thing is, as a child, I had all the hallmarks of a natural saver.
When my brother and I received money as a Christmas present, even when we were as young as 10 years old, he would blow all of his in half an hour, the money burning a hole in his pocket.
I, meanwhile, was cautious, weighing up every potential frivolous purchase on records and magazines wondering ‘do I really need this?’ and preferring to save mine.
As I got older, though, I found it harder and harder to stick to this. Not because I suddenly became irresponsible with my money, rather my responsibilities left me with little to spare.
At age 17 I moved into a one bedroom flat with my then-boyfriend and we quickly grew used to living paycheck to paycheck.
As this was all I’d ever seen from my parents, and because I was used to living in a household with no surplus cash at the end of the month, it wasn’t a big deal to me. We made sure our bills were paid, we bought food, maybe went to the pub once or twice, but that was usually it until the next payday.
Even if we had only a pound left at the end of the month – yes, sometimes it really was just £1 – I dealt with it by buying a loaf of bread and living on toast for the next 24 hours.
To me this was perfectly reasonable. If anything, I thought I was doing well.
Years later, when I met the man who would become my husband, the topic of savings came up once again.
We’d decided we wanted to buy a small starter home for which we needed a small deposit of £5k (this was the 90s) but my lack of savings made that a challenging target.
Luckily, we were able to borrow most from our parents and put a little of our salaries in too (probably £1k in total) and managed to cobble it together and begin our first mortgage after six months.
It was a modest house but the monthly payments, bills and food still took up most of my money.
Yes, we went on holidays – usually paid for on a credit card and paid off monthly. We never missed a payment (and I never have) yet I still had nothing left over. Nothing to put aside for a rainy day.
This continued for years and I always felt comforted by the fact that family and friends were in the same situation.
My neighbour once told me casually that she’d maxed out her credit card and had nowhere left to turn if anything went wrong in their house. My friends all lived month to month and never had any savings. It really did appear to be the norm.
Then, when I got divorced in 2011 and became a single mother, the thought of saving became even more of a fantasy.
Suddenly, small things like taking my kids to the seaside felt huge financially and I even considered putting a weekend away on my credit card.
When talking that particular issue over with my sister – whether I should really get into debt for a short holiday – she said: ‘You do what you have to do.’
And that’s how it’s always been for me – I do what I have to do to get by.
Having debts instead of savings is much more normal to me, so to suddenly hear that only 1 in 10 people in the UK don’t have savings was quite startling.
Do I just not know anyone with savings, or have they been keeping it quiet because they know I don’t have any? I don’t know what to think.
Saving seems like a distant, unobtainable dream for me and those around me. And with the cost of living crisis still in full force, it feels like it will always be impossible.
Yes, there are some small choices we all make – do I go out for a meal for my birthday or do I save that money? – but to me the answer is simple. Life is short and I’d rather go for the meal.
If I could save, I would, and I do hope one day I’ll be able to, but right now I don’t think any of us should feel guilty about being in a minority of people who can’t.
This isn’t a failure on our part. It’s just the reality of our everyday lives.
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