My house is paid off, and I currently save about 25% towards my retirement fund. I’m a single income and any salary increases I receive are applied to my rrsps. You never miss it when it gets taken off the top! Pay yourself first and you’ll be ahead of the game. I live below my means – but have travelled extensively, work part-time for 10 yrs now, have cable, internet, have a car (used/10yrs old) . . . it can be done – you just have to decide what is important to you. I hate debt – I don’t sleep well if I owe money!

@ Chubby Bunny – No, I didn’t have all the information. I didn’t have Rhiannon’s budget. I didn’t know her age, occupation, etc. And I’ve seen many instances where one person’s definition of “bare bones” does not coincide with mine. “Bare bones,” believe it or not, is a relative term.

When it comes to expenses, within my budget, I have $350 a month for groceries, clothing, hygiene, personal care (including things like haircuts), household expenses and entertainment. I don’t have a car (obviously, since I can’t see well enough to drive) don’t have cable, have a cell phone plan that costs $8.00 an month including taxes, and, until I went back to school and needed it, didn’t have internet at home. I’m really not sure how I can cut back any further.

Of course, as some of you have suggested, I could cut back on charitable donations, but I’m not sure I should do that. I have known what it’s like to live on welfare, and rely on chariable support. I’m glad for the salary I have, and feel like I should give back as thanks for what I have – not only in a monetary fashion, but also from my time. Around this time of year, I’m busier than ever, thanks to volunteering for the Food Bank and the Salvation Army, collecting donations and giving presents to the needy.

However, the question of how much to give financially has always been a hard one. I’d love to be able to give everything I have, but since that’s not feasible, giving 10% of my net income and building my budget around that seems like a fair compromise. After all, while I do want to have enough saved for myself, I want to make sure that I’m not keeping all my wealth just for me. That’s not to say that everyone should give that much; it depends upon your income and circumstances. However, if you’re making a decent income and able to save 20% or more, perhaps you might think about scaling back a bit – say to 15% – and giving the other 5% to those less fortunate.

Diana – thank you for the back-up. Sometimes it’s nice to have someone just say “Yeah, I know what’s it like it. I know you’re trying, keep your head up”

MP – OMG!! I’m NEVER gonna have a date or a nice gift AGAIN???? Just kidding – you made me laugh.

I’m getting off my pitty-pot now…..and going to work.

And to the dual incomes, having lived as a single mom and since remarried, I will vouch for the fact that 2 incomes is VASTLY easier in all ways. I now have the very good fortune to be able to save approx. 40-50% of my income. But it only works if you are both on the same page regarding saving/spending/life, etc.

I’m always shocked at how many of my neighbours park on the street because there’s no place to park in their double garages full of STUFF. Then there are their RV’s, trailers and boats. I get just a bit ticked when they start parking by my driveway because they’ve run out of room at theirs.

Like Trista, I’m paying off my debt (a car loan) a bit slower because I prefer to put money into my emergency fund while paying off debt. Yes, I could pay my car loan completely off, but then I would have very little to fall back on in an emergency A friend of mine (who has always been very frugal) has just had her spouse diagnosed with cancer. You can bet they are glad they have spent and saved wisely.

If I were working fulltime, partner and I would be saving way more (we are both teachers). Right now we are living on mostly his income.

Living on my own last year with a $45000 salary I was able to save a bit, but it was very very tight, do-able, but not so much flexible.

Rhiannone, I’m single, living alone and make 50K gross. My budget plan has me saving 38% every month, but there is a fair bit of “fun” money involved for entertainment, eating out and clothes. I have no debt, and I don’t donate to charity at this point. I don’t have Internet as I either can check personal mail at work, or use my parents’ access from time-to-time. If I was a little tighter or more disciplined, I could save more, and usually I end up doing so because I don’t really use much from my clothes budget. Now, if I was living with someone, that would make it easier to save more because I’d have someone splitting the rent with me so that would save me a few more hundred dollars per month.

So definitely being single has it’s disadvantage from a savings side, however, it’s also important to point out that being single means you don’t have to worry about “date nights” with the partner, or nice gifts – – so you can save money that way too.

It sounds like you’re doing fine. Granted everyone is different, but it sounds like you’re saving a decent amount. Make sure to have some fun.

I currently save 8% (and 6% is matched by my employer) of my gross income, but that amount will be boosted to ~55% after my final mortgage payment on Dec 15, 2009.

1 – While I do make a healthy salary (more than the average dual income family in Canada), I also managed to cut my expenses to a point most people won’t contemplate.

2 – I’m single with no kids, but I do help out my parents, who are both unemployed, and my sisters, both of whom recently finished university. (No more tuition payments! Yay!) And I still manage to save MORE than most dual income families because I want early retirement more than they do and am willing to forgo things like cable and hitting the bars every weekend.

3 – I do donate a respectable amount to charity. It’s hard not to when so many executives at my place of work chair so many worthwhile charities. This is one area where I will succumb to peer pressure.

I’m just wondering if, in comparison to others who save a lot, I’m saving enough.

That’s really a loaded question and any answer I give you is not going to influence you in any way because “[you] don’t think [you] can cut any more without cutting out a life.” Frankly, that statement says you’re not willing to change by either trimming your expenses further or getting another job to boost your income because that would cut into your time for a life.

Low income:
You get to keep a greater percentage of your gross income because taxes take a greater percentage of higher incomes… I could argue points for both sides.

We all have difficult choices to make in budgeting and life. It is no fun to get an ok income eaten up by student loans, but budget awareness helps in making better decisions. If you got used to nice things, it is hard to give them up. Appreciating what you do have is important. Some people did not appreciate where I lived during and after school, but cheques did not bounce. I have a financially imperfect job in an imperfect city (carrer-wise) and I need an occasional part-time job for the fun stuff. No easy answers, but many tools. Will and sacrifice help. Find something fun out of every day, even if it lasted only a second. That is a good rule in any pay-scale.

The grass is not always greener, but drought tolerant seeds come in handy.