To us, this didn’t feel representative of people’s financial positions right now. Not everyone has savings to cushion them, especially in light of a cost of living crisis, waves of redundancies through the pandemic and rising interest rates. So we decided to ask the question again – this time using £0 as the only value allowed.
Ahead, 12 women share why they have no savings right now.
Occupation: Unemployed due to sickness
Salary: Employment and support allowance
What is the reason behind your £0 balance? After falling unwell and having major surgery I am no longer fit to work full time. All my savings had to go to rehab, therapies and my immediate housing needs. I had to spend my emergency funds and savings before being allowed any benefits help.
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? Previously I worked in global comms for a large FMCGC and I had a great package and saved a third [of my paycheque] each month. It was a good buffer but I miss the lifestyle a lot now.
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? I do my best. I regularly feel guilty for spending money, save as much as I can and appreciate my friends being generous but don’t want them to feel they always have to pay for me.
Occupation: Planning manager
Salary: £49,350
What is the reason behind your £0 balance? I had a financially abusive partner. I had no way to save and since I managed to kick him out I’ve been using 2022 as the year to spend on me as I spent 14 years unable to. 2023 is the year to start saving.
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? Yes.
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? Yes.
Occupation: Pharmacist
Salary: £50,000
What is the reason behind your £0 balance? My mum was diagnosed with stage four cancer at 23 (before I was even born). [Doctors said] there was no chance of survival but by some miracle she made it through. After that she understood that life could be taken away in an instant and all we actually have is the here and now. My parents were very well off (£100,000+) growing up but were very poor with money and had a lot of debt. The concept of ‘saving up’ for something just didn’t exist. I have zero in my savings account and I have £10,000 on credit cards. I don’t save for things; I buy them, then pay them off. My parents are now well into their 50s and still have the same mindset from 25+ years ago, which is really a live fast, die young attitude.
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? I was okay with money at uni out of necessity, I even managed to pay for private braces! I managed to build up £3,500 savings, then bought a £140,000 house 50:50 with my partner with a 5% deposit and I’ve not needed savings for anything.
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? No, I think I have a lack of respect for money and saving hard for something. I’m in a chunk of debt. I could have this paid off in a year with my income and expenses but I won’t as I’d be too anxious about paying off £10,000 then having a horrible diagnosis and regretting not travelling or spending time with friends.
Occupation: Audio editor
Salary: £22,000
What is the reason behind your £0 balance? I never seem to have enough money coming in to pay all the bills, nothing is ever left over.
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? Yes. I wasn’t taught about money as a child so never had the mindset to put any away. Now that I’m older, with much more bills and the increased cost of living, the issue has only continued.
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? No.
Occupation: Finance manager
Salary: £55,000
What is the reason behind your £0 balance? A few reasons. We have two good salaries coming in so can generally cover any ’emergencies’ without dipping into savings. We have unfortunately lost friends and family young so believe life is for living. If we were made redundant, redundancy would cover immediate bills and we are both re-employable.
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? They fluctuate. We will save if there is a reason: when we got married, for a holiday etc. I saved £10,000 for my maternity leave so I could take a year off. We just generally don’t see the point in saving and would rather enjoy life now. We both pay into pensions and get advice from a financial advisor (who probably judges us!).
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? Yes, bills are always paid in full and on time, we have debt for big purchases at manageable levels and are enjoying life!
Occupation: Office manager
Salary: £28,000
What is the reason behind your £0 balance? Take-home pay is £1,700, childcare bill alone is £1,200. I don’t have spare money.
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? Yes. I earned less previously and before having my child I was a serial spender.
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? No.
Occupation: Curator at a museum
Salary: £33,000. You’d think I’d be alright but honestly, historic debt wipes you out.
What is the reason behind your £0 balance? It’s a combined issue – I’m always playing catch-up with credit card debt (which exists because I’ve had to use it to live), which ruins me every month. Once I’m done paying that, I have not much to live on and have to use my credit card to get to the end of the month.
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? I’ve never had savings and I’ve never had much money. I left home at 16 and always had issues with living by overdrafts or otherwise. This is the first really big, proper job I got after freelancing and part-timing for years and I’m playing catch-up. Plus London is expensive!
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? No, I’ve never had it and it’s also made me terrible at impulse control as well as constantly having to pay back huge interest. I can’t see myself ever buying a house or getting out of this as my credit rating is bad too.
Occupation: Marketing
Salary: £55,000
What is the reason behind your £0 balance? It’s mainly credit card debt from an unfinished master’s in London in 2017 (postgrad loan didn’t cover course and part-time earnings weren’t enough to live on). I chose to spend the first half of my 20s working abroad (earning in a currency that was in economic freefall) and then decided to spend my hard-won savings on expensive cosmetic surgery.
I’ve been overspending generally during the lockdowns thanks to poor impulse control and chose to live and work in London without the benefits of family money, inheritance or financial support from splitting bills with a partner. I was renting privately and exposing myself to the ruthlessness of London’s rental market and had to move every year for various reasons – usually outside my control, like landlords selling property – and these moves end up being expensive. I also chose to work in underpaid business sectors. I have only started earning over £50,000 since April 2022, after five years in London.
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? I never had any savings before or during uni. I got into credit card debt at uni that I’d pay off each summer through extra work. Didn’t start saving properly until mid 2018. By the start of 2020 I had £15,000 in savings. It all went on surgery, shopping and paying off credit card debt, as well as moving costs.
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? Up and down. In the last few years I’ve learned to be less impulsive and spent time educating myself on personal finance. I didn’t start a pension until 27 but it’s fairly healthy now. I learned from a boss who owned a small business that cash flow is king. I’m starting to invest to give myself extra income streams. I think I’m less anxious than a lot of my peers when it comes to money in/money out. I hate tightness in people, sharing is caring.
Occupation: Traineeship, European Commission
Salary: €1,262 allowance once a month for six months
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? Yes, coming from a working class background I think you’re less likely to have spare money in the bank for a rainy day. Any money you got was needed for new school shoes, laptops for university etc.
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? No. I inherited my dad’s budgeting skills, which means spend it while you can. I also think the lack of education around investing and saving money didn’t help me and I sometimes experience money guilt, when I have money and others don’t.
Occupation: Social media at a startup
Salary: £27,000
What is the reason behind your £0 balance? I pay for almost everything for my parents who are disabled. Growing up (and throughout uni) my family acquired a lot of debt so I would say 50% of my salary goes towards bills, food, debt repayments etc. I grew up very working class and although I would say I’m good with money, it’s hard to save if you don’t have that much to begin with.
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? Yes for the most part, although I managed to save some money during university to pay for my master’s.
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? No! Despite my best efforts, it’s difficult for me to actually save because any disposable income I have I use to treat myself because I would hate to save (the little that’s left) and then die before I could ever use it. I’m a person who prefers to live comfortably instead of saving for inevitably going through a rough patch. Trying to save small amounts of money doesn’t make sense to me, I’d rather spend it on the now!
Occupation: Strategist
Salary: £45,000
What is the reason behind your £0 balance? I saved a bit during lockdown as I was living at home but then my salary was so low I needed to use the money to enjoy summer and go on holiday. Now I have a better paid job this shouldn’t be an issue and I’m hoping to begin saving properly.
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? Yes. I’ve never been given money and found it hard to save as a grad in London.
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? Yes! Never spent above my means.
Occupation: Dentist
Salary: £84,000
What is the reason behind your £0 balance? I recently bought a dental practice.
Have your savings always looked this way? If so, why? And if not, why not? No, I used to be very good at saving! But this year my husband and I moved from a three-bed to a five-bed home (to accommodate my mum moving in with us) and bought two dental practices with a colleague. With all the increases in general life plus the need to make sure the business has enough cash to ride out the first few months, it means I’m out of savings.
Would you say you have a good relationship with money? No! Definitely always been a spender. If I have a goal I want to achieve, e.g. buy a home, car etc., then I can save with an end goal in sight. However, day to day I spend far too much money on lunches, impulse buys, toys for my kid, random beauty products etc.
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