Okay, we’ve just tallied up our savings for 2014 to calculate our annual savings rate. We started the year with a goal to save 25% of our gross income, which would include our company contributions to our RRSPs, and maintain a monthly savings rate of 24% of our net income as per our 2014 budget. This is how we fared:
- We averaged saving 40% of our monthly net income, putting 10% of our take-home pay into short-term savings (to pay for things like travel, gifts, and the kitchen renovations we decided to take-on mid-year) and 30% into long-term investments (RRSP, TSFA and RESP).
- Including our defined contribution plans from work, we saved 32% of our gross income (45% of net income), exceeding our goal by 7%.
- Not included in the above is an additional $5000 from our 2013 tax return, which we dumped into a TFSA all at once, and extra small monthly mortgage payments which are automatically deducted from our accounts.
Last Word
We did better than forecasted as a result of some extra income from work. I wish I could say we also cut expenses to maximize savings, but that didn’t happen. We happened to spend more than we intended to because of the extra income, especially near the end of the year (red all over in December). All in all, though it could have been higher, we exceeded our savings rate goal and that something to be very happy about!
How big of a slice was your piece of savings?
I ended up saving in the 60-70% range last year. Hoping to keep it up to 50-60% this year (less because possibility of job change + buying a house).
Hot dog! Even with a house purchase, upwards of 60% is quite a feat. The longer you can do that, the better off it’ll be in the long run. Keep up the ridiculously good job.
Great job! I need to start tracking how much we are saving. The plan is to live off my hubby’s income and save all of mine.
Thanks Virna. That’s an ambitious plan. More power to you!