According to this article, Americans saved an average of $940 in 2008. Yikes. That's not even $100 per month. And according to what I've read elsewhere, the savings rate in 2008 was actually up from the previous few years (I remember reading when I was in college - maybe 2005? - that the average savings rate was negative!). I, on the other hand, saved...well, about $50 last year. OUCH! To be fair, last year I was really focused on paying off my personal loan, so saving wasn't really a priority. But still! Ugg! Below average!!! (If you have a chance, you should read the whole article - it compares the recession of the early 1980s to today.)
This year, I've done a lot better. Excluding my Roth IRA, I've had a net savings of $1500 this year. So I'm above average for 2008's numbers and way above my own previous savings rate. Which is good. But I'm hoping for a waaay better 2010.
What about you? How much did you save in 2008 compared to 2009?
4 comments:
Hahah! I hate being average, too!
Unfortunately I'm also below. =(
2008: Saved $400, but then spent it at Christmas
2009: Saved (so far) $1,125
Still pathetic as far as I'm concerned, but I also have debt to pay off.
Being an overachiever totally sucks. I wish I wasn't one either!
I'd really be curious about where they're getting their data and what the median is. It might also be worth wondering what they aren't counting as "savings"-- for example, do retirement investments count or not? It would also be interesting to see how the numbers shift for different income ranges.
I like parlaying the overachiever mentality into a more helpful one in which I just try to do better than I did before.
I did really well from the end of 2008 through mid-2009, but now I'm just living off those savings. It was pretty much an aberration anyway, the massive savings attack was in preparation for my layoff.
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