I’m a 30-year-old salaried woman living in the capital city of a tropical country. In my previous post, I shared that my monthly income is around $540, while my expenses are about $373. It means I have around $167 to save each month.
In this capitalist era, I don’t think it would be enough to buy a landed house in the capital. A new, cheapest two-bedroom house costs around $42,000 here (to be exact, in the nearest area near the capital city), which would mean 21 years of mortgage payments. It also means I would not be able to save up for anything else. Let alone saving for children, I won’t be able to save up an emergency fund for myself. So, buying a house in this city is not an option for me.
As for now, I save up for three: retirement savings, traveling, and a wedding. I don’t have a significant guy to marry anytime soon, but who knows? Maybe someone will show up at my parents’ door tomorrow to ask for my hand in marriage. In fact, I’m hoping to get married this year, so I’ve saved up enough to hold a small wedding. I also saved half of the traveling expenses, which should be ready for next year’s trip. The retirement savings? I initially planned to retire in 25 years, but looking at how things went today, I want to retire sooner rather than later. The question is, how would I survive without a monthly salary?
I could give up my travel savings, but it wouldn’t even cover a full year of living expenses. That’s clearly not sustainable. I actually don’t know what will be sustainable enough to cover my living expenses for the rest of my life. I don’t really need a house, because I can still go back to my parents’ house, but I’m open to building my future home. For now, I just need a way to cover my living expenses once I retire, without burdening the people around me when my hair turns grey.
On your side, how much do you save each month, and what are you saving for? Is it possible to have a safety net once we retire?