How much of your paycheck should you ideally be saving each month? (credit, debt)

[RoseLikeAnyOther]

Let's say you bring home 3k after taxes. How much should you ideally be saving?

[fishbrains]

Impossible to say given this little info.

How old are you,do you have a family, how secure is your job, do you contribute to retirement savings, are you maximizing your 401k match, have you paid off your debt?

As a rough rule of thumb, definitely max out any 401k match you might have (usually about 4% of gross), then shoot for maximizing your 401k tax deferred limits (about $16,000/year), then start saving. I find. If you save 10% of your take home you are doing reasonably well.

[RoseLikeAnyOther]

Originally Posted by fishbrains

Impossible to say given this little info.

How old are you,do you have a family, how secure is your job, do you contribute to retirement savings, are you maximizing your 401k match, have you paid off your debt?

As a rough rule of thumb, definitely max out any 401k match you might have (usually about 4% of gross), then shoot for maximizing your 401k tax deferred limits (about $16,000/year), then start saving. I find. If you save 10% of your take home you are doing reasonably well.

Let's say you are in your mid 20s, you do not have a family, your job is fairly secure, you don't have much of a 401K match, and you have no student loans but a car loan you are just paying off.

[MLSFan]

I save about 50%, but I make okay money in a okay COL living area :S

does it really matter? Why compare yourself to anyone else? If you feel like you're doing okay then great. I track myself by my goal of hitting around $X invested by the time I'm Y age, I'm more or less on track, that's how I measure myself. How anyone else is doing is really not my concern.

[Hemlock140]

If you live in Seattle, you probably wouldn't be able to save a nickel on net $3k, while in Tennessee you could probably save 1/3 if you were frugal. The cost of living (especially rent/mortgage) where you live determines the baseline minimum you can live on, after that I would say try to save at least 15%.
Also, I like to spread it out, I have savings accounts at 2 different credit unions, 401K, and a health savings account. All are deducted from my pay for direct deposit so I never see it.

[MSchemist80]

As much as possible. I personally am able to save about 2/3 of my take home. 15% goes right to my 401k, 4% match, the rest goes to savings. I personally don't care much for expensive material possessions and other such expenditures. I find the sense of security in having my own safety net more fulfilling.

[statisticsnerd]

I aim for $2000-$2500/month. Whatever you save each month, put it in index funds and forget about it. 20 years from now, you'll have a rock solid retirement fund.