Size of Warchest?

[MaryPoppins]

wonderful (nearly paid off) home.

Really....?!

[jmo21]

As most have said, it depends!

For me, I'm a boring ****, squirreling away it all until I get my mortgage paid off (approx 9 years at current rate, currently paying twice my mortgage to achieve this, hoping to reduce this soon with a large lump sum), so no lavish lifestyle for me.

I currently have approx 12 months war chest in the Ltd account.

[MarillionFan]

Really....?!

I paid our previous house off and then moved to a much bigger place about 3 years ago. Then with the kids coming along and the missus not working it's costing me a fortune.

Bleeding me dry they are! BLEEDING ME DRY!!!!

To the OP. I operate an offset mortgage and move all money into that. In theory my warchest is about ten years.

[MaryPoppins]

I paid our previous house off and then moved to a much bigger place about 3 years ago. Then with the kids coming along and the missus not working it's costing me a fortune.

Bleeding me dry they are! BLEEDING ME DRY!!!!

To the OP. I operate an offset mortgage and move all money into that. In theory my warchest is about ten years.

I was referring to al_cam's curious autosig.

[Scrag Meister]

I was referring to al_cam's curious autosig.

Its all relative, if he started on a 25 year mortgage, 12 months to go is "nearly".

10 miles to go on a 250 mile journey.

[ChimpMaster]

It took me 5 years' contracting (non-stop at reasonable rate) to feel like I was comfortable enough to spend freely. I didn't live rough those 5 years but I took the opportunity to pay down the mortgage, invest some and generally make sure the future would be a better place for my family.

Now I don't fret much if the kids, wife or I want something rather than just need something. I still don't lash out on £40k car but then that's not what we want. I do enjoy my nice house and my gadgets, and I don't have to worry about the monthly bills. That for me is nice, I'm getting where I want to be.

You'll never have enough money, so don't plan to chase it forever.

Contracting (perhap even I.T. overall for us here) is not an ever lasting opportunity, so use it well and use it prudently, and you'll be a much happier person for it.

[rd409]

Thanks for the useful advise all of you. Having read all the posts, one thing I have gathered is "It's never enough!".

I am very new to contracting, and relatively new to working in IT (I have about 5 years of total experience), so it is always helpful to start on a right note, than to think at a later stage and repent I could have done it a better way!

I'm off to my accountants to see if he can help me in any ways. Thanks again.

[Fred Bloggs]

I have about 18 months war chest, current #1 priority is to save enough so that my son doesn't have to pay university fees in two years time when he starts his degree @ probably £9k a year for four years. Until recently my pension was #1 but that has now slipped to #2 while I save the university fees. Probably puts back my planned retirement by 6 to 12 months I guess. I have not changed my lifestyle at all since my permie days (about 8 years ago) but my pension (SIPP) is looking a lot healthier now than it would have done without contracting.

[lukemg]

OP Sounds like me a good few years ago, I had low expenses and the contracting money started to pile up. I stashed a bit but eventually blew most of it on fancy cars, holidays, going out etc.
A cold wind blew through my contracting skills, I was suddenly worth NMW + a few quid. Remaining warchest got burned through much quicker than expected and I had to go perm and was in the wilderness for a few years. I had to look at bills, consider carefully even small purchases, doesn't sound much but it was depressing after not having to for years.
Given a second chance at contracting after some hard work and creative re-inventing I have put huge effort into insulating myself from the inevitable future downturn in demand.
Plenty of money being invested in ISA's and SIPP's, more modest (20k) nearly-new car (bought from savings), I avoid loans and debt like the plague (apart from mortgage). Still go out for nice meals, holidays, the odd gadget etc I just live at a reasonable perm rate for my role, not at the contract rate I get.
I can probably survive a few years and I still don't feel safe from getting turned over again and won't until my investments can cover my fixed costs. They are unlikely to - ever, but the cushion I have now gives me a lot of security and peace-of mind.
Spend a bit, stash a bit and always be thinking of Plan B, it might turn into the only Plan....

[ChimpMaster]

<snip>I can probably survive a few years and I still don't feel safe from getting turned over again and won't until my investments can cover my fixed costs. </snip>

Sounds much like me. I need just over £1k a month to cover main (fixed + food for family) costs (at last calculation). But that would be living on the breadline. I'm aiming for £5k a month so that we can enjoy ourselves a bit more . I guess aiming high gives us something to achieve, plus of course the kids are young and my expenses are only ever going to increase in that respect.