Spending v Saving dilemma

[El81]

Age: 31
Spouse’s/Partner's age: In a relationship but we are not living together.

Annual gross income from employment or profession: 72500 salary, 4k Bonus
Annual gross income of spouse:

Monthly take-home pay approx 3,500 after contribution to pension

Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant, self-employed - private

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving? Saving what i can

Rough estimate of value of home eeek 250k (?)
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 295K approx
What interest rate are you paying? 3 year fixed rate 3.67% finishing September 2012. I pay 1050 per month. I also rent a room for 250pm. whcih just started this month - was living on my own for a while. no huge bills - usual like Sky, gas, electric, bins, household...

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc No. I have a car but i walk to work so no huge petrol expenses

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? Nothing

Savings and investments:
20k in three year post office savings bond
5,500 in 15 month account
5k in 7 day notice account
Saving 500 a month direct debit into 12 month account - so far 2k saved into this account. anything left at end of month is put into the 7 day notice account.
6,200 prize bonds - received as a gift and cannot cash in unless absolute emergency

Do you have a pension scheme? Yes - no clue what its worth just that emplyer contributes 6% of salary and i contribte 5%

Do you own any investment or other property? No

Ages of children: None

Life insurance: Yes

Questions:
I would just love somone to give me some guidance as to how my savings are going for me adn if there is something else that i should be doing with them. Im not saving for anything in particular - I am a terrible worrier though and really I am just worried about the future charges coming down the road and the fact that i am in negative equity and if i want to buy another house in the future if i have a family etc. I am young so i want to enjoy myself too - holidays, clothes, nights out etc. I dhave done alot of travelling and only really started saving for house/future in the last 4 years (bought the house about 1.5 years ago) so dont have much accumulated. would love if anybody could tell me how i am doing overall offer me some advice for the future.........

 

[niceoneted]

Your doing great. Although you don't give interest rates of the accounts the money is in, I am assuming that you have selected as high an interest account as you can. I note you have a post office bond there, which is good as there is no DIRT on those.
I always worried about money too, although having a permanent job and a reasonably good income so I can relate to you there.
Personally I think I would have my rainy day fund of about 20k and I think I would chip away at the mortgage to at least bring it back to within equity. You could aim to pay a lump sum once you come off the fixed rate in Sept.
You will most likely get an interest rate similar to what you are on at the moment I would imagine or there abouts so your repayments shouldn't change greatly when you come off fixed.
I take home about €250 a month less than you and manage to save €1500. No lodgers and €350 less to pay on mortgage. That just gives you an idea of someone in similar enough situation. I enjoy nights out, holiday in particular, concerts, sporting events etc.
While you say you have gas, Electricity, sky etc these can all vary on use so it may be beneficial to post what the normal bimonthly bills are. Some people spend €60 others €160. you get what I'm saying I'm sure.
Keep up the good saving.

 

[Macstuff]

Here are a few of my thoughts on this...
So in summary you have about 39k in savings. This is a great achievement and well done on that. I only wish I was in that position.
As a basic requirement you really need to ensure that you have approx. six months of salary in savings available to you in the event that you lose your job. While you easily have that at the moment you need to think about how quickly you could get access to these savings if you needed them (without being penalised heavily).
You are young so you could consider investing in some riskier or long term investments in the hope of getting a better return. Have a look around and see if there are any that suit your needs. Maybe start by looking at the savings / investments thread here to get some ideas?
Finally, it sounds like you have a great salary, with great earning potential, a comfortable lifestyle and that you are healthy. Don't worry so much about money, you are in a very strong position. ENJOY it.