Map reveals nine best places to live where salaries outstrip living costs so you can save £1,000 a month

SAVING money for a rainy day or big purchase is no easy feat at the best of times, let alone when you're battling against soaring bills with stagnant wages.

By the time food and household costs are met, many of us have barely anything left at the end of the month to save

However, if you can bring your earnings up and the cost of living down, you will start to increase your disposable income which can be used for savings.

It sounds easier said than done, but the cash you earn each month, as well as living costs are heavily influenced by where in the UK you live.

It means that if you choose your location wisely you can start to increase the gap between wages and costs for the better - giving you more free cash to put into savings.

There are nine locations in the UK where the amount you're paid is on average at least £1,000 more than living costs - see map above - according to research from property site Compare My Move.

The location with the highest gap between the cost of living and earnings is York.

The cost of both buying or renting a flat in the historic city  is low compared to other parts of the UK, and you can get on to the property ladder for around £198,093, found Compare My Move.

At the same time, the cost of living comes in at £1,415 while average earnings after tax are £2,846, leaving £1,431 of disposable income each month. 

Even if the cost of living is relatively high, you can still save if salaries are higher.

For example, in second place is Cambridge where the average salary is a bumper £3,143 while the cost of living is £1,829 meaning there is still £1,314 leftover.

And in third spot is Reading with the highest employability rate of any city or town in the UK with 86.1% of its residents in employment, according to Compare My Move.

In the South East, means buying a flat is more expensive than other locations at a typical £227,525. However, the average salary is competitive at £2,909 after tax, while the cost of living is £1,714 meaning that disposable income is still high at £1,195.

Wigan, Derby, Bolton and Glasgow are among other spots where there is a sizeable difference between earnings and costs - and some of the most underrated spots in the UK for young adults, according to Compare My Move.  

Of course, your earnings in any location will depend on other factors such as the job you do and the company you work for.

However, you can use job sites to see advertised salaries in your field across different locations and compare with your current earnings.

Costs will also depend on exactly where you choose to live but you can use a property site to look up rent or house prices in different locations to try to gauge how to create a bigger disposable income in your budget.

SAVING £1,000 A MONTH

If saving to buy a home is an important achievement for you, living in one of the locations on the list could help.

Putting away £1,000 a month after a year would give you £12,000. And after three years you could have £36,000 - enough for a 10% deposit on £360,000 property.

If you are going to start saving, it's also important to keep your cash in a spot where it will earn the highest interest.

It's also important to be able to access at least a month or two's worth of income in an easy access account for emergency situations - such as a job loss.

You can currently earn as much as 5.2% in an easy access account with Ulster Bank if you have at least £5,000 in savings - you will earn 2.25% if you have less than that.

Or for smaller sums from £1 you can get a rate of 4.84% with app-based provider Chip.

On a lump sum of £12,000 you'd earn £580.80 worth of interest after a year at a rate of 4.84%.

Opting for as high rate of interest as possible helps you to achieve your savings goals faster. It also stops inflation eroding the value of your nest egg.

If you want to save regularly, you can rates of up to 7% with first direct. You will need to hold a current account with the bank but can then put away up to £300 a month over a year at the top rate.