\n\t\t\t\t\tSophie Rayner says there currently isn’t much motivation to get a promotion as a result of having to pay more tax\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
In our How I Manage My Money series<\/a> we aim to find out how people in the UK are spending, saving and investing money to meet their costs and achieve their goals.<\/p>\n This week we speak to Sophie Rayner, 33, who lives in Hastings with her fianc\u00e9, Lewis, their son, Seth, three, and cat, Binks. Sophie adds \u00a328 a month to a workplace pension and is not sure the state pension<\/a> will exist when she is older. She reckons she will only be able to retire in her seventies. Sophie is saving for a house deposit. Once a homeowner, she wants to get her mortgage paid off by the time she retires. <\/p>\n Monthly budget<\/p>\n My monthly income: The income from my part-time job as a department manager at a high street clothing store can vary, but is typically around \u00a31,141.86 a month. I receive \u00a3104.20 in child benefit each month. I usually make around \u00a3100 a month from various side hustles like using cashback, a bit of social media work, doing online surveys and selling on Vinted. Lewis owns and runs FatBoy\u2019s Barbershop in Hastings full-time.\u00a0<\/p>\n My monthly outgoings: Some are shared with Lewis. Rent and council tax, \u00a3750 \u2013 we rent from family, so it is cheaper than the norm; groceries, \u00a3360; utility bills, \u00a3190; broadband, \u00a335; mobile, \u00a38; car fuel, \u00a370; gym, \u00a312.99; Apple storage, \u00a32.99; Hayu subscription, \u00a35.99; money into savings, around \u00a3330, though this varies. I pay \u00a328 a month into my pension. I try to give myself \u00a3250 \u201cfun\u201d money each month to spend on things I like or enjoy. I pay my car insurance annually. Last year, my car insurance was \u00a3609, so I\u2019m hoping it will be closer to \u00a3500 this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Growing up, things were not always easy. I grew up in Croydon and my mum was a single mum<\/a>. I always understood we didn\u2019t have much or sometimes any money. I never went to university as I was never sure what I wanted to do.<\/p>\n New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n I work 20 hours a week as a department manager at a high street clothing shop. I\u2019ve been with the company for eight years and went part-time after having my son. I make around \u00a31,141.86 a month from this job.<\/p>\n If the government keeps increasing the minimum wage without increasing tax thresholds<\/a>, there\u2019s not much incentive to get a promotion. While a higher pay packet may appear appealing, there\u2019s more tax to pay and you\u2019ve still got to deal with high prices for things like food and electricity.<\/p>\n I have a good work-life balance and get to spend a lot of time with Seth. We also don\u2019t need to worry about childcare costs.<\/a> But, as my income is fairly low, I do what I can to try and boost it every month. I sell items on Vinted<\/a>, complete online surveys and use cashback every month.<\/p>\n I also make a very small amount of money from my TikTok channel <\/a>which I started in 2024 as a little hobby outside of motherhood. The average amount of money I make from all my side hustles is around \u00a3100 a month. The most I\u2019ve made via TikTok in a month was \u00a3435. <\/p>\n I had zero financial literacy<\/a> until I turned 18 and started working. Before then, it didn\u2019t even occur to me that saving money in a savings account would be a good idea. No one really spoke about money much when I was growing up. When I was old enough, I\u2019d get letters about pre-approved credit cards and would always fall for them.<\/p>\n At the age of 21 I realised spending money in the way I was just wasn\u2019t sustainable. I worked to get my debts cleared and started to write down savings goals in a notebook. I still jot down savings targets and tick them off in the Notes app in my phone.<\/p>\n As soon as my payslip comes through, I start planning my budget. To save money I make meal plans in advance, always do packed lunches and buy most of the clothes I get using my staff discount. <\/p>\n We\u2019re renting a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Hastings from family members. We\u2019re lucky as the combined cost of the rent and council tax is \u00a3750 a month.<\/p>\n We were paying more when we lived in a one-bedroom ground floor flat a couple of years ago. The cost of renting<\/a> is insane, and if it wasn\u2019t for relatives, we\u2019d probably still be in the one-bedroom flat. We\u2019re trying to save enough to buy a house, but as I\u2019ve gone part-time at work, this will take longer than originally planned.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about pensions<\/a> recently. I am only adding \u00a328 a month to a workplace pension. I\u2019ve had one previous job before the one I do now, but am not sure how much is in all my pensions.<\/p>\n It may be a good idea for me to consider consolidating them at some point. To try and boost my retirement pot, I\u2019d like to open a stocks and shares ISA<\/a> and put \u00a350 a month in it. That doesn\u2019t sound a lot, but it will probably be a lot better than relying on the state pension to still exist by the time I retire.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t see myself being able to retire early. When I retire<\/a>, I will probably be in my seventies. I need to take some baby steps to prepare for it now to ensure I\u2019m not stressed about it all when I\u2019m closer to retiring.<\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t say my goal has ever been to be wealthy and have loads of money. I just want to be able to achieve the dream I was sold when I was little. This includes getting a house, having a car and spending 80 per cent of my time with my son. I\u2019m not after anything fancy. <\/p>\n In the short term, we are saving for a house deposit. I also want to start investing<\/a>. In the longer term, we plan to continue saving for our son\u2019s future. Hopefully everything will be a little easier financially for him. Another one of our main goals is, once we get our own house, to get our mortgage paid off by the time we retire.<\/p>\n Want to take part in How I Manage My Money? Email money@theipaper.com<\/a><\/p>\n