\n\t\t\t\t\tIzzy Bradshaw says she hasn’t been able to save into a pension – and can’t imagine ever being able to retire\u00a0\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 Izzy Bradshaw, 27, an English teacher who lives in Weymouth with her boyfriend, Jordan, 25. Izzy is teaching English as a foreign language in the UK before moving to Asia for at least six months to study for more teaching qualifications. She is currently paying rent for two properties and doesn\u2019t feel ready to buy a home. <\/a>Izzy is not adding money to a pension and is not sure she will ever be able to retire. All Izzy\u2019s savings are in cash and she finds the idea of investing daunting. <\/p>\n Monthly budget<\/p>\n My monthly income: I\u2019m temporarily teaching English as a foreign language at a summer camp in the UK. Including overtime, my monthly take-home pay is around \u00a33,000 a month. My boyfriend works remotely as a software consultant and has an income coming in.\u00a0<\/p>\n My monthly outgoings: I\u2019ve moved to Weymouth temporarily, so am paying for the rent for a houseshare in Dorset and a flat in Sheffield.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the Weymouth houseshare with my boyfriend, I\u2019m paying \u00a3300 a month for rent and bills. My boyfriend is living with me and paying \u00a3700 per month in rent. He pays more as I am also paying rent for a property in Sheffield.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Sheffield, I pay \u00a3525 in rent for a two-bedroom shared flat with a housemate. Other regular expenses include: groceries, \u00a3120; council tax, \u00a388; utility bills, \u00a390; broadband, \u00a325; mobile, \u00a38; car fuel, \u00a340; public transport, \u00a3100; subscriptions like Spotify and shared Disney+; \u00a317.50; cash savings, \u00a3100 \u2013 and other sums into various sinking funds; eating out, \u00a3100; clothes, toiletries and household items, \u00a3100; day trips, \u00a350 to \u00a370. My car insurance costs \u00a3450 for the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Growing up with my parents and sister in Durham, we were frugal as a family. My mum worked as a local public footpaths officer for years and my dad did a number of different jobs. We\u2019d always go on camping holidays in the UK and didn\u2019t eat out much. <\/p>\n After going to university in Sheffield, I started my career in teaching. At the age of 22 I was a qualified primary school teacher, earning \u00a325,000 a year. I started suffering from burnout in this job, and left for a marketing role within the teaching sector, taking a pay cut of \u00a32,000 a year. I\u2019ve also done supply teacher work, but my income from it was low and very unstable. <\/p>\n I also recently spent five months backpacking in South East Asia with a friend. The whole trip cost me \u00a35,000 and I gave myself a budget of \u00a310 a night to spend. <\/p>\n I\u2019m currently teaching English to students from overseas at a summer camp. It is a temporary role and I am taking home around \u00a33,000 a month, which is the highest amount I\u2019ve ever had coming in. However, I know money comes and goes and because this is a temporary role, I am still being careful with my spending. <\/p>\n Travelling a lot makes me realise just how expensive it is to live in the UK. The cost-of-living has made me question whether I want to be here on a long-term basis. I keep track of my spending and have a spreadsheet outlining all of my monthly outgoings. It sounds a bit nerdy, but I enjoy doing this. <\/p>\n I\u2019ve always been careful with money and I think this comes from my parents. If I spend money on one thing, I know I have to sacrifice something else. I don\u2019t have a fixed income or stable job, so I have to be careful. I purchased tickets to see Taylor Swift last year and, despite being a huge Swiftie, I couldn\u2019t bring myself to pay \u00a360 for any merchandise! <\/p>\n My interest in money, budgeting, teaching and travel led me to create my TikTok channel, izzysadventures98, in 2021. I\u2019m not making any money from it, but enjoy posting content every day. I hope to start making money from it next year, but there\u2019s no guarantee that will happen. <\/p>\n I use sinking funds with Monzo to set money aside for different things. I have a pot for travelling, one for emergencies<\/a> and one for weddings I\u2019m attending next year. I also add about \u00a3100 a month to an easy access cash savings account, which has \u00a31,300 in it. I have \u00a312,000 in a cash Lifetime Isa, but this was an inheritance I received from my grandparents. <\/p>\n I don\u2019t know enough about investing to feel confident enough to put my money in anything like a stocks and shares Isa. I\u2019ve read articles and seen online videos about investing, but I need to sit down with someone who can teach me how it works and how to do it. The idea of potentially losing money does worry me and I don\u2019t want to put my money into something that isn\u2019t guaranteed. <\/p>\n I\u2019m paying rent for two properties temporarily. One is in Sheffield and the other is in Weymouth, but I\u2019ll only be based in the latter for a short period. My boyfriend and I were considering buying our own home on the outskirts of Sheffield, but the recent stamp duty changes put us off and have made this more of a challenge.<\/p>\n Buying a home could also be a struggle for us financially, as my boyfriend doesn\u2019t have much disposable income and I don\u2019t have a stable income. I\u2019m not at the point in my life where I\u2019m ready to commit to a location or job and cannot see myself getting on the property ladder for some time. <\/p>\n