In our How I Manage My Money series we aim to find out how people in the UK are spending, saving and investing money to meet their costs and achieve their goals.

This week we speak to Richard Šamko, 20, who lives in Derby with his mum while studying at university. Richard is ambitious and wants to buy a home within four years. He’d like a salary of at least £100,000 a year and £70,000 in savings by the time he is 50. Richard has opted out of his work pension, but plans to start paying into one soon.

Monthly budget

My monthly income: I take home about £1,150 a month from my part-time job as a duty manager at a hotel. I also make around £650 per month via MyPocketSkill by taking on freelance social media manager jobs. 

I receive a student maintenance loan and tuition fee loan. These equate to £9,000 and £9,500 a year respectively. 

My monthly outgoings: My mum pays for rent and groceries, while I pay for everything else. Gas and electric, £125; water, £5 – this is discounted due to the benefits my mum receives; broadband, £26.50; mobile, £10; paying off the mobile I purchased my mum last year, £31; ChatGPT subscription, £20; car repayment for my Seat Ibiza, £157; gym, £13.50 – my employer pays the other half; eating out, £50. I add money made via MyPocketSkill to a savings account. I spend £100 on clothes every other month and around £100 on day trips on an ad hoc basis. 

I grew up in Slovakia and moved to the UK when I was 17. I grew up poor, but my mum always ensured we never got into debt. I’m studying marketing, PR and advertising at the University of Derby and will graduate in 2029.

I live at home with my mum while studying. Student accommodation would be expensive and it would be a headache to move. My mum has cerebral palsy and is unable to work. I am her unofficial carer and she receives universal credit and personal independence payment. I think younger people in full-time education who are carers should receive financial support from the government.

I am always busy and do a number of different part-time jobs while studying to make extra money. About three or four days a week I work as a duty manager in a hotel, which gives me an income of about £1,150 a month. I’d started off as a breakfast boy at the hotel. I used to work in the hotel five or six days a week, but have cut this down.

On top of my hotel job, I do freelance social media management and digital development jobs via the MyPocketSkill app. The money I get from this extra work is variable, but typically comes in at about £650 a month. I always add money from my jobs to savings accounts when I can.

As I am always so busy, I don’t think my responsibilities align with my age. I’m certainly not a trust fund baby, but am grateful to be leading the life I am, even though I’m on the go all the time and am a workaholic.

I have always been careful with money and do not go out drinking and partying, as these just aren’t things I enjoy. Not doing these things helps me save hundreds of pounds a month. My mum and I both love cooking and try to avoid takeaways as they are expensive.

I’m keen to buy my own home as soon as I can, and ideally within the next four years. I’m confident I will be able to save enough for a deposit. I’d like to buy a three-bedroom semi-detached house in a rural location in an area surrounding Derby, though I know this could be expensive. I would also like to own a buy-to-let investment property when I am older.

The reason I want my own home soon is because house prices are constantly going up and I want to get my mortgage paid off as soon as possible and while I am still young. I’m very picky about properties though, so finding the right one could be a challenge!

I opted out of my workplace pension for my hotel job. I did this initially as I needed all the extra money from the job and didn’t want to set sums aside in a pension. However, I’m still comfortable not adding money to a pension now. I have about 49 years until I retire, so I am not too worried about it just yet. I plan to start paying into a work pension when I am 22 or 23.

I have a current account and a savings account with Lloyds. The latter has about £500 in it. I also have a Monzo savings account, which has £1,800 in it. All my money made via MyPocketSkill usually goes into savings.

When I am older, I want to be sufficiently financially secure enough to have children. I will not be having children until I am financially secure, as I would never want to be in a position whereby I couldn’t afford to feed them. I would like to be earning a salary of £100,000 a year. I know it is a big number, but if I continue to work hard I know I will achieve it. By the age of 50 I would like £70,000 in savings.

In the future, I would like to work for myself and run my own business. I’d run an agency for small business owners, dealing with everything from marketing to payroll. As I get older, I would also love to travel more, and hope to visit places like Japan, South Korea, China and all over Europe.

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