Sophie Rayner says there currently isn’t much motivation to get a promotion as a result of having to pay more tax
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 Sophie Rayner, 33, who lives in Hastings with her fiancé, Lewis, their son, Seth, three, and cat, Binks. Sophie adds £28 a month to a workplace pension and is not sure the state pension 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.
Monthly budget
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 £1,141.86 a month. I receive £104.20 in child benefit each month. I usually make around £100 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’s Barbershop in Hastings full-time.
My monthly outgoings: Some are shared with Lewis. Rent and council tax, £750 – we rent from family, so it is cheaper than the norm; groceries, £360; utility bills, £190; broadband, £35; mobile, £8; car fuel, £70; gym, £12.99; Apple storage, £2.99; Hayu subscription, £5.99; money into savings, around £330, though this varies. I pay £28 a month into my pension. I try to give myself £250 “fun” money each month to spend on things I like or enjoy. I pay my car insurance annually. Last year, my car insurance was £609, so I’m hoping it will be closer to £500 this year.
Growing up, things were not always easy. I grew up in Croydon and my mum was a single mum. I always understood we didn’t have much or sometimes any money. I never went to university as I was never sure what I wanted to do.
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I work 20 hours a week as a department manager at a high street clothing shop. I’ve been with the company for eight years and went part-time after having my son. I make around £1,141.86 a month from this job.
If the government keeps increasing the minimum wage without increasing tax thresholds, there’s not much incentive to get a promotion. While a higher pay packet may appear appealing, there’s more tax to pay and you’ve still got to deal with high prices for things like food and electricity.
I have a good work-life balance and get to spend a lot of time with Seth. We also don’t need to worry about childcare costs. But, as my income is fairly low, I do what I can to try and boost it every month. I sell items on Vinted, complete online surveys and use cashback every month.
I also make a very small amount of money from my TikTok channel 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 £100 a month. The most I’ve made via TikTok in a month was £435.
I had zero financial literacy until I turned 18 and started working. Before then, it didn’t 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’d get letters about pre-approved credit cards and would always fall for them.
At the age of 21 I realised spending money in the way I was just wasn’t 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.
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.
We’re renting a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Hastings from family members. We’re lucky as the combined cost of the rent and council tax is £750 a month.
We were paying more when we lived in a one-bedroom ground floor flat a couple of years ago. The cost of renting is insane, and if it wasn’t for relatives, we’d probably still be in the one-bedroom flat. We’re trying to save enough to buy a house, but as I’ve gone part-time at work, this will take longer than originally planned.
I’ve been thinking a lot about pensions recently. I am only adding £28 a month to a workplace pension. I’ve had one previous job before the one I do now, but am not sure how much is in all my pensions.
It may be a good idea for me to consider consolidating them at some point. To try and boost my retirement pot, I’d like to open a stocks and shares ISA and put £50 a month in it. That doesn’t 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.
I can’t see myself being able to retire early. When I retire, I will probably be in my seventies. I need to take some baby steps to prepare for it now to ensure I’m not stressed about it all when I’m closer to retiring.
I wouldn’t 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’m not after anything fancy.
In the short term, we are saving for a house deposit. I also want to start investing. In the longer term, we plan to continue saving for our son’s 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.
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