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 Sean Leith, 30, who lives in Edinburgh and is an actuarial consultant. Sean’s ambitious goal is to retire at the age of 45, but realistically, he recognises 50 may be more achievable. He reckons he could retire if he had £1m in his stocks and shares Isa.
Monthly budget
My monthly income: The monthly take-home pay from my job as a trainee actuary is £3,200 a month. I also make between £50 to £100 a month from social media work, but this is variable and there’s tax on it.
My monthly outgoings: Mortgage: £1,170; council tax and water, £165; groceries, £250; gas and electric, £110; broadband, £35; mobile, £15; car fuel, £40; Cineworld subscription, £17; money into savings and investments, between £200 and £500; money into work pension, £600; eating out and takeaways, £100 to £150; clothes, £25 or less; badminton club, £25; life and income protection insurance, £20. The service charge on the flat is about £250 a quarter. This includes things like home insurance and cleaning.
