Latest news with #MeandMyMoney
Metro
20-05-2025
- Business
- Metro
I used my divorce settlement to pay for a year of rent upfront
Welcome back to Me and My Money, Metro's series taking a peek into the nation's wallets and bank accounts. This week we meet Ana Clarke, a 40-year-old business strategist and translator, who lives with her nine-year-old son and two dogs in a rental property in Kent. She currently doesn't pay rent monthly – because she chose to pay the landlord for 12 months upfront. Ana says she'd like to inspire more women to become financially independent and money savvy, having reshaped her finances and career plans after finalising a recent divorce. Here, she explains what she does with her money. I got my divorce finalised in October and I've had to budget and manage the settlement to make sure I have a roof over our head for myself, my son and my two dogs. We are living in a three-bedroom, modern house in a village near Tunbridge Wells. It works really well for us as it's near my son's school and we feel very well-connected to everything. I'm originally from Romania and moved to the UK 16 years ago. I'm a translator for the NHS, social services and police through an agency. I sit in on meetings for people where English is not a person's first language, making sure they've understood everything. I currently interpret in Romanian as well as German, Spanish, French and Italian. Alongside my translation work, I am also building a business. Because my family live abroad, I can't rely on them to help with childcare, so I'd like to build something that will work around my child and provide us with a comfortable life, long-term. I used some of the divorce settlement to invest in a franchise called TBSC (The Business Success Company), selling business courses in matters such as finance, HR and strategy. I paid £10,000 upfront and I now pay a monthly fee of £300 for my company, Lifezone Training, to be part of TBSC. A typical day for me involves taking my son to school, and then coming back home to work on the franchise. This means taking phone calls as they come, while doing outreach to potential clients and leads. I may also be doing some translation work, sitting in on online meetings. I try to finish by the time my son finishes school. Then we walk the dogs, do homework and when he goes to bed, I may pick up work again. I get Child Benefit of about £100 a month. My food bill is around £400 a month, which is perhaps on the higher end and seems to go mostly on packed lunches! In general though I am careful with food spending. We don't have takeaways or eat out much and I shop at the local market for fruit and vegetables. I pack coffee flasks and packed lunches when we go for days out and I batch cook – my son loves to help me. Because I work from home I've time to prepare meals in the day and I save on commuting costs. I'm not paying pet insurance. I paid it for years but when one of my dogs needed treatment they didn't pay out and I had to pay thousands of pounds. I now set aside £100 a month to cover any future treatment that's needed. Because I recently moved house, I've had to buy a lot of new things for the home and have put this on a credit card that I'm paying off at around £100 a month. I'd like to go on holiday this year so am setting aside £400 a month. I'm planning to go to Morocco in the summer with my son and Lapland in the winter. Monthly breakdown of spending Rent: (per month, paid in advance for the year) £2,050 Council tax: £297 Energy: £274 Water: £34 Home contents insurance: £8.99 TOTAL: £613.99 Other payments Car insurance and finance: £238.92 TV licence: £14.54 Mobile: £11 Business insurance: £21.25 Essentials Food: £400 Fuel: £75 Credit card payments: £100 TOTAL: £575 Extra Activities £34.99 Pet pot £100 Holiday pot £400 TOTAL: £534.99 What's left: £990.31 I wouldn't say I've always been good at managing money. I used to be very scared to look at my bank account, always worrying that I wasn't making enough. But now I'm more relaxed about my financial situation, knowing I have the power to earn more. I paid the first year's rent for my home upfront, out of my settlement, so at the moment rent is not coming out of my monthly budget and I don't have to worry about that. It takes the pressure off earning a high income for now, although I'd like to aim for an income of more than £200,000 a yearin a few years' time. I used to have shares but I sold them during the divorce. I would like to get into investments again. I'd also like to pay into a private pension again. I used to have a workplace pension before I became self-employed in 2022, but have never started one up. I have always made sure to pay National Insurance though, to make sure that I'll qualify for the state pension. More Trending My goal is to live a comfortable life, which involves holidays, a nice car and a really nice house. I'm not sure whether I want to get back on the property ladder again. With renting, I like the fact I don't have to worry about maintenance. I also like having the flexibility of being able to move if I want. I have a house in Romania that's paid off, so I do have some property assets. View More » I'd also like to continue building my business and inspire more women to become financially independent and money savvy no matter the circumstances. MORE: I didn't know how to react when Mum mistook me for her mother MORE: The Metro daily cartoon by Guy Venables MORE: I'm 53 and have never had savings – I thought that was normal
Metro
13-05-2025
- Business
- Metro
My credit score was so bad I couldn't get a phone — now I'm a homeowner
Welcome to Me and My Money, Metro's new series taking a peek into the nation's wallets, with tell-all reader diaries on managing your finances. This week, we meet Charles Thompson, a 31-year-old IT service desk manager living in Greater Manchester. Charles says he was never really taught how to handle his finances and for many years, he relied on his overdraft and credit cards to get by. But two years ago he decided to turn things around, get out of debt and save for his first home. Here, he explains what he does with his money. I went to university but made a bit of a hash of it. I went abroad to Cyprus to study economics, business and accountancy through an offshoot of the University of Lancashire. But I was probably a bit too young to go that far away and I enjoyed myself too much without doing much studying. So aged 19 I left and went to work instead. I had various financial services jobs until a couple of years ago when I moved into IT. My approach to money management was not the best. I used to spend quite a lot on just nonsense sort of stuff, including gambling. But about two years ago I decided to turn things around and save for my own place The problem I initially had was getting any sort of credit because I'd had gambling transactions coming out of my bank accounts and lenders don't like to see this. My parents used to pay for my mobile phone and I couldn't even get my own contract until I went with Boshhh Mobile, a network for people with a poor credit score that also helps you build a healthy credit profile so it's easier to get approved for other loans. After slowly improving my credit score, I was able to be approved for a mortgage last year and I bought my first home in November 2024 with my brother, who's 27. It's a two bedroom flat about eight miles from central Manchester. We were able to put down a 10% deposit, putting down around £6,000 each. The flat cost £110,000. I used to rent in central Manchester, paying £1,300 a month in rent, but for the past year before buying my place I moved back home with my parents to save on rent. It's nice to know I'm paying off my own place and not someone else's. I now take an organised approach to my finances because I had to get everything sorted for lenders to see I am sensible with my money. I don't pay for things on a credit card unless I can pay it off in full the next month and I'm mostly out of my overdraft now. Monthly breakdown of spending Mortgage payments: £755 Water: £35 Electricity: £85 (no gas) Council tax: £91 TOTAL £966 Other direct debits Phone: £42 Gym: £35 TV licence: £14 Netflix / Amazon: £22 TOTAL £113 Essentials Groceries £280 Transport (Trains, trams, taxis) £120 TOTAL £400 Extra Eating out £125 Drinks £280 Vaping £85 Events £70 Clothes £70 TOTAL £630 Savings ISA £300 Holiday fund £100 TOTAL £400 Pension: 14% of salary My savings have taken a hit with recently buying the flat, which has also needed a bit of redecorating, including new flooring, and obviously furnishing. I'm also currently paying most of the mortgage and bills as my brother's currently not working. I'm now working on building my savings back up, putting £300 in a stocks and shares ISA each month. This is invested in a low risk investment fund. I used to have a Help to Buy ISA, which closed when I bought the flat. My bank then gave me the choice of opening an investment ISA, which is how I got started. I also put aside £100 a month for holidays. I don't have anything planned for this year yet but hope to go to Seville in Spain in the summer. I do like to socialise quite a bit and this is probably where a lot of my money is spent. I like to pick up coffees and pop to the shops daily, so this is also where I could cut back if needed. My total food spend is around £280 a month, which could be cut back if I got more organised and planned ahead with meals. I'm still with Bossh, paying £42 a month for a phone contract for an iPhone 14. More Trending Vaping is something I should probably cut back on, spending £85 a month. But it's cheaper than smoking, which I quit late last year and used to cost me about £170 a month. I commute to work on the bus which costs me £80 a month, and I also get a few taxis throughout the month. I currently don't have a car because public transport is really good round here. I worked from home for a while but I didn't like it so now I go in the office every day. I couldn't stand working from home, to be honest with you. It's just not for me. I like being around people. Long term, my aim is to live in the flat for a couple of years and build up equity and some more savings. I'd then like to move to a bigger place, likely with my girlfriend. We'd probably stay in the Manchester area although I find the idea of living abroad for a bit quite tempting. I've got a friend currently living in Barcelona who works remotely for a UK-based company. View More » I feel quite comfortable with my financial situation now but it did take me quite a while to get to this point. MORE: Mum is moving in with me — can I make her pay my mortgage? MORE: These 5 straightforward steps can add £2,500 to your house deposit in just a year MORE: Brits could save £868,000,000 a year with these kitchen cupboard cleaning swaps
