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 Melanie Mitchell, 43, who lives in Tetney, Lincolnshire, with her husband, Kevin, 45, and their children, Sophie and Henry, both 13. Melanie is not adding money to a pension and wants to retire at the age of 60. She doesn’t think she could continue living in her four-bedroom house in later life if she was relying solely on the state pension.
Monthly budget
My monthly income: My main income comes from my Usborne direct selling business, from which I sell children’s books. Over the past 12 months it has averaged £2,486 per month, although it does fluctuate depending on how many books my team and I sell. My husband works in an intensive care unit at a hospital.
Our monthly outgoings: Mortgage: £1,200; council tax: £313; gas and electricity, £230; water: £103; broadband, £50; mobile phones for the family, £80; car fuel, £100 for me and £350 for my husband as he works further away; gym, £60; groceries, eating out, takeaways and day trips, around £900; life and critical illness insurance, £147; Netflix, £19; Amazon Music, £23; printer ink, £14; school trips, £210; money into savings, £100; TV licence, £15; glasses, £15; pet insurance, £40; football, netball and other weekly clubs for the children, £53; school lunches, £100. My husband adds money to a work pension. We pay about £1,000 a year for home and car insurance for two cars. We probably spend £6,000 a year on holidays.
I grew up in Tetney, the same village I live in now. I went to school locally, and then college and university in Leeds.
For the first seven years of my life, my family were comfortably off running a successful family business in the fishing trade, which meant my mum could stay at home with us. Unfortunately, the business later ceased trading, and we lost our large home and nice car.
For a time, our family was split between grandparents’ houses, which was tough but we were happy. By the time I finished secondary school, my parents were once again running a successful business, having purchased a small village shop, which was a room at the back of our house.
I started working at a young age, doing paper rounds, shop work and jobs in bars. I later joined NatWest, starting as a cashier earning £735 a month, later progressing to branch manager, earning £1,900 a month. I left in 2013 after my maternity leave ended.
I’m now an independent partner and executive leader with Usborne Community Partnerships, which is the direct selling division of Usborne Publishing, a member of the Direct Selling Association. I sell children’s books at school book fairs, online, local fairs and baby and toddler groups.
I joined Usborne in 2016 after returning from a military posting in Italy, as my husband used to be in the Armed Forces. We moved to Birmingham, a place we’d never lived before and where we didn’t know anyone. I wanted to earn some money without needing childcare for the children, who were very young at the time.
I love the fact my income isn’t capped and I can work when I want to. We often use the money from my direct selling business for our holidays. My income also covers around 50 per cent of our household expenses.
I’m definitely not a careful saver, but I do like to have a small amount set aside just in case. We don’t have credit cards at all, as I don’t like being in debt.
We bought our home in 2022. It’s a four-bedroom detached house and cost £375,000. We’re on a five-year fixed-rate mortgage, so our payments will stay the same for a while, which definitely helps with budgeting.
We saved the deposit partly from selling a previously rented out property, but mainly by saving my Usborne income while we were living in military accommodation due to my husband’s former job.
While I’d love to save more for the future and retirement, as a family we also believe in living for today and making memories together. Since leaving the military, my husband’s worked as a critical care technician in intensive care, so we’re very aware that not everyone reaches retirement and gets to enjoy the fruits of their labour.
I’m not currently paying any money into a pension, though my husband is. I know I should, and I’m fully aware it may come back to bite me later, but it isn’t a priority right now.
I do have a small pension from my time at NatWest, which was a good final salary pension, although it was only paid into for around 10 years. Any spare money at the moment goes towards overpaying our mortgage.
Unless we win the lottery, I’d like to retire at around the age of 60. I do think it’s unrealistic to believe you could comfortably live in a four-bedroom detached house on just the state pension. Our council tax alone is over £300 a month, which feels ridiculous.
I think the cost of living in the UK is completely out of control. Basic essentials like food, energy and travel are incredibly expensive, and it often feels disproportionate to what people earn. Even when you’re careful with money, it doesn’t go very far.
I understand why we pay taxes, but combined with the current cost of living, it feels like a lot of pressure is being put on people financially. Something does need to change, as many people are working hard but still struggling.
I’m motivated by money to a point, but it’s more about what it allows me to do rather than chasing money itself. I don’t think money buys happiness, but it does buy security and the freedom to enjoy life without constant stress and worries about financial security, etc.
I like being able to afford holidays in the sun, and it’s really important to me that I can always pay for my children’s school trips, which are often abroad and rather costly. I don’t have a specific ideal income, but I wouldn’t want to earn less than £2,500 a month, as that feels like the minimum to feel comfortable considering our household outgoings and standard of living.
While I would love to pay my mortgage off, my main goals are to live without financial stress, give my children opportunities, enjoy family holidays, and have a good balance between earning money and enjoying life, rather than working constantly just to earn more. I want to work to live, not live to work.
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