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 Shine Pink, 27, who lives in London and works as a commercial asset manager. Shine is saving for her first home while building her brand, 9To5hine, alongside her career. Her long-term goal is to build multiple income streams and become financially independent by the age of 40.
Monthly budget
My monthly income: I take home £2,450 a month after deductions, including tax, National Insurance, my student loan and pension contribution, from my job as a commercial asset manager at a large property development and investment company.
My monthly outgoings: Rent, £950; groceries, £200; council tax, £130; gas and electric, £90; water and broadband, £50; public transport, £220; car fuel, £50; car insurance and road tax, £65; gym, £35; mobile, £25; subscriptions, £10; other expenditure for myself, £70; credit card repayments, around £200.
I add £200 a month to my Lifetime Isa and £100 a month to a high-interest cash savings account.
Growing up, life could feel quite unsettled as I moved schools and homes a lot when I was young. At 18, I left home to study for a bachelor’s degree in Real Estate Management with Business Experience at Kingston University.
Since graduating, I’ve worked in residential property management and houses in multiple occupation management before moving into commercial property. I now work as a commercial asset manager in London, earning £39,000 a year. I’m also working towards my Rics qualification to progress further within the property industry and increase my future earning potential.
Alongside my full-time career, I’m building my brand, 9To5hine, on TikTok. I share practical content about budgeting, saving, salaries and career progression, as well as different ways people can make money online and build additional income alongside their 9-to-5.
Online, it can feel like everyone talking about money is already earning six figures or making thousands every month from a business or side hustle. I want to show the stage before that.
I’m documenting that journey myself while growing 9To5hine, exploring user-generated content, paid brand partnerships and other ways of monetising my skills online. I’m not making a consistent income from it yet, and I want people to see the process of trying to build another income stream rather than only seeing the end result.
I’m 27, work full-time and live alone, so my salary covers my household bills, everyday life and the financial goals I’m working towards.
I rent a studio flat in London for £950 a month. Buying my first home is one of my biggest financial goals. I’d like to stay in or around London, although affordability will have a big influence on where I ultimately buy.
I’m building my deposit through my Lifetime Isa and other savings, and currently have around £10,000 in my Lifetime Isa. At the same time, I don’t want to put everything towards buying a home while neglecting my emergency fund or pension.
I save into a cash savings account earning around 4.5 per cent interest and want to build an emergency fund covering around six months of my essential expenses. Because I live alone, I don’t have a second household income to fall back on if my income suddenly stopped, which is why having that financial safety net is important to me.
I have around £10,000 in my NEST workplace pension scheme and contribute to my pension through my salary each month. I’ve started paying much more attention to pensions as I’ve grown older. I know the earlier you start, the longer your money has to potentially grow, and I wouldn’t want to rely solely on the state pension later in life.
A £39,000 salary can sound reasonable on paper, but after deductions it has to cover my housing, bills, transport and everyday life while also funding my financial goals.
One of the biggest things I’ve learnt is that earning more doesn’t automatically mean becoming better off financially. If your lifestyle increases every time your salary does, you can earn more and still wonder where your money has gone. I try to decide what I want my money to do rather than automatically increasing my spending whenever my income increases.
I also think your salary can be used to create more options for your future, whether that’s building savings, investing in yourself, developing new skills or trying to create another source of income. That’s what I want 9To5hine to represent: your 9-to-5 doesn’t have to be the end goal. It can be the foundation you use to build what comes next.
Ultimately, I want stability, freedom and choices. I didn’t have much financial stability growing up, which is one of the reasons I’m so focused on creating it for myself now.
I want to progress in my career, but I don’t want my salary to be my only source of income forever. I’d eventually like to earn more than £100,000 a year across multiple income streams, and longer-term, build towards a seven-figure net worth.
My goal is to become financially independent at around 40. For me, that means reaching a position where working a traditional 9-to-5 is a choice rather than something I financially depend on.
Right now, however, my goals are much simpler: buy my first home, build a six-month emergency fund, keep growing my pension, progress in my career and continue building 9To5hine alongside it.
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