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 Fais Chaudry, 37, who lives in Berkshire, with his wife, Diana, 39, and their daughter, Nerea, four. Fais, who once found himself in £20,000 worth of debt, wants to have £200,000 in his pension pot by the time he retires and is looking to grow passive income in the meantime. He plans to buy a flat in Spain to rent out as a buy-to-let later this year.
Monthly budget
Income: I generally earn between £4,000 to £4,500 a month before tax from my work via Airtasker and other word of mouth referrals. In some months I can earn as much as £7,000 a month before tax.
My monthly outgoings: Mortgage, £464; groceries, £320; council tax, £236; electric and gas, £95; water, £44; car insurance, £70; car payment, £300; two mobile phone bills, £60; broadband, £30; TV subscriptions like Netflix and Disney, £45;TV licence, £13.25; life insurance, £37; cat insurance, £5.36; funeral insurance, £7.70 – this is a pool via the west London Muslim community to help families if a loved one dies. I also add £250 to my private pension each month.
I grew up in Isleworth, London, and my father, originally from Pakistan, worked as a self-employed dry-cleaner before he passed away. My mother, who grew up in Kenya, works as a carer. Being from a working-class background, my family has always valued hard work and education.
I’ve had a number of different jobs over the years and worked in JD Sports while studying at university, earning about £4.66 an hour. I also spent five years working in digital marketing at NCP car parks, making around £1,200 a month after tax. Another digital marketing job I had with Yellow Pages paid about £2,500 a month after deductions. I also worked at CACI Logistics Software, earning £3,000 a month before tax.
Earlier in my life, I found myself in £20,000 worth of debt after taking out a number of small loans and using multiple credit cards. In August 2018 I joined Airtasker and started doing some handyman work. I joined when my wife was six months pregnant, and the extra income proved very useful. I was able to clear my debts within a year.
I do lots of different work via the platform, including painting and decorating work and general handyman jobs. My income from it and word of mouth referrals is about £4,000 to £4,500 a month before tax. However, when I’m really busy or have big jobs, I can make up to £7,000 a month. When I need more money, I can work additional hours and days.
The money I am earning means my wife can look after our daughter at home full-time. Plus, we were able to buy our first property in 2021 for £470,000. It’s semi-detached and has three bedrooms.
However, being self-employed means my income goes up and down and that can be a worry. Rising costs are also a problem. Customers try to haggle prices down and I sometimes get paid late. That said, working for myself means I have more financial freedom and can work flexibly to a schedule that suits me.
In an ideal world, I would love to be earning between £10,000 to £15,000 a month via investments and passive income. This would enable me to work part-time and spend more time with my family. I think money buys freedom and choice and it’s still one of my goals to become a millionaire one day.
I add £300 a month to a Vanguard fund, with a return of about 8 per cent at the moment. I also put £250 a month into a private pension and hope to retire at the age of 70. I’d like to have at least £200,000 in my pension pot by the time I retire. I do not think people my age will be able to rely on the state pension when they are older.
I inherited a commercial dry-cleaning unit from my father, which I am slowly doing up. I hope to be able to let it out and bring in rent of between £700 to £800 a month by the end of the year.
I’m also looking for a buy-to-let opportunity in Spain. How much we’ll have to spend on it will depend on my income, but I reckon it’ll cost around £100,000 to buy a flat later this year. Again, this will help provide me with alternative longer-term forms of income and enable me to provide my family with a comfortable life.
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