How I manage my moneyA mortgage reserve for the developer whose job feels less secure

The quiet dread of a desk

I work in development, and lately, the atmosphere at my office has changed. It is not that I have been fired, but the prospect of redundancy hangs in the air like a storm cloud. My annual income of £62,500 usually feels comfortable, but it looks very different when you consider that my mortgage is £980 a month. My safety net is £5,400 in accessible savings, a sum that used to feel like a great cushion until I started calculating my 'runway' should the worst happen.

The danger of old illusions

I made the mistake of looking at my past stock-based compensation and thinking of it as a permanent feature of my income. It isn't. It is wind-fall money that has already been spent. I have had to strip my budget back to the bone to stop relying on phantom figures that might never appear again. The temptation to throw my savings at the mortgage to reduce interest is high, but I am resisting it. In this climate, cash is worth more than the small interest savings of an overpayment.

Insurance and the fine print

I looked into income protection, but the exclusions are daunting. Buying a policy blindly without understanding what exactly is covered in the event of a company-wide restructure feels like a waste of my remaining cash. Instead, I am choosing to keep my money in that £5,400 emergency fund rather than locking it into a policy that might not pay out when I need it most.

My security is not in the house I own, but in the cash I keep and the skills I carry.

Maintaining the edge

While I wait to see what happens with my role, I am focusing on my interview skills. My professional value is my only real insurance. It is a strange feeling to spend my weekends polishing my portfolio rather than enjoying the home I worked so hard to buy, but that is the reality of the market right now.

Living with the uncertainty

I still enjoy my life, and I haven't cut out all my small pleasures—a good coffee or a weekend walk—because a life of complete austerity won't make me any more employable. I am just staying alert. I haven't 'solved' my job security, and I don't pretend I can predict the future, but I am keeping my liquidity high and my expectations realistic.