Industry: Business consulting (Government)
Age: 33
Location: Kent
Salary: £75,000
Joint income: My husband is employed part-time with the NHS and also does private healthcare work through his own small business. His income per year is about £28k gross (part-time NHS) + about £20k dividends (from the business). His monthly pay varies depending on what night shifts and overtime he does, but it’s usually about £3,500 per month net income. We pool our money into a joint account and all of our bills come of out that.
Assets: We have £4,000 in an ISA, our house, which is mortgaged and our car, which is on a PCP agreement.
Debt: £25,000
Paycheque Amount: £4,300
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Monthly Housing Costs: We own our home, which is mortgaged and our payment is £1,300 a month.
Utilities: £164 council tax; £200 gas & electric, £45 water.
Number of Housemates: One, my husband S, plus our dog B and cat C.
Monthly Loan Payments: £2,350
Pension: There’s £42k in my pension and I contribute £146 into it per month, which my employer matches.
All Other Monthly Expenses: £1,200 credit cards (£17k credit card debt across five cards), £300 personal loan (took out in 2021 to replace the roof on our house – current balance is £8.5k), £400 IVF treatment on finance, £450 Car PCP finance, £890 HMRC tax repayment and payments on account £890, £400 stocks & shares ISA, £138 car and home insurance bundle, £65 life insurance, £31 pet insurance, £33 vet plan, £39.35 car service plan, £45 mobile phone, £35 internet, £60 gym membership. All of the loans, household payments and IVF are split with my husband.
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, I went to uni in Australia and took out a government-funded HELP loan (Higher Education Loan Plan) to pay for it. I make annual payments into it based on my UK income. There’s about £10k left on it to pay off.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
I had conversations with my parents about splitting income into pots and savings and we lived very frugally during my childhood. I got pocket money from my parents for doing ‘extra’ chores and from that money had to pay ‘tax’ which my parents put into a savings account for me and put aside money to save up and then got the rest as spending money. When I got my first job my ‘tax’ payment went up, and I started paying rent to my parents.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I got a weekend job in a bakery when I turned 15 and that was for spending money, rent to my parents and savings.
Did you worry about money growing up?
Yes and no. I knew we weren’t well off – all of our groceries were from Aldi and other cheap stores, our furniture was from charity shops and my uniforms and afterschool clothes were all from second hand and charity shops, but my parents protected me from worrying about money e.g. they never told me ‘no we can’t afford that’, they would reframe the statement to something like ‘let’s save up for that’ instead.
Do you worry about money now?
Yes. While my income is high and my husband’s income is very decent, we have high outgoings and lots of debt that we’re paying off. We got ourselves into this debt and we are chipping away at it, but it is stressful not to have much ‘spare’ money.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
I became fully financially responsible when I moved out of home at 20, but I did occasionally have financial help from family. Now at 33, I don’t have any financial support from family, but my husband’s family is quite well off and has said they would help us out if we got into a bind.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
No.
