Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last penny.

This week: “I’m a 26-year-old living in London and working full-time in customer service/e-commerce for a fashion brand. I moved to London about three years ago and now I’m thinking about moving up north where it’s more cheap and cheerful. I like to keep myself to myself during weekdays, mainly to save money but also to protect my social battery. Since moving to London, my finances have been very out of control and I am gradually trying to get a hold of them so I can start thinking about where I want to be in the future.”

Occupation: Customer service and e-commerce executive
Industry: Fashion
Age: 26
Location: London
Salary: £28,000
Paycheque amount: £1,866
Number of housemates: Three
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses

Housing costs: £880 rent (includes heating and hot water).
Loan payments: None.
Savings? £360
Pension? I pay 8% into my pension and my employer matches this.
Utilities: £7 wi-fi, £25 electric.
All other monthly payments: £2.99 Apple storage, £10 SIM-only contract, £7 Monzo Perks, £35.99 gym, £40 phone. Subscriptions: £11.99 Spotify.

Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
No.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
I didn’t really have conversations with my mum about money when growing up. I know my mum wasn’t very good with money and is still dealing with debt. I believe I have subconsciously picked up the same traits, which I am rapidly trying to unlearn. At the same time, I’m trying to learn all I can about saving and investments. Before I moved out, she would regularly borrow £20 or so from me to cover random expenses. 

If you have, when did you move out of your parents’/guardians’ house?
Nineteen.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
I became financially responsible for myself when I moved out at 19. I haven’t had any help since.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
My first job was working in the kitchen of a pub when I was 16. I absolutely hated it but wanted to start earning some extra cash for going out, shopping, etc.

Do you worry about money now?
Yes, every day. Recently I’ve tried to be really disciplined with my spending as I don’t want to follow in the footsteps of my mum. The stability of owning property in the future feels incredibly out of reach. This worries me a lot as I don’t want to be renting for the rest of my life. 

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
No.

If you’d like to submit your own Money Diary then please do send a bit of information about you and your situation to moneydiary@.uk. We pay £100 for each published diary. Apologies but we’re not able to reply to every email.

Day One

5:30 a.m. — First alarm goes off. This is my pre-alarm before my main alarm goes off 15 minutes later. I envy anyone who can be up and out of bed on their first alarm.

5:45 a.m. — Second alarm goes off. Jump out of bed and into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. 

6 a.m. — Leave for the gym.

6:10 a.m. — Arrive at the gym. I’m lucky to have a gym within walking distance — it would be highly unlikely that I would be going if I had to get any form of public transport.

6:45 a.m. — Quick run, stair machine and rowing machine done and time to head home. I’m gradually adding more and more exercise into my daily routine but for now, 30/40 minutes is all I can manage. 

7 a.m. — Arrive home, straight into the shower and start getting ready for work.

8:03 a.m. — Leave for work. My timings are crucial for most things I do in life and I always happen to leave at 8:03 a.m. every morning. 

8:50 a.m. — Get off the Tube and fancy treating myself to a little hot choc at the station coffee shop. Bump into my colleague who fancies the same. She kindly pays. 

9 a.m. — Arrive at the office and crack on with emails. Working in customer service for a fashion brand has its ups and downs, mostly downs. So this takes a lot of mental preparation. Currently dealing with a lot of problematic customers so I need to stay strong this Friday!

3 p.m. — Lunchtime. My greatest work hack is taking my lunch break as late as possible so there is less of my shift left by the time I return #girlmath. This obviously wouldn’t be possible without snacks and drinks throughout the day. Pick up a sausage roll from the corner shop, £1.

6 p.m. — The day is done and I’m going out tonight so I quickly rush home so I can start getting ready. I have two friends coming over for pre-drinks and they will arrive approximately 30 minutes after I get home so I’m time-pressured. 

6:40 p.m. — Off the Tube and into Sainsbury’s for pre-drinks. Pick up a bag of ice and a couple bottles of flavoured sparkling water, £6.50.

7:40 p.m. — The boys arrive! My friend G knocks on my bedroom door and brings me a cheeky vodka soda as I’m finishing getting ready. What a babe. 

9:40 p.m. — Leave the flat and hop on the Tube. En route to the clurrrrrb.

10 p.m. — First drink: hard seltzer, £6.50.

10:30 p.m. — I spot a photo booth in the club and I’m a fiend for physical pictures. The three of us hop in and get some cute memories, £5.

12 a.m. — Buy a lollipop from the aunty in the toilets, £2. 

12:15 a.m. — Second drink: hard seltzer, £6.50.

12:30 a.m. — Photo booth again, £5.

2:18 a.m. — Third drink: I ask for a soda water and shot of tequila separately and somehow manage to get the tequila for free. Win win, £3.50.

3:21 a.m. — Photo booth again. I have a problem, £5.

3:45 a.m. — One last visit to the aunty in the toilets. If you aren’t chatting with the aunties in the toilets on a night out, what are you doing? Buy a pack of chewing gum, £1. 

Total: £42

Day Two

11 a.m. — Wake up feeling incredibly rough as expected. Rot in bed for a couple of hours until I find the strength to get up.

1:29 p.m. — TfL charge for yesterday comes out, £8.70.

6 p.m. — Haven’t eaten since lunchtime yesterday and suddenly feel incredibly hollow inside. Order my favourite pizza in the hope that it will cure me. Margherita pizza, caesar salad and orange juice from Rudy’s, £22.87.

6:30 p.m. — Pizza arrives and I put it straight into the pre-heated oven as it’s basically cold. 

8 p.m. — Haven’t moved from bed all day and don’t plan on. Continue bed rotting and maximising my screen time on TikTok. 

Total: £31.57

Day Three

9 a.m. — Wake up feeling just as sorry for myself as I did yesterday. Go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. 

9:05 a.m. — Quick skincare: Boots tea tree toner, Nivea Soft face cream and SPF. 

9:10 a.m. — Make a jasmine green tea and fill my water bottle with ice and water.

9:15 a.m. — Crawl back into the safety of my own bed and put Atlanta on Disney+. I love the dry humour this programme has. 

1:15 p.m. — Embarrassing amount of screen time yet again but Friday night has somehow wiped me out so I’m not feeling too guilty. Order a cheeky Maccies because I have free will. McCrispy meal, chicken nuggets and a chocolate milkshake. My Maccies hack is adding Cholula hot sauce to the burger, 10/10 every time. I use a £10 gift card so it’s only £8.38.

3 p.m. — The rest of the day is spent on TikTok, doomscrolling, with various films and series on in the background. 

Total: £8.38

Day Four

5:30 a.m. — Monday morning! First alarm goes off and this immediately gets snoozed as there is no way I’m going to the gym today. 

5:45 a.m. — Alarm, snoozed. Set a new alarm for 7 a.m.

7 a.m. — Alarm goes off and I decide it feels appropriate to call into work sick… We only get a tiny amount of sick allowance for the year so again, I’m using my free will and taking the day off. Go back to sleep for an hour. 

8 a.m. — Wake up, straight into the bathroom, shower, teeth, face, etc. 

8:30 a.m. — Feeling truly revived! Head to the kitchen for my jasmine green tea and fill my bottle with fresh water and ice. 

8:40 a.m. — Back in bed but refuse to get under the covers as today will be a productive day. 

9:10 a.m. — Thirty minutes of morning TV and minimal scrolling later, I strip my sheets and put a wash on. This is my usual Saturday routine but clearly that didn’t go to plan. 

11 a.m. — Breakfast of two fried eggs on an onion paratha with Cholula hot sauce. 10/10. 

12:30 p.m. — Head out for my usual Sunday routine, which also did not go to plan — a short walk around my local area. First stop is Oxfam. I pick up two new books: Milk Teeth by Jessica Andrews and Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty, £4.

12:45 p.m. — Next stop: Greggs for a hot chocolate. This is free with Monzo Perks. 

1 p.m. — Final stop: the park for a little stroll and sit-down to people-watch. Every weekend I force myself out and to the park so I don’t get cabin fever. I really appreciate my own company and these relaxing walks make me feel very content.

2:40 p.m. — Keep up with the productive vibes and head to Sainsbury’s for my weekly shop. Usually I’m quite frugal with my food shops but I decide I need yet another treat so I pick up the basics but slightly elevated. Pink Lady apples, candy floss grapes (they weren’t lying about the candy floss flavour), port salut cheese slices, mac and cheese, garlic bread, lemon and coriander hummus, garlic-stuffed olives, cucumber, cereal bars, tuna, beans, £20.32.

3 p.m. — Get home, put the groceries away, make another jasmine green tea and have a little lay and scroll. Play my favourite NTS radio in the background: Children of Zeus. 

4 p.m. — It’s dark already! Part of me loves the dark afternoons as it makes me feel cosy.

5 p.m. — Early dinner of mac and cheese with garlic bread.

8 p.m. — Wash face, brush teeth and start on my new book, Nine Perfect Strangers.

9 p.m. — Lights out! 

Total: £24.32

Day Five

5:45 a.m. — Out of bed, into the bathroom, wash face, brush teeth and into my gym clothes. 

6:05 a.m. — Arrive at the gym and do my regular routine: treadmill, stair machine and rowing machine.

6:45 a.m. — Arrive home and get straight into the shower. 

9 a.m. — Arrive at work and open my emails. Having time off work is fun until you have a backlog of emails to catch up on from the weekend. 

10 a.m. — Green tea and a pain au chocolat from the cafe at work. 

12 p.m. — Eat an apple and have another green tea. 

1 p.m. — Another green tea. 

3 p.m. — Lunch consists of the picky bits I got yesterday: olives, hummus, cheese, cucumber and some Ryvita. And another apple. 

6 p.m. — Home time! I hate commuting home after work but I love using the time to read my book on the Tube. Pros and cons! 

7 p.m. — Beans on toast for tea. I have the palate of a child sometimes. 

8 p.m. — More reading for an hour.

9 p.m. — Lights out.

Total: £0

Day Six

2:59 a.m. — TfL charge comes out, £6.80. 

7 a.m. — Alarm goes off. I’m working from home today so I don’t typically go to the gym so early in the morning. 

8 a.m. — Mini scroll in bed as it’s just too warm and cosy to get out yet. A warm bed literally has so much power over me. 

8:50 a.m. — Bathroom to wash face and brush teeth. Head to the kitchen for my green tea and water. Grab an apple and a cereal bar to tide me over for a couple of hours. 

9 a.m. — Log on for the day. 

11 a.m. — Get pure grief from numerous problematic customers today. Other than that it’s fairly quiet so I use this time to catch up on my coding workshop. I was immediately influenced by a girl on TikTok about how she got a job in the tech industry after teaching herself to code, so I decided to follow suit. Recently I’ve been feeling very stagnant in my career and increasingly aware of the fact that London is too expensive and not sustainable in the long term. So I thought, let’s try something new, and here I am! 

12 p.m. — Fried eggs on paratha with hot sauce as per. 

3 p.m. — A couple of hours of emails, customer calls and complaints later, it’s lunchtime. When I work from home I don’t usually eat lunch at this time, I just use it as a well-needed break. Go for a quick walk round the block for some fresh air. 

6 p.m. — Work is done! Close my laptop and head to the kitchen to chat with my housemates for a little while. 

7 p.m. — Dinner is tuna salad: tuna, mayo, lemon juice, romaine lettuce, red onion, jalapeños, cornichons, croutons, salt and pepper. 

8 p.m. — Read for an hour.

9 p.m. — Lights out.

Total: £6.80

Day Seven

2:59 a.m. — TfL charge comes out, £6.80. 

5:45 a.m. — Out of bed, into the bathroom for my regular routine.

6:45 a.m. — Arrive home from the gym and hop into the shower. 

9 a.m. — Log on for the day. 

10 a.m. — Work breakfast is green tea, a croissant and an apple.

3 p.m. — The customers today seem to be kind for a change. Power through the day with no upset or distractions and now it’s lunchtime. It’s a nice day so I walk to Tesco for a meal deal. Tuna and cucumber sandwich, Chilli Heatwave Doritos and a strawberry and banana smoothie, £3.60.

6 p.m. — Home time! Power through the commute with my book as per.

6:45 p.m. — Arrive home and my housemates got a bottle of Jam Shed. They offer me a glass, which I happily accept. I’m not usually a midweek drinker but today feels right for a cheeky glass of red. 

10:45 p.m. — Bedtime and there will be no reading with the wine in my system.

Total: £10.40

Conclusion

“I only tend to go out once a month so the spend on food and drink is higher than usual. Takeaways will always be my downfall and I need to seriously cut down as they are draining my funds. I enjoyed recording my spending for the week and I will probably start doing this more regularly to have clarity on where I am spending my money day to day.”

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