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 39 and work in sales in the West Midlands. Having grown up in Birmingham, I moved a bit further out for work a few years ago (I’m not about that M6 life anymore). I’ve got two sisters and a brother, all of whom have also ventured further afield so I don’t see them very often! I’ve not really had a relationship with my dad for about ten years, something which I do occasionally feel massively guilty about, even though I’m not the reason for it. I know some people struggle living alone, but I really enjoy it, at least until I’m getting ripped off by a tradesperson or can’t reach something without a stepladder. I can definitely be quite solitary by nature, as I really need ‘down time’ after a busy week, but I’m trying to make more effort to socialise and plan things. I’ve also realised that I get ridiculously blue over the winter, SAD is really a thing and yet I’ve still managed to resist buying one of those lamps”.
Occupation: Sales executive
Industry: Manufacturing
Age: 39
Location: West Midlands
Salary: £49,000 + bonus (anywhere between 0-750 per month)
Paycheque Amount: £2975 + bonus
Number of housemates: Just a dog!
Pronouns: She/her
Housing costs: £750 mortgage. The actual mortgage figure is £420, but I overpay this.
I had some wobbles when I was buying this place as it was much more expensive than my previous house and intentionally chose a long term in exchange for a lower monthly payment, in case I faced difficulties in future.
Loan payments: £0
Savings?: Around £43,000. This includes £3,300 in an account my bills come out of, which is intentionally about three months of payments as a safety net, £32,000 in a long term savings and £7,500 in what I call a ‘rainy day fund’. This is what I use for any work needed on my house, holidays, weekends away, etc. I also have about £1,750 in cashback and rounding up accounts.
Pension? My employer pays 4%. I’m currently paying in 10% — I try to increase this by 1% every time I get a pay increase. I’m in the process of combining all of them at the moment!
Utilities: £99 gas/electric, £81 council tax, £52 water.
All other monthly payments: £22 vet plan, £15 pet insurance, £10 health insurance, £15 TV license, £10 healthcare plan, £2 bank account fee, £8 phone bill, £30 internet/TV package.
Subscriptions: £4.99 Netflix, £0.99 iCloud, £1.99 an app supporting local businesses in exchange for discounts, £11.99 Deezer.
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
I became quite disillusioned with college and had no real direction. So I decided to get a full time job instead of going to uni, but then got major FOMO after a year so I decided to go to uni. I realised very quickly it wasn’t for me, but luckily the student loan covered the course fees so I wasn’t out of pocket at all.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
I don’t remember money ever really being discussed in our house, other than an unspoken acknowledgment that we didn’t have much! My mom worked part-time in a school and dad was in and out of jobs a lot, so his wage was never something my mom could ever rely on. He’d go OTT at Christmas and get us loads of presents using credit cards and catalogues which would take my mom all year to pay off. We always had food and a house, we weren’t in poverty by any stretch, but we didn’t get new clothes or have many trips out or holidays. I think my childhood has given me a strange attitude to money, I cheap out on a lot of things and hate paying full price for things that I see as unnecessary; but definitely have times when I blow money on things I don’t need (see the £800 rowing machine in my dining room, or the £350 Michelin star dinner I had just before starting this diary).
If you have, when did you move out of your parents/guardians house? I was about 23, though it was a slightly unusual situation in that my mom decided to move away and I took over the mortgage on the house.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
Again, about 23. I found it really difficult suddenly living alone and it came at a difficult time in life where I’d recently been made redundant. Nobody covers any other aspects financially for me and I can’t imagine that changing!
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I worked in an office with my sister for £12,000 a year. It was meant to be short-term between college and uni but I stayed for a year. When I decided to leave uni, I was lucky they agreed to take me back. It was great fun.
Do you worry about money now?
I don’t worry about money, but I worry about the weight of financial decisions. I’ve got enough of a safety net to make me think I’ll be okay, but the idea of dipping into those savings for anything significant makes me very uncomfortable. I live alone so I have no one to split big costs with. My neighbours have had £30k extensions and £10k driveways recently and I just can’t justify that much money on something I don’t need (even though I’d love a new driveway!).
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
When I took over the mortgage on my mom’s house, I didn’t pay any sort of deposit — so in a sense, I suppose she gifted me that, though it’s hard to quantify the figure. We did agree that if I ever sold, I’d give her £10k in exchange though. I ended up giving her £15k in the end as this seemed more relative to the amount I’d had and the house was valued higher than I’d expected.
10 a.m. — Slightly hungover after dinner and wine last night — I order breakfast for me and D, £16. I also take in a veg box that’s been delivered overnight.
11 a.m. — We discuss last night’s meal and decide we’re probably done with expensive meals out for a while now. Last night’s Michelin star experience was about £700 total including wine pairing — it’s good fun but definitely creeping up a lot in price as we could go on holiday for that.
12 p.m. — I do a half-hearted meal plan for the week and go to the supermarket, £21.45. I also pick up a prescription on the way, £9.90. I then pop to M&S in search of the viral pistachio crème, which I do not find but still somehow spend £16.72 on junk.
1 p.m. — Collect an online order from Next and then head back home, where I order coffee beans with a discount code, £22.40. I bought myself an espresso machine a couple of years ago with a Christmas bonus and I love it, but I do sometimes wish I’d spent more on a better version.
6 p.m. — Pick up a too good to go bag from Greggs so I don’t have to think about work lunches for a few days, £2.95. Cooking for one can be very boring and I can get in a bit of a rut. So I tend to cook food that doubles up to have the next day, which means I don’t waste that much food and makes it a bit cheaper. I also like that the veg box forces me to use things I’d not buy in the supermarket, though I’ve only been having this one for a few weeks and may not continue when the novelty wears off — it’s definitely expensive compared to the supermarket cost for the same ingredients.
10 p.m. — Sleep.
Total: £89.42
9 a.m. — I make my typical ‘winter’ breakfast of porridge and peanut butter (summer = overnight oats) and start work for the day with a coffee. It’s very stressful at the moment and I’m not handling it as well as I’d like. I’ve been in this industry for 14 years across two different companies and do wonder sometimes if it’s the right choice long term. My old job was quite boring but with a toxic atmosphere at times. Whereas this one has nice people but service problems I find more and more frustrating these days, especially when I feel it negatively impacts my reputation within the industry.
12 p.m. — Walk the dog at lunchtime and have spinach pancakes and scrambled eggs for lunch with some fruit.
1 p.m. — I buy a face serum on Vinted for £15.24. This is only slightly cheaper than their own website, but I know I’d have added at least four other products, when this is really all I needed.
6 p.m. — Post work, I go into town and get masseter Botox, of which I pay £70 as I’d already paid a deposit when I booked. I’ve noticed I’ve been grinding my teeth a lot in my sleep, something I used to do as a kid, so I’m hoping this helps.
7 p.m. — Get home, try on the clothing I picked up yesterday, decide I hate all of it. I used to buy a LOT of clothes but now if I love something, I decide what I could get rid of in my wardrobe already to justify keeping it.
7:30 p.m. — Cook some new potatoes and green beans to go alongside yesterday’s quiche. Eat in front of the TV watching Paradise (so good!) before going to bed early with my Kindle. The 99p deals Amazon release every month always turn up some great books I’ve wanted to read for a while!
Total: £85.24
9 a.m. — Transfer £10 to someone at work for a birthday collection. I’m happy to put towards collections but being in charge of them and chasing people for money gives me the rage. I’m the ‘arranger’ in my friendship group and although I never mind booking things, I really really dislike having to chase them multiple times for money. It makes me feel so awkward, so these days I make it clear when I’m booking something and only book for whoever has paid.
6 p.m. — I have a massage after work which costs me £37, though she tells me it’ll be going up to £40 in April. I swap between relaxing massages and sports massages (note, I’m the least sporty person ever) and tend to have one every three to four weeks. It feels very bougie, though I don’t see it as that different from most people getting their nails done every month.
7 p.m. — I get influenced by an ad for KFC on my way back and decide to go — only they are sold out of what I wanted. Instead of opting for something else they have, I wander round M&S for 30 minutes searching for inspiration and eventually leave with only bread, £2.40.
7:45 p.m. — Come home for a terrible dinner of a Greggs’ sausage and bean melt and a leftover spinach pancake (but do feel slightly virtuous for it).
8:30 p.m. — Spend £42.95 on a pair of glasses, which I don’t need but can claim back the full value of through an old work health plan that’s still going. My entitlement refreshes at the end of February so it seemed worth doing it to keep a spare pair for what is essentially free.
9 p.m. — I settle on the sofa for an hour or so of reading with a candle burning (pro tip: a candle warmer means candles melt more slowly; therefore, you can buy more Diptyque’s with wild-ish abandon). My current fave is menthe verde.
Total: £92.35
7 a.m. — I wake up early and do some housework before work, which always makes me feel efficient and good at adulting. I’ve lived here for four years now after moving from 30 miles away and I really love it. I bought this place in the first lockdown so just before house prices went berserk but my mortgage deal (average at the time, seems scarily good now) ends in November. I’ve been overpaying it anyway so I don’t think the amount I pay will necessarily increase, it’ll just mean less overpayment (which feels terrible value for money but a necessary evil!).
9 a.m. — I spend £6 on a new calculator from Amazon, having tried and failed to repair my broken work one.
1 p.m. — Window cleaner arrives, which is £17 and going up to £18 in April.
2 p.m. — I make a burrito bowl which uses mainly ingredients I already had in (apart from the avocado/tomato/spring onion trifecta).
6 p.m. — Decide to book a city break for May. My boyfriend’s kids are away with their grandparents that week so it’s too good an opportunity to pass up! I pay all of it from my savings, D will pay me back when he gets paid. My half comes to £241.80. We’re going cheaper on this holiday and will have a bigger one with the kids next year. I’ve never really had the travelling bug so haven’t travelled very much compared to a lot of people I know as I’m quite a homebody at heart. However, I am feeling the need for a mental refresh that only going away can give you.
10:30 p.m. — Sleep.
Total: £264.80
8 a.m. — Get woken up by a notification from Amazon that they’ve taken £39.56 for a subscribe and save order. Most of that value is dog food, which somehow, I don’t need yet, but I must have missed the email to postpone. I’ll use it soon, so I don’t mind too much. The rest is low value things like cotton buds and toner, which are add-ons to get the max 15% saving on dog food.
1 p.m. — Mindlessly scrolling at lunchtime, I’m tempted by a food mystery box on Instagram. I had one last year and quite enjoyed the novelty, but I see it’s gone from £39.95 to £44.95 so I end up talking myself out of it.
2 p.m. — I check my account as its payday on Monday and decide to try to have a few low-spend days until then. I’ll try to do this most months as the idea of transferring a bigger amount of ‘leftover’ wages into my savings is good motivation to not overspend. This doesn’t always work though! Other times, I’ll work out what’s left of my salary and divide it by the number of days until payday, so I have an idea of my ‘daily budget’. I’m not saving for anything in particular, but I realised a few years ago that I was wasting so much money on clothes/nails/perfume/shoes/makeup — mostly stuff I never got enough use out of.
6 p.m. — Post work, I walk the dog in the pouring rain so I get home cold and wet and get straight into a hot shower and warm PJs. I reheat the burrito bowl I made yesterday and spend a decent chunk of the evening on the phone to a friend who’s going through a bit of a rough time. This makes me realise that bar a few work stresses, I’m in a pretty good place emotionally — this wasn’t always the case and after a bad break up a few years ago, I had therapy to work through some stuff. It was invaluable to me, and I still find it useful to this day.
10 p.m. — Sleep.
Total: £39.56
8 a.m. — I slept badly and today is a colleague’s last day due to redundancy and I’m not looking forward to them leaving. I’ve been getting quite emotional about it, and combined with the arrival of my period overnight, suggests this won’t be a great day.
10 a.m. — I work much faster at home, so I find working in the office quite frustrating as I get much less done and get distracted far easier, but it keeps my boss happy. I speak to a friend at lunchtime who suggests a trip to the cinema on Sunday. I pre-book the latest Bridget Jones film and pay £17 for two tickets (discounted through a work scheme).
5 p.m. — Finish work and go for a couple of leaving drinks, which the company pay for. The last month has been quite heavy emotionally and although I’m sad to see them leave, in a way I’m also grateful that it’s done now.
8 p.m. — I get home ravenous and weepy and order a shawarma and fries for £15.82. Although I usually meal plan, Friday is always a tricky day as I’m usually mentally drained after an office day and feeling peak lazy.
9 p.m. — At some point, Apple shows a warning that I’m almost up to my storage limit, but seeing as this is mostly on my 295,195 photos and screenshots, I’ll just go through and delete loads rather than buying extra storage.
10 p.m. — Earlier in the week, I’d half considered going to a village market near me which runs once a month tomorrow, but I decide that I’ll probably swerve it as I’ll only end up spending an exorbitant amount of money on hipster food I don’t need. I often wonder why I’ll happily spend £350 on one meal, but baulk at the idea of homemade artisan bread sourdough for £7.
11 p.m. — I head to bed for an early night (11 p.m. is early for a Friday, right?) and fall asleep watching YouTube.
Total: £32.82
7:15 a.m. — I wake up and get to the supermarket for 8 a.m. This is unusual for me as my usual Saturday morning involves coffee and trashy TV if I’ve no plans. I spend £43.91, which includes toilet roll (so expensive!) and cleaning supplies.
9 a.m. — Ponder Starbucks but the app says they don’t have what I want so I come home and make my own coffee! End up tackling some jobs that have been on my list for a while, such as deep cleaning the bathroom, rearranging kitchen cupboards and cleaning out my car. I’ve had my car for eight years and it is now 11 years-old. I was only planning to keep it for a few years before trading it in, but then the pandemic happened and since I now work from home, I do minimal mileage compared to before. I’ve been going back and forth on getting a newer car for a year or so. It would mean my savings would take a hit and I worry about getting ripped off/a bad deal, but I don’t want an unreliable car. Having said that, I put less than 1,500 miles on the clock last year, so I always seem to go back to the ‘run it into the ground’ plan.
2 p.m. — I take the dog for a long walk in the afternoon to make up for skipping yesterday’s walk (I usually walk her after work on my office days but got back too late).
6 p.m. — I buy some New Balance trainers on Vinted for £14.20. Technically I don’t need them, but my current ones feel a bit tight, so I want to see if the next size up is better, without spending an exorbitant amount.
7:30 p.m. — Can’t face messing up my sparkling clean kitchen so order a pad Thai, £17.10. Beat myself up a little bit about having two takeaways in a row but then reason that if I’d had KFC earlier in the week, I definitely wouldn’t have had a third.
9 p.m. — I watch a film and go to bed feeling quite pleased that I’ve had a useful day.
Total: £75.21
Food & Drink: £158.75
Clothes & Beauty: £179.39
Home & Health: £66.46
Entertainment: £17
Travel: £241.80
Other: £16
Total: £679.40
“Seeing the figures tallied up here makes it feel like I spent a lot, in what felt like a pretty average week (bar the holiday). I’m not surprised that I spent more on food and drink than anything else though, it’s the area where I really don’t mind paying more. I know I’m quite lucky that I don’t have to pinch the pennies in the supermarket, mainly because I’m only cooking for one! I’m definitely trying to consider my purchases more often these days and consider whether I really need something. I find this easier with smaller purchases than bigger ones, which I’m not sure is the right way round! I quite enjoyed seeing what I spend on a typical week, whilst also feeling like the vast majority of my purchases were justified and not impulse purchases. There are definitely ways I could spend less, but as I’m still managing to save a decent amount of money, I don’t feel the need to cut down yet.”
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