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 27 years old and I’ve just left my 30k salary role. I worked there for eight years but left to save my mental health. I was doing a crazy cross country commute that wasn’t doable anymore, and now I’m working part-time in a similar industry on £16k. I saved a six month emergency fund to allow me to leave without another job lined up, which completely changed my mindset. I’m so thankful to have my emergency fund and never want to be without it! I grew up in a household with very little money, so I’ve always been a panic saver just in case something happens, but the emergency fund has given me security and confidence in my choices, letting me choose my own path and decipher whether a certain role is right for me. My savings goals are now to always have an emergency fund instantly accessible, just in case.”
Occupation: Assistant designer
Industry: Design
Age: 27
Location: South Wales
Salary: £16,500
Joint income: I work part time (three days per week), hence the £16,500 salary but it is equivalent to £27,000 per annum full time. My partner earns £25,000 per annum, making our joint income £41,500. We have our own bank accounts and one joint account. We split the bills 50/50 and each month we get paid we put £850 each in our joint account to cover bills, alongside an extra £50 each as a ‘top up’ for emergencies.
Assets: I’ve finally hit £12,000 in my Help to Buy ISA and have £6,000 in my Monzo accounts to try and leverage the best interest rates!
Debt: None.
Paycheque Amount: £1,300
Pronouns: She/Her
Monthly Expenses
Monthly Housing Costs: £850. We rent a semi-detached house, so £1,700 total!
Number of Housemates: One, my partner.
Monthly Loan Payments: None.
Pension: 7.5%.
All Other Monthly Expenses: £7 SIM only phone contract. I try and keep monthly outgoings very slim!
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, student finance covered all of my higher education. I was very lucky to leave with a First Class master’s degree!
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
I grew up in a very sheltered household, growing up thinking we were poorer than we were. My father was very strict about how much money was spent, as he was the sole earner, so food shops were limited but new cars were the norm. As a child, I thought we couldn’t afford chocolate bars and holidays, but never questioned how we could afford a newer car until I was an adult. I didn’t go abroad until I was 23. My mother still remains unsure about finances and I often manage these for her now that she’s separated from my father, as I made sure I was financially educated once I reached my twenties.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I was a pot washer at a local cafe — I just walked in and asked for a job! It was so bad I didn’t get another job for two years. It felt like the done thing — all of my friends were working part time, so I thought I had to as well.
Did you worry about money growing up?
I never worried about money, but felt that we didn’t have much. I just accepted to live within my means. Earning more didn’t feel like an option in the small town I grew up in.
Do you worry about money now?
Yes. I have just left a role earning £30k per year, for a part time role earning £16.5k. I worry about the long-term future financially, like what will happen if I fall pregnant? How long can I live on £16.5k? I also have to remind myself there was a reason I gave up the £30k, and £16.5k is doable where I live. I’m just not sure how long for.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
I was fully financially responsible at 18 and I know that if I needed help, I could ask my mum — but that has never happened. I know she has less than me, but I also know she would do what she can to help. I grew up living within my means and as soon as I had money above that, I saved, saved, saved to build up an emergency fund that gives me six months’ worth of bills. My financial habits are built on knowing how to live with little money, whilst being terrified of having little money.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
None.
Day One
12.15 p.m. — Realise we forgot to do a food shop and have nothing substantial in the house. I head out to grab lunch to take on a walk in the nice weather! It always annoys me to unnecessarily buy out, but something about the sun makes it feel like a special treat, £10.05.
6:40 p.m. — I add a friend to our package holiday, which is a £200 deposit, which she’ll pay me back next week. I wouldn’t normally lend friends money, because you never know if they’ll pay you back but this particular friend is part of the family and has been for decades!
6:45 p.m. — Our car tax is due, £17.50 for my half. For one-off bill costs we find it easier to pay as and when they come up, rather than save throughout the year because I’m always worried that if we save into our joint account throughout the year, we’ll accidentally spend it on a bigger food shop or an emergency, then that money will be gone regardless and we’ll be back to square one. In my mind that feels like spending double! So we both find it easier to save for these things ourselves, paying when it’s needed. I do all of the admin at home because I have more experience with getting the best deals, and can remember my card details by heart — so I don’t have to get off the sofa to go finding my wallet for essentials!
Total: £227.55
Day Two
12 p.m. — I pre-ordered The Safekeep from Waterstones months ago and they take the payment today, £10. I added ‘Read a women’s prize winner’ to my 30 before 30 list as a more achievable goal and it arrived the day before it got announced as the winner! That’s a win-win for me, although I always expect the payment to have come out when I’ve ordered, so it surprises me when it leaves my account six months down the line! I tend to try and buy my books in bulk to make the most of the Waterstones loyalty stamp scheme to get the £10 off £100 spend. I hope it works out with my original order otherwise it hasn’t hit the £10 requirement for a stamp!
2 p.m. — Head to my favourite cafe with my partner to meet up with my sister and her little one. I pay for both my meal and my partner’s, because it’s seeing my sister. He has a big family so this keeps it fairer in my mind, although he always offers to pay and I always pay for myself when I see his family. I never want money to be a barrier in seeing my sister and nephew — it never has been, but I think there’s so much pressure to spend when you see family and friends now, especially if it’s long distance. Outside of going for lovely long walks when it’s sunny, everyone tends to want to meet up for a meal or drink, which can add up quickly! I’ve learnt to set aside money for the most special people to see. The total comes to £28.25.
Total: £38.25
Day Three
10:15 a.m. — Had a Costa notification pop up on my phone a few days ago for an offer, so we go and get two frappes and a small cake each for £7.42. We both only drink oat milk, which used to be extra, so this is a huge bargain in my eyes! Usually the offers are a free small cake, or £4 off any purchase. I try not to buy anything at full price and always make the most of a loyalty scheme or offer when they come up. I know that if I hadn’t had the notification, I’d have saved myself £7.42, but I used to be so harsh on myself for spending that I try and treat myself every now and then. A Costa is a definite treat for us!
11 a.m. — We take our puppy for a walk around the woodlands, frappes in hand. This has become a bit of a routine — we never really used to buy Costa coffees because I prefer independents but the choices where we live are really limited and I’m awful for leaning into a loyalty scheme! When we reach 10 ‘beans’ in our account, my partner and I just split the price of the drink we had to pay for to keep it fair. I am always tempted by a little snack or treat after a long walk but I have to have the adult conversation with myself that we have food at home, and usually by the time I’m home I’ve forgotten about it anyway!
Total: £7.42
Day Four
8 a.m. — My partner is driving us a few hours to my workplace. Even though it’s remote, it requires random periods of travel. He starts to get hungry because we left the house so early and didn’t have time to have breakfast, so we pull over at a service station so I can buy him a Greggs as a quick thank-you for driving. I could drive and enjoy driving, but with him at the wheel, it gives me the chance to catch up on some work and prepare myself for the day ahead. The food comes to £4.60.
1 p.m. — Grab lunch at Tesco as I’m not WFH, £5.45. Usually I bulk make a salad at the start of the week so I don’t resort to nipping out to buy lunch or eating unhealthily. Having meal prep Sundays has been a bit of a lifesaver — it’s a nice moment of quiet for me and helps us eat fresh and keep costs down all at the same time.
6 p.m. — Quick fuel up on the way back as we’ve used a whole tank driving a couple of hours each way to work. Still much cheaper than the train and I am so lucky my partner will drive me! I paid for this because it was for my work — usually we split it down the middle and it comes out of our joint account, £29.72.
7 p.m. — Car insurance is due for the year and AA sent us a letter a few weeks ago. Turns out they are actually the cheapest, so I make the quick switch over and saved us over £50 compared to the cheapest quote on comparison sites, £328.88.
Total: £368.65
Day Five
11.30 a.m. — Finally get around to doing our food shop after a week of spending out on food more than we’d like! I usually use the joint card for this, but I forgot to bring it so I pay from my card but transfer money from the joint as soon as I get home, £59.84. This was Aldi’s part of the food shop — we tend to split it as it’s the cheapest way at the moment. I know so many people in the UK do this too because we always see the same people in both shops!
12.30 p.m. — Head to do the second half of our food shop — yes, I do spend an hour looking at all of the new pieces in the big Tesco! We have some dietary requirements that mean we have to shop at Tesco because Aldi don’t stock it, otherwise we would do our whole shop at Aldi. This is one of our bigger shops of the month — I like to do one huge shop a month, then top up any fresh fruit and veg as needed throughout. Meal prepping just after the food shop helps us loads and limits any waste. I know most people shop weekly, but there’s only two of us and we’ve worked out that this is the cheapest, healthiest and most time-efficient way for us! The total comes to £61.41.
Total: £121.25
Day Six
8 a.m. — Have an engineer over to fix our boiler because it’s been leaking and on the way in he saw our car and let us know our tyres were borderline bad! I’m clueless with cars and don’t live near family, so I take it to a garage. Turns out three tyres needed replacing. I had a moment where I was horrified by how little I knew, but thankful in a way that it had happened so I can check tyre health in the future. I have an older car because a newer one isn’t a financial priority, so I feel like every time something goes wrong I learn something new.
2 p.m. — Head back to the garage for collection. On the first visit, my partner came with me and we secured the price of £50 per tyre. When I come back by myself to pick up the car and pay, they tell me it was £75 per tyre. I’m lucky that I’m confident enough to ask them to bring that price back down to the original £50 (I think through years of asking if places do student or NHS discount!). I do question whether the price shot up because I’m a woman, or if it was a genuine mistake on their part. I’d love to think it was a genuine mistake, but something in me still feels uncomfortable when it happens in industries that have a reputation for stereotyping customers — especially young women. Going to a new garage is one of those new places that always feels uncomfortable — at home I have a family member that’s a mechanic, so every time I move it feels a little out of my comfort zone! The total comes to £150.
Total: £150
Day Seven
12 p.m. — We are out doing some errands and start to get peckish around midday, so it calls for an emergency Greggs, £3.50. It hits the spot, even if it was cold! We managed to get a free hot food item too (the chipotle baguette!) because I use their reward app, where you get a free type of item for every 10 you buy. Usually I get the baguette and my partner gets a bake — the baguettes are more expensive but not by much so I think they’re better value for money — quite often just a bake won’t do it for me!
3 p.m. — Our puppy is running low on food, so we do a bulk order using Pets at Home’s repeat save scheme! We get a huge bag of dry food that’ll last her a few months and saves around £8 each bag, which adds up over the space of a year. She loves it too because it’s what we were given when we first had her! Weirdly, we can’t buy it in store despite it being a popular brand, so I always order online. When we didn’t use the repeat save scheme, I used to add in lots of snacks to hit the free delivery marker which I think was £35, but now on the repeat save scheme, it’s free, which is great. I love to get things on subscription if I can, especially something that’s movable and not locked in. I get my razors from FFS and also Smol washing tablets every couple of months too with sustainability and limiting waste in mind. The total comes to £27.50.
Total: £31
The Breakdown
Conclusion
“All of the car insurance and car tax hitting at the same time always knocks me a bit! We also ate lunch out much more than usual. This was a very expensive week for us. We could easily go five or six days a week without a single spend aside from our normal bills going out of the account, but everything tends to hit us at this time of year. I like recording my spend. More and more I feel less guilty about what I’m spending and want to put more emphasis on spending money for fun, rather than being so worried about it!”
If you would like to submit a diary, please use our new form here. If you would rather email us, please send a bit of information about you and your financial situation to [email protected]. We pay £100 for each published diary.
Prior to submitting your Money Diary, please read and consider Refinery29’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for UK and Ireland. Submission of your Money Diary does not guarantee publication by Refinery29. Should your Money Diary be selected for publication, Refinery29 may, in its sole discretion, elect to pay you a fee, subject to such further terms and conditions as Refinery29 may deem necessary. Money Diaries that are not published are not entitled to receive any payment. Refinery29 will not remove Money Diaries once published. By submitting your Money Diary to Refinery29, you agree to abide and be bound by the applicable Terms of Use and Privacy Policy linked above. All submissions need to be original to the author (i.e., no AI contributions).
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Money Diary: A Head Of Marketing on £39,000
Money Diary: An Emergency Services Trainer On £38,
Money Diary: A Criminal Psychologist On £41,039
