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 42 year-old Office & Quality Manager for a communications and security company. I have lived in Portsmouth my whole life, but the dream is one day to move somewhere with more countryside, fewer people and a gentler vibe. I have been married to my husband, V for 11 years, together 21 years, and we made the decision very early on that we did not want children. We are both very happy with our choice which means we have far more disposable income and time than the majority of our friends who do have children. We do, however, have two fur babies, a a two-year old dog, R and a 17 year-old cat, P. We bought our three-bedroom terrace house 16 years ago using an inheritance and we currently have about nine years left on the mortgage. I’d say I was equal spender and saver. I used to be bad with money in my 20s and got into debt and realised I couldn’t be trusted with credit, so I cut up all my credit cards and have never had one since. Recently we have been able to pay off a massive chunk of the mortgage and still have some saved. I love seeing it sitting there in the account gaining interest, so I have become addicted to topping it up as often as possible. Saying that I will always be an advocate of the ‘treat yourself’ brigade and do, often!”
Occupation: Office & Quality Manager
Industry: Communications and Security
Age: 42
Location Portsmouth, Hampshire
Salary £47,500 plus £2,500 in annual bonuses if the company hits quarterly profitability.
Paycheque Amount: £3,146 (before pension is removed).
Number of housemates: Three – Husband V, dog R and cat P.
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: My half of mortgage is £413. V and I split all bills 50/50, we pay this into a joint bills account and then whatever is left is our own to spend as we like. We overpay £150 a month on the mortgage and have done for about three years.
Loan payments: None, just the mortgage.
Savings?: £2,000 in my longer term savings account, £500 joint emergency fund,
£17,000 in an ISA, £1,500 in my own savings ‘treat’ pot, £180 shopping fund.
Pension? Yes I pay in 5% a month and my employer pays in 5%.
Utilities: My half is £60 energy, £80 council tax, £8 water, £16 waste, £7.50 TV licence, £11 boiler insurance.
All other monthly payments: £30 contact lenses, £11 pet insurance, £9 Petplan.
Subscriptions: £13 Amazon Prime, £12.99 Apple Music, £22 Wild Dose, £4.99 Netflix, £22 gym, £62 Butternut.
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
I went to college to study IT but the freedom after the restrictions of school was too much for me and I never went to class. In the end my mum found out and said I had to leave and get a full time job at 16.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
I grew up with very mixed messages regards money. My biological dad who I used to see at weekends was very bad with money. Always living out of the spare rooms of his friends and flitted from job to job. However, he always made me feel loved and secure no matter what. The rest of the time I lived with my mum and my stepdad, who was very wealthy. He was the safe one, the one who took us on holidays and paid for driving lessons etc. He was generous in a lot of ways but also strict with money and I never received pocket money or was bought treats outside of birthday and Christmas. No one ever actually sat me down and explained budgets or the pitfalls of credit cards and debt etc.
If you have, when did you move out of your parents/guardians house?
When I was 18 my mum decided she wanted to move abroad with her new husband so I moved into a bedsit with my boyfriend at the time.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
From the second I moved out at 18 I was financially responsible for myself, all rent and bills. From the age of 16 I had to pay my mum housekeeping every month, pay for my own phone line and buy all my own food.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
My first job was at 15 as a care assistant in an old peoples home and I hated it. It made me so sad to see the frailty that comes with old age. I used to hide in the kitchen and just wash up all day long instead of being out on the floor.
Do you worry about money now?
Not particularly. I know we are in a much better position than a lot of people and we have no debt, no children and are both in well paid jobs currently. We have decent savings behind us and both have pensions. I feel like we can’t do much more and life is also for living NOW.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
Yes, my biological dad died when I was 27 from a work-related illness. When he died the MOD paid out compensation which came to me. This has always been a bittersweet situation for me because it meant that he was able to bequeath me a substantial amount which got me my house. But I would have much preferred him to have had some time to enjoy the money himself as he never had anything in life. V’s nan also passed last year and we received another large chunk which we put straight onto the mortgage.
7:18 a.m. — WFH today so this is a real lie in. V walks R and brings me coffee in bed — he’s great. P joins me for a cuddle. She’s 17 and fragile so I’m making the most of time with her that I can.
8 a.m. — Showered, dressed, logged in. I have been tasked with obtaining a new accreditation which is a massive project and involves creating lots of new policies which I can’t stand doing but am annoyingly quite good at.
10:05 a.m. — Break for brunch. I never have breakfast and lunch, just a combination of the two. Today is pea and ham soup with toast.
11:55 a.m. — Drive out to return a dress I bought on a few days ago but stupidly didn’t try on in the shop. Accidentally fall into another shop on the way back to the car and buy a watch that I’ve had my eye on for ages, £149, but with the refund it’s a third off, yes?
12:30 p.m. — Buy a mocha to take home, £4. Parking charge is £3.30 for an hour, scandalous.
1:10 p.m. — Back working, have green tea and handful of blueberries. Take R outside for a wee.
4:15 p.m. — Log off and put in eye drops to hydrate my poor contact lenses after hours of screen time. Take R for a long walk to the park where he plays with other pups. He has so much energy he really needs a good run if we want any peace of an evening.
5:10 p.m. — V is home (he’s in the office two days a week). I cook dinner, sausages, beans, eggs and avocado. He also has hash browns but I try to keep my carbs to a minimum.
5:50 p.m. — Bubble bath, hair and face mask. Skincare toner, eye cream, retinol and deep hydration face cream. Then slather on the gradual tanning moisturiser. I’m beyond pale and allergic to UV rays so this is the only way to give my skin a hint of colour.
7:30 p.m. — Snuggle with V and R to watch Better Call Saul with decaf coffee. We gave up watching it ages ago when we used to have to wait a year between series but now its finished we are redoing the lot in one go and it’s brilliant.
9 p.m. — Go to bed (this is quite late for us). Too tired to read so lights off with R spreadeagled on his back in-between us.
Total: £156.30
5:15 a.m. — Awake two mins before the alarm. Our old dog used to wake us up this early and even though he has passed now we still get up this early most days. I love being awake when it feels the rest of the world is not.
6:15 a.m. — Leave for the horrid drive down a scary motorway in the dark and rain to work. I’m not supposed to start until 8 a.m. but if I leave any later then the traffic is awful and it can take me 90 mins to get there. I’m in far too early but save petrol and stress.
6:45 a.m. — Arrive at deserted office, turn on lights, heating and empty dishwasher. Make coffee and settle down to the most productive part of my day with no interruptions.
9 a.m. — I emerge blinking from my office to find the rest of the workforce have arrived.
10:15 a.m. — Lunchtime! Crazy early but I’ve been up ages. Today is gammon, goat’s cheese salad and an apple.
4 p.m. — Leave work. I’m so bad at not taking lunch breaks but I’m so busy on office days with people constantly asking me things and interrupting me there is never the time. Means on average with my early start I work one hour and 45 minutes more a day than I’m paid for.
5 p.m. — Arrive home. It takes twice as long to get home as it does to get to work because of traffic. And that’s on a rare day with no accidents on the roads.
6:15 p.m. — Shower and freshen up as we have date night planned. Walk to our favourite pub, V has a pint of porter, I have a red wine. I buy the drinks as V is paying for the meal. He won £60 on a football bet that he places every year in memory of my dad and this year he won! My round is £10.
6:45 p.m. — Round 2, different beer for V, same for me £10.
7:20 p.m. — Last round, £11.30.
7:50 p.m. — Head down to his favourite local Indian restaurant. This is V’s favourite type of cuisine in the world. I’m not fussed if I’m honest but I love the eating out experience. V has a house special biriani and onion bhajis, I have Goan salmon vindaloo hot with naan. We also have two poppadoms with chutneys. V has a lager and I have a gin and tonic. V pays.
7:50 p.m. — Enthusiastic welcome home from R which involves attempting to climb into my mouth. Wash with Elemis Marine cleanser. Since I started using gentler cleansers rather than harsh carbon-style soaps my skin breaks out much less.
10 p.m. — Decaf coffee and episode of BCS before bed.
Total: £31.30
6:55 a.m. — Wake up to kisses from R, always right in the mouth. V brings me a coffee because he’s the nuts and also walks R. Get up and get gym gear on. Login and answer a few work emails.
7:50 a.m. — Drop off V at work and drive to the gym. I aim for three workouts a week, this plus the epic walks we do for R means I’m pretty happy with the exercise I get. Although the perimenopause is due to raise its head any day so I’m keeping an eye on my waist measurements.
9 a.m. — Home and showered, cracking back on with this work project which I’m hoping will be completed by April.
10:15 a.m. — Food! Griddle some turkey rashers and have them with poached eggs and sliced avocado.
12 p.m. — Walk R out and meet V walking back from work, he is WFH this afternoon. We pop into Costa on the way home for a coffee each. He gets a Portuguese latte, and I get my usual mocha extra hot. His treat.
12:45 p.m. — Home and logged back on.
2:10 p.m. — See my subscription for P’s cat litter has come out of my account, £10.49.
4 p.m. — Finish on the dot. Hot bubble bath and a face mask, do a full body shave. This is a rare occurrence in winter but it’s suddenly got a lot warmer out.
6 p.m. — Settle down with my Friday film which this week is Kraven. V goes into his man cave to listen to music where he has a monumental vinyl collection. I open a bottle of English fizz and continue to unwind.
8:30 p.m. — Both down for dinner which is pizza and chicken goujons from Aldi with homemade guacamole and salad. V does all our basic food shops as I cannot be trusted not to go off list. I transfer him money once a month for this. Eat whilst watching more Saul.
10 p.m. — V takes R for his final toilet trip, tuck P up with blankets and retreats then up to bed and straight to sleep.
Total: £10.49
7 a.m. — Alarm wakes us. This is pretty much as late as we can lie in anyway as R will be up about now needing the toilet.
7:15 a.m. — Hot drinks in bed and cuddles with V, R and P.
7:45 a.m. — V brings me breakfast in bed, bacon, scrambled eggs and avocado. It’s our 11 year wedding anniversary today but we have agreed not to bother with gifts or cards. We buy each other treats all the time and things like him spoiling me with breakfast in bed is a weekly occurrence anyway.
8:15 a.m. — Finally get up. It’s days like this where I’m so happy with our choice to remain childfree. No judgement at all to anyone who has them but I love not having anything to think about anything today except our own enjoyment. Shower and dress.
9 a.m. — Walk to the hairdressers which I’ve recently discovered and is just round the corner. Anything I can find that lessens the need for me to drive in this city makes me happy.
11:45 a.m. — Ouch, £90. But this was a full highlights, colour and blowdry and is only needed every two months. Still, so close to payday it hurts.
12:45 p.m. — Clean the bathroom and bedroom. V took P to the vets this morning. She has kidney disease and high blood pressure and they needed to check if her medication was working, £214 for a check up, eye drops and two weeks of pills. Criminal. We take this from our emergency savings pot.
2:30 p.m. — Another long bubble bath, reading my book We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes, and another face mask. Necessity rather than luxury once you hit 40.
4:30 p.m. — Settle down for my Saturday film which I decided had to be The Matrix. Ashamed to admit I knew the DVD was downstairs somewhere but couldn’t be bothered to find it so I paid £2.49 on Amazon Prime to rent. Don’t tell V. Opened another bottle of English fizz.
7 p.m. — Both come downstairs for dinner, which is a picky table of gammon, some cheeses, chutneys, bread, fruit and salad etc. We eat whilst watching Don’t Look Up.
9:45 p.m. — Time for sleep.
Total: £306.49
7:16 a.m. — Woken by R jumping off the bed which means he needs the loo. V takes him out then brings me a cup of tea.
8 a.m. — Dressed and drive us both to the gym. We normally walk but we have five bin bags of my clothes to put in the charity bins on the way.
9:15 a.m. — Home and showered. I make us breakfast of scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and toasted muffins while we watch Gary Eats — a YouTuber who does food reviews that we love.
11 a.m. — I take R for a long walk whilst V puts dinner in the slow cooker. Chicken, bacon and leek stew with lots of wholegrain mustard. It’s delish.
12 p.m. — Settle down on the sofa for an afternoon of snuggles and TV whilst the smell of the stew wafts through the house. No children’s parties or last minute homework emergencies for us.
4 p.m. — Dinner is ready, I have mine with a jacket potato and V has a crusty roll.
5 p.m. — Bath time! Followed by micro needle and intense face moisturiser.
6:30 p.m. — Back on the sofa for more BCS. I fancy some pudding so have sliced banana and custard whilst V has baked apple and custard.
9 p.m. — Last wee for R then up to bed. Read for half an hour then lights out.
Total: £0
5:15 a.m. — Wake just before the alarm. Pitch black and pouring with rain.
6:10 a.m. — Hair and make up done. Leave the house to drive to work. Get drenched walking to the car… 20 minutes of hair straightening wasted!
6:40 a.m. — Arrive at work. Disable the alarm, make coffee, settle down for a peaceful few hours before everyone else arrives.
10:15 a.m. — Got to eat. I’m always hungry this time of year. Lunch is leftover chicken goujons from Friday, leftover cheese from Saturday, salad and pistachios. Love a picky lunch.
2 p.m. — Been in meetings all day and realise I have worked through lunch again. Wolf down a yogurt.
4 p.m. — Run out the door and jump in the car to drive home. Get petrol on the way, I fill up about twice a month, £45. At weekends we like days out on the train so the car is normally only used for work commute.
4:55 p.m. — Arrive home to a warm clean house as V was WFH today. Have a quick shower and get into comfies then head down to dinner which he has cooked. Today is dusted fish fillets with salad for me and oven chips for him. After dinner, V washes up whilst I make our packed lunches for tomorrow.
6 p.m. — Play fetch up and down the stairs with R which is his favourite game in the world.
6:30 p.m. — Decaf coffee and Lindor. Watch the Big Boys last episode (spoiler, proper tear jerker) and more Better Call Saul. Think we will feel quite bereft once it’s over.
8:30 p.m. — V does R’s last walk and I tuck P up into her bed of blankets. Teeth cleaned and into bed to read for a bit. The book is so funny though that it actually wakes me up more from giggling.
9:15 p.m. — Sleep
Total: £45
5:20 a.m. — Woken by R licking my face, meaning he needs the toilet.
6:15 a.m. — Leave for work. Frightening how some people drive when it’s pitch black and pouring down but make it to the office in one piece.
10 a.m. — Food. Put up with the usual cries of ‘you can’t be eating your lunch this early’ from colleagues who have known what time I get up for the last six years, yet still seem amazed when I eat earlier than them. Today is leftover gammon from Saturday with boiled egg and salad.
11 a.m. — Someone’s birthday in the office and they have brought in treats so I nab a cookie and a piece of shortbread to bring home.
2 p.m. — Force myself to take a break and go for a walk to the local shop where I grab some fresh rolls and a Cadbury’s creme egg for V, £3.45.
4 p.m. — Throw myself into the car to drive home before anyone else can corner me with issues or questions. I’m too a good a listener, I think.
4:50 p.m. — Make good time today. Dinner is what we do about twice a week — each of us gets to have whatever they fancy that the other one isn’t so keen on. V is having leftover lamb ragu and couscous and I’m having Caribbean curry.
6 p.m. — Play with R, give P her eye drops, and have a hot everything shower. Do my microneedling and face care.
7 p.m. — Settle down with decaf coffee, V has the cookie and I have the shortbread. Watch TV.
9:30 p.m. — Up to bed after toilet walk for R and treats for P. Later night as WFH for me tomorrow.
Total: £3.45
Food & Drink: £38.75
Clothes & Beauty £239
Home & Health: £10.49
Entertainment: £2.49
Travel: £48.30
Other: £224.49
Total: £553.03
Conclusion
“This was the week before payday so this was actually me being a bit reserved! Petrol I only get every other week; hair is only this much every other month, so they bumped the spend this week. But I can’t deny the watch was a serious treat. But I work really hard for my money and I save a lot so the rest is meant to be enjoyed. V and I love going out for meals and dates and keeping the spark alive, so a lot of our spare income goes towards these, but we are also careful about always making our own lunches for work and never wasting food. On the whole I’m happy with my weekly spend and can’t see it changing dramatically unless our situation changes.”
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Money Diary: A Senior Charity Manager On £42,568
Money Diary: A Copy Editor on £30,000
Money Diary: A PR Agency Owner On £50,000
