This week: “I’m 24 years old and I work full-time as a disability advisor in the higher education sector. I moved to London and started this job just less than three months ago. I am also self-employed and work assisting with autism assessments, which tends to make me an additional £15,000-£20,000 per year. I’m very lucky to have this self-employed work as it’s allowed me to build my savings. I’ve always really enjoyed saving. I had multiple jobs throughout my time at university and continue to have two jobs now. I try to bulk-cook, shop at the cheapest supermarkets and make use of coupons and freebies. My friends would refer to me as frugal. My partner and I are currently living in a flat for one month between our tenancies and after that I’ll be moving into a rented property with two friends.”
Occupation: Disability advisor
Industry: Higher education
Age: 24
Location: London
Salary: £32,000 as a disability advisor, £15,000 for self-employed work.
Paycheque amount: Roughly £2,000 (I have recently started my job so I’m unsure exactly).
Number of housemates: Two
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: I’m currently living with my partner between housing contracts and my half of the rent is £375. I’m moving into a rented house with two friends next week, which will cost £700 each.
Loan payments: Approximately £70 student loan.
Pension? I don’t currently pay into my pension. My employer contributes to my pension after three months so I’ll start paying into it after that.
Savings? I have roughly £44,500 in savings. This includes £5,500 in a Help to Buy ISA, £9,000 in an emergency fund and £30,000 in investments.
Utilities: Currently included in my rent.
All other monthly payments: £6 phone contract (SIM only).
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
I did an undergraduate and a master’s degree, both at the same uni. For my undergrad degree, I used a student finance loan to cover my tuition fees and received the minimum maintenance loan. I was lucky that my parents helped me out when needed but I also worked basically full-time every summer and had five part-time jobs (like student ambassador/cleaner/tutor/bar staff) over the course of my degree. I took a loan out for my master’s and received a discount on tuition fees because I did it at the same uni. I also did four part-time jobs, which included teaching first-year students, student ambassador work, blogging etc. As well as this, I was really lucky to be able to start self-employed work as an assistant psychologist during my master’s, which has ended up earning me about £15,000-£20,000 per year for the past three years. Because of this (and the pandemic meaning I had very little to no social life), I actually ended up saving quite a lot of money during my master’s year.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
I remember when I was around 14, my parents set me up a little NatWest bank account which only allowed me to get cash out from an ATM, rather than pay using the card. They would pay me £40 per month pocket money into this account and we definitely spoke about how to budget etc. I was encouraged to get a job as soon as I was legally able to and I think that also really helped me understand the value of money and how to manage it.
If you have, when did you move out of your parents’/guardians’ house?
I moved out when I was 18 to go to university. I moved back home for my placement year of my undergraduate degree.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
I’d say after leaving uni I became completely financially independent but I’m really lucky that my parents would be able and willing to step in financially if I ever needed them to.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I started working as a sales assistant in a shoe shop just after I turned 16. My older siblings all got jobs as soon as they turned 16 so it was very much expected that I would as well. I also remember being really keen to get a job so I could have more money to spend than my pocket money.
Do you worry about money now?
I don’t. I’m very lucky to have two incomes which add up to a good annual salary. I’m also very frugal so even though I could probably afford to spend more money, I like to save wherever I can.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
No I haven’t.
8.30am: I’m working in the office today so I commute in, £3.20. I have to get the Northern line into central London during rush hour, which is always extremely pleasant and not at all busy. My work pays my travel expenses so I’ll get this money back at the end of the month.
1pm: I always bring my lunch into work to save money. I walk to the nearby park and have a falafel, hummus and cucumber sandwich with crisps. Lovely.
6pm: I head for a drink with my colleagues after work. My manager pays for our round, which is really lovely. Afterwards I head on the Tube, £3.20. The journey is slightly more pleasant than the commute in but that might be because of the wine I’ve had.
7pm: I get home and make dinner of tacos using food we already had in (I’ve had tacos for the past couple of nights to get through the ingredients).
8pm: I do some of my self-employed work. I have been sent an autism assessment to review and write up the report for. I work for a couple of hours before my partner comes home.
10pm: My partner comes home and we play board games because we’re both extremely cool.
11pm: Sleep.
Total: £6.40
9am: My partner and I are working from home today so I avoid the commute and get out of bed slightly later.
12pm: My partner and I like to go for a little walk during our lunch break when we work from home and we often end up at Big Sainsbury’s. We buy two baguettes to have for lunch (with some sandwich fillings which we already have at home), as well as some Diet Coke because our energy is low, £3.60.
5.30pm: The working day is over so I head for a short run before it gets dark.
7pm: I have the final portion of tacos for dinner. At this point I’m very done with tacos and glad to see the back of them.
Total: £3.60
8.30am: I’m in the office again today so I hop on the Tube, £3.20. I’m working from a different office than usual, which means my commute is slightly less busy.
9am: One of my favourite money-saving tips is free competitions so I enter one on the way to work. They’re probably not going to make me a millionaire but I find it disproportionately exciting.
12pm: Again, I’ve brought lunch into work consisting of a falafel, hummus and cucumber sandwich with crisps. It has been raining all day so I eat my lunch in the office kitchen.
2pm: I really want to go on a walk as my energy is low so I head to the nearest food shop and buy some chocolate to get me through the rest of the day. I use my TOTUM card (which expires very soon) to get 10% off, £1.22.
5.30pm: Head back on the Tube home, £3.20. I nearly get lost on my commute, which is quite impressive considering it is a very simple route.
6.45pm: My partner and I had planned to go out for tapas this evening but we decide to rearrange because I’m really tired. Instead, we head to Sainsbury’s and buy ingredients to make mac and cheese together for dinner, £3.94. I also buy some bread but I get this reimbursed through an app I use called Shopmium, which gives you deals on food and drink products.
8pm: Fill up on mac and cheese.
8.30pm: We play some board games before an early night.
Total: £11.56
9am: We are both working from home again today so I get another long sleep (which I really needed).
12pm: Another day working from home means another trip to Big Sainsbury’s during my lunch break. We get a baguette for £1.65 and I have the rest of the falafel, hummus and cucumber in mine (yes, I am very done with this sandwich choice at this point).
12.30pm: I pop into our local charity shop just to have a look around and I end up trying on about eight different things. I only buy secondhand clothes and I try to only buy things that I know I can wear with lots of different outfits to make sure I get enough wear out of things. In the end, I buy a dress which will go well with tights in the winter and without tights in the summer, as well as a very cute top which the shop assistant refers to as “out of style” (lol), £10.98.
5.30pm: The working day is over and I am very glad it is the weekend! I’ve planned to go to my friend’s house this evening for dinner so I get a return train there, £3.95.
5.45pm: On the way to my friend’s house I stop in her local food shop to pick up some sweets for us to have, £1.75. She’s cooking us fajitas and she has some wine in, so my only contribution to the evening is Skittles, fizzy fangs and my excellent company.
10pm: After a lovely dinner and several episodes of Married at First Sight, I get the train back home. I need to head to bed at a sensible hour as I have a parkrun tomorrow.
Total: £18.33
9am: Every Saturday morning I love to do parkrun (it’s a free 5k event and there are tons across the UK). I find it’s a really good way to start the weekend and gives me a reason to get up reasonably early rather than sleeping in and missing half the day.
10am: I actually get a 5k PB, really pleased!
11am: When I get home I lie down for a very long time to regain energy, then make beans on toast. I use some beans my partner had in the cupboard and the bread I got for free earlier in the week.
1pm: A few of my friends and I have arranged to spend the day together. I take the bus to Oxford Street to meet them, £1.65. The bus is 15 minutes longer than the Tube but as I have the time to spare, I decide to save a bit of money.
2pm: We’ve booked to do a bottomless brunch at Hard Rock Cafe. My friend found an amazing voucher on Groupon, which means we only spend £20 each for a two-course meal and unlimited prosecco, wine and beer. The food is amazing and we have such a lovely time.
3.30pm: The service is so good at bottomless brunch that we choose to leave a tip of £10, which works out at £2.50 each.
3.30pm: After bottomless brunch I pay £3.20 to take the Tube from Oxford Street.
4pm: We make reservations at the Simmons close to where I’m living at the moment. The bar is newly opened so they have a deal on which gives you a free bottle of prosecco if you make a reservation. I then use the Dusk app to get a free drink from the same bar. The drink is whiskey and lemonade, which is really quite grim but also free so I really can’t complain.
7pm: Dinner (aka curly fries), £0.44. After Simmons we decide it would be sensible to head back to my house for a little bit to have some food. We buy a big bag of curly fries to continue our trend of the healthiest day ever and walk back to mine. My friends also buy a bottle of prosecco to share but I am a lot more of a lightweight than them so I opt out.
9.30pm: After enjoying our curly fries we get a taxi to a bar where my friend’s friend is doing a bar crawl, £1.95. We try to get the taxi driver to give us song recommendations to sing for him but he’s happy with any song so we opt for “Super Trouper” by ABBA. What an extremely tolerant taxi driver.
10.30pm: When we get to the bar I quickly realise I am getting very tired (drinking from 2pm until 10pm is exhausting, turns out). I decide I don’t need any more alcohol so I just get some water from the bar and I head home at around 10.30pm.
10.45pm: We aren’t far from my house so I just walk home and my partner meets me halfway. The whole day was so much fun and actually really cheap. It’s so nice to have friends who are equally as frugal so you can make use of really good deals/ free things.
11.30pm: Sleep.
Total: £29.74
11am: I wake up at around 11am because I am so tired from my Saturday of fun.
12pm: My partner and I stay in just playing board games (aka what we spend all our time doing).
2pm: In the afternoon I go on a half an hour walk and stop at Costa to get a free strawberry iced tea (this was a deal on Vodafone rewards). I sit in the park with my iced tea and read my book before coming home.
5pm: We planned to go to a pub quiz in the evening but neither me or my partner can be bothered so we stay in and play yet more board games.
7pm: We decide to go for tapas tomorrow, rearranging the plan from Thursday. Tapas can get really expensive so I find a deal on Groupon and book for Monday night. The deal costs £22.40 and we get four tapas, bread, olives and two beers.
8pm: I do a bit more self-employed work, which consists of finishing off the report I was writing earlier in the week. I send the report and invoices off to the psychologists I work with and they pay me the same night.
10.30pm: Sleep.
Total: £22.40
9am: I was supposed to be working in the office today but I wake up feeling ill so I decide to work from home.
12pm: I started feeling quite a lot worse so I sleep for most of the afternoon.
4pm: I start feeling a little better so I eat some plain bread (I really didn’t want anything with any flavour) and I get some energy back. I really want to start feeling better so I can go to our tapas reservation this evening.
8pm: Luckily, I start feeling a lot better so my partner and I go to our tapas reservation and the food is really good! The deal was definitely worth it. They charge us £2.77 for service at the end but I’m more than happy to pay that.
9.30pm: We go to a pub after and get two pints (which my partner pays for).
3am: I wake up feeling about 10x worse and I begin to get worried because I’m supposed to be going on holiday. I take the day off work and focus on my recovery but I test positive for COVID in the evening. I’ve never tested positive throughout the whole pandemic so this is a big surprise. I definitely think I picked it up at some point on Saturday, maybe the day of free/low-cost drinking wasn’t so worth it after all. I have to cancel my trip but I’m hoping to get some of the money back through insurance, fingers crossed!
Total: £2.77
Food & Drink: £60.27
Entertainment: £0
Clothes & Beauty: £10.98
Home & Health: £0
Travel: £23.55
Other: £0
Total: £94.80
Conclusion
“I feel like this was a pretty cheap week! Recording my spending was a good way to see how much my efforts to save work. It was reassuring to see how making a few small decisions to save money actually saved me a fair amount. I’m moving out of my temporary accommodation and into a flat that’ll be my home for the next two years next week. I usually bulk-cook all of my meals but because I’ve only been living in my current house for one month, it’s been more difficult to establish that routine. I’ll definitely make more of an effort to do this once I’ve moved.”
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Money Diary: A Junior Producer In London On 42k