This week: “I grew up on the edge of Surrey with my parents, older sister and younger brother. For a few years after I finished school, I lived in France, where I ran chalets in winter and travelled about in the summer. As fun as it was, I made very little money and spent almost all of my savings. I worked in bars for a while when I came back and lived with friends until moving back in with my parents at the end of that tenancy. Recently I’ve moved to London with two of my oldest friends to start a new job at a ski holiday company (admin not chalets). It’s so exciting to be back talking about skiing after years of working rubbish bar jobs because I had no idea what I wanted to do.”
Occupation: Operations executive
Industry: Travel and tourism
Age: 24
Location: London
Salary: £23k
Paycheque amount: £1,560
Number of housemates: Two
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £700 rent
Loan payments: £0
Pension? I don’t currently have a pension.
Savings? £4,000 (ish)
Utilities: £18 water, £73 council tax, £60 gas and electric, £10.66 Wi-Fi.
All other monthly payments: £5 Spotify, £10 prescription medication.
Did you participate in any form of higher education?
No.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
I was lucky enough not to have to worry or see my parents worry about money when I was growing up. My dad is self-employed and occasionally a contract would end before he had secured a new one. This was the only time I ever heard my parents sound stressed or need to sit down and plan expenses, but it was rare.
If you have, when did you move out of your parents’/guardians’ house?
I first moved out when I was 18, almost straight out of school, to live in the mountains and do a couple of ski seasons.
After a couple of years living with friends, I moved back in with my parents to save money (unsuccessfully) and for some emotional support. I moved out again recently.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
My dad still pays my phone contract, we’re on a family plan. I pay my own bills other than this.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
My parents helped me set up a bank account when I was 12 and they transferred me £20 a month as an allowance until I was 15 and I got my first job in a tiny shop in a village near where I lived. I was there for three hours at most each week. When I turned 16 I got a job in a farm shop. I worked there for two years on weekends.
Do you worry about money now?
I worry about how bad I am at saving money and that I have to spend half of my paycheque on bills.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
I’ve never inherited money.
7.45am: I wake up naturally to the sound of rain on the skylight (the nicest way I’ve woken up for a long time). I scroll through my phone until 8am when my alarm goes off and start getting ready for work.
9am: It is my first day at my new job today and they don’t need me in until 11am so I have a pretty relaxed morning.
10.25am: A quick walk to the bus, then a not so quick change when the bus I’m on terminates early. I end up nearly being late and show up on the dot at 11am.
1pm: We get an hour for lunch so I run out for some food. I try very hard to get the most expensive items so I can make the most of the meal deal in Sainsbury’s. I get a southern fried wrap, Snack a Jacks and an Innocent smoothie, £3.50.
5pm: I finish work for the day and get the bus home. Overall I’ve spent £3.30 on transport today.
7pm: My housemate M and I walk up to a stranger’s house to claim a free mop I found on Facebook Marketplace. I then head home and M goes for a run.
8pm: I call my brother on my walk home, then make myself some dinner. I make double portions of gnocchi so I can have it for dinner tonight and tomorrow.
9pm: M and I play Bananagrams for a while but I desperately need something sweet to eat after my tea so I go to the off-licence at the end of the road for some biscuits, £3. I get to meet a cockapoo while I’m in the shop so it’s a great trip.
10pm: Sleep.
Total: £9.80
8am: I get up and dressed and have breakfast with one of my housemates before heading off to work.
9am: I spend £1.65 on the bus. I’m training all this week, which means I don’t actually start until 10am.
11am: I have lots of different meetings and presentations today but the day seems to go very fast.
1pm: My new colleague and I run out to Pret for lunch. I end up spending £4.50 on a toastie that I don’t enjoy.
5pm: After work I decide to buy an Oyster card at the station near my office, which costs £7(!), with the intention of adding my railcard to it. However it turns out they don’t do that at every station and this is one of the stations that doesn’t. They make me put some money on the Oyster so I end up spending another £10 on that.
6pm: I pick up a Vinted parcel on my way home. It’s a bag and top for running because I don’t need any more excuses to keep avoiding Parkrun, £10.
8pm: I really don’t do much this evening. I watch some TV with my housemates and eat the second portion of my gnocchi.
10pm: Sleep.
Total: £33.15
7.45am: I find it incredibly difficult to get up this morning. I get out of bed at 8.30am, have a very quick shower and run out of the house. I pay for the bus with the Oyster I topped up yesterday.
10am: I arrive at work where they tell me I don’t have any meetings until 11am so I make some toast with Marmite in the office kitchen.
1pm: At lunch I run to Sainsbury’s for a meal deal and a Twix, which costs me £4 in total.
5pm: I finish work and get on the bus home with my Oyster. I ask at a different station about railcards and they don’t do it there either, urgh!
6pm: On the walk home I pop into Lidl for toothpaste and cereal bars, £2.90.
7pm: I watch some TV while I get ready to meet my friend J for dinner. I take the bus to the restaurant using my Oyster.
8pm: We haven’t seen each other for over a year and we have a great evening catching up. The restaurant has live music, which is really fun. We get dinner and share a bottle of wine, which comes to £72 total with tip. We split the bill in half and I pay £36.
10pm: Unfortunately, before I get home I start to feel majorly sick.
11pm: I get home and I have to spend the rest of the night in the bathroom.
Total: £42.90
9am: I haven’t been able to sleep properly due to my night in the bathroom so, very embarrassingly, I have to call in sick in my first week. My manager is really nice about it and I head back to bed.
3pm: I sleep until 3pm then make myself some toast and watch some TV.
5pm: A few hours later I go for a very quick walk, mainly to get some fresh air but also to return an ASOS parcel. If anything, I made money today. I’m returning two T-shirts, which means I’ll get £30 back.
7pm: A very boring day but I start to feel fine again later in the evening.
10pm: Sleep.
Total: £0
8am: Up, washed, dressed and on the bus for work for 10am.
1pm: I decide to treat myself at lunchtime to a Marks and Spencer food hall lunch. I spend £5 and make a mental note to start bringing a packed lunch to work.
5pm: I finish work and go home to get ready for my date, which is with my ex-boyfriend. We broke up a few months ago but we haven’t stopped texting so we decided to see each other.
8pm: We meet outside the Tube station and walk around until we find a restaurant that looks good (in an attempt to keep it casual we decided not to book in advance).
8.15pm: We end up in a tapas restaurant and we have such a good time. The breakup wasn’t because anything bad happened so we fall quite quickly back into normal. He very kindly pays for dinner.
9pm: We go for a walk after we eat and, ultimately, we decide that not enough has changed since breaking up to get back together. We still both want different things from life and our relationship. It’s both a lovely and very sad evening and not to toot my own horn but I feel like I handle it really well.
11.30pm: I get home just before midnight and go straight to bed for a cry.
Total: £5
8am: My alarm goes off and within 30 minutes I’m out the door and on the way to Parkrun with my housemates.
9am: During the run I listen to the Off Menu podcast, which is oddly encouraging. Annoyingly, the course is a three-lap triangle and I am lapped by hundreds of people, including my housemate, which is very unencouraging. In the end my time is 33.38 so I’m pretty proud of myself.
10am: When we get home we follow a Yoga with Adriene video via YouTube to make sure the first run I’ve done in eight years doesn’t write me off for the rest of the week.
11am: I came home from my parents’ house a few days ago with a bag of tinned food, bagels and pasta so I have beans on toast after my shower.
1pm: R and I head to the high street as she needs to return some parcels and I need to pick one up. I buy a three-pack of bras, costing £20.
2pm: We also stop to grab a few things we need for the flat, including kitchen roll, a lot of lightbulbs, and bin bags. My split comes to £7.40. I also buy myself a tub of rocky road bites in Aldi for £2.20 to celebrate the results of the run.
3pm: We get back to the flat and change over the bulbs etc. Our next task is to assemble a wardrobe. It has been sitting in my parents’ attic for a few years so there aren’t any instructions and there’s a few too many pieces. It is stressful and exhausting but we manage to do it and are incredibly impressed with ourselves.
7pm: I’m heading to the Royal Albert Hall with my aunty and two of my cousins, very last-minute as my brother suddenly couldn’t attend. The show consists of an IMAX size screen playing Harry Potter with the music muted and a full orchestra playing instead. It is beautiful! As part of their family tradition they get seats in a box and order food for the interval so I fill up on bread, hummus, cheese and cakes.
11pm: Very, very tired, I head home on the bus and then the Tube, £8.50.
Total: £38.10
9am: I didn’t set an alarm this morning after my busy Saturday, which is lovely.
10am: I have a bagel for breakfast and then very quickly get washed and dressed.
1pm: My housemate works in the theatre industry and was invited to see The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by an agent. They gave her two tickets so I get to go too! The tickets are free so I get us some overpriced popcorn to share during the show and then we each get a mint choc ice cream in the interval, £9.
4pm: After the show we mooch about some shops in Covent Garden. I spend £16.95 in Boots, £4.50 in Muji and £4.95 in Pret.
6pm: We take the bus all the way home. My travel comes to £8.50 for the day.
8.30pm: Once we get home we put our PJs on and I put some nuggets and chips in the oven. We settle in for the evening and watch a movie.
10pm: I lay my outfit out for the morning and have an early night.
Total: £43.90
Food & Drink: £75.05
Entertainment: £0
Clothes & Beauty: £46.95
Home & Health: £11.90
Travel: £38.95
Other: £0
Total: £172.85
Conclusion
“It was a busy week for me and I’m surprised at how much I spent, considering how much stuff I got without paying. I will definitely be bringing packed lunches to work from now on because it is so expensive in London to buy food!”
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