This week: “I’m a 26-year-old account manager currently living in Glasgow, but I’m originally from the Highlands. I started working in sales after I left uni four or five years ago, but I have only recently ended up in a role in an industry I love, and at a company that is able to support my training and aid in progressing my career. I’ve jumped from earning £24,000 to £39,000 in the last year and I have been working hard to pay off my overdraft and credit card debt… But I’ve still been managing to enjoy life and I enjoy being on a higher salary! I am in a very fortunate position — especially for the age I am — and I’m constantly needing to know what the next steps are in my career. Honestly, I’m just really enjoying life right now, although I will always be stressed about money. I so, so, so appreciate being able to have extra money every month, so that money isn’t an all-consuming stress. I haven’t grown out of the ‘going out and get steaming with your pals’ phase yet, but I’ve calmed down from how hard I used to party. Life is about balance, in my opinion.”
Occupation: Account manager
Industry: Hospitality
Age: 26
Location Glasgow
Salary £39,000 (inclusive of salary and car benefits)
Paycheque Amount: £2,400
Number of housemates: 0
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £378 mortgage. This is a 40-year mortgage that I stupidly didn’t lock in for five years at 2.9%, so I need to remortgage in May.
Loan payments: I’m paying back my student loan about £80 per month. I’m also currently putting anywhere between £150 and £350 towards my credit card payments to clear the debt. I have about £1,000 left so I will clear this before the summer, then build up the savings even more.
Savings?: Currently about £4,150 in a savings account and £60 in a holiday pot to save for a huge trip me and my best pal are planning for our 30th birthdays. I realise this is in three and a half years’ time but I’m a planner and I want to do a blowout holiday. If we don’t end up going on the holiday for whatever reason I’ll use it to buy myself something good, maybe new boobs. A reduction has been calling my name.
Utilities: £40 gas; £40 electricity; £115 council tax; £105 factor fee.
Pension? Currently paying about £116. I have no idea how much I have in pension; I’ve moved jobs four or five times since I left uni so that will be a fun surprise to research one day.
All other monthly payments: £50 phone; £40 gym; £65 online personal training; £16.99 Cineworld; £65 car insurance; £40 life insurance; £30 contents insurance; £30 to aforementioned holiday fund.
Subscriptions: £9.99 Disney+; £4 Spotify family plan; £25 various charity subscriptions.
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it? I went to university, but I live in Scotland so it’s free, wehey. I probably wouldn’t have gone if I had to take out a huge loan.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
There wasn’t loads of money growing up. My parents always kind of hid the stress from us but chatting to my mum recently, I know it was tight. She was telling me that she felt so bad for saying no to buying us things and honestly, we stopped asking for things because we knew it wouldn’t happen. They were always savers and they took us on holiday, so it never seemed bad to us. We were deffo better off than a lot of people and we’ve always known and appreciated that. They’re doing really well for themselves now and it’s really difficult to accept money from them but they are the most generous people in the world and refuse to accept anything from us. My dad will not even let me pay for a dinner out, although I half pretend to offer.
If you have, when did you move out of your parents’/guardians’ house? I moved out at 18 to go to uni but hated it and wanted to move back every day.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
I became properly financially responsible for myself when I was 18 moving out for uni but then again when I finished. I didn’t have the safety net of moving back to my parents’ in the summer to work.
What was your first job and why did you get it? I worked in a leisure centre on Saturdays for £4.15 an hour.
Do you worry about money now?
Yeah, I really do. I only got this high-paying job recently and it’s a mega, mega jump from what I was on. I racked up about £5,000 on credit cards and my overdraft from just living costs and also moving in 2022. This is almost paid back and, my God, it’s so nice to actually have money, but that stress never leaves you.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
Yes, my grandparents were recently left a huge estate by a very distant relative. My gran is the most incredible person ever and gave each of her grandkids £20,000 to go towards a property and donated the rest. I tried to convince her to buy a Lamborghini but she thought it would look out of place on her street of council houses — also, she is in her late 80s. I bought my flat almost two years ago and it’s small but it is perfect and I am very upfront with how I bought it because if I hadn’t gotten money from her, I would still be renting and be absolutely fucked paying crazy rent every month.
10:30 a.m. — I wake up at my mum and dad’s; I drove up last night to spend the weekend here as I booked the Friday off.
11 a.m. — Have just been called a spinster by my father.
12:45 p.m. — Make it to Morrisons. I’m doing my mum’s weekly shop and she’s doing my gran and grandad’s. She has stopped to talk to every single person in here. I have managed to avoid seeing anyone I went to school with… Life in the Highlands.
1 p.m. — Meet Gran and Grandad for lunch. My mum does the shopping and goes for lunch with them every Friday, so I try to come up once a month and do the same. Catch them up on my life (only the bits appropriate for grandparents, I don’t mention that last weekend I was out until 5 a.m. and spent the days after riddled with the fear). I give them flowers and chocolate as I haven’t seen them in about six weeks. My gran gives me £20 as we’re leaving because she gave my sister the same last time she saw her and always keeps us even. Mum pays for lunch and uses a voucher; I have a chicken burger.
2 p.m. — Drop my mum off at her nail appointment in town and take her car and the shopping back to the house. My big fat cat is waiting outside for me and I feed him what is probably his sixth meal of the day so far. He’s my fav wee guy.
3 p.m. — Spend an hour or so on unpacking the shopping, TikTok and general fannying around.
4 p.m. — Mum calls for a lift so I grab her. We have an interesting conversation about money as my gran was asking me how I’m going to afford a new car (my car is only eight years old and runs incredibly well so I’ve no clue where that’s come from). I reassure both my mum and my gran that all is good, I have savings and I’ve almost paid my credit card off and still manage to have fun. My mum still worries about money to an extent because of when we were young, but I tell her not to worry about me and I think for the first time in a few years, she’s really not worried about me. Or for sure, less worried.
4:15 p.m. — We call in at M&S to get a roast chicken for tonight. I realise everyone working in there looks about 12 years old. Feel old.
5 p.m. — Chat to my pal D on the phone for a while then catch up with my dad when he gets back in from work.
7:30 p.m. — Spend the last few hours of the day on TikTok, starting dinner and catching up with my best friend G. I’m not used to this quiet Friday thing.
9 p.m. — Dinner eaten and gossip sesh with my parents done. I’m retiring to my room to read some Reddit then watch Poldark and probably end up watch some trashy doc on YouTube to fall asleep. Balance.
2 a.m. — Actually go to sleep, lol.
Total: £0
10:45 a.m. — Wake up as my mum gets back in the door from Pilates. Check up with G, then get up and get ready.
11:45 a.m. — Head out to pick up D and our other pal F and head to a greasy spoon for a late breakfast fry-up. D fills us in about the car accident she was in last week. It was a really close call and we’re lucky to still have her with us, but the way she tells us makes me laugh every time — it’s as if it’s a slight inconvenience to her. F is my only friend who is married, so ask her how it’s going. Apparently, it’s the same as it always was, except now people demand to know when she is going to have a baby. I get a mini fry-up and an Irn Bru, £10.75.
12:45 p.m. — It’s really cold in the café so we head into town as F needs to drop something off. We decide to grab a coffee and sit down. Bump into about eight different people we know including my friend and her gorgeous wee baby. Get a decaf flat white for me, latte for F and a choc fudge cake and lemon meringue tart take away for my parents, £14.80.
3:15 p.m. — Drop D and F back home and listen to the tunes en route back. Give my mum her cake and go through a bunch of clothes I took home to donate to see if she wants any, but she has the same issue as me — big boobs. Ergo she gets one measly pair of trousers and our local charity shops are going to get the rest. I do my scheduled glutes and abs workout using my mum’s weights.
6:10 p.m. —Touch base with G and fill her in on the craic from earlier. Wind her up because I can. Glutes and abs workout done and hair washed. Start to get ready for dinner while watching Supersize vs Superskinny on YouTube; oh, the nostalgia of fatphobia of the 2000s!
2:10 a.m. — I’ve only just made it in after going for a “quiet” dinner with my parents. I ended up going to the pub with my dad for a gin but bump into a load of my guy pals who had been out for the rugby. I got a round in for us for only £15.30. I don’t feel mega drunk, but deffo tipsy. It was an eventful night of catching up with the guys, and trying to wing man our pal. Mission unsuccessful.
Total: £40.85
8:10 a.m. — Wake up slightly hungover and immediately message G to fill her in on last night’s goss. Feel annoyed I’m hungover but I was drinking G&T and it clearly doesn’t react well with my PCOS. Wine is the only drink that doesn’t flare it up as bad.
10 a.m. — Head to the gym with mumsy. Half-arse my workout as I fear I will either spew or shite my pants.
11 a.m. — Update: Did not spew or shite my pants.
12 p.m. — Go for lunch with my mum and my dad joins us after his walk. It’s a beaut day that’s got me thinking I could move back up here one day. Then the hangover hits again and I realise my liver wouldn’t survive me moving back. I have a Stornoway black pudding and apple salad (they forgot to put the apple in), chips and a juice. My mum has the same, Dad has tea and a cake. I try to pay for this but Mum doesn’t let me.
1:40 p.m. — After my dad chats to about six different couples he knows, we head back to the house and I go for a disco nap.
4 p.m. — Wake up, shower and pack all my shit into the car. Take it slow due to aforementioned hangover. Worry that I’m dying. Take ibuprofen and worry less about dying.
5:45 p.m. — Head off for Glasgow via McDonald’s to get a full-fat Coke and nine nuggets to get me through the journey, £6.80.
8.30 p.m. — Finally get back to my flat in Glasgow. It was a decent journey but there were proper idiots on the road. I’m especially cautious as it’s the same road D got into an accident on last week. Nip to Tesco to grab some chicken goujons and bread as I have no food in the flat. Check in with G as she’s having a busy weekend visiting family but she’s fine. Moan to her about the state of the roads in Glasgow, £6.75.
9 p.m. — Settle into bed to watch Poldark, catch up with my best friend from uni who fell out of a hot tub last night and has a bruised arse. Weird, because I fell onto a dehumidifier (read: got thrown onto in a fit of passion) exactly a year ago and bruised my arse cheek badly.
11:55 p.m. — Put my laptop away and head to sleep; takes me about 30 minutes to fall asleep which is a win.
Total: £13.55
8:30 a.m. — Wake up easier than usual as I got a decent amount of sleep and the sun is streaming in! The seasonal depression is gone! Check my work phone and my boss wants some work over by midday so I get set up by the window and get stuck into that as it’ll take quite a while.
11:30 a.m. — Report finished and sent over. I jump into the shower quickly as I didn’t do that first thing and set about making brunch of avo toast and eggs.
1:45 p.m. — Another big chunk of admin finished. My job isn’t often this admin heavy but Monday is my designated “in the flat on my laptop” day so I’m just firing through.
2:45 p.m. —Take a quick break to reply to G and confirm I’ll give her a lift home from the airport and do a quick tidy of my living room as my work stuff has been growing arms and legs. My quarterly bill comes through from my factors; I have to pay another £3.82 on top of what I pay them every month. Transfer that even though they do fuuuuuckk alllllll.
3:45 p.m. — Finally finished my work expenses for last month. Company card = yay, admin = nay.
4:55 p.m. — Work done for the day, I head out to Pilates. I paid for this last week and decide to walk as it’s light outside and I’ve been sat on my arse all day.
6:15 p.m. — Finish up at reformer. It’s so humbling, I’ve been going consistently for a year and just when it gets easier, it gets 10 times harder. Walk home via Morrisons while arranging to catch up with another pal from home. I’m currently having to organise six weeks in advance. I’m a busy gal. I grab some groceries including steak, fish cakes, potatoes and some antibacterial clothes wash, a game-changer if your sports clothes hang onto sweat. The total comes to £34.18.
7 p.m. — Get back, shower, put on a quick dinner of fishcakes, put on a sport wash, do the dishes and tidy the flat. I’m in recovery from being a messy person so this includes trying to tidy up every day.
9 p.m. — Head out to get G.
10:45 p.m. — Back in my flat after dropping G off at hers. I jump straight into my bed to watch an episode of Poldark and aim for a pre-midnight bedtime.
11:45 p.m. — I never got the whole Aiden Turner thing when I watched Poldark when I was 19, but I really, really get it at 26.
Total: £38
8 a.m. — Struggling to get up as I kept waking up last night. I reply to some emails and plan the day. I then shower, have breakfast of a banana and some sourdough toast and then throw some makeup on.
10:45 a.m. — Head out for a meeting, about a 10-minute drive from my flat.
12:30 p.m. — Meeting done, so I drive into town. I drop in to see my friend B at her work and arrange to go for dinner. I then go to Costa and grab an Irn Bru, ham and cheese toastie and crisps for £7.05 and sit down and catch up on emails and other laptop bits.
1:30 p.m. — I was deep into writing emails and didn’t realise I’ve been singing out loud to myself while doing so. Leave soon after due to embarrassment. I pay for the parking on the company card. I usually get the train into town for work, but it’s been raining and my meetings are further out this week so car it is.
2:30 p.m. — Back at the flat after doing some more site calls. I almost lose a couple of tyres due to the state of the roads. Glasgow City Council will pay for their crimes.
4:30 p.m. — Finish up work early after having a really good phone call with my boss and prepping for tomorrow’s meeting. Head out to the gym for deadlift day.
5:30 p.m. — I’m slowly working my way up to an 80kg deadlift. Happy with today’s workout, I finish my 10k steps for the day on the treadmill. I book in for reformer Pilates next week, £17.
5:35 p.m. — See some more emails come in that need to be actioned tomorrow, but it’s all good stuff. Now I’ve been here almost a year, things have really ramped up. Reply to the 38 (!!) TikToks G sent me.
6:30 p.m. — Back in the flat. Throw fishcakes and cubed tatties in the airfryer for dinner, tidy the flat and bleach the bathroom as my mum’s coming down this weekend. She’s training to be a PT and the course is in Glasgow.
8 p.m. — Sit on my sofa watching Poldark (obvs).
10:50 p.m. — Chatting to G while she is out on a walk about money/savings/paying off credit cards/going on holiday. Currently sat looking and pricing up a trip to Mallorca in the autumn — sun is needed.
12:30 a.m. — Fall asleep after stressing about my skin having the worst acne flair up I’ve had in years.
Total: £24.05
8:40 a.m. — Wake up, shower, toast. G has transferred me £40 for her last payment towards our accommodation for our trip with D next week. I paid this all a couple of months ago, and D transferred at the time.
11:15 a.m. — I’ve been sitting doing some emails and admin and my brain is melting. I chuck some makeup on and head out to meet my colleague Z at one of our customer’s venues.
11.45 a.m. — I get two flat whites for us on the work card. I get Z’s advice on a few things and prep him for the meeting we’re about to head into. We also spend half of the time gossiping; we’re the only ones based in Scotland so we manage to miss out on a lot of the office drama.
1 p.m. — Meet with our largest customer. I’ve been chasing this contract for about seven months and we’re so close to getting it over the line. The meeting goes incredibly well, I just need to send over an updated contract and he will sign it. This is a huge win as my company have been trying to win this for years. Pat on the back for me and Z (mainly me as it’s my customer).
2 p.m. — I make it into town, grab some lunch at Caffè Nero of a panino, crisps and a smoothie, £9.05. I don’t usually get lunch out more than once a week but I’m so here and there and everywhere I forgot my lunch at home. Reply to emails and action some stuff.
3 p.m. — I’m in town and I’m feeling spendy. I drop into Space NK and get a mini of the Paula’s Choice BHA to take on work trips over the next few months and a mini Drunk Elephant cleanser, £27.10. I have a chat with the sales assistant and feel old — she’s 19 and says she can’t remember when skinny jeans were popular. Apparently mom jeans are also out. I can’t keep getting attached to jeans only to find out how uncool they are.
3:15 p.m. — Nip into Oliver Bonas, get a good luck card for my mum, a pair of gold hoops and two pairs of wee studs for myself,£56.05. Feel guilty about spending so much today but it’s within my weekly budget.
3:30 p.m. — One of my best friends from home’s baby has been born! A real-life baby!! I can’t wait to get baby cuddles when I’m home in a few months.
5 p.m. — Finish all my calls for today and head to Bloc until G arrives. We both get a hotdog, share salt and chilli tater tots and get a Coke each, £15 including a tip for my share. I drop her home the long way round and we talk shit.
9:15 p.m. — Get home, tidy, dust, shower, do skincare and use my gua shua. I hope it’ll help my face bloat which I’m 100% blaming on PCOS but I 100% know is from drinking and sodium indulgence over the past six weeks.
10 p.m. — Think about a boy (man) I really shouldn’t. Go on TikTok for a wee bit. I’m obsessed with the girl Teagan who reads out her early 2010s teenage diaries, equal parts cringe and nostalgic.
1 a.m. — Fall asleep after researching bacterial acne, dermatologists and acne specialists in Glasgow.
Total: £107.20
8:40 a.m. — Up, ready and settled in by the window in the sun and get cracked into some work. I transfer my weekly spending money to my Monzo. The new Drunk Elephant cleanser and retinol I used last night has really calmed my acne down, thank God.
11:45 a.m. —Stop to make a breakfast of avo and eggs on toast; the avo is perfectttt.
1:50 p.m. — I’m flagging today and feeling tired. Take a break from the laptop as I’m waiting for people to get back to me before I can do much else. Head out in the sun to Morrisons and pick up shower gel, shampoo, a pack of Rolos, eggs, butter and snacks for my mum, £15.69. Scarf down some Rolos on the walk back.
2:20 p.m. — Message back a couple of friends and my PT. Although I work alone, I don’t feel too lonely because I’m really trying to make an effort to keep in contact with everyone. I much prefer this as I hated working in offices with the hierarchy and drama — there has to be a high level of trust in my job, but if you’re not doing the work and not getting sales and results, it shows. Some days, like today, are quieter but some weeks I can do 12 or more hours over my contract with meetings, events and travel. But I don’t mind because I genuinely love my team, my job and the industry.
2:50 p.m. — Get off the phone with my boss and send over the updated contract to the customer from yesterday. Get slightly annoyed at changing of procedures which means I can’t really shout about the win because it was slyly done under the old process (me and my boss can 100% support this decision if it causes an issue). Send a four-minute voice note to G to get the irritation out of my system. That’s the only thing I miss about working in an office — walking to the next desk and grumbling to one of my colleagues.
5:50 p.m. — Finish work for the day and make a chicken wrap then scroll Reddit for a bit to make myself feel more normal about my own life.
6:30 p.m. — My mum arrives and she dumps her stuff then we head back to her car and I drive us out to where she needs to go for her course starting tomorrow. She’s not used to city driving whereas I’m constantly driving down here, so it helps put her mind at ease.
8:10 p.m. — Get back to the flat, have a quick dinner from picky bits in the fridge and I get ready for bed and settle in to watch Outlander. Just kidding, it’s Poldark. Although Outlander is far better. My mum goes to read her Kindle.
11:45 p.m. — Head to sleep after messaging G back and forth for the past hour.
Total: £15.69
Food & Drink: £135.37
Clothes & Beauty: £83.15
Home & Health: £17
Entertainment: £0
Travel: £0
Other: £3.82
Total: £239.34
Conclusion
“I would say this is a pretty average week for me. I’ve been non-stop the last six months with travel for work, so although there were no big work travel days, I was still busy with admin and personal life. A couple of other expenses like getting my hair done or filling my car up didn’t fall in this week but are things I have to factor in. I would spend way less on eating out in weeks I had to pay out for them. I also don’t eat out quite this much, it’s just the way this week has been! I’ve gotten way better at not buying new clothes, or mindlessly spending on beauty and hair stuff, but my skin is so bad just now that I wanted a pick me up. I also didn’t have a huge blow-out night out this week, which could happen two to four times a month, but I’m trying to cut down on the drinking as it’s just such an expense. This was a week of me being very well behaved and I’m glad to see that my spending is generally more mindful than it has been in the last few years. But I recognise I am very fortunate to own my own place, and to be on a pretty high salary for my age — I never ever take these things for granted.”
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
I Wrote A Money Diary While Working On A Yacht