This week: “I’m a 24-year-old audit senior associate, working for a big accounting firm in London. I’ve been doing the job for five and a half years, after joining as a school leaver at 18. It might seem like a bit of a rogue choice to become an accountant that young but I was able to get my ACA qualification and level 7 apprenticeship (equivalent to a master’s) while working full-time and receiving a full salary. I’m starting to see what else is out there in the world of work now that I have a few solid years of experience under my belt.
A month ago I bought a flat on my own and with interest rates so high, it was a huge financial change. However, it’s been so lovely to give my two cats enough space to properly play. I’d been paying London rent for two years but I was lucky enough to have cheapish rent with bills included so paying a mortgage and bills is a big change! In terms of money, I have the stress levels of a saver but the impulses of a spender. I’m trying to learn how to spend responsibly while also having money for bills and the mortgage (very non-negotiable), which is a learning curve from previously, when I was able to save way more every month.”
Occupation: Audit senior associate
Industry: Accounting/finance
Age: 24
Location: London
Salary: £57,100
Paycheque amount: £3,450 after tax
Number of housemates: Two cats (J and V)
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £1,280 in mortgage payments for my two-bedroom flat. I moved in last month and can’t afford to overpay at the moment, so paying the minimum.
Pension? I have a pension through my employer, which I contribute 5% to, or £224.82 monthly, pre-tax. I’m very lucky that my work puts 7.5% in. I had to reduce my pension contributions in September last year because everything was getting very expensive. I appreciate why I need a pension but it does feel like it would be nice to have that money now.
Loan payments: I pay off my Amex monthly, normally between £500-1,000 at the end of the month. I put all my food shops, travel and fuel on there.
Savings? £6,000 main savings, £335 car insurance pot, £190 holiday savings, £80 fun savings.
Utilities: £65 water (which seems insanely expensive), £35 electricity on a prepayment meter, £0 on internet as I don’t yet have any.
All other monthly payments: £24 phone, £18.12 dental insurance (worth every penny as someone having quite a lot of dental work done). Subscriptions: £10.99 Spotify, £7.99 Disney+, £9.99 Amazon Prime, £8.99 Apple storage.
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
I joined a higher apprenticeship programme when I was 18 so I had no student loans. Frankly, the thought of the debt that university would put me into was a huge contributing factor for why I decided not to go! I had a place to study midwifery and sometimes I wonder how my life would have gone if I’d taken that path.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
Money in my house growing up was always a deeply stressful topic. Being raised by a single mother who worked part-time as a receptionist, money was always tight and I was always very aware of it. There were not many sensible conversations about living within your means or budgeting but there was a constant undercurrent of anxiety. The fear of not having money for rent or food or new school shoes has definitely followed me into adulthood.
If you have, when did you move out of your parents’/guardians’ house?
I moved out a number of times due to a bad relationship when I was very young. I left at 19 and came back multiple times until 22. I have just moved into my own little two-bedroom flat (it’s really 1.5 bedrooms but I’m feeling generous) so I’m enjoying my own space for the first time in my life.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
I started working when I was 18 and started to cover all my own costs but benefited from only having to pay my mum £150 a month in rent. When I moved in with previously mentioned awful boyfriend, we split all our mortgage and bills 50/50. Moving out (for the third time) when I was 22 was the first time when it was just me.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I was a swimming teacher when I was 13, which I loved and still miss to this day. I started on £12 an hour and got a pay rise of £1 each term, which wasn’t bad for a teenager and which mostly went to Forever 21 (RIP). I then became a lifeguard when I was 16.
Do you worry about money now?
Always! I find a lot of my time and energy is spent stressing on how much I am spending day to day, which hasn’t been helped by me buying property alone.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
My brother’s dad (it’s complicated) lent me £5,000 while I was buying the flat. This isn’t something which I expected to need but as mortgage rates rose, it was a desperate situation. I appreciate how lucky I was to be able to borrow this much and intend on paying it all back.
7 a.m. — Wake up, against my will, to drag myself into the office. We have our quarterly meeting this morning — I’m presenting a section on working with ADHD, which ironically I have not prepped yet. Rush through my normal morning routine before running out of the door at 8 a.m. Wait 15 minutes for my bus so the rush was completely unnecessary.
10:30 a.m. — Presentation done. It was very nerve-wracking to get up to discuss something so personal but I’m glad it’s over and I can daydream through the rest of the (very long) meeting.
12 p.m. — Meeting over and back to my desk. The charity committee has put on a bake sale to raise money for St Catherine’s Hospice and while I can’t eat any of it (I’m coeliac), I donate anyway, £2.
12:30 p.m. — Eat a particularly bleak salad for lunch. It’s redeemed by the sun coming out for the first time in weeks and the fact I’ve saved money by bringing it from home. Eat outside and feel grateful.
4:30 p.m. — Feel in desperate need of a little afternoon snack so run to the shop in the station to grab a bag of Wotsits, £1.49. Major con of living in central London is the cost of…everything.
6 p.m. — Show incredible restraint and decide to head home instead of joining a few of my colleagues at the pub. Jump on my first train home, then switch to my second, then finally onto my bus. £14.60 total travel cost for the day.
7 p.m. — Arrive home and after an agonising four hours trying to decide what to have for dinner, settle on a really boring omelette with chips. It’s not satisfying and I’m briefly depressed about my day of boring food.
8 p.m. — Jump in the bath (my favourite self-care treat) and book a swim for later in the week, £6.85. I used to swim a lot when I was young but have fallen off over the last five or so years since I started bleaching my hair. I went last week and enjoyed it so much that I’m going to try and reintroduce swimming once a week.
8:30 p.m. — Get out of the bath and see that’s it’s a beautiful evening. Throw on some joggers and go for a quick walk to make the most of it.
10 p.m. — Skincare, brush teeth and jump into bed, where I doomscroll for an hour before putting my phone down and going to sleep.
Total: £24.94
2 a.m. — I’m awoken by my cat, J, sitting on my chest and meowing into my ear.
7 a.m. — Woken again by J meowing at ear-shattering levels of volume to be let out. I’m really trying to teach him that meowing at the door won’t get him anything so ignore for an hour. My second cat, V, is characteristically an angel and naps through the carnage.
8:30 a.m. — Leave the house in a rush (as per) and walk the 10 minutes to my bus/train commute. It’s an absolutely beautiful day. I made the bold decision to leave my jumper at home and it’s paying off — I feel warm!
1 p.m. — After a really long morning of boring meetings, I’m finally free to go for my lunch run. Run around St James’s Park and see loads of baby ducks, which is a win. I get my second fastest 5k time, another win!
2 p.m. — Back to more boring meetings. I’m feeling really frustrated with my job at the moment and feel as if I’m stagnating so I have a quick call with a recruiter to start to look at some other options. I lack a lot of confidence so it’s a big step to even do this. Shoot him over a draft CV and feel apprehensive.
6 p.m. — I decide to give up for the day and head home. Because I’m feeling so frustrated, I don’t feel any motivation to work long hours. Train, train, bus, walk home. £14.60 for the whole day’s travel.
7 p.m. — Arrive home and stick a jacket potato in the air fryer. My mum bought it for me as a housewarming gift (the air fryer, not the jacket potato) and it has changed my life. I literally never use the oven anymore and it’s a lifesaver. Fry some pancetta, microwave some beans and grate some cheese for a dinner of champions. At the last minute, I shove some garlic bread in the air fryer as an extra carby treat. Eat dinner while watching Desperate Housewives.
10 p.m. — Skincare, teeth and bed. I rot for only 45 minutes before putting my phone down and getting to sleep.
Total: £14.60
7:15 a.m. — Woken up before the alarm by J, who is trying to cuddle me from inside my skin. He’s been very cuddly recently, which is bizarre because he’s always been shut in my room with me at night and has never been so affectionate (both J and V are indoor cats due to health conditions). Try to appease him with a few scratches while trying to get back to sleep. Limited meows at the door today, though!
8:20 a.m. — Drag myself out of bed, resigned to the fact I am going to be late to the office again (thank god for flexible working). Check Strava and note that every person I know has gone for a run at 6 a.m., a time which I have been awake at maybe twice in my life. If anyone has any tips for becoming a morning person, please help me.
11:45 a.m. — Book a ticket to an event I’m planning to go to at the weekend, £8. I’m trying to be really strict about spending money out this month. Last month I put loads of drinks on my credit card and current account, rather than on the account that I use for social spending, so I decide to pre-drink and not buy any drinks out.
1 p.m. — Have my halloumi salad, which I prepped last night. It feels less sad today but the apple I picked up from the canteen (we get free fruit instead of a bonus) is depressingly soft and I can’t stomach it. Walk to Sainsbury’s and grab some watermelon, £2.50. Eat the watermelon at my desk and feel better — hanger hits me hard.
4 p.m. — Feel bleak about my job and take a look at my CV again. Manage to crack through quite a bit of work so I feel a bit less frustrated by the end of the day.
6 p.m. — Leave work and realise I’ve forgotten to buy face wash and new eyeliner AGAIN so walk to the Boots in the station. They have my eyeliner but no skincare. Buy the eyeliner, £9.99, and then walk to Superdrug for the face wash. Luckily, they’re selling a bundle of face wash and moisturiser so I get a moisturiser for free, £18.95.
6:15 p.m. — Feel smug and make my way home, £14.60 for transport.
7.30 p.m. — Get home and make the most beige meal imaginable for dinner and enjoy every second of it. Spend the evening doing housework (washing up, ironing, putting clean clothes away, cat-related cleaning), which is boring but I feel better for doing it. Consider what to wear to the Taylor Swift concert I’m going to soon and panic that I have no ideas.
Total: £54.04
7.30 a.m. — Not woken up by a cat this morning! Feel more rested today and ready for another day in the office. I don’t normally do four in a row and I’m buzzing that this is my last one. Text my mum, who I’m seeing tonight, to remind her to bring her drill. I’ve become a DIY girlie since I moved into the flat and I need to wall-mount my TV.
9.15 a.m. — Receive an email that my sports insurance will auto-renew at the end of the month and realise, with sinking horror, that I will need to phone them to cancel. I used to teach pole fitness for a local studio but I recently stopped. Luckily, the phone call is painless and the auto-renewal is cancelled in less than five minutes (girl math is counting that at £80 coming in!).
11 a.m. — Have a meeting which solidifies the fact I don’t understand the client or the work we’re doing. Feel really lost, which is uncharacteristic for me because I’ve been doing this job for five and a half years so generally can pick up these things really quickly.
12:30 p.m. — It’s run day! Drag myself out for a 5.5k “easy” run and wade through the 100 million tourists out today. Feel much better once runner’s high sets in.
6:20 p.m. — Finish work and leave the office to go and meet my mum. We are going to a live recording of a radio show. It’s not something I’d necessarily choose to do myself but the tickets were free and I haven’t seen my mum in a few weeks. Walk to a pasta shop to grab some dinner on the way but they are sold out of gluten-free pasta.
6:45 p.m. — Find a Sainsbury’s Local to grab a snack to reduce the hunger I’m feeling. Buy some Hula Hoops and a Fanta, £3.10. As I leave Sainsbury’s, I see a Coco di Mama across the street. They do have gluten-free pasta and I grab a carbonara, £7.95, which I eat as I walk to the radio show.
8:30 p.m. — Leave the radio studio after quite a lovely time!
9 p.m. — Get a Tube, train, train and bus home today, £14.60.
10 p.m. — Shower, do my skincare, brush my teeth and straight to bed.
Total: £25.65
7 a.m. — Awoken by both meowing and cuddles today. Try to ignore it and get back to sleep because today is finally a work from home day and I plan on making full use of it.
8:55 a.m. — Wake up again. Get out of bed and realise that J has chewed through my prescription goggles. Fantastic. Order some more and hope they’ll arrive within the next 48 hours, £22.
12:30 p.m. — Grab lunch of baked beans on toast and quickly eat before getting back to work. Feeling some deadline pressure today, which is actually fantastic because I’m now productive. My friend B texts saying she’s not feeling well so won’t make our plans tonight. I’m sad I won’t see her but secretly relieved I can spend the evening at home before going out tomorrow night.
5:30 p.m. — Finish work for the long weekend and feel absolutely buzzing! The extra day off work has never been needed more. Decide to go on my long run this evening as I’m out all day tomorrow.
7 p.m. — Back from my 12k run and feel so proud of myself for finishing it. I’ve been working towards the 12k for about a month now so glad to finally reach it. Start to consider what my next running goal should be!
8 p.m. — Make a carb-heavy dinner of a pizzette (basically a small pizza), chips and some Yorkshire puddings I had left in the fridge. Hits the spot perfectly. I run a bath to extend the Friday evening bliss.
9 p.m. — Have a minor moment of madness and decide to cut my hair. Hack at it with no real technique or plan until it is all just below my shoulders. I’ve done a less than ideal job on my bangs but the rest of it doesn’t look bad at all! I have really curly hair naturally, which covers a multitude of haircutting sins. I also can’t see the back so that is none of my business. Feel smug about saving £60. Watch Desperate Housewives and do some light housework before getting into bed to read Daisy Jones & the Six again.
12 a.m. — Bed.
Total: £22
7:30 a.m. — Wake up too early and decide to rot in bed for a while.
9.45 a.m. — Weekly food shop time! Spend £63.70, which is higher than usual because I picked up some vodka for this evening. I also had to stock up on Pepsi Max — I buy a 24-pack every three and a half weeks.
10:30 a.m. — Nip into TK Maxx to grab socks and earrings — all the socks I own are trainer socks and it’s come to my attention that these are not cool so I’m on the lookout for some more. Come out with socks, snake earrings (very Reputation vibes), a new Beautyblender and some crocodile hair clips, £24.96.
11:30 a.m. — Start getting ready for my day/night out. The plan is to head to my friend R’s flat with another friend, S, and plan for our trip to Thailand, which is in six months’ time. We’re then going out with a few of S’s friends. I feel very excited.
1 p.m. — Ready to go and jump on the bus to catch my train, £5.95 travel for the whole day. Listen to The Tortured Poets Department on my way there.
2 p.m. — Arrive at R’s flat and have a lovely few hours planning our route around Thailand and having a gossip with R’s flatmates.
6 p.m. — R has made jelly shots in advance of us coming over and we play some drinking games before having a mini photoshoot and blasting some old school hits. I receive a text from a situationship, D, asking if I’m out tonight. I’m excited to hear from him because he is in the military and isn’t in London a whole lot.
10 p.m. — Head to the club. We have tickets so we need to be in before 11 p.m.
11 p.m. — The club is absolutely rammed and it’s impossible to get to the bar or dance. Spend some time chatting in the smoking area before receiving a call from D to see where I am. Feel relieved that I can leave but feel bad about leaving the girls. As I go to say goodbye, I see R kissing one of S’s friends and feel less bad about leaving.
12:15 a.m. — Grab an Uber to go and meet D, £18.92.
1 a.m. — Find D and we decide to go to a different club. Jump on the bus with his friend but as soon as we arrive, decide we want to go home (sorry, D’s friend). D grabs us an Uber back to his Airbnb.
Total: £113.53
7:30 a.m. — Wake up ridiculously early, with last night’s makeup on, contacts in (I know, this is awful) and unbrushed teeth. Feel absolutely vile but enjoy D’s presence and have a lazy morning.
10:15 a.m. — Leave D’s in last night’s dress and do the most obvious walk of shame ever. Have to catch two buses to get home, £3.50 total. On my way to the bus stop, I stop at a newsagent’s to buy the holy trinity of hangover cures: a chocolate milkshake, a Lucozade and a Fanta, £4.38.
11:45 a.m. — Make it home and have to rush around to leave for my swim, which I optimistically booked for 12 p.m. when I was sober earlier in the week. I don’t feel too hungover because my last drink was at around 11pm last night, just more generally gross. Quickly brush my teeth, change and wash my face before heading out the door.
12:10 a.m. — Arrive only 10 minutes late for my swim, which isn’t bad. Being in the water brings me back to life and I do an easy 40 lengths. They would have been easier if I’d had goggles and my eyes sting as I’m swimming.
1 p.m. — Head home and microwave some nachos for lunch (basic AF but required) before heading out to meet my mum for a dog walk.
2 p.m. — Meet my mum, who is horrified by the hickey I haven’t covered well enough on my neck. Feel ashamed but manage to cover it with my hair and hoodie for the rest of the day. Go on a 4k walk and I mostly chat as my mum has a sore throat.
3 p.m. — Ring my nan to see if she and my grandpa are up for visitors. My grandpa is very unwell and we are all working under the assumption that these will be his last few weeks. He’s having a good day so me and my mum head over. I’ve always had a really complicated relationship with this side of the family as they aren’t my biological grandparents but we have a lovely hour looking at old photos with my nan as my grandpa naps. I’ve been very reluctant to go over, out of fear mostly, but feel so glad that I did.
5 p.m. — Arrive home and immediately crash. Make a poor man’s roast of chipolatas, roast potatoes and Yorkshires. Have a shower and read a little more of Daisy Jones before crawling into bed. Force myself to do my skincare as penance for last night and floss extra thoroughly, too.
9 p.m. — Fall asleep, where I remain for 15 hours.
Total: £7.88
Food & Drink: £85.12
Clothes & Beauty: £53.90
Home & Health: £6.85
Entertainment: £8
Travel: £86.77
Other: £22
Total: £262.64
Conclusion
“Looking at the total, I feel a little bit panicked because it’s a lot of money but I don’t really feel like I spent anything extortionate. Normally, I would be spending more on nights out but I’m trying to be really strict this month as it’s the spend I think can be the most reduced. I really enjoyed keeping the diary because it kept me so accountable throughout the week. It made me make sure I was spending consciously rather than throwing £10 on random bits every day.”
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