This week: “I’m a 24-year-old construction buyer living in the northwest. I have been in this role since I left college at 16 and have had a couple of promotions and pay rises to get me where I am today. I have completed my HNC (a construction course), which the company paid for. I moved in with my boyfriend, L, a year ago after we’d been together for four years. L is currently having a career transition and earns less than me. However, we go 50/50 on all household bills, while I like to treat him to new clothes and the occasional meal out as I prefer spending my money on others than on myself. We are both money-savvy, keeping track of our spending and savings, and giving ourselves a monthly allowance to be spent on whatever we like. I love to travel and try to fit in two or three holidays throughout the year, when I can find good deals. I like to exercise and eat out but also love a cosy night in.”
Occupation: Buyer
Industry: Construction
Age: 24
Location: Northwest
Salary: £41,000
Paycheque amount: £2,646
Number of housemates: One: my boyfriend, L.
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: We split our mortgage 50/50 so my half is £550.
Loan payments: £0
Savings? I have £6,000 in an easy access account with different categories which I keep track of in an Excel spreadsheet e.g. car insurance, holiday pot. I also have £8,000 in a Vanguard stocks and shares ISA, which I pay into each month.
Pension? I have a pension pot that currently has £13.5k in. It is an investment pension, which means that I can split the money into different funds with different risk factors, which I did at the start. Of the £13.5k, £2k is due to gaining value on the investment. I pay in 5% while my employer pays in 4%.
Utilities: £34 gas and electricity, £19.50 broadband, £8 water, £113 council tax for my half, this is split 50/50 with L.
All other monthly payments: £20.30 phone, £19.95 dentist, £0.99 iCloud, £15.99 gym, £4 running club, £5.17 life insurance. Subscriptions: £8.30 Spotify, £6 postcode lottery, £5 window cleaner — both shared with L.
8:30 a.m. — I wake up naturally on a Sunday. Laze about in bed for half an hour before getting up and going downstairs. My boyfriend, L, makes a coffee while I catch up reading the news.
11 a.m. — Head to brunch with L and his parents and sister. Me and L’s sister discuss the latest reality TV and books we want to read. Next on my list is the ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses) series. The meal comes to £14.25 for my half.
12:35 p.m. — As we finally have some sun, L and I decide to go on a bike ride. I bought myself a bike and have only managed to go on it a couple of times, thanks to the lovely British weather we have.
2:15 p.m. — Stop off at our local pub. I get a Pepsi while L has a beer. L pays.
6:30 p.m. — After lounging about all afternoon, watching TV and scrolling social media, I make a start on tonight’s tea, which is steak, onion rings, broccoli and patatas bravas.
7:15 p.m. — L does the dishes while I meal prep. I usually meal prep three days in advance as I can sometimes be on a construction site visit and also WFH for one day of the week. This week’s meal prep is a mince pasta.
9 p.m. — Watch TV as L half-watches it and half-plays on his PS5 portal next to me. We discuss our work calendar for the week and plans for exercise.
10:30 p.m. — Brush my teeth and read until I fall asleep around 11:15 p.m.
Total: £14.25
6:20 a.m. — Alarm goes off. Snooze for 15 minutes before rushing around to leave as I’m the type of person who has to get up and go.
7:30 a.m. — Arrive at work. It is around a 25-minute drive and the traffic has been good recently. Log on and catch up on emails.
11 a.m. — Snack on a banana and some crisps. Usually I don’t have breakfast as I find as soon as I start eating, I am hungry all the time. Book mine and L’s travel insurance for our holiday in two weeks’ time, £10.11 for my half.
12:30 p.m. — Head to the kitchen with a few colleagues to have my pasta with a Coke Zero and some fruit. Lunchtime seems to go way too quickly when you always have some new work gossip.
3 p.m. — Come out of an hour-and-a-half meeting with one of our suppliers that we have been having a few issues with. The meeting went well and hopefully it will kick off some changes that are needed. It is one of the busiest times in the year so it was important to discuss what we need from this supplier.
4:35 p.m. — Head out on a run as soon as I am home from work otherwise I won’t do it. 5km speed session done and dusted in 27 minutes.
5:07 p.m. — Spontaneously decide to head out on another bike ride with L. Can you tell we have seen some sun? Slightly different route from yesterday but I love that it’s mostly greenery and trails that I haven’t been down before.
6:45 p.m. — Get started on dinner. Bread some chicken and serve with rice, broccoli and katsu sauce. L washes the dishes while I journal and catch up on my money admin.
9 p.m. — Snack on some wine gums and watch an episode of Presumed Innocent on Apple TV.
10:30 p.m. — Brush my teeth and read in bed before falling asleep.
Total: £10.11
6:20 a.m. — Alarm goes off and I snooze for 10 minutes before waking up to L giving me a kiss and saying goodbye.
7:20 a.m. — Arrive at work and log on. I am one of the early starters as I find that starting earlier and being able to leave earlier allows me to beat the traffic. It means I still have half the day left when I get home.
11 a.m. — Work has been really busy, sorting out different issues such as moving around materials to other sites and deliveries not turning up or turning up wrong. Snack on a banana and some crisps while trying to keep up with my emails.
12:30 p.m. — Head out on a lunch walk with my colleagues. We have been working together for a few years and are similar in age. It is nice to get out of the office and make the most of the weather.
2 p.m. — Grab my can of Coke Zero and Aero chocolate bar I brought from home. I can’t stop snacking at the moment. I am trying to eat healthier as I am going on holiday in a few weeks but with all the running I’m doing I am bound to be hungrier.
4:35 p.m. — Head out on a 10km run. Tuesdays are usually my long run and I aim to do 12-15km but my body isn’t feeling it this afternoon with the warmer weather and the long bike rides we have done the past couple of days.
6:15 p.m. — Make a start on dinner while L nips to the shop to buy some snacks, he pays. I follow a few food pages on Instagram to get ideas and decide on hunter’s sausage hot dogs with sweet potato fries. L cleans up while I do the usual of reading the news and scrolling social media.
8 p.m. — Sit in front of the TV with the snacks L bought while scrolling on my phone.
10:15 p.m. — Head up to bed to read.
Total: £0
5:50 a.m. — Head out for a morning 5km run. As the weather is getting nicer, it is easier to run in the mornings when it isn’t as hot.
7:30 a.m. — Arrive at work and have a scroll on LinkedIn before checking my emails.
11 a.m. — Have some crisps and rice cakes as my mid-morning snack. I try to avoid the chocolate muffins that a supplier has brought in. Manage it successfully.
12:30 p.m. — Have my lunch with the usual Coke Zero and buy some Laura Mercier Translucent Powder as I have run out. Manage to find it for £27.99 with a 15% discount code. I hardly ever buy makeup so this should last me for the year.
4:55 p.m. — Head out into the garden with L to do a HIIT workout with kettlebells. The sun is shining and we both can’t be bothered but manage 35 minutes. I love exercising and it gives me an excuse to snack on sweets and chocolate.
6 p.m. — Make a start on tea. Find a recipe on Instagram for sausage pasta bake that seems simple enough to cook. Afterwards I ask L how it was and he says “alright” — usually he is a fan of my meals. L washes the pots once we are done.
8 p.m. — A new show has come out on Apple TV so I watch that with L next to me on his PS5 portal, while snacking on chocolate buttons and Skittles.
10:15 p.m. — Head up to bed to read until L joins me at 10:45 p.m.
Total: £27.99
6:20 a.m. — Alarm goes off. Snooze for 15 minutes.
7:30 a.m. — Arrive at work and have the usual early morning chat.
10:45 a.m. — Have a banana while reading the remortgage documents I have been sent. We are due to renew for the first time and it is slightly confusing.
1 p.m. — Eat lunch outside and buy some wine gums from the shop, £1.25. I receive an email about a sweets advent calendar that is going on pre-sale for Christmas. I love sweets and had this calendar last year so I repurchase for this year, £24.99.
4:25 p.m. — Head to Lidl to do the food shop. I do it on a Thursday as before L changed careers, he would only be home on the weekends and I didn’t want to waste the time we had together doing the food shop. It also stops us from ordering takeaways on the weekend, £37 for my half.
6:30 p.m. — Leave for run club. I joined a run club last year to socialise more and it helps me get out no matter what the weather is like. I can also run there as it isn’t too far away.
8 p.m. — Home after a 10km run. It was a trail run, which I found hard as my hay fever hasn’t calmed down so my nose didn’t stop running. Have a Hawaiian pizza while L has a meat feast before watching some TV.
11 p.m. — Teeth and bed.
Total: £62.24
7:20 a.m. — Wake up to puffy eyes and a snotty nose thanks to hay fever. Today I am WFH so I get up and dressed before leaving for my doctor’s appointment at 8:30 a.m. Park outside the doctor’s, free parking for one hour.
9:10 a.m. — Home after my appointment and nipping to the pharmacy and B&M to buy some shower gel, £1. I have been referred for a scan but I’m not too worried.
11:50 a.m. — Head out for a 5km lunch run after a busy morning catching up on emails.
12:45 p.m. — Have a Coke Zero and a knock-off Greggs sausage, bean and cheese melt that I bought from Lidl in the food shop yesterday. L is also WFH so joins me for 15 minutes before heading back up to his office.
2:45 p.m. — I feel hungry so grab a Jive bar. A lot of my work is speaking to the guys on site, sorting out any supplier issues or ordering materials that they email in. It has been a busy few weeks so I am grateful that today is a slightly slower day and allows me to catch up on admin.
4 p.m. — Log off for the week. The company finishes earlier on a Friday so my weekend starts earlier. I decide to do a kettlebell HIIT workout in the garden. Usually I would wait until L finishes at 5 p.m. but I want to get it over and done with.
5:30 p.m. — Tonight’s tea is chicken alfredo with cheesy garlic bread. As always, I cook and L cleans.
7:30 p.m. — Grab a bag of Skittles and Pepsi Max to snack on. Once I start I can’t stop and demolish nearly the whole pack. My friend comes round and we catch up.
11 p.m. — My friend leaves and I head up to bed.
Total: £1
9 a.m. — Wake up after a lovely nine hours of sleep. I do a lot of exercise in the week so like to catch up on sleep on a Saturday. Me and L have a bit of adult time then head downstairs for the usual coffee and reading the news.
10 a.m. — Start a house clean. There are some places that haven’t been touched since we moved in so get stuck into doing all of those plus skirting boards, mirrors etc.
11:30 a.m. — Bike ride after L’s mum and dad pop round for a quick visit. We are lucky that both our families only live 10 minutes from our houses. It’s a nice day and we’ll probably stop for lunch on the way.
12:15 p.m. — 6km later and we’re at the first stop: the pub. I get a chicken burger and L gets a beef burger, both with Diet Coke, £13 for my half.
3:45 p.m. — After a two-hour bike ride along the canal, I grab a shower and a Diet Coke and chill in the garden.
5:45 p.m. — Stick the football on and have a picky tea of pizza, sausage rolls, croquettes and chicken wings.
11 p.m. — After an evening of chilling out, I head up to bed.
Total: £13
Food & Drink: £90.49
Clothes & Beauty: £27.99
Home & Health: £1
Entertainment: £0
Travel: £10.11
Other: £0
Total: £129.59
Conclusion
“I would say this is a pretty standard spending week. I only fill up fuel every 10 days and didn’t need to this week, although I do have a set amount each month for my fuel, which I account for at the start of the month. I also bought some makeup, which I hardly ever do. It should last me for the year so that’s a one-off purchase and not something I am spending money on every week. Keeping a diary has made me realise that most of my weekly spend does go on food and eating out, which is one thing I enjoy and allows for quality time with friends and family. Although I track my monthly spend, it is good to learn what I am spending on a weekly basis.”
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