Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last penny.
This week: “I’m a 30-year-old programme manager working at a university and living in south Wales. I moved here for university and never went back home to the Midlands. I enjoy my job as it is rewarding and I have a very good work-life balance — I highly recommend working in higher education for the great annual leave and other perks.
My partner, D, and I bought our first home 18 months ago, having been together for five years, and were lucky to secure a low interest rate for five years at 3%. With regards to money, I would say I’m naturally cautious and more of a saver. Nothing gives me more of a thrill than a great yellow sticker reduction in the supermarket!
My mum passed away just over 18 months ago and grief really does affect every aspect of your life. I attempted to be ‘busy’ all the time, used clothes shopping and spending as a distraction and quick dopamine fix, and effectively stopped caring about my finances. I am more aware of this now and have severely curbed the shopping habit and tried to face my grief. I’ve also had some counselling (both private and via my workplace), though I’ve paused that for now.
Until recently, money was quite tight as I was the breadwinner and covered most bills while D was working part-time. He’s now back in a full-time role so we contribute equally and can start thinking about long-term things we’d like to do together like getting married or renovating the house. For now, we really enjoy our nice little life with our cats.”
Occupation: Programme manager
Industry: Higher education
Age: 30
Location: South Wales
Salary: £40,521
Paycheque amount: £2,496.35. Each month I pay £750 into savings and £850 into our joint bills account, which also covers food and fuel.
Number of housemates: One: my partner, D. We have two cats, T and S.
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £701.29 mortgage.
Loan payments: £80 towards my student loan (unlikely to be ever paid off…).
Savings? £2,382 in an instant savings account, £700 in joint savings and £21,000 in an ISA. I’ve just opened a stocks and shares ISA with Monzo and I’m planning to put £50 to £100 in that a month, but there’s just £5 in there currently. I have a ‘save the change’ setting on my debit account that rounds up what I spend to the nearest £1 and transfers it to your savings. It probably works out at about £30 a month and I barely notice it.
Pension? I contribute 6.1% of my salary and my employer contributes 14.5% but I have no idea how much I’ve saved. I did consolidate some of my pensions a few years ago as I’ve moved jobs several times.
Utilities: £26.20 broadband, £240 water (every six months), £70-£170 gas and electric (we’re on a variable rate), £161 council tax.
All other monthly payments: £4.24 boiler cover, £15 life insurance (for both of us), £28 pet insurance, £14.13 TV licence, £38 phone contract. Subscriptions: £16.82 private dental plan, £11.99 Spotify Premium, £2 Disney+ (my friend’s account; I send a contribution), £4.99 Netflix Basic, £11.30 TOTM sanitary products (bimonthly subscription).
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, I studied a three-year undergraduate degree. I was part of the first cohort of students to be charged £9k tuition fees back in 2012 and the cost felt quite intimidating at the time, though you’re not charged upfront. Due to coming from a low-income household, I was eligible for the maximum maintenance grants and loans, including a £500 bursary from my university when I volunteered abroad for a month. Fortunately I didn’t need to work during my degree as living costs were low in my city, but I topped myself up with summer jobs and one-off paid jobs like open days or taking part in research studies.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
My mum and dad had an extremely cautious attitude to money and were big savers. They both grew up with very little and were keen to ensure that I grew up with everything I needed. Both were very wary of debt and instilled in me the importance of saving and being sensible, and I saved money from a young age. Mum never spent any money on herself and put the child benefit she received into a savings account for me. I was quite aware that I didn’t have some experiences that my friends had, like going on regular holidays abroad or eating out, but I never went without and my parents saved hard for everything we had. Now I have my own money, I LOVE going out to eat and travelling but I try to adopt a measured approach as well.
If you have, when did you move out of your parents’/guardians’ house?
I left for university when I was 19 and only came home in the summer between my first and second year. I moved out properly when I was 22, when I moved in with my ex and got my first full-time job working in event management.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
I’ve worked full-time since I was 22 and have been financially responsible since then. My parents have always been there for me and I know they would help if I needed it but I’ve never gone to them about anything. They wouldn’t have tolerated irresponsible financial behaviour, either.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
When I was 16 I did some work experience at an estate agent in my local village and they offered me a paid weekend job doing admin and filing. It was a good first experience in an office environment. I was only paid £5 an hour but it felt like a fortune.
Do you worry about money now?
Yes, though on paper I’m doing well and earning more money than my parents ever did in minimum wage or cash-in-hand jobs. However, I’m so painfully aware of how much things cost. My partner and I manage fine month by month, but I wonder how we will manage if we decide to get married, have a child or need to upgrade our 10-year-old car or do work on our house (which is already a doer-upper). I can’t understand how people have thousands of pounds to put towards these things.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
Yes, my mum passed away in 2022 and I received £15k in her will, which I still have in my savings and haven’t touched. When I was younger, my mum received £10k unexpectedly after her uncle passed away and she put £5k of that into a savings account for me as well. I have always been grateful that she did everything she could to make sure I was looked after and set up for my own life.
6:30 a.m. — My partner, D, is up to feed two very hungry cats. He comes back to bed for a cuddle and makes me a cup of tea.
8:30 a.m. — I put on some old clothes and head out into the garden to do some weeding while listening to a podcast. It’s been so nice having our own garden after being in a rented flat, although I know nothing about gardening and it was so overgrown when we moved in. It’s been a big learning curve! This year we have cut back loads of the weeds and planted more things. It’s so nice to see what has actually grown but I wouldn’t say I’ve got any green fingers.
11 a.m. — Jump in the shower and nip to Lidl to do a food shop for the week. Lidl and Aldi are equal distance from me but the temptation of the Lidl bakery — yum! Spend £70.22 on our weekly shop, which includes halloumi, chicken, part-baked baguettes, sausages, ice lollies, milk, cereal, puff pastry, flatbread, ham, a loaf of bread, yoghurt, bananas, apples, berries, salad bits, cheese, pasta sauce, cat litter, kitchen cleaner, a couple of ready meals, a pizza, a jar of curry and some bakery croissants for breakfast.
1 p.m. — D’s family has invited us for a spontaneous Sunday dinner as his sister’s boyfriend is over for the weekend so we drive for half an hour to a pub. I have roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and D’s family kindly pays. Afterwards we pop over to their house for a cuppa. We get a McFlurry on the way back, which D pays for.
6 p.m. — Back home to feed the cats. We finish watching Severance — what a great show and what a cliffhanger at the end!
7 p.m. — I put on a face mask as I’ve been breaking out more than usual recently. I scroll on Vinted and buy a pair of hardly worn leopard print flats for £7.11 including delivery. Vinted is so hit and miss but it’s great when you find a good bargain.
8 p.m. — Give the kitchen a quick clean before the new week. I LOVE watching those Sunday reset cleaning videos and though my cleaning schedule isn’t that rigid or disciplined, it does feel good to be ready for a new week.
10 p.m. — Start a new book, Good Material by Dolly Alderton, and write in my diary. Asleep before 10:30 p.m.
Total: £77.33
7 a.m. — D is up before me to sort the cats out but I drag myself out of bed to do a dumbbells workout on YouTube. I got really into home workouts during lockdown and never felt the urge to go back to the gym. My favourite YouTubers are emkfit, growwithjo and Body Project.
8:30 a.m. — D heads to work and I sit at my desk to start the day with a cuppa and a bowl of cornflakes. I always tell myself I should make more high protein breakfasts but cereal is so easy. I book the car into the garage for Thursday as it was making a grinding noise yesterday.
9:30 a.m. — We have a weekly team call talking about highlights from last week and our priorities for the coming week. It sets us all up and we feel ready to do the week.
11:30 a.m. — I take an early lunch to go to the GP and have an annual pill review with the nurse who checks my blood pressure and that everything is okay. I take my prescription to the chemist and walk home.
1 p.m. — After having a chicken sandwich I meet with my team to discuss how we improve our processes around data protection and compliance — everyone’s favourite topic, RIGHT?
5 p.m. — Finish for the day. I was going to make chicken pasta but I decide to do chicken melt baguettes instead. D comes home and we eat while watching an episode of Ted Lasso.
6 p.m. — We go on a four-mile walk around our town. We’re doing a charity fundraising hike soon in memory of my mum and need to get some practice miles in!
7:30 p.m. — Back home and reward myself with an ice lolly.
8:30 p.m. — Call my long-distance best friend from school, A, who is a new mum. We don’t speak every day and tend to save everything for big monthly phone chats. She tells me about her little one and her new part-time job.
10 p.m. — End the call and head straight to bed, too tired to read or anything.
Total: £0
7 a.m. — D is up with the cats. Tuesday is my office day so I’m up, showered, dressed and pack my lunch.
8 a.m. — Get the train into the city with D, which only takes 25 minutes. Last week I bought a multi-ticket pass, which is equivalent to 12 one-way tickets and will last me a few weeks. It saves me about £1 per journey compared to buying a return ticket every day, and I don’t need to pay anything today.
8:40 a.m. — Walk into the office, have a nice catchup with colleagues and my work friend H. We hot-desk and are next to each other today so we can have a good catchup.
10 a.m. — In a meeting about a student who needs some additional support.
1 p.m. — Lunch. I work in the city centre, which is so nice. I go for a walk and have a browse in FatFace and Oliver Bonas. I also pop to the library to return a book and pick up another I reserved. I rarely buy books and borrowing from the library means that I’m motivated to read and finish them. I pop to M&S and buy a chocolate bar for me and two packets of Percy Pigs for a friend on the way back, £5.15.
1:40 p.m. — Return to the office to heat up my lunch. I really rate the Lidl high protein ready meals for a very nice, quick and healthy lunch.
4 p.m. — Meet with an organisation which is interested in doing work with our project and wants to find out about the process.
4:50 p.m. — Leave to get the train home. I get off at an earlier stop so I can walk the rest of the way.
5:30 p.m. — Back home and feed the cats. The weather is nice and D decides to make hotdogs. We eat them in the garden.
7 p.m. — Sit on the sofa to do some reading from my textbook for my course. It’s a very generous work perk that we can study some courses for free and I’m doing one around creative management, which is super interesting.
9 p.m. — Call my dad to have a quick chat. Catch up with D for a bit afterwards, admire our gorgeous, sleepy cats and head to bed.
Total: £5.15
7 a.m. — Wake up and do a YouTube workout. This time I choose an emkfit Charli xcx one and a kickboxing one, 20 minutes each, and get my sweat on. My cat S walks in and looks very confused.
8:30 a.m. — Shower, have some breakfast (banana on toast) and sit down to start work. I have a one-to-one with the director of our team while my line manager is away. He’s very easy to talk to but I somehow leave the meeting with my to-do list twice as long…
12 p.m. — I go for a walk on my lunch break as I need to go to the post office. It is closed due to staff shortages so I have to carry my parcel back. Nip to Morrisons and pick up toothpaste, mouthwash and onions, which I forgot earlier in the week, £5.85. Get back and make myself a quick ham salad, which is essentially a fridge roulette of random things.
1 p.m. — Get my head into some focused work. There is so much planning and reporting to do.
5:30 p.m. — Finish work, D comes home. I make a tasty Mexican chicken bowl with veg, Cajun rice, cheese and beans. It hits the spot. We watch another Ted Lasso and our cats, T and S, do zoomies all over us while we’re trying to watch TV.
7 p.m. — Scroll on my phone for a bit and decide to book my next nail appointment for my next payday in a few weeks. It’s a bit extravagant, I know. I used to have terrible nails that wouldn’t grow but ever since having BIAB they look so nice and it really does perk me up. I pay half the money upfront so the cost feels more spread out, £18.
7:30 p.m. — Watch an episode of The Decameron while D plays some video games on his desktop.
9 p.m. — I do my evening skincare: double cleanse with The Inkey List oat cleanser and CeraVe hydrating cleanser, apply some CeraVe retinol and just use a Nivea night cream. I used to have loads of random products but I found they were irritating my skin so I’ve really stripped back my routine and noticed a difference.
9:30 p.m. — Carry on with my book and asleep before 10 p.m.
Total: £23.85
3:30 a.m. — Wake up due to one of our cats, T, mewing outside our bedroom door. I try but can’t get back to sleep. I’ve had insomnia for years and it’s less frequent now but it still sucks.
5:30 a.m. — In the end I just get up, sort the cats out, let them out and sit down with my book and have a cup of tea. Annoyingly I start to feel sleepy again at 7 a.m., when it’s time to be awake.
8:30 a.m. — Drop the car off at the garage, fingers crossed they can figure out what’s up with it. It’s tipping down with rain so I run home and make myself jam on toast.
10 a.m. — Get a call from the garage, it’s bad news. The calliper on the front is sticking, which means we need new front pads and discs and it’s £480. I don’t even know what a calliper is. I’m actually really annoyed as we only had our MOT and service done a month ago and had to pay a lot then, too. I hang up and burst into tears. It sounds silly but I think I’m just sleep-deprived and annoyed as I’ve been trying hard to save money for a big trip to Japan later this year. My car is 10 years old but it’s something I resent spending money on.
12 p.m. — Struggle to concentrate on work and have a little nap to feel a bit better. Thank goodness for working from home days. I don’t really eat a proper lunch and just pick at bits. I have some cheese on crackers.
3 p.m. — D comes home from work early and goes to pick up the car. He negotiates and they knock £50 off the labour. Glad to have the car working again at least. £430
5 p.m. — Finished for the day. Instead of cooking, D suggests getting a chippy as it’s so rainy out and we’ve had a rubbish day. It’s music to my ears. We share a large bag and I get a battered sausage, too. He pays. We watch more Ted Lasso.
7 p.m. — I go for a long shower to shake off the bad day, the grease from the fried food and because I badly need to wash my hair. I listen to a true crime podcast, The Girlfriends, and I feel so much better afterwards.
8 p.m. — Take a look at the Nintendo Switch store and see what games on my wish list are on sale. I treat myself to an interactive story game, Florence, which is £4.99 and very soothing to play. I also download some free demos of other games I’m interested in.
9:30 p.m. — Head to bed and give my dad a ring. Chat to him for about 20 minutes before sleeping.
Total: £434.99
7 a.m. — Slept so much better and feel like a new person. Do an emkfit Pilates workout, which is always harder and sweatier than it looks. Shower and then make a berry smoothie for breakfast to make up for all the junk food and lack of nutrition yesterday (balance, right?).
8:30 a.m. — A perk of working from home is getting loads of washing done and the satisfaction when you can get several loads done in a day. It’s the little things.
9:30 a.m. — I’m chairing an interview panel next week for a new role in my team and meet with my colleagues on the panel to run through what we need to prepare and go through the shortlisting. I have major imposter syndrome about it, even though I’m not the one being interviewed!
1 p.m. — Walk into town to post the parcel again. I bought some cute babygrows and Percy Pigs for my friend L as I couldn’t attend her baby shower and I wanted to send her something nice, £3.89 for postage.
1:30 p.m. — I pop into Greggs and get a chicken club baguette (the BEST Greggs sandwich in my opinion), £3.45. I also go to Morrisons and get tzatziki, pomegranate seeds and a little bottle of sauvy b — how middle class am I? I don’t recognise myself sometimes, £7.35.
2 p.m. — Back home and call a local hairdresser to see if I can get an appointment next week. I have a very bog standard bob that is very low maintenance. However, I went to a different hairdresser last time and they did SUCH a botched job — I can see some of it is wonky. I’ve let it grow a bit and decided to try somewhere else. They can fit me in and I pay £8.70 for the deposit for the appointment.
3 p.m. — Do a few hours of work. I don’t know about you but sometimes I get this massive surge of motivation on a Friday afternoon and wonder where it’s been all week.
5:30 p.m. — D is home and I’ve logged off. I make harissa chicken flatbreads with tzatziki and pomegranate seeds. We absolutely devour them and watch more Ted Lasso.
6:30 p.m. — It’s a nice evening so we decide to do an evening walk in my town. My dad rings me just as he’s nipping off to the pub. We have a nice 10-minute chat. His routine is like clockwork and I usually know when he’ll ring me.
8 p.m. — We meander into our local craft pub, D opts for a 0% beer and I get a sour. D pays. I regret my drink of choice (tastes like raspberry saltwater) but it’s nice to hang out and there are dogs in the pub, too. Aw, pub dogs.
9 p.m. — Head home and watch another Ted Lasso with my tiny wine I bought earlier. My Friday nights look very different from my 20s.
Total: £23.39
6:30 a.m. — We have some very needy, meowy cats. D is pretty sleepy so I get up and make sure they’re fed, watered and have clean litter. I let them out for a bit as well.
7 a.m. — Make my morning brew (just PG Tips, nowt fancy for me), sit on the sofa and scroll for a bit. Eat some banana and peanut butter on toast. Mountain Warehouse has a good sale on and free delivery so I buy some new walking socks, a cap and a six-litre hydro backpack for my charity hike, £41.96.
8 a.m. — I prep lunches for our walk using leftover chicken, tzatziki and salad to make an epic sandwich, yum. I pad this out with crisps, apples and a wafer bar and fill up bottles of water. Go to wake up D.
9 a.m. — After having a quick shower, D and I drive to the Wye Valley (thankfully no weird car noises) to practise some of the trail for the fundraising hike in a few weeks. We look at the trail online and choose the bit we think looks hardest, based on elevation.
10:10 a.m. — Arrive, park in a random lay-by and set off. The walk isn’t too bad and mixes lovely woodland with nice villages and pretty views over the Wye Valley. We were expecting rain but it holds out.
11:45 a.m. — Come to a nice village about three miles in. Enjoy our sarnies in the churchyard, which sounds morbid but it’s such a pretty church. We obviously need to stop at the really scenic pub, where I enjoy a half pint of lager and D has a Pepsi, £6.20.
12:30 p.m. — Head back via a different three-mile route which involves climbing a steep hill and I get my sweat on. D is much fitter than me and I have to ask him to slow down so I can ‘take in the view’ (we both know I’m gasping for breath).
2 p.m. — Get back to the car, walking boots off. The relief! I snooze all the way back. We get petrol on the way, £37.07.
3 p.m. — Back home. We don’t have much time to get ready before tonight. I jump in the shower and actually try with my appearance — I’ve curled my hair, got makeup on and put on a dress. D has decided to go in the lane behind our house and pick loads of ripe blackberries so we can bake something nice tomorrow. He gets really engrossed and leaves himself only 10 minutes to get ready!
5 p.m. — We drive into the city and head to a posh Indian restaurant. Our friends bought D a gift card here for his birthday a few months back. We have some drinks, share poppadoms and dips and have a starter each. D has a chicken dish and I go for a vegetable thali. The food is stunning, I am in a food coma. With the gift card, our bill is still £71.31 — eek. We got a bit carried away but we enjoyed it!
7 p.m. — D buys us an ice cream in the Italian gelateria next door to the restaurant. I am struggling with one scoop, he demolishes three! Afterwards we head to the theatre to see a local comedian I love.
10:30 p.m. — Head home, straight to bed. We are ZONKED.
Total: £156.54
“I suppose apart from the unexpected car expense and the posh meal out, this was a standard week. We do like eating out but £70 for a meal is exceptional for us as it was a late birthday treat. I like to think I’m quite savvy and frugal but I’m surprised how much the little top-up food and toiletries shops or online orders add up across the week, so that’s something to be mindful of. My parents never spent money on anything beyond essentials so I do often carry this strange guilt, even though I can afford things, but I hate wasting money too. I can also spot when my nutrition goes out the window when I’m having a bad mental health day or using food to make myself feel better, ha. The car cost did throw me, especially as we’d had the MOT quite recently. I think I’m going to set up a Monzo pot ring-fenced for car costs so I’m more prepared for the future. Most of my hobbies are low-cost and I intend to keep it that way. This was a quiet week for me as well — I didn’t really do any socialising with friends and that probably would have increased costs with going for a meal/coffee. I’m quite content with the life we have. However, if we did decide to do anything major like get married or renovate the house, we’d need to have a serious discussion about our finances and how we work towards those goals.”
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