Welcome to Money Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking a cross-section of women how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period – and we're tracking every last penny.
This week...
"I left university with a vague idea that I wanted to work in communications but ended up getting a job in policy/law. It was a decent job but on a deeply boring subject matter. So after 14 months I left and ended up exploring various roles – I joined a political party and volunteered on campaigns, worked as a tour guide, worked in public affairs, and took on a part-time unpaid comms role along with other work. Until recently, I was balancing two low-paid jobs in campaigns and charity work, but just before Christmas I finally found a full-time, permanent communications role! Breaking the 20k mark was such a massive moment for me.
I think I'm quite good with money. Living on a precarious income for the last couple of years has meant I've been tempted to spend more freely this year, now that I have the reassurance of a regular salary. The time I'm least responsible with money is usually when I go to the pub 'just for one' after work... It's never just one."
Industry: Charity
Age: 26
Location: Belfast
Salary: £20,149
Paycheque amount: £1,305.44 (I recently increased my pension contributions to 5%, which my employer matches with 8%, which has taken a bigger chunk out of my monthly amount)
Number of housemates: 1
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: My share of the rent is £287.50 – yep, Belfast rent is pretty affordable by UK standards!
Loan payments: £13 student loan paid directly from my salary before my monthly total.
Utilities: I pay my flatmate £16 for the internet. We use top-up cards for gas and electric so this varies a lot by month, but on average throughout the year I end up paying roughly £20/month on gas and £10/month on electricity.
Transportation: £55. I buy a monthly bus card which gives me unlimited bus travel in the Belfast area. The bus system isn't the best, but I do use it a lot so this works out as really good value.
Phone bill: £53.97 – I'm aware this is ridiculously high. My old phone broke just a month before I was due an upgrade so I did no research and didn't really negotiate. This amount includes £6 damage insurance.
Savings? I have about £6,000 in savings which I use as a bit of a loan system for myself when I need to. I have most of it in a cash ISA and the rest in two other accounts which I use to save for specific things. I tend to put roughly £200 into savings each month, but often end up taking some back out. At the moment I'm saving for a trip with my mum in September for her 60th birthday.
Other: Spotify: £9.99. Alliance for Choice donation (Northern Ireland's campaigning group to decriminalise abortion): £10. Amnesty International: £1 – I started this tiny donation when I was a broke student and I feel too guilty to cancel it, but also have never got round to increasing it. Gym: £33.50 – I use my local leisure centre, which is also a social enterprise. It gives me unlimited access to any centre around the city and to all classes. With the summer weather I've been running outside more than using the gym, but I want to keep my contract as I know I'll use it more when it gets to winter. Trade union membership: £14.67. Contact lenses prescription: £12.50
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Day One
7am: My alarm goes off and I crawl out of bed as I've started charging my phone out of reach of my bed – sensible yet disgusting decision. I wrap myself in my duvet and "meditate" for a while, which really just means I put off opening my eyes. I finally get myself up properly and go downstairs to do a quick 13-minute yoga video. My back pain was pretty bad last week, so I'm trying to be more conscious about stretching and doing my physio exercises.
I make myself a banana, oats, coconut milk and peanut butter smoothie with a coffee, and watch YouTube videos while I get ready. I'm out the door to catch the bus by 8.20am.
8.45am: I stop off in Tesco on the way into work and buy milk, bananas and apples. I keep a stash of fruit and cereal bars in my desk and I was running low. £2.46
12.30pm: I eat my lunch while finishing off a document – I've brought in pasta with a kind of vegetable mish-mash/sauce I made last week. Basically, I tried to make a vegetable lasagne but did something wrong and ended up with tons of leftover vegetables. So I put them in a casserole dish, added some tomatoes and stock, threw it in the oven and froze it until I could work out what to eat it with. It tastes pretty good!
Friends from my political party are running an LGBTQ+ event as part of Pride next week and I see on Twitter that tickets are going quickly. It's a free event but donations are also accepted. I book my ticket and add a £5 donation plus processing fee. £5.98
5.20pm: I leave the office and walk home. I'm going on a date tonight and although it takes 40 minutes to walk at least I know I won't be caught in traffic.
6pm: I heat up some leftover stir fry from last night for dinner and quickly get ready. It's a first date with a guy I've been talking to on Bumble. I don't really enjoy online dating, so I normally always pick a coffee date so that I can get away fairly quickly. But lately I've realised that planning the entire date around my exit strategy is probably not the healthiest way to approach things so I've agreed to mini golf.
Two of my friends call to see if I want to go for a walk this evening but when they find out I'm going on a date they give me a mini pep talk and offer me a lift to the venue, which I gratefully accept.
7.30pm: Date is pretty good-looking and seems nice and friendly! He buys our first round of mini golf for £15.
8.30pm: We're both as bad at mini golf as each other but decide to buy a second round. I buy this time and for some reason it's cheaper. £10
9.15pm: We get some soft drinks (he pays) and I add up our scores – he won the first round and I won the second. We chat for a bit and then he gives me a lift home. He seems like a really lovely guy and attractive, but I'm not sure if I'm really feeling a connection. The conversation is decent but the more we talk the less I feel we have in common.
10pm: I'm home and obviously spam the group WhatsApp with my thoughts. After a bit he texts me thanking me for a good night and asks if I'd like to meet up again. He can see I read the message so I'll have to respond tonight. I make myself a cup of tea and defrost a slice of the banana bread I made last week while I make up my mind.
11pm: Eventually I decide that the answer to the question "Would I look forward to seeing him again?" is no. I spend about 30 minutes crafting a "thanks but no thanks" message, because dating makes me lose the power of speech. He responds really nicely, thanking me for being honest, and I go to bed feeling pleasantly surprised about our mutual adulting.
Total: £18.44
Day Two
7.45am: I wake up and can feel my back isn't happy that I didn't do my physio exercises last night. I take a shower and use the remainder of my slightly mouldy bread to make toast and a coffee. I watch the first 15 minutes of Love Island as I missed it last night.
12.30pm: I eat the remainder of my pasta and vegetable mix for lunch and then head to a café round the corner. I have a cup of tea and read over my notes for my probation meeting. I'm not really nervous about passing it as my feedback has been good up to this point, but it's still a bit daunting going into a meeting to be evaluated. £2
3.30pm: Probation review done and went well! A couple of our stakeholders have been impressed with the social media campaigns I’ve been running – score! I make myself a chamomile tea and have a cereal bar from my stash.
5.30pm: Walk to the bus and pick up a bag of crisps from Tesco on the way. 90p
Planning to head to the gym tonight so I need to get changed into my gym stuff as soon as I get home...
7pm: ...And I’m still on my bed scrolling through social media.
7.15pm: Finally leave for the gym; run 15 minutes there, 30-minute workout, run home.
8.30pm: I make vegetable fajitas using ingredients in the fridge – Portobello mushrooms, red peppers, spring onions, tomatoes, garlic and sweet chilli sauce. My flatmate and I catch up as she’s just back from a holiday. We watch Love Island and chat some more.
10.30pm: I wash my hair, put on some tanning moisturiser, and get into bed with a book. End up scrolling through Twitter for far too long.
Total: £2.90
Day Three
7am: Alarm goes off. Grab my phone and crawl back into bed.
7.20am: Get up, meditate for five minutes and do a 20-minute yoga video.
8am: Make porridge with coconut milk, raisins and honey and a cup of coffee for breakfast. I'm out the door by 8.40 and delighted to find it's sunglasses weather.
11am: Coffee and cereal bar from the drawer stash.
1pm: Heat up the vegetable bake I brought in from home. This was the lasagne disaster I attempted last week, which I forgot to put any lasagne sheets into. It's topped off with three different kinds of cheese, before anyone worries it's too healthy.
I need to buy a new planner so I walk into town and go to Paperchase. I pick one with a gorgeous marble design and a 60th birthday card for a friend from my political party whose birthday I'm going to in two weeks. £12.50
My mother's 60th is coming up soon too and I want to start gathering a few presents so I go into Oliver Bonas to see if I can spot anything – they have a sale on and I pick up a Gin Lover's Dictionary for £8.
5.30pm: Leave the office and catch the bus into town as I'm meeting a friend for drinks. She's in my political party too and we go to a regular spot where lots of artsy/activist people hang out. I buy a round – I have a pint and she has a half. We catch up on gossip and I feel mildly jealous that her love life is far more exciting than mine right now. £6.60
6.30pm: We get pizzas as we're starving. She pays.
7pm: I get another round – pint for me, vodka and 7 Up for her. £9.60
8.45pm: I'm feeling so sleepy and I'm glad we both decide to call it a night. We live fairly close to each other so decide to walk home along the river. We also agree to go out the following night. I have plans with family on Saturday so this isn't the most sensible idea ever but we'll deal with that when we come to it...
9.45pm: I stop at the shop and buy a jar of coffee for the morning as I've run out. It takes three laps of the shop to talk myself out of buying Nutella. £2.49
11pm: Defrost a slice of banana bread and drink lots of water. I only manage to read half a page of my book before falling asleep.
Total: £39.19
Day Four
7.15am: Alarm goes off. Grab my phone, get back into bed and watch last night's Love Island while I wake up.
7.30am: I go downstairs and steal some of my flatmate's cereal for breakfast as I've run out and I'm really craving it. Also make a coffee and go back upstairs with my breakfast where I watch the rest of Love Island and do my physio exercises.
8.40am: Catch the bus. I've definitely got the Friday feeling, i.e. tired and baffled at the idea that I actually have to do any work today.
Stop at Tesco to buy some coleslaw to put with the baked potato I've brought in for lunch. 75p
11.15am: Decide that as I've brought my lunches in all week I definitely deserve a treat. Go to one of the cafés around the corner and get a latte and a brownie to bring back to the office. Pleased to notice that they've switched to recycled takeaway cups as I'm awful about remembering my keep cup and this way I feel a tiny bit less guilty. £5.20
2pm: The brownie was so big that it took me half an hour to eat and I'm only hungry for lunch now! I make my baked potato and add some coleslaw, which feels a little plain, but as it's such a wet and dreary day I don't feel like going out to get anything else.
I watch some TED talks and do some back stretches. It's feeling really sore today. I had physio on the NHS last year but it didn't really help. After my mum's birthday I think I might go back to a private place which I had great results with in the past, and just deal with the cost as best I can. It's about £30 per session but had I finished the course first time round I think it would have made an amazing difference – I was getting it covered by work but had to stop early when I finished that job.
5.30pm: The friend I was supposed to be going out with texts that she has a family emergency so can’t make it. But another friend (B) has also texted saying she’s up for doing something – she was rejected for an internship yesterday and needs cheering up. I stop off in the shop on the way and get wraps and lettuce so I can use the rest of the fajita mixture I made two nights ago, and buy a share bag of crisps. £2.95
6.40pm: Once I’m home I run a bath. Friday night baths are the best baths.
7.30pm: Make fajitas for dinner which I have with a beer while watching Grey’s Anatomy. End up opening the share packet of crisps I bought to bring to my friend's. Oops.
9pm: B picks me up and drives me over to her house. Our other friend, who’s her flatmate, can also come so we all have another drink and finish getting ready.
They’re both mature students and the bar is in a student area, so it’s got cheap drinks offers – luckily it’s the summer holiday so most students have gone home and we can go without feeling too much like elderly gatecrashers.
10.30pm: We get to the bar too late for free entry so it’s £3 in each. We each get a jam jar cocktail. £4.95
The bar is full of retro arcade games and we have a go on the dance machine, Mario Kart and Terminator. £3 for my share.
I get vodka and Coke from the bar and it comes to £2.80. £2.80?!? I’ve forgotten how incredible student prices are, and decide that the persistent smell of tequila and excessive male aftershave is probably worth it once in a while.
12.30am: We’re ready for home. I half-heartedly try to get a taxi but give up quickly and walk.
Once I get home I take my makeup off and get into bed. Faff about for so long it’s near 2am by the time I’m going to sleep.
Total: £22.65
Day Five
10am: Wake up and laze around, dozing and reading stuff on my phone.
11.30am: Finally get up. My back LOVES the amount of stretching I did yesterday and barely feels sore at all. Get dressed, put a wash on and go out for a two-mile run.
When I get home it’s basically lunchtime so I make banana pancakes – one frozen banana, coconut milk, blended oats and honey. As I make them I stretch and tidy up the kitchen a little bit.
These are probably the least aesthetically pleasing pancakes I’ve ever made as they keep falling apart and sticking to the pan (should have added an egg). Eat the full stack with a cup of coffee, more honey and some peanut butter.
1pm: I watch Love Island (obviously) while getting ready to leave the house. I’m going to a baby shower for my cousin’s newborn twins. They didn’t manage to organise it before they were born so this is a chance for us to meet the babies. It was also her 30th birthday this week.
1.55pm: My train is at 2.20pm and my bus stops at the station, which is only 5 minutes away, so I make the terrible decision to get the bus there. When I get to the stop the electronic display doesn’t remotely match the app or Google Maps. Arrrg!
2.05pm: I decided that getting a taxi would probably take just as long so I’m panicking now. If I miss my train the next one isn’t for an hour. Elderly man beside me can tell I’m twitchy and starts sympathising. Just as he suggests I do get a taxi, the bus arrives!
2.13pm: I’m at the station! I have a few minutes spare, so I get money out of the ATM, buy my ticket and run to the toilet. £9
3pm: My uncle picks me up and we head over to the venue where a few other family members are waiting – it's a vintage hotel I haven't been to before. He buys a few of us a round of drinks and I have a gin and ginger ale.
4pm: The new parents and babies have arrived and we all turn into the paparazzi snapping photographs with our phones and staring at them. We're having afternoon tea and I opt for the version which includes prosecco. This comes to £21 and I add £1 to the collective tip at the end.
6pm: Lots of food has been consumed and lots of baby cuddling has occurred. We go out to the lobby for present opening and I buy a gin and tonic for my mum, and a vodka and Coke for me. £12
7pm: My uncle drops me and another guest at the station for our return train. At the other end her brother gives me a lift home, which is a good job as I don't know if I can handle the buses again today.
9pm: I'm ready for an early night. I show my flatmate the baby pictures and defrost more of my weird vegetable concoction for a small dinner. I get into bed and spend some time planning my day tomorrow, otherwise I know I'll sleep in and get the Sunday 'oh crap I didn't do any of my weekend tasks' anxiety.
11pm: The problem with being a natural night owl is you tend to get a second wind as it gets close to midnight. I curl up in bed and watch a movie on my laptop, falling asleep much later than planned.
Total: £43
Day Six
10am: Wake up.
11am: Get up.
As you can imagine my productive day plans have kind of gone out the window. I go to the shop and get two small sausage rolls, strawberries and a yoghurt for breakfast and cereal, avocados, bread, olive oil and chilli flakes for the house. £12.51
12pm: I put a wash on then watch Grey's Anatomy while eating breakfast and tidying my room. I take a shower and do some work for my political party. Seriously wishing I’d gone to sleep early as it’s work I need to be creative for.
2.20pm: I leave the house and walk to a coffee shop about 25 minutes away. I’m meeting someone from my party there as I’m gathering some research for a project I’m working on. On the way I drop off some old clothes at the recycling centre.
2.50pm: I’m early so I get a pot of chamomile tea with honey and do some work, £2.35. Once they arrive we have a chat and the meeting goes well. They also get a tea, I pay. £2.20
4pm: I stop off in Tesco and get brown rice and pasta. £2.40. It’s a warm sunny day so I decide to go to the park to finish off my work. I find a picnic table and work for another hour or so.
5.30pm: It’s lovely surrounded by all the trees and birdsong and I’d love to stay longer but I’m starving, so I walk home to make dinner.
6pm: I put a garlic kiev from the freezer in the oven and cook some brown rice with sweetcorn. I make enough rice to use for lunch tomorrow as well.
7pm: I was planning to go for a long run this evening but it's so hot and muggy and I'm feeling tired after going to bed too late two nights in a row. So I decide to go for a walk instead. About 20 minutes away from my house there's a gorgeous wooded area full of streams, small waterfalls and dirt paths – the advantage of living in a small city! I have a lovely walk and do some journalling among the trees which helps clear my head.
8.45pm: I'm home, very sweaty from the humidity. I take a shower, make a cup of tea with two slices of toast with strawberry jam and watch Love Island with my flatmate.
10.10pm: I get into bed and read for about 20 minutes before falling asleep.
Total: £19.46
Day Seven
7am: Wake up, turn off my alarm and doze for 10 minutes before getting up. I meditate and then head downstairs to do a 20-minute yoga video.
7.50am: I make porridge with coconut milk, raisins and honey, with a coffee for breakfast. I'm out the door before 8.30am and make it to the office before 9am (this rarely happens on a Monday, I'm feeling incredibly smug).
Realise I've forgotten to buy milk.
10am: My colleague had a meeting this morning so she's got milk for the office. I have a coffee with some of the strawberries I've brought in.
12pm: I heat up the rice I've brought in and another batch of my vegetable-non-lasagne-bake for lunch. It's another warm day so I make a cup of tea and take it out to my office block's tiny garden on the first floor, with my book.
2pm: Lunch did not fill me up at all – have an apple and a cereal bar from my desk stash. I'm running low so I'll have to get more tomorrow.
5.30pm: Today was such a quiet day that I finally got round to doing a piece of work I'd been struggling to find time for. Feeling pretty pleased with myself. I walk to the bus.
6.30pm: I go for the long run I was planning to do yesterday – five miles, though the second half is really more of a walk/run. Seriously regret not bringing water.
7.40pm: After gasping on my front step for a full five minutes I make dinner and stretch. I cook some quinoa and defrost some sweet potato and coconut curry I had in the freezer from ages ago. I intended to cook a batch of this fresh tonight but I can't be bothered. I send a few emails and do a couple of bits of life admin as it cooks.
9pm: Defrost the last two slices of banana bread which I have with a cup of tea. My flatmate and I watch Love Island, and I work on a cross-stitch pattern I've been making. This is peak Monday night.
10.30pm: There's a reason I don't normally do longer runs on a work night – I’m completely shattered. Get into bed, and manage about three pages of my book before turning off the light.
Total: £0
The Breakdown
Food/Drink: £94.16
Entertainment: £21.98
Clothes/Beauty: £0
Travel: £9
Other: £20.50
Total: £145.64
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