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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’m 23 and currently living in Devon. Last year (can’t believe 2019 was last year, time has absolutely no meaning) I was living in London with my dad and working as a writer for a tech company. Unfortunately, the company went under and with my limited experience/few qualifications, I found it tricky to get a job that would pay enough to enable me to move out. So I packed my bags and made the heart-rending move back to my hometown.
I got a job as a supervisor in a coffee shop and within a couple of months had managed to move out into this delightful bedsit (it has a separate kitchen!) my mum found on Gumtree. Living alone is definitely taking its toll on my sanity, and I’m finding that if I don’t go out and talk to people on my two days off a week, I end up climbing the walls.
Alongside full-time work I study history with the Open University, which leaves approximately zero hours for fun things like actually going outside and making friends. I went a bit mad with money when I lived in London and I’m paying the price for it now. I’ve managed to get a sort of handle on my finances, although I know I could still be doing so much better. But how often are you 23, with no real responsibilities?"
Industry: Coffee
Age: 23
Location: Devon
Salary: £16,000(ish)
Paycheque amount: Between £1,100 and £1,300 a month, but being on an hourly wage it really depends on the hours I’ve worked (between 37 and 48), and whether we’ve received any bonuses for good sales performance.
Number of housemates: Technically none. I live alone but the house my bedsit is in has five other bedsits in it. The bathroom is shared but my living room/bedroom and kitchen are all mine.
Monthly Expenses
Industry: Coffee
Age: 23
Location: Devon
Salary: £16,000(ish)
Paycheque amount: Between £1,100 and £1,300 a month, but being on an hourly wage it really depends on the hours I’ve worked (between 37 and 48), and whether we’ve received any bonuses for good sales performance.
Number of housemates: Technically none. I live alone but the house my bedsit is in has five other bedsits in it. The bathroom is shared but my living room/bedroom and kitchen are all mine.
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £550 rent, bills included. Expensive for Devon and for what it is, but it’s so close to work and in the centre of the city, and I can’t drive.
Loan payments: None yet. I have a student loan but as a history student, will I ever make enough to pay it back? Probably not!
Utilities: All included in my rent.
Transportation: £0. I live so close to work and the supermarkets that I walk everywhere on a daily basis, and even the high street is only a 20-minute walk away. Very occasionally I’ll get the bus outside the city. But very rarely.
Phone bill: £43 (unlimited data included, which I use as Wi-Fi for my laptop and TV).
Savings? I always have one month’s rent set aside, and try to put between £50 and £100 in a savings pot in Monzo. Keep meaning to look into actual methods of saving properly.
Other: Around £100 on the credit cards and overdraft I stupidly opened in London. £4.99 Spotify/Headspace subscription. Am a parasite on my parents' Netflix. £25 TV licence, because I live in fear someone would find out if I didn’t pay it. £1.84 to my friend's Patreon. £1.59 for Google storage.
Loan payments: None yet. I have a student loan but as a history student, will I ever make enough to pay it back? Probably not!
Utilities: All included in my rent.
Transportation: £0. I live so close to work and the supermarkets that I walk everywhere on a daily basis, and even the high street is only a 20-minute walk away. Very occasionally I’ll get the bus outside the city. But very rarely.
Phone bill: £43 (unlimited data included, which I use as Wi-Fi for my laptop and TV).
Savings? I always have one month’s rent set aside, and try to put between £50 and £100 in a savings pot in Monzo. Keep meaning to look into actual methods of saving properly.
Other: Around £100 on the credit cards and overdraft I stupidly opened in London. £4.99 Spotify/Headspace subscription. Am a parasite on my parents' Netflix. £25 TV licence, because I live in fear someone would find out if I didn’t pay it. £1.84 to my friend's Patreon. £1.59 for Google storage.
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