Money Diary Boarding Houseparent On 23k

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 a 25-year-old living in the Hertfordshire area. I work at an independent school, looking after the 53 teenagers boarding. I previously worked in a fairly deprived state primary so this job was definitely a shock to the system. I chose to leave my old job so I had around four months off before I started this one. This was fab but definitely decimated the savings! This new job is a bit mad but has been perfect for getting my head straight, regaining confidence and figuring out my next steps. However, due to the weird antisocial hours I am leaving in the summer to work with young people in a non-schools-based role. Finance-wise, the biggest bane/temptation of my life is Apple Pay and contactless payments. I have to constantly remind myself it's real money because it’s just so easy to spend without thinking."

Occupation: Boarding houseparent
Industry: Education
Age: 25
Location: Hertfordshire
Salary: £23,000
Paycheque amount: £1,617
Number of housemates: None in my flat (but 57 in the house).
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses

Housing costs: £0
Loan payments: £21. My student loan is from Student Finance NI, which has a lower salary repayment rate.
Savings? £4,500 in Monzo savings pot.
Pension? I’ve forgotten the password for my pension account and can’t currently get into it but it's there! It’s on the list of things to eventually sort out.
Utilities: £0
All other monthly payments: £33.99 phone, £10 food bank, £5 Wycliffe charity. Subscriptions: £7.99 Disney+, £3.99 Channel 4+, £2 New York Times.

Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?

Yes. I did a three-year degree, then my PGCE. I had tuition loans and the lowest maintenance loan (about £3,500 a year). My parents kindly paid for my accommodation, phone bill and flights home. I used my maintenance loan to cover food, socialising etc. and I worked every summer.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?

It wasn’t a massive conversation in our house. My parents are well-paid medical professionals but my dad didn’t do private work and my mum was part-time so I weirdly thought we were struggling when I was a young teenager. This was down to the fact that we didn’t go on multiple holidays per year and they wouldn’t buy the Hollister/Jack Wills/Abercrombie that my friends had. Thankfully, at 15 I got friends outside my middle-class bubble and got some perspective on how fortunate I was. The only real time my parents taught us about finance was my mum drilling in the importance of always checking the price/100g at the shops. I literally hear her voice every time I’m doing the food shop! From the age of 14 my parents gave me £25 a month and that was to do me for socialising, friends' birthdays and extra clothes. This helped with prioritising and budgeting a little bit.

If you have, when did you move out of your parents'/guardians' house?

I moved to England for university when I was 19 but I went home for the summers. I officially moved out when I was 23 and started my first job. I get school holidays off so I still get to go home a fair bit.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?

I was 23 and a month into my first job. I’m fully financially responsible although if I go home, my parents will pay for groceries, meals out etc.

What was your first job and why did you get it?

I got my first job aged 17 as a truly terrible events and wedding waitress. I got paid £7/hour and thought I was rolling in it. This helped pay for going out with my friends including the post-A-levels holiday. During the summers at university I worked at summer camps for kids learning English.

Do you worry about money now?

Not massively but it’s in the back of my head. I’m very aware I’m being sheltered from the cost of living crisis as I’m not paying for rent and food. I have a safety net in my parents but I’m really reluctant to ask them for money as they’d just worry. I took a four-month gap between jobs and didn’t tell my parents that it depleted my savings. Buying a house seems rather far off at this point.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?

Twice but it was completely out of the blue both times. My granny owns a farm but has a tiny pension as she hasn’t worked since 1965. A few years ago she sold a couple of fields and gave £1,000 each to her grandchildren. When I got my first job, my other grandmother gave me £1,500. I’d much prefer my grandparents to be enjoying themselves, going out for coffee and getting their hair done as opposed to scrimping and saving in order to leave me something.