A Brand Strategist In London On £95,000

This week: "I’m 33 years old and I work as a brand strategist in a creative agency. I live in London with my husband, W, and our almost-2-year-old, M. We bought our house five years ago with help from both our parents who contributed to the deposit (£80k). We renovated it ourselves with a loan we took out to do the work. My husband is an architect so he did all the design work and we did A LOT of DIY including the tiles, painting, garden etc. We aren’t terrible with money but we’re also not great. I’ve recently started a new role that has increased my salary by £20k so I’m still getting used to this level of paycheque. I work a compressed work week, which means I get paid my full salary but need to get five days' work done in four. I feel incredibly lucky that both my previous and current job have allowed me to do this as it means I can spend Fridays with my son, which also helps with childcare. I get a huge amount of personal validation from my job and it's important to me that I work hard and do well. Simultaneously, being a mama makes my heart hurt because I love it so much. W and I split everything evenly so we both put £2k into the joint account at the start of every month and this covers the mortgage, bills, loan repayments, car, house insurance and the food shopping."

Occupation: SVP, Brand Strategy
Industry: Marketing
Age: 33
Location: London
Salary: £95,000
Paycheque amount: £4,980
Number of housemates: Two: my husband and toddler son.
Pronouns: She/her

Housing costs: £900 for my share of the mortgage, split with my husband.   
Loan payments: £250 for my share of a seven-year fixed rate loan (we took this out to do some building work when we bought our house), £200 for my share of car repayment.
Savings? £10k in a stocks and shares ISA (my savings took a big hit on maternity leave). I now put £500 a month into a Moneybox stocks and shares ISA.
Pension? I pay in 4.5%, as does my employer.
Utilities: £90 gas and electric (my half of the bill), £60 insurance (my half of the bill), £40 internet (I pay this as it's looped in with my phone bill).
All other monthly payments: £600 childcare (my share paid directly into government tax-free account), £40 phone, £38 spinning membership. Subscriptions: £15 Netflix, £8.99 Amazon Prime, £7.99 Disney+, £40 Naked Wine (I love wine!). I pay for all these subscriptions simply because I was the one that wanted them.

I have a BA in Italian and art history. I’m almost finished paying off my student loan, which was a slightly higher total amount as it was a four-year course. I had a job all throughout uni to pay for my accommodation etc.

My parents always instilled a hardworking attitude in our family. I was encouraged to volunteer from age 14 and got a paid job in a shop when I was 16. Prior to that, pocket money was always available but it had to be earned by doing chores and jobs around the house.

After university.

Age 22, after graduating. My parents paid my rental deposit on the first flat I moved into and I gave it back to them when I moved out. They also paid for the odd train home to see them until I was about 25.

My first professional job was as a copywriter in a small creative agency. I was told about the position while I was finishing an internship (supported by my parents) and somehow wangled my way in. I proved I was a hard worker and a team player and rose through the ranks quite quickly. I started on £18k but through demonstrating my output and value added, turned that into £28k after a year. 

Yes, in the sense that between childcare, loan repayments and our mortgage, we have significant outgoings and I always worry about something happening to one of us. But I also know we’re in a very fortunate position.

No.