Money Diary: A Civil Servant In London On 55k

This week: "I’m a 29-year-old civil servant. My 20s have been typically up and down. I didn’t love uni the first time around but since my mid 20s, I’ve settled into life in London and made lots of good memories with solid friends, a supportive family network and a reliable, interesting career. As I have moved into my late 20s, my boyfriend and I have begun the process of buying a maisonette in London and I'm excited to renovate the property. I feel ready for a change and challenge this year so I'm also searching for a new job. I strongly believe life is for living but I’ve been brought up to be sensible with money and am rarely frivolous (except with the odd homeware item and travelling). Having saved hard over the past four or five years, 2023 is` about spending and investing and I’m here for it."

Occupation: Civil servant
Industry: Government
Age: 29
Location: London
Salary: £55,365 (plus the odd performance bonus – mine came to £2,330 last year).
Paycheque amount: £3,000-4,000 (I’m waiting for this to settle as my employer recently rolled out a pay increase that was backdated in our last pay). 
Number of housemates: My boyfriend (C) and our very special cat. 
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses
 
Housing costs: I pay £900 each month in rent. C pays the same and we’re currently receiving a £150 monthly rebate from our landlord as the spare bedroom’s a construction site (the joys of renting in London). We have an otherwise lovely flat on a good deal for London as we moved in during the pandemic.
Loan payments: £0
Savings? About £75k in an instant access savings account and Premium Bonds, although this will be obliterated soon if all goes to plan with the flat.
Pension? Civil service pensions have a good rep but are super difficult to get your head around. I probably pay in 5.45% with an employer contribution of 27.1% (I get the hype!).
Utilities: C and I each put £180 into a shared Revolut to pay our monthly bills (broadband, energy, water, council tax, phone storage and a healthcare plan and insurance for our cat).
All other monthly payments: £62 phone, £35 ClassPass. We have a cleaner every two weeks, which is approximately £60. Subscriptions: £10 Spotify.

Yes. My parents paid for my undergraduate degree and I came out of university debt-free. Having not much experience of the university world themselves, I think they thought this was more normal than it is. I’m aware that what my parents did for me is probably one of the greatest privileges a person can have in today’s society and I’m hugely appreciative. They covered tuition and accommodation upfront and would transfer me money for 'essentials' like train tickets home and academic books. They also gave me a weekly allowance of £60. I worked part-time all the way through my undergrad for the rest of my living expenses. After this I completed my master's part-time while working full-time. My dad and my employer helped out with the fees but I paid most of them. I was putting some money away for a deposit by this point and was reluctant to dip into that too much so I reconnected with a Russian man who I’d taught English to while an undergrad. He paid me a lot to basically just chat with him and while that raised a few eyebrows, I have no regrets.

I wouldn’t say I was taught about finances growing up, although I was exposed to certain anxieties and behaviours such as my parents’ money troubles during the financial crisis. When I was younger, I only ever experienced the ebb and flow of money from my parents as a surveillance mechanism that allowed them to monitor and restrict what I did, and I saw similar patterns in how my dad (the self-made breadwinner) approached finances with my mum (the housewife with no income of her own). Although I know I’ve been massively helped in life, it took me until adulthood to separate money and control. Regardless, my parents are my role models – they’re both self-starters who have always worked incredibly hard and selflessly for our family.

I moved to London aged 18. Apart from a few months living at home post-uni and a couple of years abroad for study and work, I’ve been here since. 

Except for some help from my dad with my master's, I’ve been financially independent since I started my 'proper career' just before I turned 24. I’m extremely grateful for my parents’ financial support prior to that, including when I was at uni and just after when working casual, poorly paid jobs. My dad even let me work for him and live at home for a bit when I was figuring things out.

I started babysitting in my teens and got my first official job at the village pub when I was 15/16. I also worked for free at a local stables in exchange for rides because I love horses but lessons weren’t something my parents would always pay for.

Not particularly as I know I can rely on myself (or loved ones if anything seriously awful were to happen). I’m fortunate and don’t have hugely expensive tastes so I tend to find that I can afford what I want. Money is always a consideration though. I track what I spend and save to maintain a degree of self-awareness and control. That said, I’ll have to borrow money for the flat renovation (in addition to the mortgage) and I’d like to have kids in my 30s. These big, uncertain and expensive things are unmatched in scale to any other financial matter I’ve dealt with before. I’m working hard for a pay rise to give me some reassurance in the short term.
 
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?

Yes. When I was in my mid 20s, I started benefiting from a house near where I grew up that was built and gifted to me by my dad. My siblings receive, or will receive, the same. This probably seems wildly privileged but at the time it was just confusing for me because we didn’t grow up around excessive wealth. We didn’t go on many holidays, especially not abroad, and my dad would pick me up from friends’ houses in a scruffy truck (much to my embarrassment at that impressionable age). I went to private school but my mum made me feel guilty about that and I wasn’t allowed to go on most of the school trips that my classmates went on. This is not to criticise the way I was brought up (quite the opposite) but to stress how unexpected it was to then suddenly have this game-changer property that my friends didn’t have.