Money Diary Communications Manager On £22,500

Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We're asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last penny.

This week: "I'm 33, work in marketing and live with my husband and our 4-year-old. We bought our house in 2021 and although there are still things we want to do with it, we are really happy here. I've been at my current job for just over a year and I can definitely say that I feel settled now. It was strange at first because I am fully remote and this is the first time I've onboarded a new role from home. I am lucky to have both a flexible role and a really understanding employer. My husband, L, works from home a few days a week but works much longer hours and has to travel so flexibility was really important to me when I was job hunting. Now that we’ve got into the school/work routine, I am looking to carve out more time for myself as I am definitely guilty of neglecting myself a bit. Whether this is social time, exercise or just reading a book, I need to get better at doing things other than vegging out in front of the telly. I am naturally a spender but I have got better as I’ve got older. My husband is a saver."

Occupation: Comms manager
Industry: Healthcare
Age: 33
Location: Berkshire
Salary: £22,500 for 27.5 hours a week.
Paycheque amount: £1,500
Number of housemates: One husband, one child, one cat.
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses

Housing costs: £800. I contribute this to our joint account monthly and this is based proportionally on our salaries. My husband earns just over £80k a year and therefore pays much more. Our joint account covers our £1,600 mortgage, £130 energy and £210 council tax.
Loan payments: I have a small student loan but I don't earn enough to trigger repayments at the moment.
Pension? I pay 5% to my pension monthly. My employer contributes 3%.
Savings? I like to keep a buffer of £250 in my personal savings. In joint savings we have just over £5,000. This does not include our child’s ISA, which we have been saving into since they were born.
Utilities: Covered from our joint account.
All other monthly payments: £32 car insurance, £9 life insurance, £29.50 spa membership, £50 phone. Subscriptions: £7.99 Disney+, £10.99 Netflix, £7.99 Amazon Prime, £74 child's club, £22 drama club.

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

I went to university at 18, stayed local and lived at home. I paid no tuition fees because I grew up in Scotland so I just took a small loan for living costs, books etc. I don’t use my degree but I am glad I did it as among other reasons, I met my husband there (it was an expensive dating agency).

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

We didn’t really discuss money growing up. My dad was made redundant when I was a child and I remember worrying whether he would find a new job. My parents worked really hard and often my dad would come home and my mum would tag out and go to work in the evenings or at weekends to keep the family going. I grew up in a comfortable house in a safe area and had a lovely childhood. I realise I am so lucky and it’s what I’ve wanted to provide for my child. My parents didn’t really educate me about finances, I’ve mostly learned on my own or from my husband.

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

I moved out at 22 to live with my now husband.

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

I have financial responsibility for myself but obviously we are a team. I'm only able to make the choices that I have (I haven’t worked full-time since our child was born) because my husband is a high earner. I always worked full-time before but we made this decision as it is what works best for our family at the moment. It’s a really hard balance to get. I am very independent so it's important to me that I do work but it's also very important to me to be here for our child. Logistically, we don’t have any local family so there’s no one physically here to help with support.

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

My first job was at 15, in a deli/café, and it was terrible. I earned £3.50 an hour, running it on my own all day on a Saturday. I was keen to work though and loved having my own money to spend on going to Pizza Hut with my friends and buying choker necklaces in Bay Trading (remember Bay Trading?).

Do you worry about money now?

I don’t worry about money really. I worried before we bought our house as prices are frankly outrageous here but now we have our house I am more relaxed. We have a good standard of living and can afford to travel, which is very important to us.

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

I have not inherited money. We have received roughly £15,000 gifted to us over the years between my parents and my in-laws. We spent this on a deposit for our first property in 2015 and then to do some home improvements to this house, which we bought in 2021. My parents also paid for our wedding when we were in our mid-20s. We are very lucky to have both sets of parents who could help us out financially if we really needed it.