Money Diary 25-Year-Old Working In Construction On 37k

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 am a 25-year-old who has recently come out of a relationship. I live alone (by choice) and am trying to balance #livingmybestlife and navigating pandemic dating (ugh). My family, plus several colleagues and my therapist have mentioned they think I have undiagnosed ADHD; I am in the process of trying to get an assessment. As my work responsibilities have increased over the past six months, I have found it increasingly difficult to cope with my workload. I am not self-disciplined when it comes to concentrating during work hours and can't get away with slacking off and not being productive as much as I could when I was in a more junior position.

I work as a quantity surveyor and my job is demanding but also really sociable, I absolutely love it. It is a male-dominated environment and some men are as bad (sometimes worse) than we think they are but, on the whole, people are decent and it's a very exciting industry to work in.

I also recently finished CBT counselling for depression and anxiety, although as mentioned, my therapist thought my 'anxiety' symptoms were highly likely to be ADHD. I battled depression when I was a teenager and it was exacerbated by my break-up and lockdown. I am in a much better place than I was at the start of 2021."

Industry: Construction
Age: 25
Location: South London
Salary: £37.5k
Paycheque amount: £2,375 a month
Number of housemates: None

Monthly Expenses

Housing costs: £1,300 for a two-bed flat in Canada Water (south London).
Loan payments: Student loan is around £78 per month.
Utilities: £0 – included in my rent. I'm very lucky that my landlady is a family friend who lives in Australia so my rent is extremely reasonable.
Transportation: £0 – my work pays for all my travel, again I am very lucky!
Phone bill: £110 a month... This makes me cry every time I see the bill. I got mugged last year and I didn't have insurance so I pay for two iPhone contracts every month.
Savings? £2,000 in a savings account as an emergency fund, £200 in a Help to Buy ISA – I am not really trying to save for a house, as you can probably tell! More on that later.
Other: Prime, Netflix and Hayu come to around £20 a month (I am a diehard Real Housewives and Kardashians fan), £56 a month for private healthcare and private dental insurance (this is taken out of my salary), £25 a month for Wi-Fi, £10 a month for Apple Music (Spotify gives me such Android vibes, I really don't like it) and £7 a month for Harry's shave club razors which are the best I've ever used. £10 a month for a NatWest Silver Rewards account which includes phone insurance and other benefits. I think I usually spend around £150 a month on groceries but this varies wildly.