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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 a 33-year-old living in northwest England. Since writing my last Money Diary at the start of 2023, I’ve had a year full of changes as I unexpectedly moved jobs — basically, I applied for a much higher paid opportunity on a whim and got it! The new position is fully remote and while there are definite positives of having a more flexible lifestyle, I still haven’t fully adjusted. I thought I’d have more work-life balance but actually, find myself moving less and spending more time at my desk than before. More excitingly, I recently got engaged to my partner of four years, P, and we are in the midst of planning a chilled wedding. Neither of us wants to spend a huge amount of money as we have more home renovation projects, travel and other plans for next year that we need to juggle. Of course, that’s easier said than done when we have large families and circles of friends."
Occupation: Content manager
Industry: Aviation
Age: 33
Location: Northwest
Salary: £50,000
Paycheque amount: £2,867
Number of housemates: One: my fiancé, P.
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £479 mortgage. Sadly I had only locked in my low interest rate for two years so it jumped up by over £100 a month — although I know it could be a lot worse! I’d like to start overpaying again once we’ve finalised our wedding expenses.
Pension? I pay 8% salary sacrifice (£333 per month) and my employer pays 4.5%.
Loan payments: £157 student loan, taken out of my gross salary.
Savings? Just under £5,000 in a S&S ISA, £8,000 in an easy access saver (my emergency fund, which I’ll probably heavily dip into for wedding and reno plans) and £2,100 in sinking funds for holidays, gifts and car expenses.
Utilities: £151 council tax, £95.45 gas and electric, £35.57 water, £26.97 internet.
All other monthly payments: £22.50 life insurance, £40 gym membership, £10 SIM-only deal, £4 bank fee, £0.79 iCloud. Annually I pay £55 garden bin, £169.50 TV licence, £216 building and contents insurance, £249 car insurance. Subscriptions: £4.99 Netflix, £11.99 Spotify Premium.
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
I went to my local university, which was funded through working part-time (up to 30 hours a week), student loans, maintenance grants and a university scholarship — although I saved lots of the latter!
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
I don’t remember a huge amount of conversations about money when I was growing up. My mum stayed at home looking after me and my siblings until I was in secondary school so my dad worked incredibly hard to study and train in his trade, while working nights too. Now, we discuss finances in detail as I’m incredibly inspired by how they’ve paid off their mortgage and achieved a comfortable lifestyle.
If you have, when did you move out of your parents'/guardians' house?
I lived at home on and off throughout my 20s between travelling, which I was incredibly lucky to do as it gave me the financial safety net to save for my house deposit, too. I also stayed with them for six months between my rental agreement ending and my house sale going through.
Industry: Aviation
Age: 33
Location: Northwest
Salary: £50,000
Paycheque amount: £2,867
Number of housemates: One: my fiancé, P.
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £479 mortgage. Sadly I had only locked in my low interest rate for two years so it jumped up by over £100 a month — although I know it could be a lot worse! I’d like to start overpaying again once we’ve finalised our wedding expenses.
Pension? I pay 8% salary sacrifice (£333 per month) and my employer pays 4.5%.
Loan payments: £157 student loan, taken out of my gross salary.
Savings? Just under £5,000 in a S&S ISA, £8,000 in an easy access saver (my emergency fund, which I’ll probably heavily dip into for wedding and reno plans) and £2,100 in sinking funds for holidays, gifts and car expenses.
Utilities: £151 council tax, £95.45 gas and electric, £35.57 water, £26.97 internet.
All other monthly payments: £22.50 life insurance, £40 gym membership, £10 SIM-only deal, £4 bank fee, £0.79 iCloud. Annually I pay £55 garden bin, £169.50 TV licence, £216 building and contents insurance, £249 car insurance. Subscriptions: £4.99 Netflix, £11.99 Spotify Premium.
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
I went to my local university, which was funded through working part-time (up to 30 hours a week), student loans, maintenance grants and a university scholarship — although I saved lots of the latter!
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
I don’t remember a huge amount of conversations about money when I was growing up. My mum stayed at home looking after me and my siblings until I was in secondary school so my dad worked incredibly hard to study and train in his trade, while working nights too. Now, we discuss finances in detail as I’m incredibly inspired by how they’ve paid off their mortgage and achieved a comfortable lifestyle.
If you have, when did you move out of your parents'/guardians' house?
I lived at home on and off throughout my 20s between travelling, which I was incredibly lucky to do as it gave me the financial safety net to save for my house deposit, too. I also stayed with them for six months between my rental agreement ending and my house sale going through.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
Day to day, I’ve been financially responsible for myself for years now, although P contributes £350 towards bills in the house and I can’t deny being in a couple makes living expenses much easier. My parents also contributed a loan towards my house deposit, which I was incredibly grateful for — as fellow solo buyers will know, it’s so difficult to save such a large amount otherwise. Now that P and I are getting married, we’re talking about the possibility of him buying out their investment to go on the mortgage.
Day to day, I’ve been financially responsible for myself for years now, although P contributes £350 towards bills in the house and I can’t deny being in a couple makes living expenses much easier. My parents also contributed a loan towards my house deposit, which I was incredibly grateful for — as fellow solo buyers will know, it’s so difficult to save such a large amount otherwise. Now that P and I are getting married, we’re talking about the possibility of him buying out their investment to go on the mortgage.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I got my first part-time job when I’d just turned 18 to pay for my first car and going out with friends.
I got my first part-time job when I’d just turned 18 to pay for my first car and going out with friends.
Do you worry about money now?
In the last six months, I’ve earned far more than I ever have before and I'm grateful to earn a good wage that I feel reflects my responsibilities. However, I still hold a lot of fear around money as I feel very responsible for home-related expenses and all the plans P and I have together, including hopefully having a family in the near future. This makes me want to build as many safety nets as possible to plan for the future, particularly with the rising cost of living.
In the last six months, I’ve earned far more than I ever have before and I'm grateful to earn a good wage that I feel reflects my responsibilities. However, I still hold a lot of fear around money as I feel very responsible for home-related expenses and all the plans P and I have together, including hopefully having a family in the near future. This makes me want to build as many safety nets as possible to plan for the future, particularly with the rising cost of living.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
Yes. As well as my parents’ loan towards my house deposit, I also received £1,000 from a great grandparent, which I put towards a backpacking trip in my early 20s. I’m also really lucky that, completely unexpectedly, my mum has paid for my wedding dress and one of my grandparents wants to contribute towards our day as well. We’re trying our best to keep the costs down. I’ve seen from many friends how easily weddings can spiral out of control so P and I are having a lot of conversations about how we can use this money sensibly rather than going all-in on a bigger, fancier day.
Yes. As well as my parents’ loan towards my house deposit, I also received £1,000 from a great grandparent, which I put towards a backpacking trip in my early 20s. I’m also really lucky that, completely unexpectedly, my mum has paid for my wedding dress and one of my grandparents wants to contribute towards our day as well. We’re trying our best to keep the costs down. I’ve seen from many friends how easily weddings can spiral out of control so P and I are having a lot of conversations about how we can use this money sensibly rather than going all-in on a bigger, fancier day.
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