Money Diary: A Corporate Lawyer In London On 250k

This week: "I’m a 32-year-old working as a corporate lawyer in a law firm in London. My job can be pretty stressful but it’s very up and down in terms of how busy it is. However, I know I’m compensated well for it and on the whole I’m very happy in my job. I live with my partner, M, and I'm currently pregnant with our first child so I’m conscious that I’m about to embark on a lot of life changes – including changes to our finances."

Occupation: Corporate lawyer
Industry: Law
Age: 32
Location: London 
Salary: £250,000 + bonus
Paycheque amount: £10,500 (bonus is paid separately in one go at year end).
Number of housemates: One: my partner, M.
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses
 
Housing costs: £2,600 mortgage repayment, which I split with M.
Loan payments: £0
Savings? £120,000, £30,000 of which is in an ISA, the remainder in a variety of flexible and fixed term savings. I used to have more but M and I sold our flat and bought a house last year. We were then renovating it up until a few months ago so the purchase and renovations wiped out a fair amount of my savings.
Pension? 5% (my employer matches an additional 5%) and we have the option to bonus sacrifice.
Utilities: Approximately £700 a month. M and I each pay certain types of bills (mine are mainly gas, electricity and council tax), which works out to us splitting expenses approximately 50:50.  
All other monthly payments: £16 phone bill. Subscriptions: £4.99 Apple TV, £39 Peloton membership (other monthly subscriptions including Netflix, Sky and Amazon Prime are part of M’s bills).

My parents always strongly emphasised the importance of education and there was absolutely an expectation that I would attend higher education. Happily, I liked school and I went on to university for my undergraduate and master's. I was very lucky that my parents paid for all the tuition. I also completed the one-year legal qualification course, which was paid for by the law firm I trained with.
 
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?

Our family didn't speak much about finances but my parents were always sensible with their money. They both worked extremely hard to provide for us and we didn't spend flippantly but I did have a very comfortable childhood and we never went without.
 
If you have, when did you move out of your parents'/guardians' house?

I lived at home after university and during my training contract. I moved out afterwards at around 24 or 25.
 
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?

My parents stopped providing spending money for me after university (my law firm provided a bursary for the year I did my legal qualification course) but as mentioned above, I did live at home during my training contract and didn't have to pay rent. I moved out afterwards and have been fully financially responsible for myself since.
 
What was your first job and why did you get it?

My parents were always adamant that I should be focused on studying during university. I had a number of paid internships during my holidays but my first real job was my training contract to be a solicitor after I left university.
 
Do you worry about money now?

No. I know I'm very fortunate to be in a very high salary bracket and I have a fair amount of savings. I also feel like I very much live within my means and I've never incurred any debt. I am currently four months pregnant with our first child though, so I am conscious that my outgoings will be increasing soon.

No.