Money Diary: A 27-Year-Old Doctor On 47k Redeployed For COVID-19
Last Updated 22 April 2020, 6:00
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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’m an NHS doctor with two years of training left before I become a consultant. Up until last year my base salary was £37,000 per year but I had a big jump to a base salary of £47,000. This covers a 40-hour week and I get a top-up for the other eight hours (I’m contracted for 48 hours a week) plus a percentage extra for every hour that is 'antisocial' (i.e. overnight or weekends). It works out at about £52-55,000 pre-tax per year depending on my shifts. I realise that this is a lot of money and that I’m very lucky to earn this much. To give context, this is after a five-year university degree and five (so far) years of medical training. Another perk of my job, which became particularly relevant recently, is job security. A huge number of my friends and family have been let go or put on furlough this week. Although I don’t always love my job, I never have to worry about the company going bust! Another unexpected benefit of working for the NHS is the cheeky treats that I’m getting during the pandemic (free cups of coffee, beer – thank you Brewgooder! – meals at work) but I have a lot of guilt accepting them."
Industry: Medical
Age: 27
Location: London
Salary: £47,000
Paycheque amount: £3,200 this month – it depends on how much 'out of hours' work I do.
Number of housemates: Two
Age: 27
Location: London
Salary: £47,000
Paycheque amount: £3,200 this month – it depends on how much 'out of hours' work I do.
Number of housemates: Two
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £750
Loan payments: No student loan. University is pretty much free where I’m from and my parents/ very part-time job helped with living costs. I have just paid off my bike via the cycle to work scheme, which cost about £50 per month. I have an American Express credit card which I pay off by standing order (in full) every month.
Utilities: £10 for internet, £30ish council tax, £20 electricity, £10 water (approx).
Transportation: £200 per month on the Tube and buses. We rotate from hospital to hospital during our training – I cycle to the nearby ones but this one is reeeeally far away. I’m not completely sold on living in a city and this doesn’t help. Also, my partner lives overseas so I pay for flights to see him every few months, probably averaging about £1,200 per year. Long distance is expensive! We have no upcoming trips due to the current pandemic so I won’t include flights this week.
Phone bill: £20 per month, which includes Spotify premium. I haggled it down from £24!
Savings? From putting away money every month (£550 per month atm), taking on extra shifts and selling my car, I have just over £20,000 in a stocks and shares ISA (which was worth a good bit more a few weeks ago). I’m hoping to buy a house in the near future so fingers crossed it picks up a bit! I plan to swap this money to a less risky option once the pandemic is over.
Medical training expenses: We pay for a number of our training costs out of pocket, which we can claim tax back on. These include: medical council fees (£153 this year), medical association (a few £10s per month), royal college fees (£280 this year), exams (£340 this year) etc.
Loan payments: No student loan. University is pretty much free where I’m from and my parents/ very part-time job helped with living costs. I have just paid off my bike via the cycle to work scheme, which cost about £50 per month. I have an American Express credit card which I pay off by standing order (in full) every month.
Utilities: £10 for internet, £30ish council tax, £20 electricity, £10 water (approx).
Transportation: £200 per month on the Tube and buses. We rotate from hospital to hospital during our training – I cycle to the nearby ones but this one is reeeeally far away. I’m not completely sold on living in a city and this doesn’t help. Also, my partner lives overseas so I pay for flights to see him every few months, probably averaging about £1,200 per year. Long distance is expensive! We have no upcoming trips due to the current pandemic so I won’t include flights this week.
Phone bill: £20 per month, which includes Spotify premium. I haggled it down from £24!
Savings? From putting away money every month (£550 per month atm), taking on extra shifts and selling my car, I have just over £20,000 in a stocks and shares ISA (which was worth a good bit more a few weeks ago). I’m hoping to buy a house in the near future so fingers crossed it picks up a bit! I plan to swap this money to a less risky option once the pandemic is over.
Medical training expenses: We pay for a number of our training costs out of pocket, which we can claim tax back on. These include: medical council fees (£153 this year), medical association (a few £10s per month), royal college fees (£280 this year), exams (£340 this year) etc.
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