Money Diary: A Management Accountant On 38k

This week: "I’m a 26-year-old on a finance grad scheme in the tourism industry. My current role partners to the highest profile team in the business so it's exciting but really demanding and the expectation is that you drop any social life as and when the business needs you (it always seems to). I’ll be finishing this placement next week after a year and I am lucky enough to be taking a six-week operational break before returning to head office for my final year in December. I’m single and live in London with my best friend from uni, who I’ve lived with for about five years now."

Occupation: Finance (management accountant)
Industry: Travel and tourism
Age: 26
Location: London
Salary: £38,000 (this has been confirmed to rise to £43,000 in two paycheques' time in recognition of finishing year two of my grad scheme).
Paycheque amount: £2,287
Number of housemates: One: my longtime flatmate, R.
Pronouns: She/her
 
Monthly Expenses
 
Housing costs: £860 rent. Our two-bedroom flat is £1,650 in total but I pay a wee bit more for a larger room and the parking space.
Loan payments: £65 student loan, £33 cycle to work repayment.
Pension? I pay in 4%, which works out as £126.50, and my employer pays in 9%. 
Savings? £800. My necessary outgoings as a proportion of my salary is frightening and puts me off trying to save. As long as I have great industry perks I prioritise discounted trips abroad and loosely ensure I always have one month's contingency rent in the bank. I did save about £4,000 by living at home for three months during lockdown but I used this to buy a car upfront last year. 
Utilities: £95 council tax, £60 electricity, £13 Wi-Fi.
All other monthly payments: £7.80 SIM contract, £13 road tax, £67 car insurance. £35 ClassPass membership, £68 cheer gym membership (I train twice a week with a competitive cheerleading team aiming for the 2024 Worlds). Subscriptions: £8 Disney+ (I may cancel now I’ve completed OMITB).

I went to Edinburgh for five years and took out a fee loan (£9,250 per year). My parents paid the majority but not all of my rent in years one to four and then I paid fully in year five. I worked 10 hours a week as an event planner to provide spending money. I’d then get a classic Edinburgh student bar job during Fringe and work silly 70+ hour weeks for the month to start the new academic year with a fresh bank balance.
 
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?

My parents both come from quite poor upbringings and they are proud of their self-made success. This was taken to the extreme in teaching me how to be financially independent and my teenage self resented working to pay for necessities like school trips that my friends wouldn’t even have known the cost of. Although my parents' efforts are appreciated, I’d say this had a counterproductive impact on my financial education as I have become accustomed to money going straight back out once earned.

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

I moved out at 18 for uni and lived entirely in Edinburgh for those five years. After graduating I had a placeholder three months back home before I could afford a deposit and rent in London.
 
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?

I stopped receiving any form of financial support from my parents near the end of my fourth year of uni when I was 22.

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

I’ve been employed since I was 14 and worked 15 hours a week at a local children's gymnastics/soft-play party company. My starting salary was £3.75 (so cute) and at the time the job was a hobby so negotiating my pay didn’t feel necessary.

I'm conscious of my lack of savings in relation to a relatively successful salary but I then remember that I have been on nine holidays this year (experiences worth every penny and well industry-discounted) so I channel these self-inflicted concerns into an appreciation for the privilege.

No.