Money Diary: Microbiologist Working On COVID Testing On £33k
Last Updated 29 August 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 am a Microbiologist working in a lab during the coronavirus pandemic. Although I specialise in bacteriology, my department has been supporting the virology department in their COVID-19 response. This means I’ve been working crazy shifts for the last six months, including 12 hour days and emergency night shifts every other week in order to provide a 24/7 testing service. I live in Greater Manchester with my partner. We have no children or pets (both our shift patterns would make this difficult). I enjoy houseplants (like a true millennial), gardening and spending time with family and friends — something I’ve been sorely missing recently!
Usually, I love travelling and most of my disposable income is spent on holidays, even if it’s just a short city break with friends. I know I am incredibly fortunate to still have a job/income but so far this year I have had to postpone two holidays to next year, miss a friend’s wedding and miss a friend’s 30th birthday, which isn’t great. Hopefully life will return to normal relatively soon and I can get back to sipping cocktails on a beach.
Occupation: Microbiologist
Industry: NHS
Age: 30
Location: Manchester
Salary: £33,176 basic salary, around £41,392 with contractual overtime but this fluctuates.
Paycheque amount: Usually between £2,200 and £2,500 (with my contractual overtime) after tax, pension contribution and student loan repayment. Since the pandemic I’ve averaged around £3,500 a month after tax etc.
Number of housemates; one partner.
Industry: NHS
Age: 30
Location: Manchester
Salary: £33,176 basic salary, around £41,392 with contractual overtime but this fluctuates.
Paycheque amount: Usually between £2,200 and £2,500 (with my contractual overtime) after tax, pension contribution and student loan repayment. Since the pandemic I’ve averaged around £3,500 a month after tax etc.
Number of housemates; one partner.
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: We live in a three bedroom terraced house in Greater Manchester. The mortgage comes out of our joint account and is £480 a month which includes an over-payment of around £100.
Utilities: We pay £600 a month each into our joint account. All household bills come out of this account and we put £150 a month from this into our joint savings. Water is £30.44, electricity is £75.83, council tax is £131, house insurance is £11.45 and TV/broadband is £54. We usually have around £200 a month left which we use for eating out/takeaways/social activities together, and then anything left over goes in to our savings.
Utilities: We pay £600 a month each into our joint account. All household bills come out of this account and we put £150 a month from this into our joint savings. Water is £30.44, electricity is £75.83, council tax is £131, house insurance is £11.45 and TV/broadband is £54. We usually have around £200 a month left which we use for eating out/takeaways/social activities together, and then anything left over goes in to our savings.
My personal bills include my car repayment of £201, my car insurance is £52, Unite membership is £14, phone bill is £19 (sim only), contact lens subscription is £26 and I recently bought the new iPhone on credit with 0% interest for two years so I pay £22 a month for that. Car parking at work costs me a percentage of my salary but it’s usually around £30.
I transfer myself £500 a month into a Monzo account, and this is what I use for personal day to day spending such as petrol, buying lunch or dinner with friends.
Loans: Student loan which is a percentage of my salary. Usually around £150 but can fluctuate with extra overtime.
Savings? We currently have around £2,000 in our joint savings account (but we’re about to spend this on doing our garden up). I personally have around £10,000 in an ISA, and about £4,000 in another savings account. I treat my savings like a bill and pay £150 a month into each of my savings accounts, plus whatever is left at the end of the month.
Other: I pay £5 a week into a savings account for my niece. I pay £9 every two months for a razor blade subscription and I’ve just signed up to an eco-friendly tampon subscription box that’s £8 every two months.
Savings? We currently have around £2,000 in our joint savings account (but we’re about to spend this on doing our garden up). I personally have around £10,000 in an ISA, and about £4,000 in another savings account. I treat my savings like a bill and pay £150 a month into each of my savings accounts, plus whatever is left at the end of the month.
Other: I pay £5 a week into a savings account for my niece. I pay £9 every two months for a razor blade subscription and I’ve just signed up to an eco-friendly tampon subscription box that’s £8 every two months.
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