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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 we're with a woman who, after moving between Cornwall and London for the past five years, has settled (for now) in Surrey with her boyfriend of three years. She says she was incredibly lucky to land a music industry job a month after moving here, purely through her own graft, and even though it's not well paid, it's her first salaried job since starting working at 15, and it's a foot in the door of the industry.
Moving in with her boyfriend was great but the wage gap between them is a little tricky to navigate at times, as he earns more than 3x what she does a month. She's independent, and after getting herself into debt at 19 and having to work really hard to pay it off, she's very cash-conscious and doesn't want to owe anyone money. She does however want to get a mortgage by the time she's 30, so is trying to save and supplement money where she can (like selling 3/4 of her possessions on eBay) while trying to occasionally have fun. She wants to travel more, and go up to London for exhibitions, parties, and to hang out with friends, but rarely has enough money.
Industry: Music Tech
Age: 23
Location: Surrey
Salary: £9,000 (I will be getting a 40% wage increase in August!)
Paycheque amount: £741 after National Insurance
Housemates: 1 – boyfriend, who is a pilot
Age: 23
Location: Surrey
Salary: £9,000 (I will be getting a 40% wage increase in August!)
Paycheque amount: £741 after National Insurance
Housemates: 1 – boyfriend, who is a pilot
Monthly Expenses
Rent: £425
Bills: £131.90 for council tax, internet, and utilities.
Loan payments: Over £54,000 in student loans (three years of full loans with a one-year break in between). I don’t earn enough to pay them back yet, and at 3% interest I don’t know if I ever will.
Transportation: £0. I walk everywhere – trains to London are paid on my Oyster as and when, and we split the cost of fuel for boyfriend’s car if we go on a long trip.
Phone bill: £10 credit top-up every month if I decide I really need it (I won’t top up this month).
Savings? £900 emergency fund saved from my previous job as a chef where I earned £10 an hour and worked six days a week.
Other: £20 that I invest in a stocks-and-shares investment ISA every month (£5 a week). I luckily have access to a Netflix account belonging to the mum of my old roommate so that costs nothing, and I watch a lot of vlogs.
Bills: £131.90 for council tax, internet, and utilities.
Loan payments: Over £54,000 in student loans (three years of full loans with a one-year break in between). I don’t earn enough to pay them back yet, and at 3% interest I don’t know if I ever will.
Transportation: £0. I walk everywhere – trains to London are paid on my Oyster as and when, and we split the cost of fuel for boyfriend’s car if we go on a long trip.
Phone bill: £10 credit top-up every month if I decide I really need it (I won’t top up this month).
Savings? £900 emergency fund saved from my previous job as a chef where I earned £10 an hour and worked six days a week.
Other: £20 that I invest in a stocks-and-shares investment ISA every month (£5 a week). I luckily have access to a Netflix account belonging to the mum of my old roommate so that costs nothing, and I watch a lot of vlogs.
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