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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 a 26-year-old senior PR executive living and working in West Yorkshire. Like so many people, I was furloughed not long after the first lockdown as clients had to pull back on marketing services. I was on full furlough for around three months before being brought back on a part-time basis as part of the updated furlough scheme, and my hours varied from month to month once I started working again. Thankfully I'm now back to working full time, albeit from home. I was also promoted from account executive to senior account executive at the start of the year, pushing me over the £20k salary mark, which has been a massive thing for me.
I live with my fiancé, J, who earns around £10k more than me, and other than the mortgage – which we go halves on – we pay for bills and food proportionately to what we earn. We were incredibly lucky to buy a house in 2019 with the help of both our families and are currently saving as much as we can for our 2021 wedding, which may or may not be able to go ahead!
Since graduating university in 2015, I've worked in a few admin jobs both sides of going travelling (paid for with my savings from my weekend job through sixth form and uni) while I figured out a career path, eventually going into PR in 2018. The relatively late start in my career means that I'm on a lower salary than I'd like to be for my age but I try not to compare myself to others my age too much as I love my job and I think that accounts for so much. However, because I've always earned lower salaries, I'm generally quite cautious with spending."
Industry: Communications
Age: 26
Location: West Yorkshire
Salary: £21,250
Paycheque amount: £1,445.31 per month – this is the first month on this salary after being promoted!
Number of housemates: One, my fiancé J (plus two cats and a hamster).
Age: 26
Location: West Yorkshire
Salary: £21,250
Paycheque amount: £1,445.31 per month – this is the first month on this salary after being promoted!
Number of housemates: One, my fiancé J (plus two cats and a hamster).
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: I transfer £565 to the joint account every month which covers my half of the mortgage as well as my share of the food shopping, cat stuff and utility bills. J earns more than me so we split the food shops, cat things and bills proportionately to our salaries.
Loan payments: £0 – I don't earn enough to pay back my student loan yet.
Utilities: Included in my housing costs.
Transportation: £139.27 per month for my car on a PCP deal. I usually budget £40 a month for petrol although I pay significantly less than this now as I hardly use my car with working from home.
Phone bill: £10 for a SIM-only contract (I bought my phone outright a few years ago).
Savings? Most of my savings were wiped out from buying the house. I currently save £250 per month towards the wedding and put an extra £10-£50 into my 'rainy day' savings pot in my Starling account, which I mostly dip into for hair and nail appointments and other occasional treats, but I suppose it's also an emergency fund. I have about £3,500 saved towards the wedding (with this account dipped into to pay for some wedding purchases already), £380 in my Starling 'car fund' pot which is essentially my insurance excess, and there's currently around £150 in the 'rainy day' pot. I wasn't able to save nearly as much as I'd have liked to last year due to being on a reduced salary for most of the year.
Other: £5.99 for a BritBox subscription (J pays for Netflix).
Housing costs: I transfer £565 to the joint account every month which covers my half of the mortgage as well as my share of the food shopping, cat stuff and utility bills. J earns more than me so we split the food shops, cat things and bills proportionately to our salaries.
Loan payments: £0 – I don't earn enough to pay back my student loan yet.
Utilities: Included in my housing costs.
Transportation: £139.27 per month for my car on a PCP deal. I usually budget £40 a month for petrol although I pay significantly less than this now as I hardly use my car with working from home.
Phone bill: £10 for a SIM-only contract (I bought my phone outright a few years ago).
Savings? Most of my savings were wiped out from buying the house. I currently save £250 per month towards the wedding and put an extra £10-£50 into my 'rainy day' savings pot in my Starling account, which I mostly dip into for hair and nail appointments and other occasional treats, but I suppose it's also an emergency fund. I have about £3,500 saved towards the wedding (with this account dipped into to pay for some wedding purchases already), £380 in my Starling 'car fund' pot which is essentially my insurance excess, and there's currently around £150 in the 'rainy day' pot. I wasn't able to save nearly as much as I'd have liked to last year due to being on a reduced salary for most of the year.
Other: £5.99 for a BritBox subscription (J pays for Netflix).
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