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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 27-year-old primary school teacher in Oxfordshire. I purchased a house two years ago and got married last year so I have been adulting HARD recently. The school I work in is very small – around 100 pupils – and nobody needed to send their child in during lockdown so I’m now off work for the foreseeable.
I’m currently caring full-time for my husband, who is quadriplegic. He has no use of his legs and limited use of his arms and hands. We received a letter advising that he completely isolate for 12 weeks as his paralysis affected the muscles in his chest and stomach so breathing can occasionally be difficult but luckily he doesn’t require any machines to help him. When we received the letter we decided I would take over the full-time care to avoid having anybody else in the house."
Industry: Education
Age: 27
Location: Oxfordshire
Salary: £31,000
Paycheque amount: £1,957 after tax and pension contributions.
Number of housemates: My husband, B, and our two cats.
Age: 27
Location: Oxfordshire
Salary: £31,000
Paycheque amount: £1,957 after tax and pension contributions.
Number of housemates: My husband, B, and our two cats.
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £402 for my half of the mortgage.
Loan payments: £0 – I paid off my credit card last month, woohooooooo!
Utilities: £29 for broadband, £53 for water and £140 for gas and electric. We split all that down the middle.
Transportation: We are exempt from car tax and my car is completely paid off. Usually around £100 on petrol a month and £43 on insurance.
Phone bill: £60 for my phone.
Savings? About £2,000 at the moment between us. We dramatically depleted our savings when we were making our house more accessible for my husband. We needed to redo the drive, widen some of the doorways, make the back garden accessible as we value outdoor space a lot, extend two bathrooms to be big enough for a wheelchair plus change one into a wet room. We also have a hoist system. B’s parents contributed to this massively and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.
Other: £22.97 for various streaming services (Disney+, Amazon Prime and Netflix), £160 a month on weekly counselling sessions with a private therapist.
Loan payments: £0 – I paid off my credit card last month, woohooooooo!
Utilities: £29 for broadband, £53 for water and £140 for gas and electric. We split all that down the middle.
Transportation: We are exempt from car tax and my car is completely paid off. Usually around £100 on petrol a month and £43 on insurance.
Phone bill: £60 for my phone.
Savings? About £2,000 at the moment between us. We dramatically depleted our savings when we were making our house more accessible for my husband. We needed to redo the drive, widen some of the doorways, make the back garden accessible as we value outdoor space a lot, extend two bathrooms to be big enough for a wheelchair plus change one into a wet room. We also have a hoist system. B’s parents contributed to this massively and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.
Other: £22.97 for various streaming services (Disney+, Amazon Prime and Netflix), £160 a month on weekly counselling sessions with a private therapist.
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