Money Diary 25-Year-Old On £60k In Sao Paulo

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 work for a university in London and was due to move there in April this year but with lockdown my role went remote and I stayed put in Sheffield, where I share a one-bedroom flat in the city centre with my boyfriend. This was a blessing for my finances and mental health since I got to save on rent and have nice walks in the Peak District throughout the pandemic. Being remote full-time, I didn’t really need to be in England so at the end of October I went home to São Paulo, Brazil (where I'm originally from) to help my parents move to the UK.

This is something we've been talking about since I came here for uni in 2015. Brazil is tough, there’s a lot more crime and poverty and less quality of life and infrastructure. I hear Londoners complain about the Tube and they don’t even know how good they have it! My parents work very long hours and moving them abroad for a better life always seemed like a distant possibility, but after I went, it didn’t look so unrealistic anymore. The original plan was for them to move somewhere else in Europe but with Brexit everything happened so fast and one day my mum was like, "What if we move to England?" and I was like, "Okay, but you need to do it by the end of 2020" and now here we are, in a flurry of boxes and British bureaucracy.

My goal is to support them financially and emotionally as much as I can and also repay them for my uni tuition. I landed a very well paying job for my age back in January and also got a sweet freelance deal for the same kind of work in August, which means working lots of nights and weekends but it’ll fund the move and it means I can pay them back quicker."

Industry: Higher education
Age: 25
Location: São Paulo, Brazil / Sheffield, UK
Salary: £46,000 + freelance (this is ongoing but I estimate it’ll be £10-£15k) = around £60,000
Paycheque amount: £2,675 + freelance (can vary from £100-£3,000 depending on the month)
Number of housemates: Five (Mum, Dad, brother, dog and parrot) in Brazil / One (boyfriend) in England

Monthly Expenses

Housing costs: My half for the Sheffield flat is £250 / São Paulo flat is £0 as my parents own it and I’m just here for a little over a month.
Loan payments: £0 (my parents paid for my uni tuition).
Utilities: £50ish in Sheffield.
Transportation: £0 (working from home in both countries).
Phone bill: £9
Savings? With not moving to London and the pandemic, I’ve been saving around £1,700 a month since I started my new job. The higher salary and the freelance gig have enabled me to achieve my savings goal of £20k for this year! I also have under £2k in an ISA and a USS work pension.
Other: £9.99 Spotify, £7.99 Crunchyroll (anime streaming site, split with partner), £10 freelancer insurance.