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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 25-year-old living on my own with my daughter in the southwest. I’ve worked my arse off to get where I am in my career now, and promised myself when my daughter was one that I would get to my 'career pinnacle' and a flexible/remote-working job by the time she started school. She started last September and I am lucky enough to work from home 3.25 days a week! In September 2018, I started dialysis six nights a week for kidney failure so my 'exciting life plans’ (holidays, pets, weekends away, general sources of excitement, joy and happiness) are on hold for the next year or two while I wait for a transplant. My dad was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and given three months to live, so me and my mum are trying to save now to move into a house together once she retires in the next year or two so she doesn’t have to be on her own (she’s 72).
In the last two years I pulled myself out of about £8,000 debt on credit cards, holiday/car debt, nursery fees, store credit accounts and HMRC bills, and started budgeting mercilessly with a spreadsheet – which I still use every month – which breaks down every single transaction in and out of my bank. Although I’m in a much better financial position now, I still get anxiety/feel sick every single time I use my debit card. This month, I didn’t save my usual £300 and added it to my 'extra funds pot' to see if it stopped me feeling anxious about spending and money. Spoiler: it did not."
Industry: Head of marketing (startup tech company)
Age: 25
Location: Southwest, commute an hour to work in the 'Silicon South'
Salary: £36,000 + £500 a month commission + £82.80 child benefit a month
Paycheque amount: £2589.99 (+ circa £200 a month in freelance work)
Number of housemates: One, my beautiful daughter
Age: 25
Location: Southwest, commute an hour to work in the 'Silicon South'
Salary: £36,000 + £500 a month commission + £82.80 child benefit a month
Paycheque amount: £2589.99 (+ circa £200 a month in freelance work)
Number of housemates: One, my beautiful daughter
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £487.60 rent
Loan payments: £229.40
Utilities: £280.62
Transportation: £100-£160 fuel, £269.44 car. I pay car insurance annually
Phone bill: £62
Savings? (Usually) £300 a month
Other: £100 breakfast and after school club, £9.99 Netflix, £3.99 Amazon Kids for my daughter's (A) tablet, £7.99 Tesco delivery saver (saves a fortune!), £10 Rainbows fee. I also have a soft budget of £250 a month for food shopping (inc. work lunches) – it normally comes out to £210-£220.
Loan payments: £229.40
Utilities: £280.62
Transportation: £100-£160 fuel, £269.44 car. I pay car insurance annually
Phone bill: £62
Savings? (Usually) £300 a month
Other: £100 breakfast and after school club, £9.99 Netflix, £3.99 Amazon Kids for my daughter's (A) tablet, £7.99 Tesco delivery saver (saves a fortune!), £10 Rainbows fee. I also have a soft budget of £250 a month for food shopping (inc. work lunches) – it normally comes out to £210-£220.
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