A Week In London On A Joint $86,825 Salary

Occupation: Writer/Freelance Copywriter
Industry: Creative
Age: 26
Location: London
My Salary: $16,825
My Fiancé's Salary: $70,000. (My fiancé and I combined our finances a couple of years ago. At the moment, and much to my discomfort, I am relying on him financially while I get myself properly set up with freelance clients.)
Combined Paycheck (1x/month): ~$5252, after tax

Monthly Expenses
Rent: $1,892
Student Loan Payments: $0 at the moment. (I don't earn enough and have about $2,500 worth of credit card debt that I'm trying to pay off ASAP.)
Netflix: $9.80
Gousto Weekly Food Box: $168
Council Tax: $195
Electricity: Varies depending on usage, but at the moment it's about $32.
Internet: $68
Phone Bill: $0. (I'm still on my family plan, which I should probably change at some point.)
Savings & Charity: Currently $0. (I left my job over a year ago due to anxiety-related problems and wasn't able to work for a long time afterwards. I've been freelancing properly since November, but am not making a decent wage quite yet. Until I am, and until I've paid off my credit card, contributions to savings and charities are on hold.)

8 a.m. — My boyfriend's alarm goes off. (Side note: Even though we're engaged, I usually just refer to him as my boyfriend.) He jumps straight out of bed (how?) and potters around getting ready. I promptly go back to sleep. Say goodbye to him, then snooze for a little bit longer.

10:30 a.m. — I justify sleeping this late because I'm fighting off a near-constant sinus infection. For breakfast I have a bowl of overnight oats, which I make in bulk most weekends. This week's huge batch contains blueberries, bananas, chia seeds, oats, coconut yoghurt, almond milk, and leftover flax seeds. I eat while sitting in front of my SAD lamp (for Seasonal Affective Disorder). I'm prone to Vitamin D-deficiency, so I've borrowed my mum's light to see if it helps me feel better in the winter.

11 a.m. — Today is Book Day. Most weeks, I work on a self-imposed schedule of three days freelance copywriting followed by two days of work on my novel. Without it, it can be all too easy to neglect the novel, as it (currently) doesn't make me any money. This week, I moved my book days to the beginning so that I can work on sending chapters to an agent before the end of the month – eek! Before I start, though, I have a bit of wedmin (wedding admin) to do. My boyfriend and I have been engaged for five-and-a-half years and have finally decided to get the wedding ball rolling. I bought a dress last week, and we're trying to tie down a venue now.

2 p.m. — Time has seriously run away from me. After some heavy wedmin, a chat on the phone with my mum, and lunch consisting of a big bowl of roasted veggies, quinoa, and hummus (homemade in bulk; our hummus consumption is too vast to justify buying it), I finally make my way into my pseudo-office. Then, I Uber to the dry cleaners with the aforementioned wedding dress. (It was a sample sale purchase, so it was recommended that I get it cleaned). $16.36

3 p.m. — Get to the dry cleaners and it turns out it's going to cost over $190 for the clean! This is more than double what the bridal store estimated, but I saved so much on the dress that it should still work out as a good deal over all. I hand over my card, feeling a little sick and a little too flustered to question the cost. On the way out, I decide I'll bring it up when I collect the dress. $196

3:30 p.m. — Stop to grab coffees for me and my boyfriend. I get access to the shared workspace that I use as an office through his work (and it's free!), and his office happens to be in the same building. We chat for a couple of minutes after I give him the coffee, and then I settle in for some writing while munching on a homemade cookie. (I used a cookie recipe from Lucy Watson's cookbook and was initially skeptical of buying a cookbook written by a reality TV star, but these cookies are SO GOOD. They're vegan but they don't taste it). $7

6 p.m. — Multiple breaks throughout the afternoon for snacks (lentil chips and then peanut butter and banana) and random internet browsing.

6:45 p.m. — Meet my friend for salsa class. We signed up a few weeks ago, inspired by our New Year's resolutions. As a socially awkward person with no coordination, dance class is a challenge for me, plus it's an additional expense, but it's good for my mental health. It's actually quite fun and I get see to see my friend on a weekly basis, which is lovely. I have a splitting headache when I arrive but hope I'll forget about it once we start.

8:30 p.m. — Head home after an hour of dancing very close to people I don't know and making awkward small talk with a fellow classmate. Still, it was fun and my headache is gone. My friend and I walk to the Tube while discussing how nice it is to spend time in class where you can't check your phone or really think about anything other than the choreography. We hug and make plans to hang out in a week or so. I spend the rest of the journey thinking about the bagel I'm going to make when I get home while also indulging my inner emo teenager by listening to 30 Seconds To Mars. (I recently discovered I love them. Jared Leto is a beautiful man. I have no shame.) $8

9:30 p.m. — I mooch about the house while I wait for my boyfriend to get back from football – I said I'd wait for him to eat, as he hasn't had dinner yet either. Chuck a load of washing in and feed Gerty, my sourdough starter. We were given a sourdough class for Christmas, and it was there that Gerty was born. For the next week, I have to feed it water and flour before I can use it (her? - the teacher heavily anthropomorphized her own starter, and now I feel the need to as well) to bake. My boyfriend gets home and we have bagels — his with avocado and goat's curd, and mine with avocado and vegan cream cheese. We watch old episodes of Travel Man while we polish off the last of the cookies, and then get to bed around 11.

9 a.m. — Boyfriend yells from the kitchen so I drag myself out of bed to see what's so exciting. Our sourdough starters have doubled in size overnight and look like tiny bready monsters. He leaves, and I eat oats for breakfast while watching Friends. Spend the morning reading up on the best way to approach agents for my novel.

11 a.m. — Grab a quick shower and douse myself in the last of the Glossier perfume tester I had. Fortuitously, it arrived just as I ran out of my regular perfume. It's cheaper than my usual and smells lovely, so I decide to order a full bottle online. $63

12:30 p.m. — Another portion of roasted veggies, quinoa and hummus for lunch. Watch another episode of Friends, then do a quick Headspace meditation. (I can keep my anxiety much more under control if I meditate everyday.) Check the sourdough starters and notice Gerty is bursting out of her plastic container. Hurriedly transfer her into a bigger jar before she explodes everywhere.

1 p.m. — Wander to my favourite coffee shop and am chuffed to get my usual seat, nestled away in a little nook at the back. Order a coffee which comes with a biscuit (this place is the best), and get to work on editing and writing. I was planning to contact book agents soon, but all the advice I read earlier has convinced me of the need to do one more, fine-tooth comb-through of my book before sending the first chapters off. $3.40

3:30 p.m. — Starting to get peckish. The cafe doesn't have any vegan cakes, so I panic and order another coffee I don't really need just so I can have the biscuit. Fun fact: Lotus biscuits are vegan. (I'm not strictly vegan but have noticed my skin and mental health are better when I avoid dairy, so I tend to follow a vegan diet most of the time.) $3.40

4:10 p.m. — My attention is lagging a little. I'm trying very hard not to just rewrite everything in the book, which is what I've done on each of my previous three edits. I decide to get my second coffee to-go to have tomorrow and then head home. On the way, I stop at a bookstore to do research – I want to have a look at how successful fantasy authors start their books and to get an idea of how long their chapters are. I spend a bit of time flicking through some novels, including A Game of Thrones, and my absolute favourite fantasy series, The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. Reading Hobb was what inspired me to finally start working on my own book, so looking over her first trilogy now is oddly nostalgic and emotional.

5 p.m. — Snack on homemade rye bread with a little vegan cream cheese while I watch Friends. Almost immediately cut another slice and have it with honey. Finish with a few lentil chips. Spend an hour or so on the phone with my mum and then my nan.

7 p.m. — Boyfriend texts to say he's on his way home and inquires about our dinner plans. Usually, on nights when he's home a little later, it's my turn to cook – and vice versa. Our weekly Gousto box arrived earlier today so we have three meals to choose from, but I'm beginning to feel pretty tired, so I suggest leftovers. I lie around until he gets home, and then we snack on rye bread with a yummy sheep's cheese. Feel a little better after eating.

9 p.m. — Remember we need to feed the sourdough starters. I do so while wishing Gerty was actually a small fluffy animal instead of a jar full of fermenting yeast, but you can't have everything.

11 p.m. — I go to bed but feel surprisingly awake. I want to read but I know I'll get sucked in and not be able to stop. Manage to resist the urge, toss and turn for a bit, eventually fall asleep, and end up dreaming about the book I didn't read.

6 a.m. — My boyfriend's alarm goes off at an unholy hour, but I barely even register it. All I notice is the vague buzzing of the sound trying to break into my comfy-ness and the fact that it's still dark outside. I'm pretty sure he showers, but either he's gotten very good at getting ready quietly or I've gotten great at sleeping through the noises, as I hear nothing.

10 a.m. — I set my alarm for 9 but inexplicably end up snoozing for an extra hour. Prat about on my phone for a bit, then get up. Breakfast is oats and SAD light (again) while watching Friends. Then, I decide I'm going to work on my book. Technically, it should be a freelance day, but I'm waiting on work requests from my clients so I don't have any projects to work on right now. I could (and probably should) use the time to look for other work, but I'm feeling in the flow with my novel and want to try and power through as much as possible. I'll make up for it with an extra day of freelancing next week.

12 p.m. — Quick break to speak to my nan. She rings up to very kindly offer to pay for my wedding dress. I absolutely wish I could refuse all offers of help for things like this, as I'm very grateful for all my family has done for me and would like to be in the position to give them something back, but unfortunately, my boyfriend and I don't have the money to pay for everything wedding-related ourselves. I try to refuse my nan's offer, but she insists. I'm very grateful and promise her a big hug at the weekend.

1 p.m. — Decide it's probably time to get dressed. I'm going out to dinner tonight with my boyfriend and his coworkers, so I decide to wear a green & Other Stories dress I got a couple of Christmases ago. I love this dress but don't wear it that much, as it always needs ironing and I'm very lazy. I get out the ironing board and whiz the iron over while I talk to my mum on the phone about plans for this weekend; we're visiting her and my dad while also checking out a couple of potential wedding venues. Then I make a bagel with vegan cream cheese and avocado for lunch, being very careful not to spill on my newly ironed dress, before getting back to writing.

2:30 p.m. — Coffee break. Dress is creased. Already. What even is the point of ironing? Urgh. Make a coffee using my Nespresso – I usually brew with a V60, but I'm out of beans so I have to go with my backup. Take a quick online survey to try and qualify for paid market research. I do these as often as I can, as you can get paid over $70 for them, which is a great supplement to my freelance income.

5:30 p.m. — Do a quick meditation, then have a ten-minute rest before heading out to get the train to Central London. Meeting my boyfriend at his office. $3.65

6:30 p.m. — It's freezing! We walk from the office to a cute, gastropub-type place that sources its meat and fish locally. Get to know boyfriend's colleagues over bread and wine, then I have a starter of halloumi and butternut squash followed by pollock. Boyfriend has rabbit mac and cheese to start, then shares a colossal steak with one of his coworkers. The food is yummy but I start to feel sick halfway through my main (what is wrong with me at the moment?), so I get the rest in a box to take home. $107.80

9:30 p.m. — We head to a nearby cocktail bar with a speakeasy vibe that is nestled among a bunch of townhouses. The fresh air makes me feel better and much less sick. I have a rum and lime concoction followed by a smoky, barrel-aged rum drink that I order mostly for the smell. Boyfriend has two of the smoky ones, followed by half of mine, as I start feeling sick again. $71.56

10:30 p.m. — It's cold and dark so my boyfriend decides he wants to Uber home. He puts it on his credit card. We get back and I remember I was wearing foundation, so I have to pay more attention to removing all my makeup. Before my boyfriend passes out, we discuss the fact that we've spent quite a lot of money. It isn't ideal, but it was a special occasion, as one of the girls who was at dinner is relocating at the end of this week and we both think it's really important to make time for friends. Plus, we don't do it that often.

10 a.m. — Usual routine of waking up, saying bye to my boyfriend, then conking out again. Really must get out of this habit. I eventually drag myself out of my warm bed and make porridge for breakfast. Given my odd, sick-y feeling, I decide to just leave it plain.

1 p.m. — Have a hectic morning trying to organise bits and bobs, including a potential Secret Cinema trip with a group of friends. The only tickets available are $110 a pop, which seems far too steep. I leave it and lament the time wasted. I accept that it's going to be one of those days where I don't have time to get much done, especially given we'll be driving down to my parents' house later. Have a quick lunch of peanut butter on a wholemeal bagel, a stick of vegan cheese, and freshly ground (by me) coffee in front of the SAD lamp. Then I jump on the train. $5.89

3:20 p.m. — I pop into my boyfriend's office to meet the most adorable little puppy who belongs to a coworker. I want to take him home, even though he threatens to snag my cosy jumper with his tiny teeth. Grab a coffee ($3.40) as I can't be arsed to grind any more beans when I get home, then head to the dry cleaners' to collect my wedding dress. The nice man working there assures me I didn't overpay and shows me the prices of a few other comparable dresses. Grab an Uber to avoid getting my newly-cleaned dress all grimey from the Tube, and am home $17.20 later (this'll go onto the wedding budget eventually, as it's technically a related expense). $20.60

5 p.m. — Get in an hour or so of writing before my boyfriend arrives home. Quickly pack far too many items of clothing for a long weekend, and jump in the car to set off.

7 p.m. — Feels like we've been driving for yeaaaaars. London traffic is the worst. Stop to get food and we share vegetarian nachos with beans, cheese, and guac and veggie chili from one of the service station shops. Not great, but not as horrible as I expected ($10.79). I also grab a bag of my absolute favourite car snacks, spiral salt and vinegar crisps from M&S, along with a bottle of water, as we've drunk the one we filled up ($3.44). Boyfriend claims to hate the crisps but helps me demolish them within five minutes. We won't make it all the way to Devon on the petrol we have but don't want to pay for a whole tank at extortionate service prices, so we fill up enough to get us there ($28.06). $42.29

10 p.m. — Finally arrive at my parent's house. They greet us in a flurry of excitement and immediately whisk me upstairs so I can show them my wedding dress. We chill and catch up for a little bit but everyone's tired, so we head to bed around 11. I proceed to have a moderate panic attack for no reason I can discern, and watch Modern Family until my brain shuts off enough to sleep.

7:30 a.m. — Hear my dad say goodbye, which means that it's time to get up. I feel absolutely horrendous, and am not sure if it's a hangover from last night's anxiety or something physical. The joys of GAD. I manage one piece of buttered toast for breakfast and my lovely mum packs me one for later. Quickly feed Gerty (yes, we're the people who carry our sourdough starters around the country), dump half a can of dried shampoo over my head, and we're out the door by 8:30.

8:45 p.m. — Stop for petrol at Tesco as we have a voucher, but my boyfriend pays at the pump and forgets to use it – whoops! We get on the road properly and I attempt to sleep off whatever it is that's ailing me. I wake up feeling better, and eat the piece of toast Mum packed for me. $69.47

10:45 p.m. — Cornwall is so pretty! We make our way down windy little roads and through cute villages to the first of the wedding venues we're viewing today. It's an impressive-looking country house with a driveway a mile long, and we're suitably wowed. There's even an old Georgian bathhouse to have the ceremony in. The inside isn't as nice as the outside, though, and it's a little more expensive than we first thought it would be, so we leave with a lot to think about. Drive through the deer park(!) on the way out, and coo over all the sweet animals.

12 p.m. — Quick lunch before our next viewing. We're both starving and find a pub just off the main road. I get a winter club sandwich, which consists of turkey, bacon, cheese, stuffing, and cranberry sauce (goodbye Veganism), and my boyfriend gets a pork bap – plus we share chips. $25.96

1:45 p.m. — The next place we're viewing is an actual working farm, complete with chickens, pigs, and cows. We're shown the venue, plus the two barns which would be used on the day, and are told that all of the food would be made in-house using ingredients that are grown or bred on the farm. It's beautiful and has a really nice, homey vibe that really suits us. My boyfriend is sold and totally in love with it, and after a little discussion, I agree. We're quite budget-conscious too, and it would be a bargain for a last-minute, midweek date in September.

3 p.m. — We stop and grab a coffee to-go, plus a bottle of water. We decide to text our closest friends and make sure they're free on the date we're considering for the farm wedding, and I email the venue to provisionally hold it. $4.63

5 p.m. — Back home! I'm supposed to be taking part in a paid research interview online, but I dial into it only to be told it's cancelled. Luckily, they tell me they'll still pay me the full compensation, which is a massive bonus.

6 p.m. — We spend the evening chatting to my parents about the venue and discussing plans/ideas for the wedding in general. It's all becoming very real, very fast! We get fish and chips from the local chippy, which has recently been named best in the U.K. (apparently). Parents very kindly pay. We all conk out at around 11.

8:30 a.m. — We're planning to drive to my nan's, who lives an hour away, for the rest of the weekend, so we get up, shower, pack, and head out. No petrol needed this time!

12:30 p.m. — Get to my nan's and everyone is famished. She makes us ham and cheese rolls with leftover Christmas chutney and we devour them. Then, it's time to show her the wedding dress. She approves, which I'm very pleased about. We have a lot of strong, fierce women on my mum's side of the family and we're all very close, so she will likely be involved in the wedding almost as much as my mum will be.

2 p.m. — There's a mother-of-the-bride shop that we've always admired quite close to my nan's house, so we decide to head over for a browse, now that we're actually planning a wedding. We meet my two cousins there, along with their other nan who is basically part of our family. There are loads of amazing things in the store, and we dash around pulling out dresses for my mum and nan to try. Mum isn't feeling it, but my nan gets the most gorgeous beaded, Art Deco-style dress that looks like it's made for her. We all get a bit teary, and I take the opportunity to ask my cousins to be bridesmaids. I don't have any siblings, and, as I said, our family is quite close, so they're probably the nearest people I have to sisters.

4 p.m. — Tired out from the emotions following my nan's purchase, we head over the road for a hot drink and sit down. Everyone except me gets hot chocolate, and I have a peppermint tea. My cousins' other nan sneakily pays and I give her all the change I have to cover my and my mum's drinks. $4.21

6 p.m. — We get home, show my dad and boyfriend my nan's dress, and then my boyfriend and I Facetime his parents to tell them about the quickly moving plans. (When I started this Money Diary, I did not expect it to essentially become a diary of wedding planning!) My youngest cousin and her new boyfriend arrive, and we all decide to order Indian food. My boyfriend and I get vegetable biryani, aubergine, cauliflower and mushroom bhajis, and peshwari naan to share. It's really yummy. Mum and dad pay, and I intend to pay them back for our share but totally forget to mention it. Will have to message them and transfer the money.

11 p.m. — After more chatting, it's bedtime. We're sleeping in the conservatory and it's freezing, so I layer up and we climb into bed with a hot water bottle.

9 a.m. — Manage to sleep until 9 and then have toast and jam for breakfast. Have a minor panic that I haven't been paying Gerty much attention until I realise it's time for her to chill in the fridge for a week, according to our expert teacher. She's in the back of the car, which is basically a fridge anyway.

12 p.m. — Everyone is coming over for lunch today. My two cousins, the one boyfriend, and the additional nan all arrive, and we sit down to a roast featuring the biggest joint of beef I've ever seen. My parents actually got it for Christmas, but we had so much food then that it ended up in the freezer. I load up a plate with veggies, beef, and the all important Yorkshire puds. We follow it with three types of dessert: toffee pavlova roulade, lemon meringue pie, and Viennetta, all with ice cream. I roll away from the table feeling stuffed.

3:30 p.m. — We catch up more over coffee, then get back on the road to head back to London. We fill up with petrol (again), and I grab a packet of crisps because I'm a greedy monster. Stop for a wee halfway through the journey and manage not to buy any snacks. $55.87

6:30 p.m. — We go straight to our friends' house and I promptly put on PJs; usually I'd go for tracksuit bottoms but all I have are PJs from the weekend. Plus, we all lived together at university and visit one another's house on an almost weekly basis, so the time for dressing up has long since passed. I help one of the guys make bread-and-butter pudding while the others decide to order Japanese food. I realise I've eaten more takeout than not this week, which is definitely not usual. My boyfriend and I order California rolls, vegetable dumplings, prawn Katsu rolls, and tuna maki to share. One of the guys pays and will put our share on Splitwise, the app we use to keep track of monies within the group. We'll either pay it later or it'll cancel out against something else we've paid for. We end up severely under-ordering and are very grateful for the huge helping of bread-and-butter pudding we have for dessert.

11 p.m. — We play board games after dinner. Between us all in this group, we probably own over 50 of them. Tonight, we play the next installment of Pandemic Legacy Season 2, a game that continues on each time you play. When we're finished, we drive back to our place with one of the guys in tow – he and my boyfriend are planning to watch the Super Bowl. I potter around, unpacking a little and transferring Gerty to the fridge, and consider joining them. Watch for ten minutes before I decide I'm too knackered, and I end up going to bed around midnight.

4 a.m. — Boyfriend comes in after the Super Bowl is over and our friend has Ubered home. He sets an alarm for 10, which I think is somewhat ambitious, and I decide I'm very glad I didn't stay up watching the game.

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