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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...
"After graduating from Cambridge University in July last year, I have been living back at home with my family and working at a local small animal veterinary practice. Unfortunately, during my final year rotations at Uni I managed to break my left arm, which resulted in me spending eight weeks in a cast whilst finishing my degree.
Several months into my working life, it became apparent that my arm had never properly healed and was starting to impact on my ability to work, so further surgery was needed.
Four and a half months later, after intensive physio and several months spent in a splint, I am now hesitantly beginning the slow process of getting back to work."
Industry: Veterinary Medicine
Age: 25
Location: Shropshire
Salary: £27,000 (although I have been off work recovering from surgery on my wrist for the past 4 months).
Paycheque amount: Normally £1,880, but reduced to £1,400 the first month I was off, and then to £415 statutory sick pay for the past three months.
Number of housemates: 4; My parents, my sister and my nan (who lives in our annexe). Also four dogs (a Golden Retriever, a miniature poodle and two Border Collies), three cats, a handful of chickens and three sheep.
Monthly Expenses
Housing Costs : £0. I currently live at home, and feel terrible for not paying rent. My sister and I have offered many times but have come to the arrangement that as long as we pull our weight with chores around the house, and are using our earnings to save then we can live here for free.
Loan Payments: £0. Pretending my student loan from six years studying doesn’t exist until Student Finance tell me otherwise.
Transportation: £190 annual car tax. £511.55 annual car insurance, plus £38.69 for business cover. Have only recently started driving again so have lost track of my normal petrol costs, but somewhere around the £70 mark per month seems normal.
Phone Bill: £44.78.
Savings; £7,900, but dwindling by the day. I normally transfer all of my earnings into my savings account and then just move enough into my current account as and when I need to spend it. Since being on sick pay, I’ve probably had a few months of spending more than I’ve been earning; not ideal but this did include going on a holiday to Cornwall so I know this won’t be a regular thing.
Found out last month that I have been left a sizeable amount of money by my late Grandad. The house feels very empty without him. In his will he left each of his grandchildren £30,000 to put towards a deposit for a house; he always thought he had been exceptionally lucky in his life and especially to get onto the property market when he did, so this was his way of passing on some of that luck to our generation. I’d give it up without a second thought if it meant having him here still (he lived just down the road from us, so we saw him everyday), but I know how much he would love to think of us using it to start our own lives and its something that I will be forever thankful to him for.
Other: £26 a month for contact lenses, which also includes twice yearly eye checks with my optician. £135 one off payment for 4 months gym membership to use while I was off work.
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Day One
6.45am: My sister wakes me up before she heads off to work; sometimes she manages to sneak out without the dogs realising anyone is up and awake, but not today. I’ve only got the two old boys here at the moment as my parents and nan are away on holiday down in Cornwall and have taken the two Border Collies with them, so its just a case of pottering down the lane to let them go to the toilet before feeding them. J (the miniature poodle) is so old now, he more closely resembles a threadbare, well-loved teddy bear than a dog, especially since he’s started wearing a nappy to cope with his incontinence. This morning he’s sporting a very fetching “Burberry tartan” number which is soaked through, but changing that definitely beats mopping the utility room floor.
7:05am: Dogs fed, but I get accosted by three hungry cats at the back door. Decide that as I’m up I might as well make a start on the jobs, so feed them and start the watering. We try our best to grow all of our own fruit and veg during the summer months, which is brilliant but hard work, especially recently with this hot weather.
7.45am: Back in for breakfast. Make myself a cup of lemon and ginger tea while trying to figure out which of the three pots of yoghurt in the fridge is least likely to be off. Cut up a nectarine and have this with the yoghurt and some granola whilst messaging my boyfriend. He works at a safari park; terribly paid, only part time and they work him really hard, but the novelty of saying he gets paid to feed monkeys hasn’t worn off yet.
11.00am: Decide to make myself an iced coffee before I go out – having spent £330 yesterday on a service, MOT and three new tyres for my car I’m definitely trying to save money for the rest of the month.
12.00pm: Head out to Gramps’ to meet a cleaner to get a quote to deep clean the house. It’s only about the fourth time I’ve been to the house since he died and the first time being there on my own. Still half expect him to come to the door when I arrive, but the house is jarringly quiet. It still smells exactly how I remember their house always smelling, so it’s going to be very weird after the cleaners come in. All sorted by 1pm so head home for lunch.
1.15pm: Make myself lunch – lettuce from the garden with an assortment of salad, hummus and mini filo parcel things (basically whatever I can find in the fridge).
3.20pm: Set off for an hour at the gym. Spend 15 minutes hillwalking on the treadmill (I discovered I can read my Kindle at the same time so time flew) then spend some time on the weight machines.
9.30pm: Three bean chilli pie and green beans for dinner, followed by a chilled night with a glass of wine in front of a film – tonight it’s Chocolat (streamed via mum's Amazon Prime). Chat to boyfriend about future life-plans via text, and catch up with my best friend from uni on Facebook.
10.30pm: Take the dogs out and head to bed.
Total amount spent: £0
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Day Two
6.45am: Sister wakes me up with the news that one of the dogs has weed on the floor. Joys.
8.47am: Morning unfolds much the same as yesterday. Dogs, cats, chickens, watering and then breakfast. Peach, yoghurt and granola again, but go wild and try a ginger and rhubarb tea today instead.
11.52am: Spent the morning doing a few jobs around the house. Make a packed lunch and head into town.
12.30pm: Arrive 20mins early for an appointment at the Family Planning Clinic in town. I’ve spent the last 6 months trying (and failing) to cope with the side effects of Cerelle, so its time for a change. The issue with being a vet when it comes to medical matters is that I over-research everything, so I know all the health risks of each of the various methods, and honestly, none of them seem like a great option. Nurse is really helpful and we agree to trial a different progesterone-only pill for another six months to see if this is any better.
1.45pm: Drive to our local National Trust property, which is only a few minutes away from the clinic. I’m proud to admit that I am a fully fledged, card-carrying member of the National Trust; yes I am prematurely middle aged, but they’re a great charity. Forgot to bring a drink with me from home so buy a bottle of ginger beer from the shop - £2.80.
3.50pm: Get back to the car. The Japanese have a wonderful practice of “Forest Bathing” which is scientifically proven to lower heart rate and blood pressure, reduce stress hormone production, boost the immune system, and improve overall feelings of wellbeing. I think they’re definitely on to something as after two hours walking through the deer park, along the river and through the woodland I feel rejuvenated.
4.30pm: Catch up with my sister when she arrives over a cup of tea, before I make dinner and she tidies the kitchen. Vegetable curry on the menu tonight.
10.00pm: Evening seems to have disappeared very quickly. We eat dinner in front of another film – this time The Tourist. Curry followed by peaches and ice cream, followed by feeding the dogs and hurrying down to pick lettuce and tomatoes for tomorrow’s lunches. Head to bed.
Total amount spent: £2.80
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Day Three
6.45am: I can already hear dog barking downstairs, so quickly up and dressed. Then the normal routine – dog walk, cats and chickens. We’ve run out of yoghurt this morning so a slightly strange breakfast of a nectarine, followed by toasted onion bread with cream cheese. Very thorough brush of my teeth!
8.50am: Arrive at work. The practice opens at 8.30, but as I’m meant to be shadowing today I don’t want to get there before the other vets arrive. No such luck. There's definitely been some miscommunication in regards to how much I'm meant to be doing and we've had lots of consults booked in. It gets pretty hectic and I end up having to see some patients on my own so we can keep up with appointments. I try and avoid seeing anything too big. It'll be very easy for me to hurt my wrist so I am understandably nervous.
9.50am: I settle up my account at work; although I get a staff discount, routine health care for all our animals adds up. I’ve recently bought enough worm and flea treatments to last three months for all our pets, plus all the dogs have had their vaccinations. All in all the bill comes to £370 – my mum and sister will hopefully cover a fair amount of this but we’ll sort it out after they come back from holiday.
10.30am: A call comes across from the other branch to ask if someone can go out on a home visit to see a large dog that’s apparently struggling to get up and seems to be in a lot of pain. Because of my broken wrist, and the fact that it’s my first day back, I’m very surprised when the boss asks me if I’ll go. I express my concerns; the dog is far too big for me to lift, even with a nurse and I don’t feel confident going out to someone’s house to see their dog when I’ve no idea how much I will be able to do because of my wrist. But she’s not taking no for an answer. Seething, I set off to pick up my nurse and everything I’ll need.
11.15am: So close to just driving home and ringing the practice to tell them I refuse to go, but I don’t want to let the client down. Being a vet is a tough job, but our passion and dedication to helping clients and their beloved pets is generally what keeps us going. This animal is in pain, and even if it shouldn’t be, it’s my job to stop that.
When we arrive, its apparent that the owners have made their decision and feel that the best thing to do is to put the dog to sleep. It’s never an easy decision, but when the time comes, I think it is the kindest thing that we can do as a pet owner. I’m very grateful that unlike doctors, I don’t have to watch my patients suffering at the end of their lives without being able to help them on their way. It’s a privilege to be able to help these animals and although it’s always hard (especially with patients that you’ve known and treated for a long time), knowing that you’re doing what’s best for them makes it much easier.
12.30pm: All finished – everything goes fairly smoothly on the visit but I end up having to help carry the dog out afterwards. Really should not be doing this with my wrist, but I’m not about to start asking the grieving owners to help so I grit my teeth and hope that my arm isn’t going to be too sore later.
1.30pm: Head home for lunch and to let the dogs out. Have a quick lunch of curried chickpeas and a couple of poppadoms whilst phoning my parents for advice on what to do about work. They’re equally angry that I have been forced to put my arm at risk.
6.30pm: Finally heading home; my wrist has been getting more and more achey all afternoon. It’s been busy and I’ve done a lot of consults.
7.30pm: After a long chat with my sister and parents, we’ve made a decision. I’m going to hand in my resignation letter to work this evening; I'm not currently the vet they need me to be, and I'm not going to get sufficient support there during my recovery so it's not going to work for either of us. This is a difficult decision, as it is going to leave me unemployed for a few months; not something I would be able to do if I wasn’t lucky enough to be living at home. The decision is made a little easier by the fact that earlier in the year, I was approached by a nearby practice that I’ve spent a lot of time at doing work experience and I know that they intend to offer me a job once I’m back to full fitness. It’s difficult to fully predict when this will be but I don't want to risk doing serious damage to my arm, which could jeopardise my future career. That’s a risk that I can’t really afford to take; after all, it’s taking me six years (and £18,000 in tuition fees) to qualify as a vet.
Compose an email to my bosses with help from my dad, send it off and then try to think of other things whilst we eat dinner.
10.30 pm: Arrive back at home and get an email from my boss just before I get to sleep, saying that although they are sad, they aren’t surprised and asking me to hand my keys back into the practice. I'm glad they've taken it well, as I didn't want to fall out with them over it, but it definitely feels good to know that I don't have to go through another day like today.
Total amount spent: £370
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Day Four
7.30am: On our morning walk, the Golden Retriever manages to grab a mouthful of grass. He starts coughing and retching after he’s swallowed it and he still hasn’t stopped by the time I get back to the house. I try my best to feel at the back of his mouth, but I don’t manage to get anything out. Thankfully, he stops coughing after this.
10.45am: After making sure that the dog is OK, we head over to boyfriend’s house. He’s been applying for jobs with the National Trust and narrowly missed out on the last one, so he's organising spending some time volunteering with them so that he gets the next one.
11.45am; Boyfriend’s parents have very kindly offered to let us live on their 63ft canal boat during the autumn and winter as they wont be using it, and it’ll be a great chance for us try moving in together. Head over to the marina we're hoping to moor it in.
12.15pm: Arrive at the marina, and spend half an hour chatting to the staff and having a look around at the facilities and the available moorings. It’s so peaceful and everyone seems really helpful, plus the mooring seems very reasonably priced so I think we’re all sold on bringing the boat here.
1.20pm: We drive into the nearby village and boyfriend’s mum treats us to lunch at one of the local pubs. £3.40 for a jacket potato and a glass of tap water – all the food is very reasonable so if we do end up living here I suspect we might be regular visitors here when the weather gets cold. Probably more cost efficient to come here for a drawn out dinner rather than having to keep the boat warm all evening.
3.30pm: The dog is still coughing so I take him to see another vet. He unfortunately doesn't have the equipment we need.
4.20pm: We head over to another practice and get him anaesthetised and eventually, after a fair struggle, I see the offending grass blade and the other vet pulls it out. It’s about seven inches long so its no wonder he was coughing. Hopefully this will teach him a lesson.
5.15pm: I leave dog to sleep off his anaesthetic and meet up with my sister, who has come to meet me after work. We catch each other up on our days over a coffee in Costa – I’m buying as she left her purse in the car. £7.25 for a coffee each and a slice of millionaires' shortbread to share. After we’ve finished, we head back to the vets and the nurses bundle a very sleepy dog back into the car. I pay the bill – we have all our dogs insured for just such moments as this, so mum will be able to claim most of it back - £296.92.
Stop in at Morrisons for petrol on the way home - £52.44.
6.35pm: Get back home and settle dog onto his bed in the kitchen. He’ll spend the rest of the evening sleeping off the anaesthetic. I reheat the other night's vegetable curry leftovers and eat this while catching up on iPlayer.
10.30pm: Let the dogs out and then go to bed.
Total amount spent; £356.61
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Day Five
7.30am: Yoghurt, nectarine and granola again this morning, plus a slice of cherry muesli loaf that my sister found on special offer.
10.30am: Leave to drop my keys and work clothes off, which goes fine. Call in at the Co-op to buy some food to last for the next few days, including food for dinner - we're going to stay on the boat tonight - £18.40.
11.30am: Get home and spend the rest of the morning doing a few jobs around the house. Sister gets back around 1pm and we have lunch together.
5.00pm: Pack up a bag with food and clothes for tonight and then head to boyfriend’s, ready to head to the boat.
6.00pm: After picking up his family’s sausage dog, we set off. Once we arrive and unpack our supplies we open a couple of beers and drink them sat on the roof of the boat, enjoying the sunshine and the view of the canal. Once the dog starts to get restless we move inside and cook Quorn fajitas for dinner. Eat far too much so spend the rest of the evening digesting in front of the TV. Confirm our middle age status by watching Great Canal Journeys and then the golf. We are definitely only 25, I promise.
9.45pm: Both at risk of falling asleep in our chairs (probably a combination of the food, beer and the gentle rocking motion of the boat), so take the dog out and then go to bed. The dog sleeps in the space at the head of the bed, but he’s as keen as us to fall asleep so settles down very quickly.
Total amount spent: £18.40
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Day Six
4.00am: Woken up by the dog climbing over the pillows to try and get in the bed.
6.50am: We give up on getting any more sleep and decide to get up. I cook us some breakfast – scrambled eggs on toast. We’re both surprisingly cheerful given how early we got woken up; boyfriend didn’t feel seasick, so it looks like we should be all set for moving on to the boat in September.
9.20am: After breakfast we pack up and head off back to boyfriend’s to shower as we ran out of water in the tank.
12.30pm: Lunch; we make a “healthy pizza” using two of the leftover wraps from last nights fajitas, some tomato puree, peppers, tomatoes, and some cheese. Delicious. We chat to his parents over Facetime to let them know how our night aboard went, and get the go ahead from them to go back to the marina to book our mooring.
1.30pm: Arrive at the marina and go for a final look around the various mooring options. We agree on our favourite and go back to the office to fill in the paperwork and I pay the deposit - £500 which will be taken off the total mooring costs of £1,750. This includes water, Wi-Fi and free use of the showers and toilets, so compared to the cost of renting a house it’s very reasonable. Suddenly seems very real – we’re signing up for six months starting from September, which is perhaps a bit rash after just one night on the boat, but we’re both really excited. Decide we need a celebratory ice cream from the café – £5 for one scoop each but boyfriend pays for both of us.
3.10pm: Drop boyfriend back at his and head home.
6.00pm: Mum, dad, nan and the other dogs get home from Cornwall. We cook dinner – sausages and roasted veg, and eat around 8pm. Boyfriend pops round to see the dogs too. For pudding, mum and dad brought sister and I portions of dessert back from our favourite café. They’re delicious but huge – even between two of us it’s a challenge.
9.00pm: Boyfriend heads home, and I watch the golf with dad until 10.30 when I go up to bed.
Total amount spent: £500
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Day Seven
8.15am: Hear mum come downstairs to take the dogs out, so go down to help her. We walk all four of them down the lane and back, before eating breakfast outside in the garden. Spend an hour or so carrying on with the tidying.
10.30am: Boyfriend comes round and we set off for the gym. I got two free guest passes when I signed up and we’ve been meaning to use them for a while. We spend the rest of the morning there – it’s nice to have company in the gym but we’re both fairly competitive so probably push each other a bit too hard. Finish with a relaxing swim in the pool and a soak in the Jacuzzi.
12.30pm: We decide to have lunch at the gym as we’re both starving and I get a pretty good discount for being a member. I have scrambled eggs and beans on toast, and boyfriend has Piri Piri chicken with salad and chips - £12.50, but boyfriend transfers the £8.50 for his straight back to me ( £4). We stop in at Tesco on the way back for him to fill up his car with petrol and I see some low calorie ice cream on offer, so buy two pots for sister and I to share - £7.
3.15pm: Head over to boyfriend’s for tea. It’s so hot and humid that we decide to cool off inside for a bit and watch an episode of The Office. Once his parents arrive home we help with preparing dinner by going round the veg patch to collect lettuce, cucumber, radishes, tomatoes and green beans.
7.45pm: Very tasty dinner of roast chicken, salad and falafel, followed by chocolate puddings. I help clear the table and then we head upstairs. Quickly realise how exhausted I am after my early wake-up and morning at the gym, so we make ourselves a cup of sleepy time tea, have a quick shower and then head to bed at around 9.30pm. Check my bank account just before I go to bed, and realise mum has paid me back for the vet’s bills; - £664.
Total amount spent; -£653
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BREAKDOWN
WEEKLY TOTAL ££ SPENT: £594.81
FOOD/DRINK: £39.45
ENTERTAINMENT: £0
CLOTHES/BEAUTY: £0
TRAVEL: £52.40
OTHER: £502.92
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