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 we're with a brand new, first-year university student in her very first week at university or, as it's better known... Freshers' Week.
"I’ve just moved from my family home in Shropshire to a studio flat in private halls in Nottingham to begin my studies. I receive the minimum maintenance loan from Student Finance, and will be looking to get a part-time job in a few weeks after I’ve settled in, to help with living costs."
Industry: Student in Nottingham
Age: 18
Location: Nottingham
Salary: £0. Student Maintenance Loan: £4,054/year
Paycheque amount: £1,337.82/term (£121.62/week for this term)
Number of housemates: 0. Studio apartment in a building with 123 other students
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £160/week, however I made an agreement with my parents that if they paid my rent I would be self-sufficient as far as possible in every other aspect of living.
Loan payments: None yet.
Utilities: Included in the rent.
Transportation: As I’m new to Nottingham I’m still trying to figure out my average costs, but I’m looking to purchase a student MANGO card, which is £235 for the academic year.
Phone bill: £0, paid for by parents under a family contract. If I go over my data allowance I transfer the amount to my dad.
Savings? Around £150 for emergency use. When I get a job, I hope to save the majority of my wage for travelling over summer.
Other: £15 family Spotify plan, which I pay for monthly via direct debit. My dad, mum and brother all sync their accounts to this plan as well. £3.50 bank account upgrade from Standard Saver to Club Lloyds, which is waived each month if I have over £1,500 deposited into my bank account. Club Lloyds gives me a free magazine subscription as well as other perks, so practically pays for itself. I’m currently on a six-month free student trial for Amazon Prime and TV, and use a family Netflix account.
Day One
9am: My friend Y wakes me up to walk her to her first induction as she doesn’t want to walk alone. Get back and shower before heading back to uni for my induction at 11.30. Eat half an apple for breakfast as it’s all I can stomach due to being extremely hungover and dehydrated.
1pm: Go to Subway with two girls I met on my course, A & L, to try and fight the hangover. Order a six-inch sub, which I can only stomach half of, as well as a much-needed bottle of cold water. £4.30
1.05pm: Text from Student Finance UK to inform me my loan will be in my account within three working days, yay! I was beginning to worry it would never come due to me applying through clearing.
2pm: Go to Halifax to close an old account I forgot I had. Turns out it had £58 left in it – result! This will definitely help my funds until the loan appears.
2.30pm: Head to Primark to buy a handbag for my uni books, as I realised I’d not packed a bag that isn’t a clutch, mini backpack or bum bag. Why is it so hard to find a bag big enough to fit your laptop? Have to settle for a smaller one and will cross the laptop bridge when I get to it. Also invest in some slippers for around my halls and three pairs of tights. Head home for a movie/nap in bed with a friend from my halls, J. £17.50
7.30pm: J and I make fajitas for dinner with another girl from our halls, P. As they supply the food, I cook for the three of us. We agree to do something like this once a week to help us save a bit. Some boys come to my room for prinks with us at 9, and I drink some of what I brought with me from home as I’m trying to save a bit until my loan comes in. Head off to the SU at 11 for a festival-themed night.
12.30am: Buy myself and J two Jägerbombs each and two VKs at the SU bar, knowing she will buy me drinks either later tonight or tomorrow. £13
2.05am: Bump into a friend from prep school, T, and go back to his flat with him and his flatmates for a chill.
2.15am: See a Chunky Chicken on the walk back and suddenly feel as though I haven’t eaten in days. Get a chicken burger, chips and a Pepsi. Give T the chips because even drunk me respects portion control. £4 (actually £3.99 but I donate 1p to the charity box. Generous, I know).
3am: Book an Uber back from my friend's because it's dark and late and I don’t know the way yet. Get home and for some reason decide to have a shower so my hair is clean for the morning. £5
Total: £43.80
Day Two
8.30am: The point of the shower was so that I could straighten my hair before my 10am lecture, but I’m too tired for that. Go back to sleep for 30 mins.
9am: Actually wake up. Get ready and grab an apple for breakfast. Y comes down and we walk to uni together, where I meet A & L for our inductions.
12pm: Meet Y and her friend J for lunch. Go to Five Guys where I get a hot dog, little fries and a drink. Can’t finish all the chips but the drinks are refillable so I mentally count it as an 'investment' for the day, needing the sugar to keep me going. I feel like this week will end up being expensive on the lunch front as it’s a good way to get to know people on my course. £10.60
1pm: Y and J go to their induction, but I have an hour and a half until mine so take the time to wander around the shops. Invest in a mini Urban Decay setting spray and a Vitamin E moisturiser from The Body Shop as my skin is suffering from Freshers'. Usually £14 but I pay £9.80 with my 30% student discount. Make a mental note to rehydrate as my skin is apparently only 29% moisture when it should be 50%. £19.80
2.30pm: Go to my induction where we are provided with drinks and snacks. Take the opportunity to stock up on snacks because student life is a poor one. We also get given a travel mug and memory stick.
4pm: Outside the uni building they are giving out vouchers for free whole pizzas at a restaurant, which A, L and I decide to take full advantage of. The 30-min queue is worth the free meal. Afterwards I walk home, stopping at a pub to pick up mine and Y’s T-shirts for an upcoming pub crawl (versus the other Nottingham university). They said if I share the event on Facebook I can have free VIP upgrades, so I do.
5pm: Walk into my flat to find it completely flooded and that my electricity is gone. Go up to Y’s room to have a cry on her fluffy blanket.
7.30pm: Plumber finally shows up, replaces the tap and sorts out the fuse box. After he’s gone I go up to Y’s room to start getting ready and drown my sorrows in alcohol.
10pm: Check my funds before heading out. My student loan has come in!
10.30pm: I owe Y a drink so buy us some fancy cocktails from a bar in Nottingham city centre. Spend some time talking/catching up before going to another bar to meet friends. £14
11.30pm: Get to the other bar. They offer student discount on all cocktails so mine costs £5.50 instead of the usual £8. Stay for a while with T and his flatmates before going on to PRYZM.
12am: PRYZM is cash only entry, so Y pays my £10 for me and I owe her drinks.
12.20am: Buy myself and Y two VKs each. £8.80 total
2.15am: Start walking home. I still owe Y a bit of money, so we decide on a Maccies and a walk over getting an Uber back. She gets a cheeseburger and nacho bites. I get two mayo chickens (I only eat the bun for one and DIY a double mayo chicken burger) and a strawberry shake. £7.05
2.40am: Get back and go to get changed in my room before going up to Y’s room to sleep.
Total: £65.75
Day Three
9am: I wake up because Y has a 10am lecture. Go down to J’s room because mine is still drying out. Look over my spending yesterday and realise I really need to cut down today and tomorrow.
12pm: Decide to meet my friend from home, B, for food after my morning in bed. Not that hungry so I get a six chicken nugget meal with an Oasis from McDonald's and give him the chips. I’ve started to notice a slight change in my skin from all the late-night kebabs and hangover McDonald's, so make a note in my planner to stock up on fruit and veg. £4.09
2pm: Call my cousin to see what he and his flatmate are doing tonight. They’re going to an event at a big club so I buy tickets to the same one for myself, J and Y, knowing they will pay me back. B and our other friend from home, E, both buy a ticket for the same event. £24
4.20pm: Pop to the student shop after my lecture to buy some Strepsils and water as my voice is now almost completely gone from the nights out. See two magazines I like for sale and decide to treat myself as my subscription is yet to arrive. Justify it by telling myself that, as a journalism student, it counts as wider reading. £9.34
9.30pm: Walk to my cousin, R’s, for prinks with B, E, J and Y. We stop at an off-licence on the way, I buy myself and E a bottle of wine each, as well as some plastic cups and a bottle of lemonade. £12.50
4.05am: As I didn’t buy any drinks in the club, and my cousin’s flatmate, M, bought me some food on the way home, I book mine and J’s Uber. Y and E left earlier with other friends and B said he’ll meet us back at our building. £6.65
Total: £56.58
Day Four
10.30am: No lectures until the afternoon so get up and go to the sports fair to sign up for some societies. Free slice of Domino's on entry, which I count as brunch.
12pm: Go home and cook a little bit of pasta with courgette, kale and spinach. Clean up my flat before heading back to uni for my 2pm lecture.
4pm: Lecture over, myself and A, L, another E and O set off on the scavenger hunt we’ve been set to get our bearings. One of the first stops is the oldest pub in Britain, Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem. Get a pink gin and lemonade in an attempt to grasp onto summer for as long as possible. £4.85
6pm: Finish the scavenger hunt, so A, L and I go to Spoons. I have a voucher so get a pitcher of Sex on the Beach. £4.99
10pm: Go for a few quiet drinks with J at The Alchemist. Realise this is definitely far from regular student behaviour. We decide to get a round each. £16.25
Total: £26.09
Day Five
9am: Get up for my 10am induction and walk into uni with Y, where I meet A and L.
12pm: Lecture finishes so head home for some more pasta, as the finances are disappearing quickly.
2.30pm: Head into the city centre with Y to seek out a vintage shop called Cow. Get a reworked army jacket. It’s expensive but I know I’ll get a lot of wear out of it. £28
3pm: Go to Topshop and get two basic white and black vest tops. Uni has made me realise that when you’re wearing your own clothes every day you really don’t have as many options as you thought you did. £6 each but student discount somehow brings it down to £7.80 for both.
6pm: J texts to tell us she’s bought us tickets for the INK reopening event. £9 each but she paid, so I’ll buy her some drinks later on.
11pm: Buy a VK, vodka lemonade (for J) and a Jägerbomb in INK. £11
12am: Another three VKs for me, Y and J. £7.50
1.25am: Y doesn’t feel well and is starting to have a panic attack in the club so I walk home with her. Stop off at McDonald's on the way. She pays as a thank you.
Total: £54.30
Day Six
1.30pm: Really needed a lie-in so wake up late. Sit in bed scrolling through the socials before reading a couple of chapters of my current book, The Hate U Give.
2.30pm: Make a bowl of Coco Pops, if that counts as making a meal. Get up and give my flat a deep clean, by which I mean I tidy up until it’s semi-acceptable and do my washing up.
3pm: Book my train ticket home for Monday night for my best friend’s birthday. Remind myself I can get a free railcard with my Santander account. Will sort that out at some point this week. £14.10
6.30pm: Y said her friend G from home is coming with his friend, C. I make us both penne pasta with veg, bacon, chicken and tomato sauce. We message our building group chat, inviting people to come for prinks with us if they want, and start getting ready.
8pm: G and C arrive and we all hang in my room. They brought some drinks with them and I had some left over so I don’t buy any.
9pm: Head to a friend’s for a flat party before we go out. He bought some drinks and we take some with us.
11pm: Y decides to go home so I head out with G and C. £5 entry to PomPom and then I buy a £7.50 round for us all. G heads off in the club to meet some friends. £12.50 total
1.45am: C and I decide to head back to mine because we’re not enjoying the music. End up sitting in a park until 3am before going home and sitting in bed watching Australian TV until 5.30am because C is an Aussie here on his gap year. Eventually fall asleep.
Total: £26.60
Day Seven
8am: I wake up absolutely exhausted. C gets up to have a shower while I go back to sleep for a bit.
10.30am: Go with C to meet G so the two of them can head home. Come back and go back to sleep for as long as possible.
2.30pm: Wake up after what was obviously a much-needed sleep. Y comes to my room and I order us some sushi for lunch as we’re both craving it. Deliveroo is both a blessing and a curse. £25.10
9pm: After Y and I had a chill day recovering and doing reading for our first week of lectures, O comes over and the three of us order Chinese for dinner. They pay the £37 as I got lunch. We massively over-ordered so this can be my lunch for tomorrow too.
11.30pm: O and Y leave so I tidy up my flat before heading to bed for an early night.
Total: £25.10
The Breakdown
Food/Drink: £162.32
Entertainment: £34.50
Clothes/Beauty: £73.10
Travel: £25.75
Other: £2.55
Total: £298.22
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