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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 we're with a 32-year-old teacher, her wife and their 8-year-old daughter living in Hertfordshire.
"We haven’t been sensible about money in the past and have an eye-watering amount of debt as a result, which was over 50k at its highest. However, we have a LOT of amazing memories and a gorgeous daughter so no regrets! We live in a lovely town, in an amazing area with a great school, but pay for it with high rent. I earn very little for the job that I do, but I love it.
Originally I did a master's in a different career which pays double what I earn now but I was super unhappy and ill with my mental health. My wife’s salary has more than tripled in the last three years, so we should be debt-free in the next year or so and then we will look at saving to buy a house. We both get paid into a joint account and transfer £4,000 into a separate account for bills. Everything left over is ours for the month – usually around £1,500 to cover food, petrol and everything else. All our money is joint, we just buy whatever we want. We’d only run it past each other if it were a big purchase!"
Industry: SEN (Special Educational Needs) school
Age: 32
Location: Hertfordshire
Salary: £25,000. My wife earns 85k + bonuses.
Paycheque amount: £1,500 for me, £4,000 for wife.
Number of housemates: Two. One wife, one 8-year-old daughter.
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £1,500
Loan payments: £1,600 to loan, car payments, and credit cards.
Utilities: Council tax is £220. Gas, electric and water are £140.
Transportation: £150 on insurance and breakdown cover and tax for us both. I think we spend about £250 a month on petrol.
Phone bill: £35 each
Savings? None
Other: Childcare is £100-150 a month. House insurance is £40. We also have a house alarm (£40), Cineworld cards (£35), and Sky (£75).
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Day One
7.30am: No chance of a lie-in with our daughter around. We’re at Center Parcs and it’s our last day, so we all head to Leon for breakfast. L (our daughter) and her friend scoff down their food then race outside to play on the bikes we hired, while we have a super chilled hour catching up on social media and drinking tea. Wife and I congratulate ourselves on our genius plan of bringing L’s friend with us, as she’s been the best value for money ever. L usually gets very bored with our company! £36.30
1pm: We’re in the swimming pool. There had been talk of going back to the cabin for lunch, but it’s raining and we’re all having too much fun, so pay a ridiculous amount of money for hot dogs and milkshakes at the poolside instead. £46.60
8pm: Fab fireworks display as it’s Bonfire Night. Sad to pack up but it’s time to go home. We could stay 'til tomorrow, but we’ve all got work/school in the morning. Wish we could play hooky… Fill car up with petrol on the way home. £53
Midnight: Collapse into bed. Regret coming home so late and know I’ll pay for it in the morning.
Total: £135.90
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Day Two
6.45am: Our morning routine in this family is run with military precision. Wife gets up to shower first at 6.15 and I savour the extra time in bed. She spends longer on her hair than me, so it’s fair. L gets reluctantly up at 7 and all three of us leave the house by 7.30. L goes to Breakfast Club every day, which she hates, and it causes me daily mummy guilt, but it has to be done.
7.45am: In school ready for the morning meetings before the kids get in. Am super grateful for my short commute; we moved in the summer and I love it so much, as I hated the drive previously. Eat my daily Weetabix while drinking the first of many, many cups of tea.
12.30pm: School dinners are free. The choice today is a jacket potato or sausage and chips and beans. Guess which I chose?
5.30pm: Drive outrageously fast to pick L up, as she’s got Cubs tonight. I’m late as usual so end up picking her up a Happy Meal from McDonald’s on the way. Resist urge to get something for myself as I know we’ve got beef stir fry in the fridge and I hate chucking things out, which happens more than I’d like. Just have a large Coke Zero. £3.95
11.15pm: In bed much later than is sensible as I persuaded wife to watch one more episode of Killing Eve. It is so so so good but I KNOW I’ll dream of serial killers tonight.
Total: £3.95
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Day Three
7.30am: Usual manic morning, running slightly late due to my hairdryer making a strange fizzing noise… I’m pleased about it, as it will help my campaign to convince wife we need to buy a Dyson hairdryer. Make mental note to send her the John Lewis link later. Stop at the M&S garage to get a birthday cake for one of my students; we always celebrate birthdays with a Colin the Caterpillar! £7.99
10.50am: The morning has been taken over by one of our students having a mental health crisis so I’ve hidden in the kitchen to wolf down my Weetabix as I’m so hungry I feel sick. Must start remembering to bring bananas to school.
12.30pm: Feel virtuous as I have a jacket potato for lunch. Feeling lasts for all of 15 minutes as I then get offered some biscuits that students made in food tech, which would be rude to decline.
7.30pm: Finish work really late, so we head to the pub next door for dinner. Hunter's chicken and extra cheesy garlic bread. I buy a round for my work besties who I couldn’t cope without, so totally worth it. We have had A Hard Day – that’s the nature of our school – so the food and Bacardis go down very easily. £24.40
10pm: Climb into bed and the wife and I do an Ocado shop as our cupboards are bare. We do one every week or so and love the convenience and the service, but mostly stick to their own brands. Need household stuff thanks to my new obsession with Mrs Hinch on Instagram. I have a £10 off voucher, so it comes to £70.11. The only thing we don’t buy is fruit.
Total: £102.50
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Day Four
10.45am: Had to abandon my Weetabix midway through this morning due to an incident with a student who was being violent and unsafe. Spent an hour and a half calming him down and returned to a bowl which appeared to have cement in it. Scrub it like crazy before putting it in the dishwasher. Why does it harden like that?! Have toast at break instead, which I try to avoid as I’m not meant to eat bread, but I’m starving after the adrenaline rush.
12pm: Text from wife telling me that we forgot to leave cash for the cleaners today. Race home to give them their money, feeling super embarrassed, £40. We consider this money well spent; they do an amazing job.
6.40pm: Late home again so have a grumpy L. Wife had to pick her up from After School Club which finishes at 6, as I was stuck in a meeting, after I promised her I’d pick her up this morning. Battle waves of mummy guilt and try to make it up to her. See that clever wife stuck the slow cooker on this morning, so dinner only takes five minutes to prepare thankfully. Pulled pork, sweet potatoes and corn on the cobs and salad. Let L stay up way too late as I’m overcompensating for not managing to pick her up from school or seeing her last night at all. Also get manipulated by the tiny mastermind into buying her some V-Bucks in Fortnite; the kid is obsessed with that game. £9.99
8.30pm: L has been saying she’s freezing at school, so order some long-sleeved school shirts and vests from M&S. Lingerie is 30% off so get wife two new bras too. Click and Collect as I hate paying for postage. £68
Total: £117.99
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Day Five
6.45am: Struggle to get going today. I’m popping into school for the morning briefing meeting, then heading straight out to a busy morning of external meetings.
1.10pm: STARVING. Wife packed me a load of snacks and fruit so that’s kept me going. Annoyed I won’t make it back to school in time for lunch. Pick up a wrap and drink from Sainsbury's. £4.25
2pm: Get email reminder from L’s school about childcare bill for this term: £380. Check the childcare vouchers account and there’s £300 in there – wife buys £100 of vouchers a month which is deducted from her salary before tax – so transfer that, then bank transfer the rest. Muse on the irony of paying for someone to look after my kid so I can look after other people’s kids. £80
6pm: Have my nails done a rose gold chrome colour. I get them done every three weeks (acrylics with gel on top) and it’s a treat I really, really enjoy. When we were skint I used to do them at home, which I hated, so I don’t take this for granted. £35
7pm: Home via M&S Food Hall. Why does the fruit taste better from here than anywhere else? We exclusively buy it from here now, even though it’s so expensive. £17.66
8pm: Slimming World. Wife has lost an amazing amount of weight in the last six months, but I haven’t; too many crap school dinners and fast food, plus lack of willpower. We buy 12-week memberships in advance so it doesn’t cost anything tonight. Stock up on five boxes of the Hifi bars cos they’re yum and my colleagues wolf them down too. £9.75
Total: £146.66
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Day Six
7am: In work early so I can leave early. Friday is pub day! L is having a sleepover at my parents' tonight, as she does most Fridays (her choice – she is spoilt rotten there). Just need to get through the day first…
11am: Have dealt with the police, social services and three lots of parents already this morning. Desperately hungry but no time to eat so mainline tea and pinch a biscuit off a student when they’re walking past instead.
12.30pm: Tuna wrap, chips and salad. The salad cancels out the chips, right?
2pm: Essential but stressful staff meeting, made more bearable by lovely colleague slipping me a Kit Kat as I went in.
3pm: Buy the first round in the pub, £27.95. This is so needed after a tough week at school. Our traditional Fridays usually last 'til the early hours but I’m only staying for a bit tonight as I’m meeting the wife at her work for a night out with two of our friends.
6pm: Order dinner and some drinks at a board game café next to wife’s work. We absolutely LOVE it here. It's £1.50 an hour each to play and there’s thousands of games. We usually trial them here and if we love them, buy our own copies for our home collection. A fab evening comes to £38.89.
Total: £66.84
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Day Seven
9.30am: Wife got up early and went for a run. I didn’t! Make her a coffee with the Tassimo and our usual weekend breakfast of bagel thins, cherry tomatoes and Philadelphia Light. She comes back to bed for a snuggle after her shower and we doze and chill all morning 'til hunger gets the better of us.
1pm: Lunch in M&S café. Two excellent jacket potatoes and Coke Zeros is £13.80.
6pm: We’ve had a great day so far; we watched A Star is Born at the cinema and loved it. Go see it! We really enjoy afternoon movies as it's quieter. Had to have Tango Ice Blasts of course. They were £6.40 with our Unlimited cards, as we get 25% discount on food and drink. We really want Yo! Sushi but have a fridge full at home, so go back and cook meatballs, spaghetti and salad.
7.30pm: L is home and full of the joys of Christmas, so we take a late night shopping trip to a local garden centre to see their Christmas display.
Total: £20.20
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The Breakdown
Food/Drink: £300.06
Entertainment: £9.99
Clothes/Beauty: £103
Travel: £53
Other: £127.99
Total: £594.04
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