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 woman who, post-credit card debt, has just bought her first house with her partner and is over the moon.
"I’ve just bought my first house with my partner, and we made the decision to leave London (CRAMPED!) and move down to Brighton (SEA!). I never thought this would happen as 18 months ago, I was nearly £14,000 in credit card debt, had an overdraft I had set up camp in, ran out of money every month and had my head completely in the sand about my situation. I also never thought I’d qualify for a mortgage as my credit rating was terrible, but here we are, many difficult and embarrassing conversations and habit changes later. I must also clarify that the deposit for our house was my partner’s money from a previous house she sold. Although my salary is higher than hers, I have no savings to speak of so please don’t think I stopped buying avocados in February and by November I had a house deposit. I am extremely fortunate that she had the deposit and then everything for the house is split 50/50."
Industry: Communications Manager
Age: 35
Location: Brighton
Salary: £66,000
Paycheque amount: £3,686
Number of housemates: One, my partner
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £950 for my half of the mortgage (ouch, yes, but still cheaper than what I was paying to rent in London)
Loan payments: £600 – my partner paid off the last £6k on my credit card out of her deposit money to fast-track us being able to get a mortgage, so I’m paying her back monthly
Utilities: £120 a month for water, gas and electric, council tax, broadband, insurance and TV licence
Transportation: £450.80 for a season ticket into London
Phone bill: £12
Savings? £0 right now as we get the house up and running but going forward it’ll be £100-150 a month into a Premium Bonds account
Other: Netflix £5.99, Spotify £14.99 (I pay for a family account for my partner and family members to use rather than all five of us paying £9.99 a month)
Day One
6.20am: Alarm screeches at me (not a key perk of moving away from London tbh) and I reluctantly shuffle into the shower about 10 minutes later. Spend at least two minutes inspecting a spot the size of Greece on my chin that’s appeared overnight. Sad! Also feeling slightly anxious as we discovered that the drain for our house looks to be quite badly blocked; we’ve got an emergency drain superhero (?) coming later today to look at it but as both my partner and I need to go into work, my sister has kindly agreed to be at the house to let him in. Spend the journey into work reading a good chunk of my book (MAJOR perk of a longer commute) and jotting down house jobs on my phone.
11am: Nip out for sustenance (olives, ham, hummus, kale crisps), cursing myself on the way for not getting my shit together and making lunch to bring in. Also pick up a Happy Birthday banner, candles and nice paper napkins – got friends visiting at the weekend and it’s two of their birthdays so I’m throwing a little brunch party for them. (£22.71 – WTAF WHY.) I head back to the office and spend the rest of the day fannying about with PowerPoint (it’s basically 90% of my day and will feature a lot in this diary so let’s abbreviate it to FAWP from now on).
4.45pm: Sneaky trip to the shop to get some chocolate (£1.20). Decided why have one gigantic spot on my chin when I could have two. Start wrapping up for the day so I can leave on time to catch my train.
5.20pm: Scream out of the office, fling myself into a spare seat and feel my breathing slow the further we pull away from the city. I spend five minutes of the journey checking my banking apps (one for current account, one for credit card) to make sure I know where everything’s at. This is my absolute top tip for getting in control of your finances. You must face them, feel them, and then you know how to live with them! Transfer my sister money for Draingate (£81.60) as she paid the guy this morning (the shitstorm seems to have been kept at bay, thank you Drain Man!).
7.15pm: Get home, make an easy supper from the fridge of fresh pasta with leeks and parmesan then do some house admin. We hang a picture, take down an old curtain rail and I message carpenters for quotes to get wardrobes made as we stupidly ordered a bed before we moved in and it’s a little bit too big for the current built-ins in the bedroom.
10.30pm: Climb into bed feeling super happy that I live here (and that the seagulls are far enough away that I don’t have tinnitus).
Total: £105.51
Day Two
6.20am: Same rude awakening, same shuffle to shower, same spot check (Greece has now been joined by two of the Greek Islands, rejoice!) and rush to catch the train. Start writing this diary on the journey and realise it’s actually quite hard diarising things; briefly consider not spending any money for the rest of the week simply so I don’t have to remember and record it. Realise how boring that would be to read so stop to get fruit and yoghurt for breakfast before I get to the office (£3.49). Arrive at desk, major FAWPing commences.
10.15am: WhatsApp with friends who are visiting at the weekend. I’m going to bake a birthday cake so look for a recipe that doesn’t involve buying tons of things and find one which means I only need to get vanilla pods and dark chocolate, which I’ll pick up on Friday.
11.30am: Need a break from FAWPing and have a short walk outside and pick up some lunch (more ham, olives and a salad) and also a few dried snacks (rice cakes, GF crackers) to keep in my desk (£10.30). Back at my desk, I spend 15 minutes researching cats that don’t shed (sofas!) and also where I could acquire one in my local area. Really desperate for a dog and/or cat but as I’ve never had one before, the process of how to go about acquiring one (responsibly) is quite overwhelming. End up sadly staring at pictures of kittens that I can’t have and reluctantly go back to FAWPing for the rest of the afternoon.
12.45pm: Interrupt FAWPing to update this diary. It is hard! I am no Samuel Pepys. Afternoon is spent snacking on grapes while alternately FAWPing and going to meetings to review the results of my FAWPing. Listen to music while I work to drown out office noise and achieve a surprising amount.
7.15pm: Get home and have the house to myself as my partner is out. Spend the time doing laundry, making up the spare room for my friend at the weekend and doing a fridge audit to make sure I have everything I need for the birthday brunch. I do! Eat homemade ramen and start adding things we need to my Sainsbury’s basket online ready for the Big Shop later in the week.
8.30pm: Spend a satisfying 30 mins in the bathroom, inspecting my Greek chin archipelago and do a proper cleanse and mask routine. Check banking apps and see that a Paypal payment for an eBay purchase (a knitted prawn Christmas decoration. No really) has come out (£5.20). Intermittently browse Instagram for house inspo while watching Marie Kondo on Netflix and message my sister about how we can fold everything we own like she does. Practise on a T-shirt, get it right, am completely thrilled. Who needs drugs?
9pm: Remove final mask and apply a light moisturiser before sliding into bed and reading my book until I fall asleep. Am briefly awoken by partner getting home but I don’t mind as it’s nice to see her and know she got back safe.
Total: £18.99
Day Three
6.20am: You know the drill. Pleased to report that Greek archipelago is reduced, leaving a smaller version of the mainland (this metaphor has really run out of steam).
7.15am: Get to the station early and decide to check out the little coffee shop inside. Have a nice chat with the person who runs it and end up buying an orange juice and a GF protein bar to have on the train (£3.40).
7.30am: Daily banking app check on the journey. Today’s the day our first mortgage payment comes out! It’s completely thrilling, despite also being a bit of a shock. My half, £950, is covered by money I put aside from my pre-Christmas paycheque so technically doesn’t cost me anything today. Notice I have received a refund for some screws I bought last week that were the wrong size (+£6.99). Browse a few websites for work clothes and see lots of things I like but have no intention of purchasing any time soon. I never, ever want to go back to being so out of control and irresponsible with my spending, so for the most part I really carefully consider non-essential purchases and wait a while to ensure I really need and want it.
9.30am: Today looks to be a busy one at work for meetings so get my head down, occasionally stopping to snack on the rice cakes I bought yesterday. I’m going out tonight for a friend’s birthday dinner so want to make sure I can finish on time.
6pm: Get to restaurant, find friends and get stuck into the wine. Four hours and much pinot grigio blush later (plus some grilled sardines and sea bass and cake) and I’m more than ready for bed (£30).
10pm: Leave restaurant and walk a couple of roads over to my friend’s house as I’m staying with her tonight to save the journey back to Brighton. Give her a quick squeeze, have a catch up and then collapse into bed. Gleefully set my alarm for TWO HOURS later as she only lives a 10-minute walk from my office.
Total: £26.41
Day Four
8am: Lie-in – YAAAAASSS. Hangover – WHHHYYYY. Take a long time to get going and despite being only a 10-minute walk to work, manage to get in 20 minutes late. Stop en route to buy emergency medicine (carbs and Coke) (£3.50).
9.50am: Slink into my desk chair, catch up on emails and then quickly go online to order a new glass nail file. I had my old one for about 15 years but dropped it on a tiled floor before Christmas and it broke. Sad! (£17)
12.30pm: The day is draaaaagging and there’s still so much FAWPing to be done before the weekend so I break it up by nipping out for fresh air, cake ingredients (£6.72) and some lunch (£8 for a highly restorative lasagne and salad). Have to turn round and go back for a cake tin when I realise that I have nothing to actually put my cake ingredients in (£6.99). Annoying. Quick banking app check before powering through work for the rest of the day.
5.20pm: Shut down for the weekend and race to the station to meet my friend who’s coming to stay. Commutes are so much more fun when you’ve got someone to gossip with! We get home and spend the evening making the birthday cake and catching up over more wine (legend). I make us a vegetable stir fry.
Total: £42.21
Day Five
11am: A nice lie-in and then more friends arrive for the birthday brunch. I’ve made a kedgeree and shakshuka eggs, all from ingredients I already have in the house, which we have with prosecco and then the cake I made last night. Enjoy showing them all round my new house and there’s a lot of oohing and aahing, which is nice.
1.30pm: We all leave the house to get some sea air and go for a long walk along the front, stopping in a pub on the way for a couple of drinks, which friends kindly pay for. I think about how nice it is to be able to walk everywhere from our new home; in London, there was always at least one mode of transport involved when going out and socialising, which was stressful and costly. Feel a fresh wave of gratitude for our new life and kind friends who’ve come to celebrate with us.
4pm: Wave everyone goodbye and immediately get into my comfiest loungewear and set up camp on the sofa for the rest of the day. Snack on leftover brunch and cake, chug lots of water and herbal tea and get an early night.
Total: £0
Day Six
9am: Up and at ‘em as we have another friend visiting for lunch today. Give the house a quick clean and tidy and then go to the supermarket for lunch supplies. Buy an organic whole chicken, carrots, shallots, potatoes and leeks, plus milk and bread (£15.82).
12pm: Friend arrives so conduct another house tour (more oohing and aahing) and spend a happy few hours cooking and eating a roast and then lolling around chatting all afternoon. Spend a good portion of the conversation swapping interior tips as he has also recently bought a house so has lots of useful advice on how to go about renovating a place and where to shop for household items.
7pm: Friend leaves and we hunker down for another low-key evening welded to the sofa, this time doing a lot of browsing online for a sofa and rugs for each room as it’s floorboards throughout the house and gets a bit chilly. Reckon we need to put aside approximately £1,500 over the coming months in order to get what we would like so tinker around with our budget spreadsheet and work out we could get everything we want in about four months’ time if we stick to the saving plan. As much as I am so thrilled to be in our new home, I am getting slight cabin fever but feel I can’t really justify going out at the moment so am making the most of people wanting to come to us to see the house.
9pm: Feeling exhausted after a hectic few days of socialising so get into bed to read and get prepped for the week. Fall asleep at approximately 9.08pm.
Total: £15.82
Day Seven
6.20am: Back on my alarm bullshit. Hurry around getting showered and dressed and make it just on time for the train.
8am: Usual banking app check; nothing untoward, which is pleasing. Spend the rest of the journey completing my online supermarket order and set it to be delivered tomorrow evening (£81.54). We probably spend about this much every two weeks, which I’m broadly okay with but know we could save money in some areas, so make a mental note to do some research later on better value supermarket delivery services.
1pm: Am on a half day from work today as I have to go to the doctor and pick up a prescription and run some other errands. Get home, get prescription (£8.60) then go to Homebase and buy some white paint to cover the horrible brown walls in our bedroom (who paints a room brown?). Get two large tins of paint plus some paintbrushes, rollers, dust sheets and a few other bits of DIY paraphernalia and then get an Uber home as it’s too much to carry on my own. (£77.98)
4pm: Get home, unpack DIY bits and realise I’m starving so raid the cupboards and make instant ramen with some added green vegetables and chilli oil. Do some life admin (changing addresses, booking a haircut, supermarket price comparisons) and then get cosy on the sofa for an evening of chilling.
7.30pm: Am hungry again and girlfriend is home so we spend a happy hour in the kitchen concocting a riff on a chicken laksa from bits we’ve already got, and eat that in front of the TV before heading upstairs for an early night.
Total: £168.12
The Breakdown
Food/Drink: £186.68
Entertainment: £0
Clothes/Beauty: £17
Travel: £0 (slightly misleading but my season ticket payment won’t come out until the end of the month)
Other: £173.38
Total: £377.06
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