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 trainee teacher.
"Last summer I gave up a well-paid job with perks like a company car in order to pursue a new career in teaching. I have spent the past year as a student training to be a secondary school teacher. Although I wasn’t paid a salary during my studies, I did receive a government grant of £26,000 as there is a recruitment shortage for the subject I teach. I treated the bursary like a salary and I would not have been able to retrain if not for this generous amount – I feel indebted and very grateful!
I live with my husband, who is self-employed, and my sister, who is currently living in our spare room and paying us £300 a month. We use this to help pay the mortgage. My sister is like my best friend and the three of us share the same group of friends. She’s very sociable and often away for the weekends so we also get alone time!
Taking the plunge and giving up the security of my job to start over in the career I knew I wanted was a big decision. It also came only a year after my husband gave up his job to become self-employed. While a lot of our friends of a similar age are seemingly becoming more settled financially, it feels like we are starting again in many ways. The experience has made us braver, more willing to take risks and has been an exciting start to our marriage as I feel our relationship has become stronger. I feel fortunate that I have such a supportive husband, and that we were able to buy our first home together (thanks to the generosity of our parents)."
Occupation: Student teacher
Age: 27
Location: Hampshire
Salary: £0. I receive a (much-needed!) £26k tax-free bursary paid into our joint account
Paycheque: Varies only slightly according to when the bursary is sent out, but usually quite even at £2k a month
Roommates: Husband and sister (and dog!)
Husband and I have a joint account which our salaries are paid into. Husband also has a separate business bank account. As he is just starting up he pays himself a minimal salary to help us keep going.
Monthly Expenses
Mortgage: £999 (split between my husband and me)
Utilities: Water/electricity/gas (split between husband and me): £100
Phone bill: Two mobile phones, Wi-Fi and internet in one package shared with my husband: £60
Council tax: £120
Credit card: We only use this for big ticket items and when we want added security. We tend to pay this off each month, usually £100
Student loan: Currently on hold while I am a student, as well as my pension
Savings? £300 + anything else we don’t spend in the month
Other: Pet insurance, healthy pet club, Netflix, life insurance etc: £100
Day One
7.30am: It’s our wedding anniversary! It’s Sunday but I'm never one for much of a lie-in. Husband is still asleep (standard) but I hear our dog trotting around, so I get up to let her out and make us a coffee. We use filter coffee as we’ve put our pod coffee machine away until they invent reusable pods for it. It’s actually worked out a lot cheaper buying beans and grinding them ourselves.
8am: We drink coffee in bed. As it’s a special day we’ve let the dog come upstairs and lie on the end of our bed. I know it sounds like we’re really boring but when we bought our house it was a complete wreck, which we slowly did up ourselves from scratch. One of our biggest luxuries was the soft, cream carpets in the bedrooms; they were SO expensive.
8.30am: Quick breakfast of peanut butter and banana slices on toast. We need the energy as we're off to walk the dog at the local nature reserve. We usually do a weekly shop at Lidl, so this comes out of that. My sister is away for the whole week being young and sociable, so it’s just the two of us.
9am: It’s another scorcher of a day. We take a rucksack with some water for us and water for the dog, as well as some tasty treats and a bone to keep her occupied as we’ll inevitably end up at the pub after the walk. We jump in the car; the journey is only 10 mins. We’re so lucky to live where we do! We walk around and the dog cools off in the lake, making friends with the few other dogs around. There are hardly any people here today.
12pm: We’ve worked up an appetite – it’s pub time! There’s a lovely one just down the road on the way home. We decide to treat ourselves (it is our anniversary after all) and order starters as well as main. I have vegetable spring rolls, followed by steak and chips and a glass of white wine. Husband orders whitebait and pie and chips with a beer. He’s full but I'm still going and end up ordering a Bailey’s crème brûlée for dessert. I have absolutely no regrets – it's delicious. The bill comes to £55.30 and we use the joint account to pay for it.
2pm: Get home, and I'm feeling far too full to contemplate doing anything. We make the most of the sunny weather and sit in the garden, reading and chilling with the dog who’s tired out.
7pm: We are both so full we decide to have a "tea tea" (basically what my mum calls a mixture of anything you can find and no cooking at all). We have a cup of tea and cereal and call it a day. I make myself a ham sandwich for tomorrow’s lunch, packing an apple, protein bar and packet of crisps. I also make sure I make up my water bottle. Using my voice all day at work really takes its toll.
9pm: Have a shower and wash my hair before bed. I'm using only a bar of soap to wash my face as my new skincare regime (I saw on Instagram recently that Maya Jama is doing the same thing so if it works for her…). After getting out the shower, I moisturise my face, put some argan hair stuff on my hair and let it dry naturally. Although I have technically finished my PGCE course, this coming week I will be in one of my placement schools (where I have been offered a job from September) to sort out my classroom and attend activities week with the kids and inset day. This is technically unpaid but as part of my contract they offered me £1,000 to sign, so I feel it’s not too bad for five days' work!
10pm: After being told in no uncertain terms that we cannot watch Love Island, we settle on Our Girl on BBC iPlayer. Watch an episode in bed together and fall asleep by 11pm.
Total: £55.30
Day Two
6.30am: I wake up before my alarm, get dressed and quickly do my makeup and hair. Standing up each day in front of a room of 30 kids, I have found I care less about what I look like than when I worked in PR. Using less makeup has (surprise surprise) done wonders for my skin. I just put on some BB cream, a bit of mascara, primer and lightly powder any shiny parts.
7am: Head downstairs and make some cereal and a coffee in my travel cup to take with me. I let out the dog and feed her. Quickly brush my teeth and grab my lunch from the fridge. I leave on time at 7.30am and drink my coffee in the car.
8am: Arrive at work and settle in immediately. Kids are on normal timetable today, so I take the time to look around my new classroom and catch up with my old mentor who will now be my boss.
12.30pm: Finally it’s lunchtime. I’ve seen my timetable for the upcoming year and have found out I am going to be a year 12 tutor. It all feels so real! Catch up with other teachers in my department while eating my packed lunch. We are all linguists and I'm swapping from speaking Spanish and English, so my brain feels a bit fried.
3pm: Day has gone quickly and when the bell goes I am surprised. I head straight to the car and drive home.
3.30pm: Stop off at Tesco to pick up a lasagne and some garlic bread. We’ve already got salad so that will do us for tonight’s dinner. £5.31
4pm: I get home and and resist the temptation to snack before dinner. I check my emails and my PGCE results are in. DISTINCTION, hurrah! Run upstairs to disturb husband to let him know the good news.
6.30pm: Husband finishes work and I cook dinner for the two of us. There’s enough for me to have a piece of lasagne as my packed lunch. I also add crisps, protein bar and a token apple. We have a post-dinner espresso in the garden. We sit chatting and catch up on each other’s day.
8pm: Sun is setting soon so we decide it’s cool enough now to walk the dog. We take our usual route to the park and when we get there we’re happy as lots of our dog walking friends are there so the dogs can wear each other out. Before we adopted our puppy we never realised how sociable dog walking can be and we’ve met lots of the locals by chatting at the park. The only negative is that we don’t always remember people's names so end up calling them by their dogs' names, like "Bumble's Dad" or "Fido’s Mum".
9pm: We have one tired-out dog. We decide to stop at the corner shop and buy an ice cream each and walk home eating it. £1.98
10pm: Shower and wash my face, moisturise and get into bed. The day has been tiring so we’re asleep again by 11pm.
Total: £7.29
Day Three
6.30am: Wake up, wash face and put on clothes I left out the night before. Breakfast is cereal and I make up my coffee in my travel cup. I’m on the road again by 7.30am.
10.20am: Day is going slowly. Kids are on usual timetable again so I am still doing my own admin work. Make a cup of tea and eat a protein bar at break.
12.30pm: Heat up lasagne in the staff room microwave and make another cup of tea.
3pm: Decide I need to go to Lidl on the way home and top up the food stores we have. I buy more bread, cereal, milk, salad, new potatoes, chicken, quiche, fishcakes, fruit, protein bars, summer fruits squash, and an egg mayonnaise sandwich filler. Some of this will go in the freezer. I also pick up some cotton wool and nail varnish remover. My father-in-law is coming around tonight to stay over as he’s working in a nearby town. £30.50
I stop off at the petrol station to fill up with diesel. Although we both have our own cars I tend to use my husband’s car for my commute. £50.17
4.30pm: I am home and make a cup of tea while I wait for husband to finish work and my father-in-law to arrive. I will be entertaining on my own tonight as husband is out at his band practice. I’ve finished my book, so I download a couple more onto my Kindle. Need to build my reserves ready for our upcoming holiday. £1.98
6pm: Husband leaves to go out just as FIL arrives. I serve him a beer from our fridge in the garage. Being so close to the Channel Tunnel, we buy our alcohol from Calais once a year. It usually costs between 200 and 300 euros. We also bulk buy pasta, rice and anything else that keeps and is difficult to buy here. Although neither of us are big drinkers, we have found that it actually saves lots of money in the long run as we can also use the alcohol as gifts. I cook us salad, new potatoes and quiche. We eat in the garden and it’s great to catch up. He ends up drinking a couple of beers (it’s been a long day for him) while I stick to squash.
8pm: After clearing up, I take the dog for the evening walk. FIL stays behind to do some work. We have a great time at the park until our crazy dog leaps too high and hurts her paw. I watch her closely to see if she’s limping but she seems fine, thank goodness!
10pm: I say goodnight to father-in-law, do my usual nighttime routine, then make the most of the husband being out and catch up on Love Island in bed.
Total: £82.65
Day Four
6.30am: Usual morning routine. Starting to feel very boring...
8am: BUT at school I am very excited as activities week has started. The kids are off timetable to do fun extracurricular things and I'm leading my own group of 30 12-year-olds. They’re learning circus skills, special effects makeup and graffiti.
10.20am: SERIOUSLY CAFFEINATING in the staff room but don’t have time for my protein bar.
12.30pm: Realise I’ve forgotten to pack a lunch. Disaster! Luckily, I have some change so I head to the cafeteria. I choose a baked potato, tuna, cheese and butter. I also have jelly – because when else can you eat jelly except at school? Heavily subsidised so it’s only £2.50.
3.30pm: Detention means I stay later than usual but feeling really happy as I was told that my group was the best behaved of all the groups! My lovely friend is coming tonight for dinner. I’m going to use the chicken I bought earlier in the week and some cupboard spices to make my version of Spanish chicken.
4pm: Realise when I get home that I’ve not got any Diet Coke. My friend is addicted to it, but we don’t usually buy fizzy drinks so I have to run over to the corner shop and stock up. Buy a bottle (which is on offer) and another loaf of bread (which is not). £2.80
6pm: After a quick hello to husband working upstairs, I tidy up and prep the dinner before my friend arrives. She’s brought a fruit trifle for dessert. We sit at the garden table and chat. Husband joins us for dinner but then tactfully leaves us to it and walks the dog.
9pm: Friend leaves and I shower and get ready for bed. Get an email to say that our monthly online dog food delivery service is ready, which means the charge will come out as a direct debit today. £20.99
10pm: We’re falling asleep already, it’s been a long week!
Total: £26.29
Day Five
6.30am: Usual morning routine; this time I remember my egg mayo sandwich, crisps, protein bar and apple.
12.30pm: Lunchtime! I didn’t get a proper break this morning so I am starving.
3pm: School’s out! I don’t know who leaves faster, me or the kids.
4pm: Bad traffic on the way home. Makes my half-hour commute almost 50 minutes. I decide to book us airport parking ready for our trip away. We’re going with a group of friends so although it costs £60, we’ll get £36 back as we are driving and splitting the cost with the others. £24
Spending time on the internet is always dangerous for me, and I end up seeing an email advertising a local open air cinema showing of The Greatest Showman. I rationalise the purchase with the fact it’s on my birthday weekend. Two tickets are bought using our joint account. £31.50
5pm: FaceTime my mum for a quick chat. My sister is spending the week with her as she’s off work for a few days. Catch up with them both and start making dinner. Fishcakes and salad today.
8pm: After dinner, we take the dog for her usual walk. Paw is absolutely fine, and she thoroughly enjoys herself playing with the other dogs at the park and through the woods.
10pm: Nighttime routine including showering and putting clothes out for tomorrow morning. In bed by 11 and asleep very quickly.
Total: £55.50
Day Six
6.30am: I am such a morning person. I wake up and get up immediately. It’s Friday and inset day for us teachers (which basically means kids have a day off while we have training). It also means that the school provides breakfast for free. I know I shouldn’t eat beforehand but I can’t leave the house on an empty stomach so I make a coffee in my travel mug and eat a protein bar. I pack an egg mayo sandwich and an apple for lunch.
8.30am: Breakfast does not disappoint. We can choose from five items, so I have sausage, bacon, hash brown, mushrooms and scrambled egg. Delicious.
3pm: Day has gone slowly, lots to take in before September. They finish it off with some cakes and sandwiches. They also tell us that we can take a doggy bag as all the food has to go. I did eat my packed lunch at lunchtime, but I chow down on some sandwiches, cooked chicken and mango sauce, and carrot cake. I pick up a couple of brownies to take home which I’ll share with husband.
3.30pm: I always get the Friday grumps. No idea why – especially as I’ve just had my last day at work until September. I think it’s just I get so tired by the end of the week, everything gets on top of me. But I soon shake it off because we’re off to London to the theatre! We bought tickets ages ago as an anniversary gift to ourselves. Quick change and settle the dog for the evening. Husband’s already taken her for a couple of walks today. The perks of being self-employed and working from home.
4.30pm: We buy two train tickets at the station. We live about an hour away from London on the train so it’s quite expensive but as it’s a lovely day we decide we'll walk rather than get the Tube from Waterloo to Covent Garden. Both tickets are paid for using our joint account. £37.40
5.30pm: Arrive at Waterloo and start walking towards the theatre. We don’t get far before we spot a lovely bar with a nice garden. We get a cider and glass of wine and wince at London prices. £11.40
6.30pm: Feeling hungry, we walk along the South Bank a bit further and get a burrito each from the takeaway Wahaca. We eat them in the sun while people-watching. £15.70
7pm: Walk over the bridge towards the theatre. Stop off on the way to buy a packet of M&Ms and a bottle of water. It’s cheaper than buying in the theatre. £4.20
8.30pm: It’s the interval. We’re loving the play but it’s very hot. Decide to cool off with an ice cream. £6
10.30pm: Such a good show! We head back to the station. We see a cool little jazz bar and decide we’d like to check it out next time.
12am: In bed with a cup of tea. Very rock and roll.
Total: £74.70
Day Seven
7am: Wake up and nudge husband. He’s got a gig tonight a couple of hours away but there’s a really early sound check as it’s a wedding.
8am: Cook us poached eggs on toast and make a coffee. Another lovely day so we eat in the garden. Husband goes and gets himself ready while I clear up and read my book.
9am: Wave him off. My friend has texted me to ask if I would like to go to brunch with her this morning. I have a quick whizz around the house, cleaning, then have a shower, walk the dog, wash my hair and go to meet her.
10.30am: We meet at one of my favourite breakfast cafés but as I have already had poached eggs this morning I just order an iced coffee. I also add whipped cream to it. She orders avocado eggs and I get food envy but resist temptation. £2.70
11.30am: We decide to walk around town for a bit. I’ve run out of mascara so we head to Boots where I get excited by the buy-one-get-one-half-price deal and end up buying two. £11.48
12pm: Shopping mode on. We go to Oasis where there’s a sale. My friend buys a skirt and I pick up a bikini for our upcoming holiday. £12
1pm: We say goodbye and on my way home I stop off at Lidl to do the weekly shop. £31.90
2pm: Arrive home and my sister is already there. She’s got a friend coming over tonight and so she convinces me to go out for drinks with them. Easily persuaded, I walk the dog again as we’re going to be leaving her for the evening, and take a nap (I know!) in preparation.
5pm: Our friend arrives and we decide to get a Chinese takeaway. He and my sister go to get it while I set the table and get myself ready. They halve it and treat me which is very kind.
7pm: We have some cider from our Calais haul and eat. After a quick clear up (read: shove everything in the dishwasher) we walk to the station, which is about 20 minutes away.
7.40pm: Did I say 20?? I think I meant 30. We have to run the last bit to catch the train to the nearest town where all the nice cocktail bars are. I pay for two return tickets for my sister and me. £6
8pm: It’s only a five-minute train journey. We head to a few bars and we do rounds for the first few drinks. I pay £19.70 for four cocktails at Slug and Lettuce. Can’t go wrong with 2-4-1!
10pm: Head to an expensive bar next. We buy our own drinks here. I only get one while my sister and her friend get another two each. £8.25
11pm: Husband is on his way back from his gig along with one of his bandmates who’s staying. They agree to swing round and pick us up so we don’t need to train it back.
12am: At home, somehow the party is still going on. Time for some prosecco from our Calais haul. The three boys finish off the leftover Chinese. I make some toast and peanut butter for myself.
1am: Everyone calls it a night.
Total: £92.03
The Breakdown
Food/Drink: £198.24
Entertainment: £33.48
Clothes/Beauty: £23.48
Travel: £93.57
Other: £44.99
Total: £393.76
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