Welcome to Money Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing millennials: money. We're asking a cross-section of people 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 freelance journalist, PhD student and, usually, a pretty sensible spender. He has spent the last few months travelling and working in who knows how many cafés across east and southeast Asia, but is now settled back in east London where he shares a house with four others.
He grew up in South Yorkshire with a single mum who taught him how to save, stretch cash and make enough spaghetti Bolognese on barely any ingredients to feed a small army (a life skill!) but he can often be tempted not to work from home and to blow extortionate amounts of money per week on fancy coffees he could really do without. He also admits to being "distinctly millennial", which means he's been guilty on more than one occasion of dropping a tenner on avocado toast. As Whitney sang, "It’s not right… but it’s okay"...right?
Currently, the post-Christmas pinch is settling in. He's spent way too much money over the last few weeks – doing the routine catch-ups with friends when he was back home and spending more than he should on booze – so he's trying to save. New year, new, thriftier him. Or so he hopes…
Industry: Freelance journalist
Age: 24
Location: Hackney, London
Salary: My average this year (first full year freelancing) is £19,500
Paycheque amount: It varies – between £1,000 and £2,500
Number of housemates: 4
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £580
Loan payments: N/A
Utilities: Included in rent
Transportation: Because I’m in and out of London often I don’t have a pass, so pay daily. Average £100 per month
Phone bill: £20 per month
Savings? I have £2,000 in an ISA but it’s to pay PhD fees (part-time) and the dreaded upcoming tax return.
Other: Netflix, £5.99
Total: £705.99
Day One
10am: I’m working from home on a PhD deadline today but I stayed up until 2am last night, meticulously going through bank statements and making notes of my annual expenses. It’s almost tax return time! I would usually go out and grab a coffee, but this morning I’m sensible and have a bowl of cereal and a coffee in bed.
2pm: I’m losing the will to live being cooped up in my room, so I go for a walk to clear my head and settle down to carry on working in my favourite coffee shop on Chatsworth Road. So much for breaking old habits – but at least I’m supporting local businesses, right? Right??? I just get a large Americano – I heated up some leftover veggie curry and ate before I left. £2.30
5pm: The coffee shop is closing up and I still need to write another 3,000 words (my brain hurts even typing this) so I head home to work for the rest of the night. I plan to batch cook tonight, so I buy a few extra ingredients on the way home (reduced broccoli included!) but get carried away writing and end up just making a salad doused in hot sauce at 9pm. There’s always tomorrow… £2.08
Total: £4.38
Day Two
9.15am: I’m on deadline again (woo!) but, as I stayed in last night, I justify working from home this morning. I set my alarm for 7am, spend two hours procrastinating and watching Friends in bed with a bowl of cereal, but eventually head back out to the same coffee shop for a large Americano. £2.30
1pm: I’m deep in the article wormhole now – there’s no turning back. I buy another coffee and order yoghurt, granola and loads of fruit for lunch before carrying on my work for the rest of the afternoon. £6.10
5pm: Manage to get my work finished and head home for an hour before I go out later. Blissfully, I have the kitchen to myself so slip into full Nigella mode with the ingredients I bought last night. Twenty minutes later I have enough to last for four meals! Changing my Twitter bio to "Domestic Goddess In Training". £0 (I feel smug, please allow it.)
6.30pm: Catch up with a freelance pal in another local coffee shop. Everything is made of wood, the cappuccinos are overpriced and there’s a random interrupting our conversation but at least I avoid the temptation of a glass of wine – saving that for tomorrow… £2.70
Total: £11.10
Day Three
9.15am: Another day, another deadline! My next payment isn’t due until next week and I have some cool stuff planned this weekend, so I force myself to write from the comfort of my bedroom again. Cereal and coffee for breakfast as usual, followed by lunch I made yesterday.
2pm: Tomorrow is Saturday, which means fun stuff! I’ve only been back in London for a grand total of eight days, so I’m keen to do as much 'cultural' stuff as possible. I channel this spirit and book tickets with a friend for an event tomorrow. £6
8pm: Meeting an old friend at one of my favourite restaurants tonight and he encourages us to get fancy – so we do! We share summer rolls and seaweed; I eat tofu in black bean sauce and loads of rice. Amazing. BYOB too – we buy wine from the local Sainsbury's. £19.50 each for the food, £29.20 including the wine and spare cash I give out to a few homeless people.
11pm: We’re going out – it’s Friday, I have some Christmas money left over and I really like clubs. Quite frankly, that’s all the justification I feel I need right now. Entry is £6 and I buy the first round… including shots… £24.60
1.30am: Oh no, oh no, oh no. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I bloody batch cooked this week! More tequilas, and wine (my second round). £20.10
3am: We’re off. We get food on the way home (we’re drunk, don’t judge us). £6.99
Total: £86.89 (I did have some Christmas money left and my nan did encourage me to have fun with it…)
Day Four
10am: Needless to say, cereal will not cut it today! My friend sleeps over, so we groggily wake up and take ourselves out to a local coffee shop for brunch. I gulp down a double espresso and order the poached eggs and avocado on toast before drowning it in hot sauce. £7.40
2pm: It’s time to head over to central London and go to the event we booked yesterday – actually the first time I’ve paid for a bus since I started this! Living in east has made it super easy to walk everywhere. We go for a coffee before the lecture, pay £1 to have a look around the exhibitions and settle in for a film screening. Hungover. Smart move! £3.20
6.30pm: The screening and lecture turn out to be really, really brilliant but our stomachs are rumbling and our heads are hurting from consuming all that knowledge stuff. We head over to Five Guys but the guilt of last night’s spending spree consumes me… I order a veggie sandwich and leave it at that (my friend orders an unlimited drink and insists we share. God I love her). £4.50
10pm: I’m just getting home and fancy something sweet but I’m running low on basically everything at this point, so I nip to Tesco for my favourite cereal (it’s on offer, woohoo!) and almond milk. £2.50
Total: £17.60 +£3 transport = £20.60
Day Five
10.30am: It’s Sunday! A long, lazy morning in bed is much-needed after three hours’ sleep on Friday, so I make myself a huge bowl of cereal, a coffee and settle in to binge-watch Friends.
2pm: I’m meeting a friend again today. I suggest we get lunch. She says she’s trying to be sensible, so she’ll eat at home before she meets me. God I hate when she’s right. More reheated stir-fry!
2.30pm: It’s freezing but the weather is lovely, so we go for a long walk (why does this sound like a Tinder bio?) and then to a cheap film screening in a pub. Mum taught me well – we nip to Sainsbury’s and pick up snacks before we go. Fizzy fangs and strawberry pencils! Tickets are a fiver each and I get two soda & limes. £7.40
7pm: Home, and it’s time to eat again. I’ve run out of last week’s stir fry, and I’m strangely relieved – I feel like I might punch someone if I have to eat another beansprout. Batch cooking is practical, but it’s also extremely boring. I make rice and fry pulses in chilli for a quick, free tea. Oh, and I bought gum on the way home. 69p
Total: £8.09
Day Six
9am: I wake up in an extremely good mood, so I download some Erykah Badu and set off on a 90-minute walk to the British Library. I’m absolutely knackered when I arrive, so I get a flat white and an almond croissant before settling to work for a few hours. £5
1.30pm: I’m not on deadline today (woohoo!) so I meet a friend for lunch. We keep it relatively cheap and cheerful – I opt for Wasabi’s tofu katsu curry (my favourite!) and then we go for a walk and a coffee afterwards. £8.19
3.30pm: We go for a long walk and then decide to head to the Barbican to see the Basquiat exhibition before it closes. It’s really interesting and pretty comprehensive – not bad value for money. £10
8.30pm: I have a meeting at my friend’s house, as we’re both putting together an extremely exciting project for next month. They make me vegan spaghetti Bolognese for dinner and refuse to accept my contribution for the ingredients – we all stay up until 2am sharing ideas and drinking fancy tea. I pick up a few things I need from the 24-hour supermarket on my way home. £2.45
Total: £25.64 +£3 transport = £28.64
Day Seven
9.30am: I’m exhausted after last night, so treat myself to an extra hour in bed before waking up and having the usual – coffee and cereal in bed over an episode or two of Friends.
1pm: I spend a few hours doing work before getting ready and heading out to meet a friend for lunch. He’s planning a big surprise party for his housemate this weekend which I’m meant to be helping out with, so we chat about preparation over lunch from a local Caribbean takeaway – I have fried fish with rice and peas. £7.50
5pm: More project talk! Because my friend cooked last night, I insist on cooking tonight – I have most of the ingredients, but pick up lots of Quorn mince (half-price) and fancy coffee pods (because #treatyoself) to return the favour. £6.14
10pm: Another productive evening! Lots of emails sent, exciting plans laid out and, of course, I now have enough veggie chilli to feed a small army. Bedtime!
Total: £13.64
The Breakdown
Food/Drink: £90.94
Entertainment: £76.40
Clothes/Beauty: £0
Travel: £6
Other: £0
Total: £173.34
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