Money Diary: A Cancer Support Practitioner On 32k

This week: "I’m 32 and live in Glasgow with my partner and our wee gang of animals, two cats and a dog. I currently work supporting people with cancer. Prior to this I always worked in research but left a job I really didn’t like and decided to do something totally different. This resulted in a pretty significant pay cut but it is much more important to me to work in a job I find fulfilling than have lots of money and a job that doesn’t match my values. That said, I am now looking to get back to working in research after a few years' break. I just need to find a job that works for me and is about the people and not the profit.

I believe life is worth living and money is for spending on things that make you happy! This attitude definitely leads to some wasteful spending and I do want to get on top of that a bit. But I can also get down to saving when I need to, like when I bought my own flat. My partner has a long-term health condition which means he can’t work that much and has a much lower income than me. It doesn’t bother me at all but other people definitely seem to have opinions on it."

Occupation: Cancer support practitioner
Industry: Charity
Age: 32
Location: Glasgow
Salary: £32,000 
Paycheque amount: £2,039.63
Number of housemates: Four (partner D, dog L and cats B and M).
Pronouns: She/her
 
Monthly Expenses
 
Housing costs: £445 mortgage.
Loan payments: £200 approx. between PayPal and Very credit accounts.
Savings? £13,000 in an ISA and I've recently started putting £150 into stocks and funds.
Utilities: £100 gas and electric.
Pension? I pay 8% and my employer matches this, I think. I have around £10,000 in the pot.
All other monthly payments: SIM only contract £20. Subscriptions: Netflix £10.99, Audible £3.99, Spotify £10.99, Amazon Prime £7.99. Pet flea medicine £15, gym membership £40, Smol laundry capsules £12 every three months.

Once I finished school at 17, I studied for nine and a half years solid all the way through to getting my PhD. Undergraduate fees are free in Scotland and I lived at home so didn’t need to take out a loan. I was very fortunate not to have to pay any rent for these four years and I also worked as a sales assistant through my undergraduate. The money I saved helped to fund my living expenses for my master's. I worked throughout my master's at various jobs, including selling vegan ice cream at festivals, which was fun. I was also very privileged that my mum and grandparents paid the tuition fees for my master's – £5,900. My PhD was fully funded and I also got a stipend.
 
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?

I was brought up by my grandparents and I was always very aware of money and very aware we didn’t have a lot. It was a source of stress but my gran was very focused on saving for retirement so I think this made things very tight as every penny possible was put away for that. They did use part of these savings for my master's fees, which I am very grateful for.

I moved out when I was 21 and moved to Edinburgh to start my master's.

I wouldn’t say I became fully financially responsible until I finished my master's and moved to Glasgow to start my PhD when I was 22. Until this point I had the help with my tuition fees but also got money here and there from my grandparents and mum whenever they saw me, for food and that kind of thing.

I worked as the world’s worst waitress at a posh golf club when I was 15 and was paid £3.30 an hour. There were a lot of close calls with scalding soup!

Not really. I do have frequent bouts of guilt as I am not responsible with money. But I can always rationalise it as life is too short to sit worrying about it. Especially as I have no kids so no major responsibilities. My partner is limited in how much he can work because he has a chronic pain and fatigue illness so most of the expenses fall to me. But he does what he can and has been doing really well: he's held down a job for the last three years and is now pushing himself to take on extra responsibilities at work. He gives me around £200-300 per month for bills and whatever he has left he saves for nights out, video games, clothes etc.

My mum died at the start of the pandemic and the entirety of her estate was left to me, which was basically the sale of her car and a small sum of money in her bank – around £5,000 in total. She was only 50 and had never had any health problems prior to this so it reinforced my belief that life is too short not to treat yourself and do fun things. This money went towards the deposit on a flat I bought last year.