Money Diary: A Senior Fraud Analyst On £32,226

Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last penny.

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This week: "I'm a 45-year-old forever singleton living in the North West. Whilst I wish I weren’t single, you take what life throws at you and roll with it, one day my prince will come along and I can stop kissing frogs (don’t worry though I have a ‘friend’ so I don’t live in a drought, lol). I work full-time as a Senior Fraud Analyst for a major high street banking provider, working 35 hours a week condensed into four days. As a department, we deal with incoming calls from customers whose accounts and/or transactions we block due to suspected scam and fraud activity. I moved out of my parents' home in 2007, initially buying the property I live in with a friend, K (best friends before living together and still are to this day). We bought back when we could borrow more than 100% and borrowed a total of 115%...then the financial crisis hit and we went into negative equity. She moved out when she got pregnant in 2013 and I took in a part-time weekday lodger to help cover the mortgage. I did this until we reached 2017 and had equity so I could buy her out (I only gave her £2,500, which she was happy with to come off the mortgage). To help do this, I borrowed £35k from my parents, which meant I could get a much more favourable mortgage rate, which halved my payments. I had 10 years to pay them back, but did this in five thanks to some inheritance received from my late grandfather. I now have approx. £96,000 equity and my property is currently for sale as I’m looking for somewhere slightly bigger so I can have a dedicated office and a walk-in wardrobe space. Outside of work, I class myself as having lots of hobbies and spend my time walking, attending gym classes, going to the theatre, reading, cinema trips, spending time with friends, eating out and most importantly, going on holidays. I save each month for various things but nothing long-term other than a pot of money which is earmarked for my house move. I have a personal loan I took out at 2.9% for a car and home improvements and a 0% interest credit card, the total across the two come to about £23k and I will pay these off when it comes to move, but at the moment, I am earning more in interest on the lump sum savings of £25k. If I want something, I’ll work for it and do regular overtime on weekends, this pays for life’s luxuries such as the musical theatre tickets, clothes and holidays."

Occupation: Senior Fraud Analyst
Industry: Financial Services
Age: 45
Location: North West 
Salary: £32,226 (pay rise of 3.6% due in July) plus annual bonus and monthly overtime. Out of my salary, £9 is deducted for dental cover and £104 for holiday buy. I also get £110 a week from my part-time lodger on the weeks they stay.
Paycheque Amount: Approx £2,300 after deductions (depends on how much overtime worked).
Number of housemates: None, although I do have a part-time weekday lodger, but I don’t class them as a housemate and rarely actually see them.
Pronouns: She/her

Housing costs: £408 mortgage (due to go up to £503 due to five-year rate ending).
Loan payments: £344.51 for my car and home improvements loan (42 months remaining at 2.9% and will pay this off when I move). £100 credit card.
Savings?: £25,000 earmarked for house move, £1,500 spread across five pots that I save into monthly for specific things.
Pension? My employer pays £12% and I pay 7%, which could increase if I wish to. 
Utilities: £100 gas & electric, £128 council tax, £41 water.
All other monthly payments: £38 critical illness cover, £9 life insurance, £41 Sky TV & broadband, £12.25 postcode lottery, £10 National Lottery, £33 phone contract, £50 diesel. Subscriptions: £13 Netflix £11.50 prepaid prescription, £25 gym membership.

Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
I didn't attend higher education.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
Up until the age of 12, finances were always tight. I received weekly pocket money which then turned to a monthly allowance as I got into my teens. I was encouraged to save holiday and birthday money if I wanted to save up for something to buy. Although I was not educated about finances specifically, I was always taught about money and how to manage it.

If you have, when did you move out of your parents/guardians house?
27.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
When I moved out at age 27. However, I get £110 a week from my part-time lodger on the weeks they stay.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
At aged 13, I got a job in an old people's home, hoovering and doing the ironing. I got it so I had more money to spend in Topshop at weekends. I also used to babysit and by the time was 16 also had a second part-time job cleaning holiday lodges, which then turned into my main source of income until aged 18, when I started working full-time.

Do you worry about money now?
I think it's only natural to worry about money!

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
I received £22,500 when my grandfather passed. From this, I paid back the remaining £17,500 I owed my parents and got my garden re-landscaped. 

6:40 a.m. — My alarm goes off and I quickly snooze this, for 10 minutes before getting up to go to the toilet and open all the house curtains to let the light come in. I turn my work laptop on for the day ahead.

7 a.m. — It's payday, whoop whoop! I log onto my mobile banking to sort finances out for the month. My salary wasn’t as great this month as I was off for a month due to an operation, so I wasn’t able to work overtime.

7:20 a.m. — Jump out of bed and get ready for the day. Last night was hair wash night so after applying my makeup, I sit and straighten my hair before throwing on some clothes.

8 a.m. — Start the work day and it is nonstop from the minute I log on. It’s the only sunny day of the week so I also keep jumping up to peg the washing out.

10:20 a.m. — 10 min break and nip to the corner shop for a loaf of bread, for once have some change in my purse rather than having to use my card, £1.25.

10:30 a.m. — Once back have a bowl of Frosties.

12:30 p.m. — Last load of washing goes onto the line using every single peg I own, make myself a cheese and ham sandwich and prawn cocktail crisps.

3 p.m. — Decide that I’m not going to the gym tonight due to having fresh hair and it being nice out. I log onto the app to cancel my class and decide to walk instead.

5:15 p.m. — End of the working day for me, although my VPN crashed and I had to restart twice from 5 p.m., joys of WFH).

6 p.m. — My friend L turns up with my M&S parcel that she kindly collected for me (nothing exciting just two plain basic cardigans) and we head for a walk for an hour. Once back, I head to see my parents and have some tea with them. Tonight is meatballs in tomato sauce and orzo.

6:30 p.m. — Get back home and decide to do some weeding out the front, technically the front garden belongs to the flat upstairs; however, in all the years I’ve lived here, nobody but myself has ever touched it.

9:15 p.m. — After some TikTok time, my eyes start to get tired so pop a melatonin sleep gummy. I discovered these in New York in November when I needed something to help me sleep through my friend's horrific snoring and have taken them ever since. Literally amazing. Lights out 30 mins later.

5:30 a.m. — Wake up needing a wee nooooooooooooooooo far too early to be waking up, please let me go back to sleep.

7:15 a.m. — Check how much sleep I got the night before (a good nine hours and three minutes). I then do a bit of scrolling, ordering two bikinis from Next (added to my account that I pay off in full each month if owe anything). I then call my friend K for our daily morning call.

8:40 a.m. — Decide its time to finally get up and throw some gym clothes before heading out the door first stop Aldi for some pork and Bramley apple sausages and some Haribos, £3.74. Then drive to the gym for my spin class. I’ve been trying not to do so much spinning lately, but there aren’t any instructor-led classes on as it's BH weekend, so it's my only option.

10:15 a.m. — Class finished and wow it was a tough one.

10:45 a.m. — Start work for the day. We each get asked to work two BH a year and I wanted to get them out the way. BH’s are double pay so today I'll have earned an extra £309.86.

2 p.m. — Work is quiet, so I've been doing a lot of catching up and chatting with colleagues. I decide to make myself a sausage sandwich for lunch. I invested in a double-stack Ninja air fryer after Christmas and it’s a game changer compared to my old one.

3:50 p.m. — Take my 30 min break, jump in the shower and wash my hair then stick some fresh PJs on. This is something I would normally only ever do when working a Sunday but today feels like one so logic telling me it's okay.

5 p.m. — I’m the only senior on shift now until finish so my day gets busier, although very little support needs come through.

6 p.m. — Decide I’m a bit peckish so have a prawn cocktail crisp butty… if you know you know and a few handfuls of Haribos throughout my shift to keep me going.

8 p.m. — Log off… wow that felt like a very longggg day.

8:15 p.m. — Stick a chicken burger in the air fryer and go slonk on the sofa for a bit doom scrolling and eventually bed.

7:40 a.m. — Get up, do the curtains and get back into bed for my daily scroll.

9 a.m. — Time to get up and ready for the day. Makeup, hair straightened and put on jeans, a white vest and a nice striped cardigan. The weather can't make up its mind.

9:40 a.m. — Set off to K's house. I am going to Preston with her, her husband M and my godson M. Stop to go to the chemist on the way to pick up a prescription for her (which isn’t ready). I grab myself a box of Solpadeine whilst there, £7.60.

11:40 a.m. — Arrive in Preston, park up and head to the shops. Pop into M&S to do a return and mouch about for a few hours. Decide I'm peckish, so go into Poundland and pick up some Skinny Whip bars and have one to keep me going, £1.

1 p.m. — We leave the shops and I pay for parking, £2. We head for some at Hickory’s Smokehouse, I’ve never even heard of it before but M has been wanting to try for ages. I'm very impressed with the setting and we get seated in a booth: always love a booth. I opted for three sides rather than a main, spicy creole rice, mac n cheese and poutine tater tots. My share comes to £20 which I transfer to M as he pays. Would defo go back there again.

3 p.m. — While in the car on the way home, I buy some Zara denim shorts from Vinted after the seller responds to my question about the actual size. Does anyone else find that the way Vinted lists sizes isn’t always true to what the item label says? £8.85 on the credit card.

4 p.m. — We get back home, and K and I decide to take the dog for a walk. We go via Next to do some returns, and then we go to pick up her prescription, which is now ready. 

6:30 p.m. — Decide that even after today's big lunch, I'm hungry so I make a sausage sandwich (although my eyes are bigger than my belly). Text the lady I've been going to for colonic irrigation for the past 15 years, she's slowly retiring, so I want to get booked in before she does. A few messages later, an appointment is booked for two weeks' time. 

8 p.m. — Get into bed to watch The 1% Club. I always play along on the app and K and I text each other through with updates on our progress. I did appallingly this week. Watch some more TV then lights out.

5 a.m. — No no no. Have a wee but back to sleep.

7:30 a.m. — Awake for the day, normal routine of opening the curtains and getting back into bed for a scroll. Nine hours and 17 minutes of sleep last night.

8 a.m. — Get up for the day and throw on gym clothes and head straight out the door. Go to K's as we are heading out for a walk to a local beauty spot and we pick the perfect day for it as the weather is gorgeous. Glad we got up and went early as on the way back down a lot more people are heading up. We have missed the crowds. On the way back, she decides to get little M a McDonald's, which means we also get one. I opt for a sausage muffin (no egg or cheese) and hash brown with an apple juice, £5.29.

11 a.m. — Head home, get properly ready for the day, jump in the shower then sort hair and makeup. I then sort my bag out and stick the small change from my purse (approximately £2) into my savings tin.

12:45 p.m. — Head back to K's as we're going out for lunch for a friend C’s birthday. We pick her up and then drive to the pub where we have a reservation and meet a few others. I opt for my favourite pub grub classic of scampi and chips washed down with two pints of blackcurrant, £17.35. I also pay £3.25 going halves on a class of wine for C.

3 p.m. — Decide I need some cash, so on the way back, I find a machine that actually has some left and withdraw £30. I need some money to get my nails done for later in the week so part of it is for that.

4 p.m. — We head to the cricket club to meet M and a few other friends. I go to the bar to get a drink but M kindly buys me a pint of Diet Coke. We sit outside in the sunshine for a few hours listening to music and chatting away.

6:30 p.m. — Head back home, stopping at the shop for a packet of crumpets, which can only ever be Warburtons, £1. Eat two of these later on with a packet of crisps.

8:30 p.m. — Decide to call it a day as I don’t feel great — think it's hayfever from being outside most of the day. I've been knocked really badly with it this year but I've had my annual hayfever jab now, so not feeling as bad as I was previously.

6:40 a.m. — Wake with a start to my alarm going off and promptly snooze it as I was awake in the night with restless legs. I'm seven weeks post op for a nerve issue on my leg and doing through different stages of it repairing itself and this week's stage is definitely restless legs. For some reason when I was awake during the night decided to do a Boots order to stock up on essentials, £40.18. I put this on my credit card and will get £3.70 back via TopCashback (now have £124.38 pending payout on Top CB). The order includes an eyeshadow palette, body sprays, face wipes and some travel sickness pills.

7 a.m. — Standard morning routine of getting up, opening curtains etc. Grab my laptop to log on for work and get back into bed.

7:40 a.m. — Decide I probably should get up, throw on some gym clothes, wash and brush teeth and hair.

8 a.m. — Start work but take advantage of it being dead so I manage to get the housework done in the first hour. Dust, polish, hoover and tidy up. There's got to be some advantages of WFH. Grab a bowl of Crunchy Nut at some point during the morning for breakfast. 

12:30 p.m. — Lunch break from work. Meet my friend L for a walk and post a Vinted parcel too.

1 p.m. — Pop into the shop on the way back for a fresh loaf, £1.25

1:30 p.m. — Get back to work and the afternoon absolutely drags. The crappy weather out is giving me a headache so I have some of the Solpadeine I bought on as they are the only thing that really works for me when have a bad head. 

2:30 p.m. — Make myself a sausage sandwich. That’s them all gone now, but they really are good sausages. This is followed by a handful of Haribos and some chocolate. 

5:15 p.m. — Log off for the day. Contemplate another walk or going to spin but I opt for a pamper shower instead. Hair wash, body scrub, full shave.

8 p.m. — Spend the rest of the evening chilling, make myself chicken kiev and a jacket potato for tea. Find a new three-part series on Netflix so watch all of that before lights out at 10ish.

6:40 a.m. — Ugh is it that time already. Standard morning routine before starting work at 8 a.m. The washer has finished just in time to get the first load on the line before I start putting the second in. As a singleton living alone I do not know where it all comes from!

8 a.m. — Time to start work and it’s a busy one. I have a 10-minute break mid-morning where I sort the washing, but it's straight through to lunchtime otherwise.

1 p.m. — Stop for 30 minute lunch and decide to head for a walk. Accidentally end up at the ice cream van and buy a Feast for £2.70. Straight back to the desk and plough through to finish.

5:15 p.m. — Work finishes and I’m straight out the gym for a class. Luckily it only takes me three minutes to drive so I get there in time. Tonight is a bodyfit class which is 30 mins of cardio and 15 mins of core which is all done with resistance bands… ouchhhhh.

6:30 p.m. — Get home, have shower time and then make sausage and mash for tea. Settle down for the evening and catch up on Handmaid's Tale. Never want this to end.

6:30 a.m. — My favourite day of the week are Wednesdays as this is my non-working day. I don’t appreciate the early morning wake up, but lately I just cant lie in. Standard morning socials scroll.

8 a.m. — Get up and ready for the day, today myself and K are starting the 75 Medium trend so I head to hers where we measure and weigh and set our goals. We then head out for a 45 minutes on the promenade.

10 a.m. — Go to a house viewing. It's really nice and I come away with a good feeling. Its only just gone on the market and I can't imagine it being around for long but its definitely going on my short list.

10:45 a.m. — Jump in the car with the dog and head out for a woodland walk. We haven’t done this one for a few months ever since I got infected mosquito bites all over my legs, but it’s good with lots of rocky steep inclines.

1 p.m. — Walk finished, I drive straight to Aldi for this week's shop which is a mixture of food, cleaning products and some toiletries, £29.38. We then head back to K's where we have a lunch of chicken tikka sandwiches and some strawberries.

2:45 p.m. — I take the dog for another quick walk. My godson M asks me to pick him up from school, so it's cut short.

4:15 p.m. — Time for my nail appointment. Get the same colour as last time which is bright pink as it matches my toes. I always go for the brights in the summer months. Pay using my cash from the other day.

5:30 p.m. — Make it to the gym. Tonight’s class is 'clubbercise'. We’ve got a new instructor and the past few weeks sadly havn't been as good as normal. That's a shame as it's usually one of my favourite classes and a good laugh.

6:30 p.m. — Drop a friend off after class and then head home for shower and PJs. Have a nice simple tea of pasta and sauce and chicken as I don't have much energy after tonight’s class.

8:30 p.m. — Get into bed for a TV scroll knowing I've got another day off tomorrow (which is in lieu for working this coming Saturday). I have a busy day planned so it is not long before I start to fall asleep.

Conclusion

"I definitely churn money when I first get paid, but I don’t mind this week as it was a bank holiday. Although I worked, I was out and about with friends enjoying myself. Writing it down really does make you realise how much though! I rarely drink nowadays and as you can see didn’t consume any alcohol this week. I find I can enjoy myself spending time with friends without drinking, plus I cant stand the hangovers. This week was deffo higher than normal as well due to the Boots order. I also got my nails done which happens every third week-ish. I can live really frugally if needed and I’m always stocked up with food, cleaning products, toiletries etc so if gets to the end of month and money is running low I know I have everything I need to survive. Roll on next payday as I'll have a really good overtime month. All the extra money will go in my holiday pot."