Money Diary: A 32-Year-Old Tech Lead On 68k

This week: "I’m a 32-year-old single woman from New Zealand, now living in London. I moved here in 2018 as I wanted to experience life in a bigger city and travel through Europe, and I'm hoping to settle here permanently. I live in a two-bedroom shared ownership flat that I bought in March 2021. I currently have a flatmate (technically a lodger) who covers about half of the expenses for the flat. I’m an agile delivery lead in tech working mostly remotely, although I do a day in the office every one or two weeks.

I have a tendency to overspend so it’s a constant struggle to rein that in. I managed to get my spending down to an absolute minimum during the lockdowns when I had no social life, however it’s really crept up again since then. When I was younger I made some big mistakes in living outside of my means. I got myself into debt in my early 20s by spending my student overdraft and using a credit card to make up the shortfall when I ran out of money on a long overseas trip. I managed to change my habits and paid off those debts after consolidating them into a personal loan with my bank. Once I got out of debt I started educating myself about personal finance and learning about investments. I now use my Amex credit card for all my day-to-day spending and always pay it off in full each month. This means I pay no fees and collect air points."

Occupation: Agile delivery lead
Industry: Technology (fintech)
Age: 32
Location: London
Salary: £68,500
Paycheque amount: £3,550.14
Number of housemates: One (my lodger, C) and my lovely foster cat, P.
Pronouns: She/her
 
Monthly Expenses
 
Housing costs: £801.55 mortgage, £779.57 rent and service charge. This is offset by my lodger paying £950 per month (including bills) which covers about half of my housing and bill expenses.
Loan payments: £0
Savings? £8,375 in Vanguard index funds, £1,790 in cryptocurrencies, £5,550 in work Sharesave scheme, £700 in shares given by work during the pandemic, £2,403 in an instant access savings account.
Pension? I pay 5% of my salary and my work pays 10%.
Utilities: Thames Water £20, Octopus Energy £36, £50 for heating and hot water through my building’s supplier, £25 internet. I’m not currently paying council tax as I’m still waiting on my council to process my application. I assume it will be about £120.
All other monthly expenses: £15 pay as you go mobile with EE. £120 (£30 per week) Gousto meal box subscription, which includes six meals. £59.85 tennis lessons (one hour a week). £8.50 RSPCA donation,
£20 London Inner City Kitties donation (matched by my work), £13 Education for the Children donation. Subscriptions: £9.15 Netflix, £9.99 Spotify, £7.99 Amazon, £7.99 Deliveroo Plus, £2.49 Apple storage.

I went to university at 17 (after high school) to study psychology and graduated with my BSc with honours four years later. I took out a student loan and living costs which came to about 45,000 NZD, which I finished paying off in 2020 (10 years after I graduated). My parents also gave me about 400 NZD each month from my second year when I moved out of home, which covered my rent, and I worked part-time (up to 30 hours a week) as a waitress for spending money.
 
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?

I don’t recall too many conversations about money growing up. I remember my mum showing me how to budget when I was about 16 but to be honest I don’t think much of it sunk in. We definitely never discussed things like loans, credit cards or investments. I remember being aware of my mum overstretching financially for things like Christmas and holidays and being very aware of her stress about it. I think she had a tendency to overspend to 'keep up appearances' as she didn’t want to seem inferior to people around her (like my dad’s colleagues and our extended family members, some of whom are quite wealthy).
 
If you have, when did you move out of your parents'/guardians' house?

I moved out of home at 18, at the beginning of my second year of university.
 
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?

When I started working full-time when I was 21. However, I do remember my parents bailing me out when I ran out of money on an overseas trip when I was 22. They have always been there as a safety net but thankfully I haven’t had to make use of that since my early 20s.
 
What was your first job and why did you get it?

I helped out with filing at my mum’s office when I was 15 and got a job at McCafé when I was 16. 
 
Do you worry about money now?

I was stressed when I bought my flat in March 2021 as my savings were decimated, however I’m feeling more comfortable now. I do occasionally worry about what would happen with my mortgage if I suddenly lost my job or couldn’t work. I generally don’t stress day to day as I’m lucky to have a good salary and can definitely cut back my spending on 'nice to haves' if needed. 
 
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.

2,000 NZD (£979) from my grandma when she passed away in 2017, which went to paying off my student loan. My parents generously gave me £10,000 when I bought my flat, which helped me to increase my deposit (and therefore get a better mortgage interest rate). Some of this went to furnishing the flat as I owned nothing when I bought it. They sort of described this as early inheritance but also mentioned they might need to treat it as a loan and ask for it back if they get into financial difficulty.