Money Diary: A 24-Year-Old Archaeologist In Birmingham On 20.5k
By Anonymous
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: “I am a 24-year-old working in Birmingham as a project archaeologist. I live at home with my family with my mom and four siblings. Alas, I am the middle child but where’s my middle child gang gang?! I also studied at uni here. I got a bachelor’s degree in history, graduated 2018 and went on to do a master’s here, too. I graduated in December 2019 and hoped to explore more the following year and consider my options for the future.
However, that all went up in smoke when COVID made its grand entrance. Graduate schemes and jobs alike completely halted and I was placed on furlough from my weekend job working as a chocolate maker. To top it off, I was let go from my casual museum job as they just couldn’t cope unfortunately. So my life just stopped entirely, all within the space of a month.
I still had my weekend job, which was something, but I genuinely felt like I had accomplished nothing this year. That is, until I got a job offer to become an archaeologist! The goal is to become an Egyptologist but I’ve gotta bide my time and make my way up. This contract is only for three months but I have wanted and needed the skills for a very long time to progress further so I took the risky leap!
I guess I’m just worried about what comes after this is finished but at the moment I’m trying to learn as much as I can and gain that experience.
Just a side note but I have noticed within this sector how very few POC there are, especially as a Muslim hijabi. I end up standing out so much but all for the greater good. This also makes me all the more determined to succeed and grow within this sector!”
Industry: Heritage and archaeology
Age: 24
Location: Birmingham
Salary: £20,600 but I’ll earn a quarter of this since it’s a three-month contract (scary!).
Paycheque amount: £1,780.11 after tax
Number of housemates: Five (six if you include my cat).
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: None thankfully! (It’s the norm here for many others to move out aged 18 but in my culture, we tend to stay at home.) However, I do help out with the groceries more and any extra things needed. This varies from £30–50 every couple of weeks. I also usually transfer money to go halves on things like takeaways, which is usually another £20–40. I’d say about £100 or just over, every month.
Loan payments: None atm as I don’t earn enough. Is that a good or bad thing?
Utilities: None, as my older brother and mom deal with these. I feel grateful to be able to save as much as I do because of this.
Transportation: £32.50 — would usually be £65 but I applied for a new job bus pass that gives you three months at half price. Such a great thing, if only it was longer!
Phone bill: £6.14
Savings? At the moment I have just over £3,000 in my current e-saving account. I also have a savings account with about £5,000 so far. I’ve found that having this extra money does come in very handy for rainy days, which I’ve seemed to have a lot of. Should be getting paid earlier this month for Xmas!
Other: Nothing else atm. Netflix, again at the courtesy of my older brother. Thanks bro. I wish I could say gym but I love food too much. Woe is me. I have to say that at this time of year there are a lot of birthdays so I tend to spend more for those people and tend to stock up on the skincare on offer. Additionally I buy presents in advance for the year ahead, which actually saves me more money in the long run. I may not celebrate Christmas but ngl I do love the sales!
Day One
6.50am: Begrudgingly wake up. Weirdly enough, I only woke up once in the night rather than two or three times so score for me! I wish I was one of those people who eats breakfast in the morning but I’m way too nauseous that early to stomach anything. Sad times.
7.15am: Get ready and head to work.
10am: Break time! I seem to have a ton of sugar in the form of chocolates and the Quality Street sitting on the counter doesn’t help. I think I’m allowed the extra calories since I’m digging them away. Sorry not sorry… I also get everyone’s order for our Xmas lunch next week. Can’t wait! We decided to get some delicious shawarma.
1pm: Lunchtime now. Had some takeaway left over from last night so eat that with an apple and Ribena and some crisps.
4pm: Home time! Is it just me or does everyone else look forward to coming back home the second they start work?
4.50pm: Sit down and have a curry with mom. Her curries are the absolute best thing ever. Catch up with her for the day.
5.35pm: Head upstairs for a much-needed bath. I recently got these exfoliating cubes as a b-day present, so looking forward to using those. Skincare is my weakness.
6.45pm: Out the bath. Put a pore strip on and dry my hair because it is freeeezing and pairing that with wet hair is just not it. Pop on a peel-off mask and head down to catch up with my family.
7.45pm: Take off the peel-off mask, put a Garnier moisturising sheet mask on. These have become a staple in my weekly skincare routine. Fill out a job application as I will be unemployed and crying once again come end of January. The application is so long and is aimed for people from ‘lower socioeconomic backgrounds’ yet when I go to past workers from the same scheme, there are hardly any POC. The culture and arts sector is lacking, ngl. It’s such a shame because it makes me wonder if POC are hesitant to apply, simply for the reason that there aren’t others like them within the sector. And there isn’t a conscious effort being made to recruit them, at least from my experiences and what I’ve seen firsthand.
10.45pm: Make my lunch for the next day. I prefer this as I only get half an hour lunch so not enough time to grab something from outside. Also, saving money so bonus! Head to bed and try to get some sleep.
Total: £0
Day Two
6.50am: Wake up. Why is my body so sore and my back aggravated more than usual? Going to have to take it easy today.
7.30am: Head to work in the miserable rain. See the usual regulars at the bus stop and contemplate if I should say morning or not.
10am: Teatime. I’m so tired today, maybe my body is craving the weekend. So glad it’s Friyay! My line manager has been making me dig quite a bit to understand the relations of the deposits. It’s a lot of hard work so I’m dying to just do some paperwork. Wonder if I’m cut out for this but remember, representation is important. Make a coffee and eat my cereal bar.
12.20pm: Lunch. We usually finish early on Fridays so lunch is earlier too. Also made a breakthrough with my digging so I get to do some analysis and paperwork. Glad for that break. Eat my sandwich, crisps and chocolate. Pretty basic. I had an apple which fell on the floor. Had to throw it away, RIP. Also get a message from a friend I made when I went to a field school in Egypt last year. She’s absolutely adorable, miss her loads. Hopefully I can see her again soon.
2pm: And I’m outta here! Time for some retail therapy and I promise you it’s mainly to get presents. But who doesn’t love window shopping? I pop into Boots and notice some items on clearance. How lucky I am. I notice a Revolution makeup kit, which I grab for my cousin’s birthday present, £10. There’re also some good sheet masks, Simple and Nip & Fab. I grab three of them, £1.50 each. Also, I see a Proactiv purifying mask for £6.
Head into B&M and get sucked into the vortex of the snack aisle. Erm, what is this? Halal Haribo! And it’s the travel-size pack! I’m way too excited, I love Haribo and the halal ones are always so expensive. But these are £1.99! I grab two. I’m so used to eating sweets suitable for vegetarians, I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot when they’re halal. Get some Mikado, Skittles and Kinder bars for £1 each. Also Wham bars are five for £1. Get 10. Can’t go wrong! Can you tell I have a sweet tooth? Don’t worry, I went to the dentist recently and my teeth are fine. I promise I won’t be buying sweets for a while after this, though. I tend to stockpile things and go through them slowly, saving me more money in the long run.
4pm: Start making my way home and feel content. Pass the baguette shop and decide to get a panini for myself since it’s been forever, £2.50. Man, they’ve got expensive. Decide I’m feeling generous and get five baguettes for my family too, £1.50 each. It’s been a while since I’ve walked around, especially by myself. It’s nice to take my time, although I’m quite anxious from the hordes of people everywhere. Tier 3 who?
5.30pm: Head down to deliver my cousin her birthday presents. As I can’t go in, I leave everything outside and let her know. Most of the items I bought before the money diary. She loves all her presents! She’s going through a difficult time and I’m so sad I can’t be there for her with all this COVID-19 chaos going on. It’s even harder for her and it breaks my heart. I really wish people were more considerate because if that was the case, we wouldn’t be taking this long to get things back to some form of normality.
7.30pm: Going halves on takeaway so transfer my older brother £10. Some fried chicken and fries! The good stuff.
11.30pm: Head to bed after relaxing and catching up with family and pets for the kitters. His name is Caesar but not the Roman you’re probably thinking of. We eloquently decided to name him after the ape Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes because we were obsessed. Cannot wait to get my lie-in tomorrow. I’m exhausted.
Total: £49.48
Day Three
1pm: That was a good lie-in! Despite waking up like three times in the night from my back pain. Such a broken sleep. I’ve been managing it well but recently it’s been flaring up and I don’t know why. Need to get a comfortable pillow to put under my legs to take the pressure off my back.
1.30pm: Make myself and my brother some ‘breakfast’ (or brunch if you’d like) consisting of scrambled eggs and toast and beans for him. I recently got a coffee machine for my birthday and remember I have cappuccino pods! Make myself a cuppa. I enjoy it so much but I finish it so quickly.
2.30pm: Stimulate the cat and entertain him. I wish he loved cuddles but he hates them. He also hates us not giving him attention and usually will sneak attack my legs. Ouch.
4pm: I have so much cleaning in my bedroom to do, I’ve been putting it off for too long. Don’t even know where to start. Get a message from my sister asking me if I want a really pretty dress. Answer: Heck yes! Transfer her £10 for it.
8pm: Feel like I’ve made no progress by getting distracted and made it more of a mess. Decide maybe it’s a good time to eat so head down to eat some chicken pasta. Delish. Try the dress on as sister is back home, it looks good. Really comfortable and pretty. Take it easy for a bit since all the dust has given me hayfever. So sensitive to dust bro, urgh.
10pm: Just been catching up with family and have a good phone call with my best friend S. It’s been so long and with everything going on, we’ve been busy. I really do miss socialising and I’m the most introverted person you’d meet. I decide to try the Proactiv purifying mask. It is amazing. Contemplating whether I should go back to Boots on Monday to get more, since it retails online for about £30. Can you believe?
12am: Head to bed after some deep conversations leaving me in thought and perhaps an existential crisis once again. Who can relate?!
Total: £10
Day Four
12.30pm: Just getting out of bed from waking up at like 8. Tried hard to get some sleep but my body just wasn’t having it. Dread the early wake-up tomorrow.
12.45pm: Make myself some yolk eggs with bread and try my Cafe Au Lait coffee. Bit bitter but I like.
1.30pm: Decide to get an early start on cleaning so make my way up. Send my brother £11 for my half of the cat food, which is usually three big boxes for £22. Really good.
2pm: Cleaning up all my skincare and find I have so many sheet and face masks… It’s atrocious really but it also means I don’t need to buy any for a while now, which is better for me in the long run. I’d bought some but forgot I’d been gifted some too lol.
3.30pm: Make a start on sorting clothes, which are everywhere. Mom generously assists, can’t say no really but sometimes I do like going at my own pace.
6pm: Woah. Managed to sort most of it out. I have a little bit of clutter that I’ll be finishing up but I’m starting to get hungry. I hear whispers about takeaway again as everyone is busy cleaning for some reason. We’re too worked to cook. I won’t argue with that. My brother’s bought some flat-pack furniture and is busy with that. Everyone is busy doing something.
7.30pm: Sit down for some takeaway, £12 for my share. Got some doner with chips and chicken. Really need this comfort food right now! End up with hayfever again from the dust so decide to take a quick break before I get back to it.
9.30pm: Put some music on YouTube on my phone and a few minutes later it turns off.
10pm: GUYS! I’m so sad! It’s not coming on or even charging. Currently on the phone to Google support as I have a Pixel 3 XL which I love so much. As you can tell, I’m devastated.
11pm: Still on support with Google trying all the possible troubleshooting I can. Nothing is happening with my phone. Why?!
11.25pm: Find out that there is a technical issue with the phone. I have warranty so they’ve told me I have to ship back my old one and I’ll be sent a new one. Guys, I’ve lost all my Candy Crush data. Priorities, right?
12.10am: Receive the email with all the info and print off the documents to get ready to send the parcel. Need to sort my lunch too! This is crazy, I’m so flustered and tired. Need sleep.
12.30am: Finish my lunch — I just made some pasta — and grab some extra snacks. My older brother gave me a spare phone so that’s how I’m doing my diary right now, so glad for that! Send £23 for my share of the Wi-Fi as my brother can’t make the payment this month. Hopefully I can send my phone soon and it’ll take 5–10 business days to receive my new one. Head to bed all frazzled and not ready for tomorrow at all.
Total: £46
Day Five
5.45am: Wake up an hour before my alarm and drift in and out of a rubbish sleep.
6.50am: Out the bed and get ready for work. Barely slept so look forward to getting back in bed tonight.
7.20am: Damn bus driver didn’t bother to wait for me. Even though I ran, so annoying. Wait 10 minutes for the next one.
7.50am: At work and briefed for the day. I have so much bailing to do (taking the water out of our excavation holes) as it rained over the weekend, so my excavation is full of water. Ask my line manager if we can use the water pump and he says no. It can’t reach.
8.15am: Start bailing and he comes over. Decides the pump is the best option to drain the water, rather than with hands. He’s like this, changing his decisions pretty consistently if I’m being honest.
10.15am: Break time. Have a banana, chocolate, cereal bar and some coffee. My fingers are really frozen at the minute. Btw, this phone doesn’t feel the same, I want my Pixel…
1.10pm: I think there are news reporters here! This is exciting and they seem to be taking loads of pictures of us. Am I going to be famous? My line manager is walking them through the site and they’re taking so many pictures. We’re wondering if they’ll even use them all. The journalist dude seems to be staring at me, is he confused to see a hijabi on an archaeological site? I’d like to say I’m used to the staring but it’s pretty unnerving. However, lunch is more important right now. Eat my pasta with an apple and some crisps.
4pm: Rush out of work to get envelopes with bubble wrap in them from Poundland. Get a pack of five for £1. Then stroll across the city centre, wondering if I should grab something to eat. No, save the money girl. My bus is coming in 15 minutes so I head into TkMaxx and browse around the skincare section. They have so much good stuff but I tell myself no. Maybe once my skincare at home is finished.
5pm: Head home to find my mom sewing. She does this as a hobby so is busy at work! Help myself to some rice and lentil curry. Also make a cuppa to warm myself up. Everyone’s home today so we’re just chilling, watching TV. Not really watched much in the last few days but just remembered I need to watch the next episode of Attack on Titan, season four. Pack my phone into the envelope with the return label, ready for my brother to take tomorrow, since the drop-off time is while I’m at work.
8.30pm: I feel snacky. We rummage around the freezer and find some Greggs pasties from Iceland. Pop them in the oven. Noice!
9.30pm: Lol! Sis put the oven low so what was meant to take 20–25 minutes took an hour to bake. They came out good though, nice and crispy. I’m feeling sleepy, also remember I need to do my physio exercises.
10.45pm: Head to bed feeling knackered. I think because of the lack of sleep, my back pain flared up. Start pondering life and pray to Allah I get a new job soon. It’s like a gnawing feeling in the back of my mind, knowing I’ll be unemployed again, and it sometimes takes over when I don’t feel in control of my life. But I have faith, for what will be, will be.
Total: £1
Day Six
4.48am: Wake up boiling hot and look for my leg pillow. See the time and try to go back to sleep and not count the seconds.
6.50am: Out the bed and ready for the day. I’m still tired.
7.15am: Grab my lunch and out the door.
8am: Briefed for the day. We’re told it was Birmingham Mail who were really interested in our site and the article will be coming out once our dig is finished next year. Exciting! Today it’ll be a bit slower for me as I’ll be able to sit inside and finish off my paperwork. I’m trying to stretch it out as much as I can before I start getting busy with digging again.
10am: Teatime! Get the genius idea to mix my coffee with the hot chocolate sachet in my bag. Not a bad concoction if I do say so myself. Have a giant jammy dodger and a chocolate bar. Still feeling weird from not having my phone but hopefully it gets sent today. The screen protector on this phone is thick, making the typing hard.
10.30am: We have a wood specialist on site to look at all the timber we have dug up, especially as I excavated a massive piece of timber. It’s like three metres long and I haven’t excavated it all yet! It’ll be interesting to see what he says. I fondly named my huge timber Colossus. It’s catching on, as everyone refers to him thus.
1pm: Lunch! I’m having the lentil curry with rice and an apple and chocolate. The wood specialist is still here. Dying to know what he said about Colossus. Apparently we’ll be briefed later on. Our line manager comes around giving us gifts! However, this turns out to be alcohol so is completely moot for me. I give it to a colleague who I get on well with. Even the chocolates they gave seem to have alcohol in them! Whether Muslim or not, I notice people don’t often consider those who don’t drink. Oh well, I guess this is what happens when you’re the minority. The card is cute at least. But here’s to archaeology being inclusive!
4pm: Manage to try to look busy before I escape. Catch the bus home. I’ve lost all my music too so what would usually be a nice time to listen to music while looking out the bus windows is instead filled with a quiet silence, listening to the engine of the bus. Good to know it works haha.
4.45pm: Come home to see my work wellies have arrived, finally! Desperately need these for work. They were paid for before this money diary and I’ll be reimbursed for them through work too. Make some sheesh kebabs and put them into wraps. Grab a vitamin C tablet to have with my water. Ever since COVID hit, I’ve been chugging these about every two to three days to boost my immune system. Especially since I’m quite susceptible to the flu and hayfever urgh.
5.30pm: Catch up on Industry on BBC iPlayer. Sitting down to watch TV after a good few days of being on the go feels good.
8.30pm: Feeling tired, as it feels extra cold today. I’m frozen. Have a cuppa with some oaty biscuits, yum.
11pm: Panic I haven’t made lunch and then remember we have our Xmas meal tomorrow. Yes! Crisis averted. Eyes feeling heavy now so make my way up to bed.
Total: £0
Day Seven
5.30am: Wake up and drift in and out of sleep again until my alarm goes off. I shouldn’t have had tea that late yesterday.
6.50am: Get out of bed and get ready.
7.15am: Grab my wellies and head for the bus. It’s raining today so I’m wondering if our day will be indoors. Especially when it’s this bad.
8am: Briefed for the day and told to try to stay indoors. Yes sir! Not going to argue with that. Also, we should be getting a delivery for our Xmas lunch. Really hope it comes! If not, we’ve made a plan to go to Big John’s as our back-up. One of my colleagues noticed I changed my hijab today and jokes about it saying, “You changed your headgear…?” Is that meant to be a joke? He apologises but I don’t know how to react because he always tries to be funny, telling me the things I’m eating are haraam and that they have pork in them and I shouldn’t be eating them. I don’t find it funny and make him aware of that. He means well and he is a good guy but the sentences he forms just come out wrong. I don’t speak to him much anyway.
10am: Teatime. I ended up having a coffee at about 9 so now I don’t feel like having one and regret the decision to have it early. Eat my snacks instead.
11.30am: Just found out the place we ordered from does not deliver even though it says on their website they do. We might have to make a trip to collect the food in this rubbish weather.
11.45am: Line manager said we’re just waiting for a call to see if they take payment over the phone. Oh the stress!
1.45pm: Ya’ll!!! I am starving. We ordered from a different place in the end and it’s absolutely pouring outside, we’re all dying for some hot food. What a struggle.
2.30pm: Food has arrived BUT it’s only half. Most of the sides smell so good. There is bread and falafels, hummus and fries. Literally just waiting for the mains. My stomach is rumbling. What a day this is turning out to be.
3.15pm: Can you believe we’re eating our food now? I mean it’s amazing but I’m at that point where I’ve passed peak hunger and after a couple of bites, I’m full. How disappointing. We all try to get ready to leave, as slowly as possible.
3.45pm: Unanimously vote that we should all start walking out together and say bye. It works! We are outta here.
4pm: Manage to catch the early bus but seeing as I don’t have my phone yet, no music again.
5pm: I really don’t feel like eating now so decide after this long day to have a nice hot bath.
6.30pm: Out the bath and face mask time. I try the 7th Heaven guava peel-off mask first. It’s good but my skin’s looking a little irritated after I take it off. Eh, sometimes this happens with my sensitive skin. Should go down. Put on a Simple charcoal detox sheet mask.
8.30pm: Sort my hair and head down to spend time with family.
10pm: I have to admit, sometimes it does get difficult living with a lot of siblings. There are good times and also times when you may have disagreements, if you catch my drift. I try to stay positive. I find myself thinking of my dad, a lot more than usual. I miss him so much, it’s unbelievable.
11pm: Sort my lunch out and head to bed, completely drained. I wasn’t even this tired before but then I notice the redness is still there. Aaa. Looks more like red bumps on my face. I hate my sensitive skin. Have an antihistamine, hoping it’ll be gone by morning.
Total: £0
The Breakdown
Food/Drink: £40.98
Entertainment: £0
Clothes/Beauty: £20.50
Travel: £0
Other: £45
Total: £106.48
Conclusion
“One thing I’ve learned is that while I guesstimated how much I contributed towards the household, I didn’t think it would be £100! But I don’t usually say no to contributing towards things, especially going half for food, which is my biggest spend, yeesh! I’d probably spend half this amount if it wasn’t around this time of year, though. There are so many sales, I can’t not take advantage of them. I love stocking up with gifts and skincare at this time of year and I always end up saving so much money that way. As an introvert, it’s extremely convenient because I don’t have to come shopping as often then.
Looking back, I notice how desensitised I’ve become to the staring, remarks and not being truly included within this sector, which is crazy. But nothing will come easily, so I’ve just got to keep going and persevering.”
Originally published at https://www.refinery29.com.
