Money Diary: A 25-Year-Old Radiographer On 31k (& Getting The Vaccine!)

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’m a 25-year-old diagnostic radiographer working for the NHS and living in Devon. I moved here three years ago after I graduated with my now ex-boyfriend and have been living by myself since November last year. With hindsight it was definitely not a great year to decide to live alone as I am usually very sociable and don’t love spending lots of time in my own company. I grew up in the southeast and none of my family lives locally, meaning I rely heavily on my friends for social interaction.

While the pandemic has made my social life nonexistent, it has really helped me get my financial ducks in a row. At the beginning of the year I had just maxed out a credit card to help furnish my flat, and still had my student overdraft hanging over me. By setting a proper budget (thanks Monzo) and not spending money on my usual social activities and holidays, I’ve managed to pay off the overdraft and nearly half my credit card debt.

This year has also brought newfound appreciation for the financial security my job offers. Working on the front line throughout the pandemic has been a real struggle at times but I’m very thankful that paying the bills was something I never had to worry about. Devon was in tier 2 while I was keeping this diary but I’ve found that for me personally there’s not much difference between tier 2 and lockdown (in the winter anyway), as I prefer not going to the shops if I can help it and I don’t have a household or support bubble to go out to eat with even if I wanted to.”

Industry: Healthcare
Age: 25
Location: Devon
Salary: £31,365 (before overtime)
Paycheque amount: This can vary wildly depending on how much overtime I have worked. It’s usually in the region of £2,200-£2,800 (after my pension and student loan repayment).
Number of housemates: None

Monthly Expenses

Housing costs: £500 rent for a one-bedroom flat (no bills included).
Loan payments: Student loan repayment is usually between £80-£180 (again varies depending on my paycheque) — I’m very lucky that I didn’t have to pay tuition fees as my degree was NHS sponsored at the time. Minimum of £200 a month to my credit card to clear it before the interest-free period ends.
Utilities: £24.70 water, £40.86 gas and electric, £36 internet, £79 council tax.
Transportation: £50 for petrol per month (anything over this comes out of ‘fun money’) and car tax monthly which is £10. I used to budget £50 a month for parking at work but since the first lockdown, parking has been free for staff. I pay for my car insurance annually.
Phone bill: £28 plus £7 insurance.
Savings? £600 in a Lifetime ISA set up earlier this year and £2,500 in various Monzo pots (£1k in car, £1k in holiday for when we can eventually travel again and the rest in a pot currently called ‘lockdown/Christmas’). This is huge for me compared to the beginning of the year when I had no savings at all.
Other: £23 prescription skincare subscription, £9.99 Spotify, £21.33 Society of Radiographers membership, £7.99 Netflix. £20 quarterly for a home workout app since I cancelled my gym membership in the summer, £45 professional registration fees twice a year, £79 annually Amazon Prime.

Day One

8.30am: Alarm goes off. I’m not at work today because I’ve been self-isolating as a result of coming into contact with someone who since tested COVID positive. Thankfully I had a negative test result but I have still had to self-isolate for 10 days. This is my last day of isolating and I’m looking forward to being back at work tomorrow.

8.45am: I’m forced out of bed by the postman delivering my Oliver Bonas parcel (a ‘to me, from me’ Christmas order I placed at the beginning of the week after I got paid).

9.30am: Finally manage to get up properly and do my morning skincare routine (skincare is a religion to me, especially since April when we were required to wear masks all day, every day at work). I can’t really do my job from home but my line manager has asked me to complete an audit while I’m at home so I sit down at my laptop to carry on with this.

11am: Quick break from work to make a lemon and ginger tea and end up scrolling social media for far longer than I intended to. I have so much empathy for everyone having to switch to working from makeshift home offices throughout the pandemic, I’ve been really struggling to focus!

1pm: Stop working to have some lunch (soup and tiger bread). I wasn’t able to get a food shop delivered while I was isolating because of it being Christmas this week (excellent timing) but I could do a click and collect order, which a friend kindly picked up for me at the beginning of the week.

1.30pm: Incoming video call from my boyfriend, H, who moved to Greece in June. We last saw each other three months ago and we’re not sure when we will be able to see each other again. We have a quick catch-up and chat about the different lockdown restrictions in our respective countries and the possibility of a Brexit deal.

2.15pm: One of my friends pops by to do a socially distant Christmas present exchange on my doorstep. We have a brief chat but the weather isn’t very conducive to this — we work together so I’ll be seeing her in a few days anyway.

2.30pm: Resume audit with snacks (tortilla chips shaped like Christmas trees, naturally).

5pm: Finish audit and send to line manager. Now it’s time to bake brownies for the team I’m working with on Christmas Day while listening to Christmas music full blast.

5.50pm: Brownies are in the oven so I decide to fit in a quick HIIT workout and yoga session. I’ve been doing this every day that I’ve been in self-isolation and it’s been so good to get into a proper routine. I definitely think the yoga has helped my mental state — not seeing another person for 10 days has been tough.

7pm: Workout done and brownies are out the oven — they look like glorified cake batter and that’s exactly how I like them. I shower and put on festive pyjamas.

7.30pm: Make fajitas with ingredients from my click and collect food order. Make sure I put lots of veg in the mix in anticipation of all the beige food and cheese I will be eating over the Christmas period.

8pm: Eat dinner and watch a couple of episodes of The Fall. I’m really enjoying it despite it making me nervous to be a young professional brunette woman living alone…

Total: £0

Day Two

7am: Alarm goes off. I promptly snooze it but end up exchanging messages with H rather than going back to sleep.

7.20am: Get up, morning routine, get ready to leave. I am not a morning person and just can’t eat breakfast early in the day so it only takes me half an hour to go from getting out of bed to walking out the front door.

7.50am: Leave the house to drive to work. It feels SO good to be outside again and get some fresh air.

8.30am: Start work. Today I am working in the emergency department (ED) CT scanner so we scan patients coming through ED who are unwell or injured, as well as some patients who are already admitted to hospital. It’s Christmas Eve and everyone is in a festive mood.

10.30am: Brief lull in our workload so take advantage of this to eat a banana and go in search of the friends I work with who I’ve bought presents for.

1pm: Lunch hour. I’m usually really good at bringing in lunch because the options for buying lunch at work are hideously expensive. Today I have leftover satay chicken and rice which I reheat in the microwave.

2pm: My colleague arrives, bearing festive hot chocolates for the whole team working in the scanner — so lovely!

3.20pm: I get a notification from Airbnb that they’ve taken the second payment for a solo trip I’ve booked in north Devon in January (Devon is in tier 2 currently so this is allowed). Fingers crossed it will still be able to happen and we won’t be in national lockdown by then, although I’m very aware that this is a possibility. £87.71

4.15pm: I finish work early today as it’s Christmas Eve and things are starting to wind down. Drive home after dropping more Christmas presents off to one of my friends who’s just starting the night shift.

5.15pm: Get home, shower straightaway and put festive pyjamas on. A parcel from Joules has arrived (another Christmas gift from myself) as well as a couple of Christmas cards.

5.45pm: Sit down to open my Christmas presents — I’m working tomorrow so probably won’t have time to do this without rushing. Make myself an amaretto and cranberry juice to drink and put Christmas music on in the background. Opening Christmas presents alone is very weird but I try not to dwell on it too much.

7.30pm: Have opened presents and sent lots of very grateful messages to family and friends. Reheat fajita mix from yesterday and eat with lots of guac. I really fancy watching a cheesy Christmas film so pay to download Last Christmas from Amazon — I watched this in the cinema with friends last year and it brings back memories of a really fun evening. £6.99

8.20pm: Film viewing is interrupted by a phone call from one of my oldest friends. She doesn’t live nearby and we rarely get to see each other so we have a great catch-up and end up talking about hair removal and all the trips we want to go on together once the pandemic is over.

10.15pm: Pack up brownies and party food bits to take to work tomorrow, and head to bed.

Total: £94.70

Day Three (Christmas Day!)

6.45am: Alarm goes off a bit earlier because I wanted to speak to H and wish him Merry Christmas before I go to work. Do morning skincare to wake myself up, call him and he doesn’t answer… He eventually picks up and it turns out that when I suggested 9am his time, he thought I meant 9am my time — time difference problems *facepalms*

8.40am: Santa hat and surgical face mask on and I’m ready to start work! I’m working in emergency department X-ray today and we’re only set to be seeing patients coming in from ED or poorly patients who are already admitted — no routine work as it’s Christmas Day.

12pm: We are unsurprisingly not having a very busy day so I take 15 minutes to video call my dad and brother who are spending Christmas together at home in Kent. I watch my dad open his Christmas present from me and my brother (a Le Creuset set that I got for a really good deal on Black Friday) — he is thrilled so I’m very happy.

12.15pm: I get back to work to see everyone has set out the buffet lunch that we’ve all contributed things to. It looks amazing. We’ve tried to do this in a COVID-safe way with everything set out in individual portions already.

4.15pm: My shift doesn’t finish until 5 but my colleagues have said for me to finish now as I’m back in tomorrow. The afternoon has been pretty quiet so I don’t put up too much of a fight before I leave.

5pm: I’m going round a friend from work (M)’s house this evening to have some drinks and nibbles but I’m exhausted, so message her to say I’ll be round after I’ve had a nap. Put pyjamas on and get into bed.

6.15pm: Drag myself out of bed otherwise I’ll never end up going out. Assemble snacks including brie, crackers, pâté, crisps, dip and Baileys, and walk round to M’s flat. Luckily she’s within walking distance so I can have a few drinks and not worry about how I’m getting home.

12.40am: After having more than a few drinks and watching a couple of Christmas films, I look at the time and see that it’s almost 1am! M and I are both working tomorrow so I say goodbye and walk home.

1.15am: Home safely and in bed — it’s only now that I realise how drunk I am! Fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Total: £0

Day Four

6.45am: Alarm goes off as I forgot to change it from yesterday. Hit snooze with gusto.

7.40am: Reluctantly get up and do morning routine. As expected, I am not feeling fresh.

8.40am: Get to work — I am working in the same department as yesterday. M is here already and also feeling a bit worse for wear. Feel glad that it’s not just me that’s been affected by all the prosecco, wine and Baileys we drank!

1pm: The morning passes in a blur of hangover peaks and troughs. I think it hasn’t been helped by how tired I am too; thankfully we’re not very busy again. I have my lunch break with M and another of our friends. I have to go to M&S to get lunch as I don’t have my shit together enough today to have brought something in. Buy a chicken chow mein which I will microwave, and an enormous mango smoothie. £5.85

3pm: The afternoon passes quickly as we get a lot busier but thankfully I’m feeling better. I go to do a run of portable chest X-rays on one of our closed COVID wards. The PPE makes me so hot and sweaty and I have so much sympathy for the nurses who have to wear it all day long.

4.30pm: Back in the department and happy to be out of PPE. The night team have started arriving so we all get sent home.

5.15pm: I was planning on cooking myself a Christmas dinner for one this evening but I discover that in my hungover state this morning I forgot to defrost the chicken. Looks like that won’t be happening! I’m sick cover for work tomorrow so with any luck will be able to cook it tomorrow evening when I’ve got more time and I’m less tired.

6.30pm: After showering and washing my hair I sit down with some leftover cheese, pâté and crackers. Start watching Bridgerton and I’m obsessed — it’s like Gossip Girl meets Pride and Prejudice.

9.30pm: Super tired so get into bed earlier than normal and scroll social media for a bit. Fall asleep just after 10pm.

Total: £5.85

Day Five

8am: Alarm goes off and I snooze for a bit. I’m up earlyish today, firstly because I’m sick cover so can expect a phone call from work around 9am if they need me to come in and secondly because the hospital I work at is offering a walk-in clinic for staff to get COVID vaccines from 8.30–5pm today. I’m really eager to get mine done so get up and get ready.

9.10am: I’m not needed at work but I set off to the hospital anyway to get my vaccine done.

9.30am: I park in one of the car parks (still free) and the queue for the vaccine is so much longer than I thought it would be! I join the back of the queue anyway and decide to see how quickly it moves — I realise I’m in an incredibly lucky position to be able to get the vaccine so early and am definitely willing to stick it out.

11.30am: Still waiting outside and it’s really cold — it’s about 3 degrees today. I’m so close to the front door of the building and I’ve waited this long already, I’m not giving up now.

12.30pm: Finally have my vaccine done after queueing for an additional hour inside the building — at least it was warmer inside! The nurse who did my vaccine was lovely and told me she was meant to be on annual leave today but came in to help out. We have to wait for 15 minutes after the vaccine to make sure we don’t have an allergic reaction so I get a hot chocolate to help me warm up. £2.10

1pm: Get home and straight under a fluffy blanket as I’m still feeling a chill. Put on a feelgood film I’ve seen before and carry on working my way through leftover cheese and pâté.

2pm: I’d planned to meet a friend for a walk as the weather is nice today so I get ready to leave, putting on an extra layer having learned my lesson from waiting outside this morning. We walk down to the waterfront and catch up about our Christmases.

3.30pm: I get a message from work saying one of my colleagues who was meant to be working this evening has been told she needs to self-isolate and I will have to come in and work the 5pm-12am shift. I’m gutted to be told I need to come to work at such short notice — I was looking forward to my roast dinner this evening! I’m still out with my friend but luckily on the way home so should be able to get to work in time.

4pm: Was meant to call H later this evening so ring him now instead and basically just wail down the phone for 10 minutes about how much I don’t want to go to work (poor him). Pull myself together and make some pesto pasta (my favourite fallback meal) as the bakery will be the only place I can buy dinner this evening and I don’t really fancy a pasty or an overpriced toastie.

5pm: Manage to get to work on time which I’m secretly a bit annoyed about as it wouldn’t have been an issue if I was late. I’m back in ED X-ray again and getting a bit bored of being here — normally I rotate around six different CT scanners so I’m used to having a bit more variety day to day.

7pm: Half-hour dinner break so I eat my pesto pasta, an apple and a homemade brownie left over from the batch I made the other day.

11.30pm: The night team sends those of us working until midnight home. I’m out as fast as possible and in bed by one minute past midnight. I’m working again tomorrow so want to get as much sleep as I can.

Total: £2.10

Day Six

7.40am: Alarm goes off. Get up and do AM routine, feeling soooo tired today. The arm where I had my vaccine yesterday is feeling sore but have had no other ill effects so far.

8.40am: Get to work — it’s almost exactly the same team I worked with on Boxing Day and we joke that we’re all feeling a bit fresher today. Things get steadily busier as the morning goes on with the emergency department filling up rapidly — this always happens in the days after Christmas. The separate ED for possible and confirmed COVID patients is particularly busy today, which is worrying. We spend a lot of the morning talking about whether there will be a national lockdown in the new year.

12pm: Lunch break. Have to buy lunch from M&S again today — I wince as I pay for a wrap which costs me £3.80. This is why I’m usually so much better at bringing in lunch from home!

3pm: We’re all talking about our New Year’s Eve plans (or lack of) this afternoon. All my friends are spending the evening with their boyfriends and even though I haven’t actually formed a support bubble and could bubble up with any of them, I wouldn’t want to be a third wheel. I feel like ordering some nice food to make the evening a bit special so order from Pasta Evangelists (fresh pasta posted to your door) as they have an offer to get a free Aperol Spritz kit and I’m a sucker for an Aperol Spritz. This will arrive on my day off. £27.02

4.30pm: Get sent home early again as the team know I was in until late last night (this doesn’t usually happen so much, it’s only because it’s Christmas).

5pm: Get home, shower and get cracking on cooking my belated Christmas roast dinner (finally!). It’s definitely missing a lot of my favourite elements (e.g. stuffing, red cabbage, cauliflower cheese) but I decided they were too much effort for just one person.

6pm: H calls so I juggle checking everything is cooking okay in my dodgy oven (the joys of renting) with catching up with him about his Christmas and work drama (28th December isn’t a bank holiday in Greece so he was back to work today).

7pm: The roast is cooked so I plate up and can’t resist sending a picture to H, my mum and a couple of other friends — it looks and tastes great and I’m really proud. Sit down to carry on watching the film I started yesterday with some Baileys.

9pm: Tomorrow it’s back to work for a normal day (i.e. back in CT) and I’m working a 12-hour shift so I get into bed early. Finish reading The Switch which I’ve had on the go for a week or so — it’s a fun, light-hearted read which I downloaded on Kindle after enjoying the first book by the author. Lights out and asleep just after 10pm.

Total: £30.82

Day Seven

6.20am: Alarm goes off, up and morning routine. I need to leave the house by 6.50 to get to work on time (i.e. a little bit early to relieve the night person) and I’m not sure what the traffic will be like today.

7.15am: At work early, night person relieved. First job of the day is to do a full check of the three resus trolleys filled with lifesaving equipment after the bank holiday weekend.

8.30am: Working in the ED CT scanner again today which is the newest and quickest and therefore my favourite. The morning goes by quickly as we’re busy with ED patients — so many people presenting with falls/dizziness/chest pain from Christmas Day.

12pm: Lunch break. I brought in leftover roast dinner, which I microwave — dreamy. Catch up with a work friend who I haven’t seen for a few weeks due to self-isolation/Christmas.

1pm: Back in the scanner. The afternoon is still quite busy but I manage to browse the ASOS sale in between scanning patients. I’m on the hunt for a waterproof coat with a hood, as for some reason none of the coats I own ticks both these criteria. Find a nice one that’s actually in stock in my size in the sale and order it, along with a dress I’ve been eyeing up for a while and is now half price, and a plain black jumper that I think I’ll wear loads. I’m much better at spending money on clothes than I used to be since lockdown got me out of the habit of going into town ‘for a browse’ (spoiler alert: it was never just a browse). £70

5pm: Into the ‘evening’ part of my shift where we usually swap scanners, but I stay where I am today. I eat an apple and a cereal bar from home. T minus three hours!

7.45pm: The backlog of ED patients waiting for scans has been steadily growing throughout the day as everyone is just too busy to transfer patients to the scanner, so sadly it’s not a very nice handover for my colleague working the night shift.

8.40pm: Home and showered. Still eating leftover cheese and pâté for dinner — I’m quite used to eating the same thing for a few days in a row as it’s the most cost-efficient way to cook when living alone but normally it’s much healthier than this, I promise! Watch some more Bridgerton with a small Baileys.

10.15pm: Early to bed again as I’m so tired from the last few days — looking forward to my day off tomorrow! End up scrolling on social media for a bit and fall asleep around 11.30.

Total: £70

The Breakdown

Food/Drink: £38.77
Entertainment: £6.99
Clothes/Beauty: £70
Travel: £87.71
Other: £0

Total: £203.47

Conclusion

“This was actually quite a normal week for me despite it being Christmas — at work most days and a bit of a splurge on clothes (it’s either clothes or skincare!). I was paid early before Christmas and normally spend a bit more just after payday, although since having Monzo I never run out of money midway through the month like I used to. Buying lunches in M&S reminded me why I’m usually so good at making sure I have meals prepped so I can bring something from home — it adds up so quickly. The Airbnb expense is definitely more unusual for 2020 but working throughout the pandemic this year has been so challenging and stressful at times, I really feel like I could use a break! My work-life balance really hasn’t been great lately and while it has enabled me to save more than usual, I’m looking forward to being able to socialise with friends again.”

Originally published at https://www.refinery29.com.