Money Diary: A Copy Editor On £30,000

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.

This week: "I’m a 50-year-old copy editor and fiction writer, living in London with my partner and our young daughter. My partner is a market trader. His income is very low and fluctuates depending on the season. The pandemic, Brexit and the cost of living crisis have badly affected his business and we’ve been receiving Universal Credit for the past four years, even though we’re both working. The amount of Universal Credit we get changes, depending on his earnings. I’ve lived in London for 24 years and we have a housing association flat, which I got through my job. Our rent is intermediate, so more expensive than council rent but cheaper than the market value. Still, our rent goes up each year and I don’t know how much longer we will be able to live here. That said, my job is very secure with good conditions, we have a big support network and our daughter is in a good school so we don’t want to move."

Occupation: Copy editor and freelance writer 
Industry: Government
Age: 50
Location: London
Salary: £30,000 — this fluctuates, because I often do freelance work.
Paycheque Amount: £1,984 (after tax)
Number of housemates: My partner and our 10-year-old daughter.
Pronouns: She/her

Housing costs: £930 rent
Loan payments: None
Savings: £6,000 in a savings account 
Utilities: £117.79 gas and electricity, £34 water.
Pension? Yes, I pay in £115 into my work pension. The amount I’ll get, if and when I ever retire, will be fairly pitiful. I try not to think about it and hope some miracle occurs in my finances in the meantime.
All other monthly payments: £15 mobile phone, £17.22 broadband, £140 council tax, £14.52 TV licence, £60 boxing classes, £4 Guardian donation, £2 Christian aid, £2 Mind, £4 Shelter. Subscriptions: £10.99 Netflix.

Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
I did an art foundation after leaving school and then went to university in the mid-90s. There were no tuition fees in the UK at that time and I got a full grant. I feel incredibly lucky that I got a free education. I took out two student loans and worked as a life model throughout my degree. After my degree I did a journalism course and was an apprentice on a local newspaper; I was paid a very small salary (that barely covered my living costs) and my fees were paid by the newspaper. In the mid-00s I did an MA in creative writing. The fees were fully funded and I got several other grants to help with my living costs. I also worked as a proofreader and a barmaid and ended up living back with my parents halfway through the year, to save money.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
We didn't have much money growing up. Mainly because my parents were both art students for much of my childhood. My siblings and I were free school meals kids and were dressed in jumble sale and charity shop clothes. After art college, my dad started his own business and we had slightly more money then. I don't remember having any conversations about finances growing up or any education in that area; my parents were motivated by creative fulfilment rather than money and I am the same. As a kid I always felt poorer than my friends and sensed that my parents worried about money, because they could never afford the things I pestered them for. We lived frugally (no foreign holidays, no fancy birthday presents, no meals out) and I didn’t go to a restaurant until I was 16, but my parents had the knack of living well on a budget.

If you have, when did you move out of your parents/guardians’ house?
When I was 20, when I went to university.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
I became financially responsible after leaving university, aged 24. Before that my parents helped me out by paying off my student loans (which were less than £5,000). I don't have a financial safety net now except for the benefits system, although if things got really bad I could possibly borrow some money off my parents, although not much.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
I was a babysitter as a teenager; I got paid £1.50 an hour. I did it to get money for clothes, make up and magazines (the NME and Smash Hits).

Do you worry about money now?
Yes, I worry about it a lot, as I don't really earn enough to live in London. Also, our rent keeps going up, even though we’re in a housing association flat. Neither my partner or I own any property and I can't see that we’ll ever get on the property ladder. As mentioned, my partner’s income is very low. I am the main breadwinner and it is a lot of stress on me.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
No.