‍Current life situation: Living at home, saving to pay for postgraduate education and preparing for the end of my current contract. 

Income: £1500 per month

Expenses: £750 per month 

Savings: At least £100 per month (to go towards my 4-year Postgraduate Degree. So far, I have enough saved to cover the first year and a half)

Sinking Funds: Currently on hold

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A Week of Spending

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Monday: I go to Uni every Monday as I’ve just started my Master’s in Psychotherapy and Counselling, which I’m doing part-time alongside my job (Tuesday-Friday). So, I drive to the station, park my car (£6) and hop on the train (£17 for a day ticket) to get into London. I’m there all day so I just spend £5 on lunch and head home around 5pm. I needed to get petrol on my way home, so I filled up my tank for £45. 

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Tuesday: For the rest of the week I work from home, so I don’t tend to spend too much Tuesday - Thursday. I made lunch at home (I try to keep my food shop around £150 per month and I already topped up last week, so nothing to pay there. After work, I had my weekly therapy session which costs £60 - an expense I’m more than happy to pay. 

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Wednesday: WFH again today, and an evening of uni work. I have a big essay due on Monday, so I’m spending the next couple of days cracking down on that which means no money spent at all today! 

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Thursday: Same as Wednesday - trying to whittle that essay word count down to less than 1000! 

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Friday: Surprise, surprise, working from home…But I had a night out planned for my sister’s birthday which meant I was headed back into London (£13 train ticket). We grabbed a quick dinner (£20 for my share) and then went to the theatre! The tickets were around £60, but I had already paid for those a few weeks ago, so no worries there. A lovely night out and even lovelier to have a night off of uni work. 

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Saturday: Nothing spent again - studying all day. 

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Sunday: Sunday was my Dad’s birthday so it was a pretty busy one. We travelled back to London (£13 train ticket), had a family lunch (£35) and saw another show (lucky me, but even luckier was that my ticket was paid for - thanks Mum). To finish the day, I took my Dad out for dinner at this new place we’ve been wanting to try which cost £90 for the two of us. 

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I’m chipping away at the cost of my degree. I did spend a bit more than normal this week, but that’s a given with family birthdays. Next week, I’m back into saving mode!

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Total spend for the week: £304

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*Names have been changed for anonymity purposes.

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