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, in the first of our Christmas specials, a 29-year-old woman reveals how she gets by on a teacher's salary in one of the most expensive cities in the world at one of the most expensive times of year. School dinners might have something to do with it...
Industry: Education
Age: 29
Location: Vauxhall
Salary: £29,270
Paycheque amount per month: £1,679.92
Number of roommates: 1
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: £700
Utilities: £100
Transportation: £80
Phone bill: £45
Savings: £200
Car insurance: £45
Total: £1,170
Day One – Thursday
7am: Wake up and have two Weetabix and a banana with milk, quick shower and off to work. I normally cycle to save money and get some exercise but it's so cold, I decide to drive.
8:50am: Out into the playground to meet the children, register them and carry out the morning maths test!
10:30am: Break time. Quick digestive biscuit while I run around printing off worksheets for the children. To my delight, one of the staff has made gluten-free shortbread, so nab two of those as well, then head back to class.
11:45am: The children go to lunch. I usually get school dinners because they are big and it means I don't have to bother cooking when I get home. Today I have shepherd’s pie, mash, carrots, sweetcorn and green beans. Lemon cake for dessert. £2.70
12:15pm: Remember I haven’t bought the class an advent calendar, so dash into town. I end up buying chocolates as Christmas presents for my niece and parents, and some fairy lights for our tree. I also buy myself a Crunchie. £7.90
12:45pm: Lessons commence – we do "Just Dance" for PE and the children love it!
4:15pm: I leave work nice and early and head to the gym for a half-hour interval session on the treadmill. I have a snack bar and a clementine afterwards.
6:30pm: Get the tube to Winter Wonderland to meet the netball girls. £4.80
7pm: I eventually find the girls in the Bavarian beer tent. I'm not drinking as it's a school night, so just buy my dinner: spicy bratwurst with onions and ketchup, a Diet Coke and a hot chocolate to warm myself up. £11.30
10:15pm: On my way home I stop off and buy some milk for the morning, a Capri Sun, and two packs of Penguins for Saturday's netball match (I'm on refreshments; the club will reimburse the cost). £3.95
Day Two – Friday
7am: Same breakfast as yesterday: Two Weetabix, a banana and milk.
7:40am: I take the train to work as I'm heading out with colleagues after school and will probably have a drink or two so can't drive or cycle. £2.40
8am: Realise I've forgotten my water bottle so nip into Tesco to buy one. 89p
11:45am: School dinner again. Fish, chips, carrots, tomatoes, cannelloni, baked beans, chocolate flapjack. £2.70
3:30pm: It's our Christmas fair today. I buy my niece a Spider-Man cape and mask, and a Diet Coke and triple chocolate biscuit for myself. £1.50
5:30pm: Ice skating at Somerset House (already paid for).
7:30pm: Dinner at Giraffe with colleagues. Salmon, toast and dill to start, followed by a turkey schnitzel burger and skin-on fries. Dessert is chocolate fondant and vanilla ice cream. I'm stuffed! I also have a couple of cocktails: a Mojito and a Mango Colada. We move onto a pub where I have a Malibu and Diet Coke. A colleague owes me £10 so dinner only costs £20.
10:30pm: I get the train home. £4
Day Three – Saturday
8:45am: Hop on the train to East Croydon for my netball match. I stop on the way to buy (more) refreshments: Two bags of Haribo and two packs of Fruit Pastilles, to go with the Penguins I bought the other night. £10.60
11:30am: We win!
12:30pm: My friend and I go secretly to meet another friend's fiancé, to ask him some questions about her for her hen do next weekend (which she has no idea about!). I just drink tap water.
2pm: Pop into Sainsbury's on the way home for some brown bread and cucumber. £1.05
4pm: I have a nap (I always need a nap after a netball match).
6pm: Head to my friend's by tube for pre-drinks. Pick up some Pepsi Max and Malteasers en route. £4.50
8:30pm: Out with the netball girls for our Christmas meal. Another three-course feast: Parsnip soup with bread, duck confit and potato, and what was meant to be a crème brûlée (although it looked more like a panacotta). £25, but paid for last month.
10:30pm: I buy a round of shots. Jägerbomb for me! £18
11:30pm: Two more drinks (Malibu and Diet Coke and peach schnapps and lemonade) before I get the bus home. £12.40
Day Four – Sunday
10:15am: My niece, sister and brother-in-law arrive to go ice skating at Winter Wonderland. We stop at Sainsbury's on the way and I buy myself and my niece some lunch (a cheese sandwich, Quavers and a bottle of water for her, a sandwich and strawberry-flavoured water for me). £31.05
12pm: After the skating we walk around Winter Wonderland and have a hot chocolate to warm ourselves up. £6
2pm: We go to the circus. £23.50
3:30pm: My niece wants to go on the swing fairground ride. I pay. £3
5pm: We head home, where I have ravioli for dinner, which my sister bought. Travel for the day was £8.
8pm: My friends and I decide to buy flights for our ski and snowboard holiday to Italy in April. £154
Day Five – Monday
7am: Wake up, have breakfast and drive to work.
10:30am: I'm on break duty so have to stand out in the cold while the children play and check they're okay. Eat an apple, which the school provides.
11:45am: On the lunch menu today: spaghetti bolognese, carrots, sweetcorn and fruit. £2.70
3:15pm: Dismiss the children and get ready for our after-school meeting. I eat three digestive biscuits to get me through.
5pm: I leave work straight after the meeting as a new job has just come up that I want to apply for and I need to write my personal statement.
5:30pm: Buy mini Weetabix, Coco Pops, banana malt loaf and bananas. £5.93
7pm: Coco Pops with milk as a substitute dinner. I also have a cookie and some banana malt loaf.
Day Six – Tuesday
7:30am: Arrive at work and set out the children’s books and worksheets for today’s science lesson.
10:30am: Break time. Digestive biscuits!
11:45am: My school dinner today is Madras curry and rice, pasta salad, tomatoes and pineapple upside-down cake with custard. £2.70
12:30pm: I leave work because I have PPA (planning, preparation and assessment) to do from home. I get a lot more done at home, where there are no distractions. On the way I buy diesel. £15
1:15pm: Start writing my personal statement for the job I am applying for. Munch on some Haribo to keep me going.
6:30pm: I take a break from work and eat dinner – Coco Pops and milk, three sweet laces and six advent chocolates.
Day Seven – Wednesday
6:30am: Early wake-up as it's Parents' Day. Mini Weetabix and milk for breakfast.
8am: My first meeting of the day. I share my class with another colleague; we have 28 parents to see between us. Each parent has 10 minutes to talk to us about their child and ask questions.
10:30am: It's a colleague's birthday. She's brought treats! I have a small slice of banoffee pie, lemon pie and some bruschetta crisps.
11:45am: Dismiss the children and quickly walk into town to buy a few bits for this evening – I'm planning on surprising my friend with the news that she's off to Dublin for her hen do! We're making her guess the destination, so I grab a can of Guinness and some Irish cream chocolates. I also buy a Secret Santa present and a leprechaun hat, and some wrapping paper. Plus some scones, jam, clotted cream and sausage rolls to take to my friend's, and an egg and cress sandwich for my lunch. £17.89
5pm: My headteacher buys pizza for everyone as it's been a long day. I have three slices: chicken, margherita and meat feast.
6:40pm: I have my last meeting with a parent and then leave work and drive to my friend’s house. We eat lots of nibbles – bread, camembert, sausage rolls, meat, and scones.
7:30pm: Time for Dirty Santa! Dirty Santa means you can steal presents from other people. Our theme this year is wearable presents but one friend hasn't realised and brings a really nice body wash gift set, which I receive. Safe to say, I'm happy. (My friend isn't too pleased with the blonde wig and straw glasses that I've brought, though...)
8pm: I've made a slideshow for the surprise announcement. We get the projector out and break the news. My friend is shocked – she thought she was spending the weekend with her fiancé!
8:30pm: We play Articulate, my team loses.
10:30pm: Drive my housemate and me home.
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