Welcome to Money Matters: GLAMOUR’s weekly dive into the world of finance. We’re chatting all things personal finance, from contracting rights in the workplace to expert mortgage advice and saving for your first home, to ISAs and dealing with debt, to help empower you to make better choices. Now more than ever, it’s important to understand our money, but so many of us feel as if we don’t have a handle on it – or worse, feel anxious and scared about money.
So each week, a woman in a unique situation will give us an honest breakdown of her finances, and our expert will give her easy tips on how to tackle it.
To submit your own anonymous money diary and get top expert tips tailored to you, simply submit your entry here. And don’t forget to join GLAMOUR’s Facebook group, Money Matters, for more exclusive finance content.
Bianca* is a lawyer in Birmingham on £42k a year. She feels her finances are “totally out of control.”
Her work environment is incredibly high-pressure, with very long hours. She feels like she spends her life working but doesn’t have much to show for it.
She’s a single woman living in a nice area but is living paycheck to paycheck. Halfway through each month, she falls into her overdraft, meaning every morning, she wakes up to a text from her bank warning her to sort it out.
All her bills have gone up, her rent is sky-high, and “it costs £8 for nice butter!”
Here, she shares her money diary…
MY ACCOUNTS
Current account: -£500
Savings account: £2000
MY INCOMINGS
Annual salary pre-tax: £42,000
Annual salary post-tax: £33,000
Monthly wage pre-tax: £2,655
Monthly wage post-tax: £2,154
Other incoming payments: £0
MY OUTGOINGS
Rent/mortgage: £1,300
Bills: £500
Splurges: £100
Other: £200
Any student loan/credit cards/overdrafts etc: None
MY MONEY THOUGHTS
My worst money habit: Spending it all in the first half of the month.
My biggest money worry: Feeling out of control with money.
My financial hopes for the future: To feel financial safe and not utterly dependent on my job.
Current money mood: 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️
Makala Green is a multi-award-winning Chartered Financial Adviser at Schroders Personal Wealth and has over 18 years of experience in the financial industry. She understands managing money can be complicated and confusing, which is why she is passionate about making financial planning more accessible for all. She is also the Author of The Money Edit; a no shame no blame guide to taking control of your money.
Control your expenses
Controlling your expenses is the process of making direct changes to your spending. Ideally, these changes are based on your spending from the previous month, which considers any cost increases and future estimated costs. Checking your previous bank statements will make planning and adjusting your budget easier. To be on the safe side, you want to accurately estimate all your expenses, monitor monthly and keep spending under control to comfortably accommodate unexpected changes such as price increases.