In a last ditch effort to manage my finances, there is nothing left to do but wear the stone of shame by counting up every penny I spend. On coffee. On food. On bills. Only then might I be shaken into taking stock of my coin. What about you: are you a meticulous money manager or a fickle finance flake? Follow me through a few days of money management as a Blogger/Marketing Specialist in Edinburgh...
Day One
7:00 a.m. I awake exhausted. Despite being out until a very sensible 11:30 at a gig, I feel like I need a post-weekend day off. Alas, I cannot! Dragging myself out of bed, I walk Dougie and Finn (my two Cairn Terriers), get ready for work and have a lightening fast breakfast of nut butter on toast. I procured a 1kg container of said nut butter from My Protein for £20, so this morning it’s essentially free! £0
08:30 a.m. I hop on the Lothian Bus 47 with my trusty travel card which costs me £53 a month. And that‘s unlimited travel on Lothian Bus and Edinburgh trams, as well as Airlink services. £0
11:30 a.m I’m starving. As I’m trying to save money this week, before my impending trip to Italy in August. I grab some free coffee from the office kitchen with some lovely frothy oat milk and a bowl of Alpen, which I keep for hungry emergencies like this. Once again, it’s all free! £0
12:45 p.m. I’m starving. Again. Off to Waitrose to pick up a wee sandwich. I skip over to the self checkout, scan it, and on my way back to the office, realise it didn’t actually scan properly and I just got away with actual daylight robbery. I feel equal part badass and criminal!
3:00 p.m. Another coffee with oat milk, hoping nobody noticed me falling asleep at my desk.
05:15 p.m. Leave work and hop on the bus home. £0
07:00 p.m. Dinner is my shout this evening, so I grab some coriander, veggies and a few other bits to make pad thai noodles for me and my main man. We stuff our faces and binge on The Handmaid‘s Tale.
DAILY TOTAL £7.50
Day Two
08:30 a.m. Today, I become and official Edinburgh local by registering for the doctor. I’m
excited and confused by the very notion of free healthcare. But as Sean has explained: no, we don’t have free health care, we pay for it through the nose in the form of tax! Still you don’t have to shell out 60 quid like in Ireland where we cannot afford both our extortionate rents and healthcare. Ya gotta pick one. We‘ll all die in our swanky gafs. I pop through to the Co-Op and grab some muesli to have at my desk. £2
12:00 p.m. I work on blog posts for our new website launch and quickly inhale lunch of an uneventful chicken salad sandwich at my desk before meeting with one of our brand managers to discuss upcoming campaigns. £2.50
07:00 p.m. Me and boo head to pick up some dinner; we grab breaded chicken breasts, beetroot brioche, salad and sweet potato fries. Dinner is his turn so I spend....£0 We watch more of The Handmaid's Tale and I workout at home. Post workout protein from My Protein, then bed!
Daily Total £4.50
Day Three
08:00 a.m It‘s Finally payday. A chance to spend my hard-earned marketing dollas! Breakfast is avocado toast and coffee with oat milk from the boyfriend bank. Jesus, I’m such a millennial. Is it any wonder we can’t afford a mortgage? £0
None of my team are onsite today so I work from home in the morning and head in around lunch time to grab some files from the work system.
1:00 p.m. Lunch is a sandwich: some obscure sounding bougie cheese, blow-your-head-off mustard and rocket on some thick brown bread. Me and the gang meet on Teams, I down yet another coffee and head back to the home office via a sweaty, humid, horrid bus. £3.75
07:00 p.m. Today, I need to organise my finances, transfer Seany the rent, but I don't. We decide to order some food from Braw Burger on Broughton Street. Sean gets the Wee Cheese, which is anything but 'Wee', we share some Haggis Bon Bons and BBQ Dip (divine) and I get the Porty Burger aka portobello mushroom and quinoa. We drink beers and wine and fall asleep on the couch. £27.10
Daily Total: £30.85
Day Four
09:00 a.m. It's Friday. Breakfast is nut butter on toast at home and coffee from the work kitchen. Are you starting to see a patern...yes, I've stopped buying so much coffee. £0
01:00 p.m. I decide to go crazy, take an actual lunch break and leave the office. It's about 28 degrees in Edinburgh, so I pop down to Reaburn Place in Stockbridge, grab a table outside of Artisan Roast Coffee Roasters and order an iced coffee with the Italian toasty i.e. chicken, basil pesto and cherry tomatoes. This is probably one of my fav coffee places in Edinburgh. Love the decor, the staff are cool AF, and the interiors are on point. I hang there for about 40 mins and slowly make my way back to the office to finish my bits for the day. £9:40
05:30 p.m Shopping in Morrisons. Tonight, we're having burrito bowls. This sets me back £19.49
06:00 p.m. I arrive home. Sean is passed out on the couch, so I pour myself a glass of Rose and lie on the bed while I sort out my finances for the month. I transfer Sean my share of rent and bills, pay for my travel card, and transfer money to my Monzo for Italy. Monzo is my new favourite toy. You see exactly what you‘re spending and, as an added bonus, can segment your finances into pots to have real control over your cash. £1,003
09:30 p.m. We head to the gym, but before we do, I grab some prosecco for me and the man. £15.00
Daily Total: £1,046 (a lot of money to part with in one day but that's ALL OF MY BILLS, spending money for Italy....and a few treats!)
Day Five
Weekend vibes. Toast, coffee and a lie in with the boys. We watch YouTube in bed and have a wee snuggle. We head to the gym, have some protein shake, beans and toast, and more coffee. £0
I grab an Uber into town $6, head to the barbers for a fresh fade £15 and pop round a sunbed shop £4. I have the flat to myself, so a solo evening is on the card. Wine and Spanish tapas is on the menu. Chilled AF £26
Daily Total £51
Weekly Total: £1,139.85
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