Rachel is a marketing assistant living and working in London (Picture: Getty/Metro.co.uk)

Our weekly series How I Save aims to take an honest look at how people spend and save their money.

Why? Because we’re all so uncomfortable chatting about money that we’d rather be in a constant state of sheer panic and shame than just ask someone what an ISA actually is.

Each week we ask someone to track their spending for a week and share how much they have saved up in their accounts right at this moment, all to get a better sense of the reality of people’s personal finances. Then we give them some expert advice they (and we) can learn from to save more effectively.



It’s tricky to know if we’re on the right track with our saving if no one will openly say how much money they’ve got, after all.


Last week we saw a lesson in what not to do in the form of a 28-year-old accounts manager splashing her cash on cocaine and croissants.

This week we have a more sensible saver who’s struggling to put away cash on a low salary. Rachel (not her real name, as people can be nasty about money stuff) is a 25-year-old marketing assistant living in North London. She’s also disabled and uses mobility aids including a wheelchair, which she says makes her outgoings add up.

How Rachel saves:

I earn £18,500 a year. In my savings account right now I have £1,036.74

I’m saving for nothing. I just need back-up because money is a massive worry for me.

The main way I save is transferring £100 each month and dipping in only when desperate

I struggle with saving because I don’t earn that much and live in quite a pricey area of London. I don’t want to live my life never enjoying being able to buy stuff for myself or socialising because of money.

I’m also disabled which means my monthly costs can be more than an average person as I have to use taxis quite a lot and really heavily on my car to travel.

Rachel has £1,036 saved (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

How Rachel spends:

Monthly expenses:

Rent: £703.35

Council Tax: £62

Gas & Electric: £26 (we’re with Bulb so it’s a fixed price each month)

Phone: £45

Spotify: £9.99

Adobe programmes: £29.95

A week of spending:

Monday: Breakfast and lunch for work, £4.32, petrol for £29.

Tuesday: I bought food for breakfast, lunch and dinner that day, so total spent was £6.40.

Wednesday: Lunch is £3.76. I buy some makeup bits for £6.

Thursday: £25 on clothes, £25 on a record, £4.62 on lunch at work, and £8.97 on food for the evening (with enough to make for lunch the next day.

Friday: £3.49 on beer.

Saturday: £9.50 on coffee for myself and for my housemates.

Sunday: £7.79 on a takeaway for dinner.

How Rachel could save: We spoke to the experts over at money saving app Plum to find out how Rachel can save better (and what we can learn from her spending). Here’s what they said: Okay Rachel, let’s go. First of all… take a deeeep breath. You’re not alone in finding money stressful, but you’re being brave in talking about it openly with us. We applaud you! And what’s more, you’re doing a GREAT job with what you have. In fact, you’re pretty much a budgeting guru. We know a lot of people who will be very jealous of your self-discipline. Savings Let’s talk a bit about your savings. You say you need backup. Well, you’ve already saved over £1,000, which would cover you in case of an emergency. Give yourself a big pat on the back for that. Now you can set a new goal – for something exciting, like a holiday, home deposit, or a treat for yourself. With that goal in mind, you can start to feel positive about your saving, rather than it being a source of stress. Set up a new savings account for this goal, so your emergency savings stay separate. Putting aside money into a different account, as you do, is the perfect way to save when money is tight (auto-saving apps like Plum could help you with this!) Start slowly increasing these amounts by a few pounds each time. You’ll hardly notice the difference, but you’ll be amazed by how much you’ve saved in a few months. Budget It’s hard to see any places where you could be saving money on essential items. You’re smashing it. Bravo! As for non-essentials, your budget needs to be pretty tight if you want to keep setting aside £100 a month. This week you spent £76.78 on drinks, clothes, records and makeup. Don’t panic – this is not bad at all. If you set aside a specific amount for non-essentials, however, you’ll know you won’t have to scrimp at the end of the month. Then you can have peace of mind when you spend. Another good way to save money can be by switching your energy tariff. By the looks of it though you’ve got a great deal with Bulb right now (nice one! but make sure you keep reviewing this. And don’t forget… Our main advice to you would be: have faith in yourself. You have good money habits so don’t begrudge yourself the odd treat, you’ve earned it!

How I Save is a weekly series about how people spend and save, out every Thursday. If you’d like to anonymously share how you spend and save – and get some expert advice on how to sort out your finances – get in touch by emailing ellen.scott@metro.co.uk.



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