You may already know Refinery29’s Money Diaries… this is our own version of it! We’ve put together a few questions to understand what women are doing with their money. Let’s break the taboo and talk more about finances!

It’s short, snappy, fun and anonymous.

Marketing Manager. London 31. Longterm partner.

💭 Financial goals:

Short term (1-5 years): Arsenal season ticket, maybe one bigger holiday, and yearly trips to visit family in the US.

Medium term (5-10 years): Start a family (saving for childcare now...) and the flexibility to retrain in a different career.

Long term (10 years +): Small bit of land with a vegetable garden and enough of an annual investment return to cover a simple life.

🌟 Best buy ever: Dishwasher £300 (saves a lot of time/relationship stress arguing about dishes); my cast iron lidded pot (~£80) helps bake 2 excellent loaves of bread per week.

😳 Worst buy ever: Anything I've ever bought from H&M, uniqlo, ikea and all the other places I used to go to for retail therapy before kicking the habit.

👀 Things you spend the most money on: House loan repay £1,200/month, £350/month on food, Arsenal season ticket (£1,100/season, no regrets)

💸 Salary / Income: £40,000 per annum

💰 Net worth (what you own vs what you owe, or your assets minus your debts): £109,000

💻 Any side hustles: My attempts to sell stuff I don't use/wear on ebay has yielded about £25/month for the last 6 months.

👛 Savings: 10k in cash ISA (emergency fund) built up by saving £250/month the last couple years.

🏠 Home: Small 2 bedroom ("quirky") rooftop flat in London Zone 2 - bought for £485,000 five years ago.

🔦 Debt: Paying off very hefty loan (with 2% interest to cover inflation) from my parents for the flat. No other debts.

📈 Investing: Stocks and Shares ISA (WHEB sustainability fund, US Index Tracker, Vanguard Lifestrategy 80%) where I put 10% of salary in each month.

😌 Pension: Previous workplace pension of £5,011 and am looking to set up a SIPP this year so I can start to seriously save and manage the investments. I don't like that you can't control the investments with workplace pensions.

🔮 Insurances: No kids, no insurance.

⚡ What is money for you? I read somewhere (probably Insta) that "Every dollar you spend is a vote you cast for the world you want". I like that.

🚀 What is financial independence for you? A love note to my future self. My idea of financial independence is very closely linked to both personal and societal responsibility.

THANK YOU!

🙋🙋 Please help us break the taboo and participate here - it’s anonymous too 🙋🙋