Its about time my hair developed class consciousness

How my year of financial responsibility is going — chronicles of a girl recovering from bank account dysmorphia

One of my big New Year’s resolutions this year was to become more financially responsible. Roll your eyes all you want, but this was the year I needed to get a big girl job (still pending, any leads welcome) and get my life together. Chatting with a friend last summer post-spin class over overpriced lattes (the little treats that got us through dissertation season), we discussed how our lifestyles would probably change once we were the ones bankrolling it. For the past four years, I preached balance whilst enjoying my favourite little luxuries. Budgeting for me meant doing my weekly shop at Lidl, bringing my own salad in for lunch, and only ever having coffee out as a social thing (we have coffee at home). I’d splurge on travel, and my financial kryptonite was a boutique fitness class (Soul Cycle, Psycle, Barrie’s, 1Rebel, you name it, I’ve tried them all).

On Hair Matters

My relationship with my hairdresser Rin is the longest one I’ve had in the city. From the first time he cut my hair when I was seventeen, no one else has touched my tresses. Price increases be damned, he’s a hair wizard. I’ve converted several friends, and my mom will get on the Eurostar whenever her hair is getting too long. His word for me is gospel, and so when he suggested I should invest in salon-quality shampoo, I did what I was told (though scouring the internet for the best deals). However, as a sign of the times (cost of living crisis/ recession/ unemployment), I bravely declared that my hair will need to adjust to my current situation and now learn to live on £6 Pantene.

Flebag (2019)

My Money Philosophy and the impact of “girl math”

I was an Olympic medallist in the mental gymnastics involved in justifying expenses long before we started using girl math to write things off. I wasn’t a big drinker in my first couple of years at uni, and a couple of mid-week drinks to catch up with friends will easily cost you £15 in London, which was what I paid for a workout class with my student discount. I’d always go with a friend, so I could justify a pricey workout as a 2-for-1. £15 is a lot to pay for a single workout as a student (or as anyone trying to stretch their limited disposable income), but a reasonable amount to spend to socialise. I also started managing my expenses for the first time whilst living in a very expensive city, so London prices became my reference point. The way I saw it, living in London was expensive, but you were paying for a certain experience. I enjoyed all the free things the city had to offer (a guide to free London coming soon) and mastered the art of a cost-benefit analysis by making the most of the city for the least amount possible. Back in the day (I feel old already), the under-26s could get any seat for almost any show at the Royal Opera House (now Royal Ballet and Opera) for £25. You best believe I was a regular. Books were the one thing I never thought twice about purchasing, and even though I moved to London bringing only the book I read on the train, my shelf is now bursting at the seams (in part as a consequence of my degree). I’m by no means a minimalist, but rarely buy new clothes (a perk of being the same size as my mother, I’d often shop her closet), and wait until I fully run out of a makeup or skincare product before getting a replacement. We all have the things we splurge on and the little (maybe insignificant?) things we do to save. Living in central London for the past four years meant I walked everywhere (I’d rarely spend more than £20 a month on transport), and have only now learned the real cost of commuting.

I used to be a regular

Illustrating through my book-buying process

Listen, I hate to support a billionaire and I know convenience is ruining our lives and the planet and its part of the reason why we have no community, but as someone who buys books at an alarming rate (they get a dedicated line on my monthly expense Excel — real grownup Exhibit A), I couldn’t ignore the 50% discount I got online (with next day delivery!!!). Anyone who’s ever bought anything second-hand ever will know that you don’t always get what you’re looking for. I love browsing second-hand bookshops, but I never go in with a purpose. I was, however, spoilt for choice with physical bookstores, both big chain and indie, but whenever I found something I liked, I’d sneakily pull out my phone, pull the brightness down to the minimum and check if it was significantly cheaper on Amazon. There I said it. My most shameful behaviour for everyone on the internet to read. Before I get cancelled, I will say I am a reformed consumer, and ever since my friend Laura got me on World of Books I have stopped buying new books (almost) altogether and am seriously reconsidering my Prime membership. (PSA they have free shipping and a massive catalogue).

[don’t take] financial advice from an unemployed 22-year-old

There’s a cost-of-living crisis, we’re in the middle of a recession, everyone is getting laid off. My job-hunting spreadsheet’s lines are about to hit the triple digits and have an alarming amount of red and I’m trying to get my life (somewhat) together. Working towards my Financial Responsibility goal for 2025 I’ve made some strides. I’ll read an econ book and skip my spin class for the week and wonder am I there yet? in the same way I’ll blot the oil off my takeaway pizza and expect to wake up a size two the next morning. Still, it’s the effort that counts right?

Marie Antoinette (2006)

Everyone and their mother had already told me to “pay myself first,” but that’s a little hard to do when you don’t exactly have income. I have felt like a real grownup by opening a Stocks and Investments ISA, dumping my savings in (aka the result of spending two months at home) and repeating time on the market beats timing the market as I watched the economy go from garbage to dumpster fire. I now also spend the first Sunday of every month going through every single line in my bank statements and filling out an Excel spreadsheet. My life is very unpredictable at the moment and whilst I might not be able to plan my spending very well, I think it still helps to understand your spending and find some places to cut back (I did this exercise on my first year of uni which resulted in realising the real cost of a G&T, I forced myself to like beer, which still hadn’t happened after six years living in Belgium, and never looked back).

The first things to go

• Expensive workout classes

• Fancy vitamins or probiotics (eat some fibre and call it a day)

• Salon-quality shampoo

• My Glossier eyeliner (the eyeliner that taught me everything, but I ran out over Christmas break and didn’t feel like paying for shipping. The €2 replacement I got at the drugstore is doing a good enough job. The Glossier one is better but not 10x better – [broke] girl math)

• New books (if bought online) — not a deliberate change but one that is saving my wallet nonetheless

• Fun snacks on a regular basis (I’ll still get some fun things on occasion, but the seaweed thins, dark chocolate covered dried cherries and crunchy corn have been scrapped from my weekly shop)

The things that stayed

• Jason’s sourdough grains & seeds ciabattin (let them eat cake bread)

• Fage 2% Yoghurt (I’m a yoghurt snob and this is the one thing I won’t compromise on)

• Vitamin D supplement — very cheap and very essential

• Tickets to the Ballet — at a lower frequency but the Royal Opera House still has deals for young people (£30 Amphitheatre tickets to some performances and special Young RBO nights with prices as low as £6). I’m more of a Ballet than Opera fan (and not crazy about modern productions, give me maximalism on stage pls), so I’ll favour those

• Ubers when it’s sketchy (I’ll factor it into my going-out budget if I can’t get home on public transport or am heading home alone, better safe than sorry)

• Social coffees/drinks/meals — the benefit of community outweighs the costs (but as someone with a packed social calendar, I still keep track of my spending and try to keep weekday outings cheap)

Something my best friend’s coworker once said…

which defined my spending for the rest of my uni years. This was someone a couple of years older whom she met when working a consulting summer internship. He told her he wished he didn’t worry so much about saving as a student, that he made the most of all his free time, and that once he became a corporate slave was fully employed, he saved in a couple of months what took him a full year with a student job. Now I am well aware this is a super privileged approach from someone who has a safety net and security and doesn’t need to worry about money, which leads me to my final point

Checking my privilege so I don’t get Substack cancelled

Full transparency, my parents have been incredibly supportive (both financially and emotionally) of me in this post-grad/ job-hunting period. I’m aware that I’m coming from a super privileged position, as my mother often reminds me that when she and my dad were living in London when he was in grad school on a scholarship, they had a very different lifestyle. Making the most of this (unplanned) break and having the time to figure things out is a luxury that comes with not having to worry about making rent or what I’m going to eat. I know this isn’t most people’s reality, but I figured people might still relate to some of the things I talked about here. Still, a friend recently complained that he was broke, and when I pointed out he has a job, he pointed out he pays rent. I was both silent and silenced.