Money diary: a year 2 PhD researcher

From splitting rent in shared accommodation to topping up income through teaching, explore how this second-year PhD researcher manages finances while studying in Manchester.

I’m a second-year PhD researcher in inorganic chemistry at The University of Manchester. I live with my flatmate in an apartment in Hulme, where we split the rent equally. A typical week for me usually includes 4.5 days actively researching mostly in the lab and half a day of teaching. Unless I have a pressing deadline, I keep my weekends and evenings free to go out with friends whether it’s a concert or some sort of creative outlet like crocheting. Every week I go on a 5 km run, usually after a day at uni. To sum it up, my relationship with money is pretty good as I am quite money savvy, but sometimes when I’m stressed out, my self control can go down the drain.

What are your monthly expenses?

• £550 per month on rent.
• £180 per month on electric, water and Wi-Fi.
• £15 per month for my phone contract.
• £5 per month for Spotify (split with my family).
• £2.99 per month Apple storage plan.
• £5.99 per month Amazon Prime plan.

Do you budget your money? If not, what do you do instead?

I wouldn’t consider what I do budgeting honestly, I use my monthly PhD stipend to pay my rent and bills, I transfer what I think I’ll use for general spending into a current account with a cashback on spending deal. I’ll top up this account if it gets low. Towards the end of the month, the money that I have left, I’ll transfer into my Lifetime ISA and my Stocks & Shares ISA. The account my stipend gets paid into has an overdraft if I ever need it (fortunately I haven’t needed to yet).

Where does your money come from?

My money comes from my PhD stipend and my work as a teaching assistant. I get £1,731.66 a month from my stipend, and then I usually earn £120 a month as a teaching assistant (excluding months not in term time). I also have a few casual (student ambassador) roles with the university so sometimes I’ll get a little extra if I choose to do a few shifts. In recent times, I haven’t had to rely on other sources of income as I’ve been able to spend within my means.

What I spent last week:

In total that week, I spent £68.01 as I had meal prepped a lot and ate food that I had previously frozen. This is a lot cheaper than a usual week in for me. Usually there’s more that I spend in terms of grocery shopping. I had also paid my rent and bills the week before and was conscious of how much I’d be spending in the following weeks.

Tap a card to see what was spent each day!

How does your lifestyle fit in with your money management?

My lifestyle is pretty inexpensive, I don’t tend to have on expensive days out, nor do I drink. I often shop in the clearance section for things I was already planning to buy so that stuff can be cheaper. I also DIY a lot of stuff and I enjoy baking/cooking. I treat myself to the occasional sweet treat though! It means that if I do anything that’s slightly expensive, I can do so without worrying too much.

Were there any costs that surprised you when you began your research?

Honestly, just prices getting out of hand with the cost-of-living crisis. As a Londoner, it’s getting closer to London prices unfortunately.

How do you feel about your relationship with money? Does it ever worry you? Does it affect your day-to-day life?

I used to go overboard and be very frugal with my money, which led me to save a lot. It’s truly a blessing to have funded an ‘emergency’ savings account, so if I have to overspend in a certain month then I can dip into my savings pot. It has helped me not stress too much about money nowadays. It got worse before it got better.

Have you ever accessed University-provided support to help with your finances? Did you find it helpful?

I haven’t accessed any support yet as a PhD student, when I was an undergrad however, I had access to one of the Manchester bursaries. I have used the money advice resources to help get an expectation of my future expenses.

If you were to come to start your research for the first time again tomorrow, what piece of money advice would you give yourself?

Write down all my expenses, to track where exactly my money is going. I was keeping an eye on it and making a mental note, so I didn’t have the numbers to refer back to. Now, I have a note (on my iPad) where I make a clear note of how much I have been spending and how much I have had coming in.

Another one is having specific bank accounts for specific purposes, i.e. one for bills, one for everyday spending on groceries to know where most of my money is being spent.