Money Diary: An Operations Director In Cambridge On 122k

This week: "Hi fellow R29ers, I’m 34, live in Cambridge and am an operations director for a large tech company. I didn’t set out to work in such an incredible industry with fantastic benefits as I didn’t really see myself as motivated by pay but was passionate about project management so I did some formal training nine years ago, took a punt and it really just went from there. Yes I work hard (but everyone works hard) but luck and circumstance has played a huge part.   

My role is very varied and I enjoy being part of a successful and exciting organisation but I find that I spend a lot of time worrying about it and about my team and their success. I find it quite lonely being the boss rather than part of a large team and I miss the camaraderie of working on projects with other people, and being friends with colleagues. As a senior leader it was a difficult realisation that everyone just views me differently now and may not want to be best mates with me. Sometimes you just need to be annoyed/frustrated with your boss. Also I think my team might wonder what I do all day! 

I’m currently WFH and will be for the foreseeable, thankfully this is an option for me and I have worked right through lockdown. As I get a lot of my energy from being around other people and moving around the office and travelling to other locations I've found it really difficult to maintain energy when I just sit in one room all day, every day, although I have a big fat cat for company so it's not all bad.

I own my own house and live with my cat and also my boyfriend (B). Thankfully he's worked right through lockdown (the boyfriend not the cat) so we haven't been under each other's feet too much.

I am quite private (read: I find it difficult to share) and feel embarrassed/guilty about how much I earn. My pay has increased rapidly over the past five years and I have quickly fallen into bad habits of not really thinking about what I spend day to day as I have very little need to budget... Having said that, I tend to like a bargain and I don’t think I lead an overly extravagant lifestyle but I'm sure the readers will give me their honest views." 

Industry: Tech
Age: 34
Location: Cambridge
Salary: £91k rising to £122k with cash bonuses paid this year.
Paycheque amount: Averages about £4,300 per month once pension, holiday buy scheme, charitable giving, tax etc taken into account (not including bonus).
Number of housemates: One cat, one boyfriend.

Monthly Expenses
 
Housing costs: £800 mortgage
Loan payments: £0
Utilities: Approx £400 (B contributes £300 to cover half the bills and some of the shared subscriptions so in reality only £100 for me).
Transportation: Virtually nonexistent right now – maybe £50pm on fuel (plus all the normal annual car costs).
Phone bill: £13 SIM only.
Savings: £70k spread across current account, ISAs, various saving pots and a stocks and shares ISA. I transfer all my spending money and some savings to Monzo each month and just leave my current account to get on with paying all the direct debits. At some point I need to make a firm decision and stop letting money sit around earning me no interest in case of a 'rainy day' or my perennial fear of redundancy. I do try to overpay my mortgage regularly but again have this fear of not having accessible cash.
Other: I have a disgusting number of subscriptions… Netflix £5.99, Prime £79pa, Apple Music £9.99, Audible £7.99, Beauty Pie £20pm, Dermatica subscription £20pm, lottery syndicate £20pm (worst thing I ever started doing, have paid into this for seven years and never won anything worth writing home about but daren't leave now – I rage about it every month), gym £150pm (including PT now that my gym is open again).