£26k Salary in the UK | Budget building with an Accountant

[@lancervp]

I'm 18 but still find these financial videos extremely interesting so I guess preparing for the future doesn't hurt

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@lancervp I wish I had the foresight to do this at 18. The earlier you start the better. Being in my 30's now preparing and investing earlier has definitely helped set me up financially. I'm not completely there yet, and if I had started in my teens rather than 20's who knows where I'd be. Glad you enjoyed the video. Appreciate the comment 🙏

[@realeyesrealisereallies97]

​@@CourtneyJonesFinancial equally tho, life is for living. It's all good and well to have money when you're older but you might not have the energy to use it... Or be alive. Save a lil bit when you're younger but enjoy yourself too, you'll regret it when you're older if not

[@i._.29110]

Great video Courtney, came at the perfect time for me personally. Dont find alot of this content from the UK with such transparency and clarity. I watched your 55k one the other day and found that one useful too and wanted you to do one exactly like this. Loved the live building of spreadsheet too hahah didnt find it boring at all. Keep it up, those video ideas at the end sound great!

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@i._.29110 thank you for taking the time to provide this feedback and the general kind words 🙏 I'm really pleased you enjoyed it and hope to continue to provide good content. I am genuinely surprised about the spreadsheet, I must admit I do love a good one so I'm happy I can share this passion 😅 Appreciate the support, all the best!

[@fire5613]

I cant belive I found this and it was only uploaded 19 hours ago, i thought it was going to be a 2 year old video and the creator has lost interest. Love this so much, shows what normal tutorials dont. The thought process, which actually teaches you things

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@fire5613 glad you found some value here. The subscribers and viewers of the channel seemed to ask for something like this the most, so I worked hard to get it out. Really nice to see it being received well by both current and new viewers. Appreciate you reaching out with feedback 🙏 All the best.

[@itooflemma]

I went from living off £400 a month (from bartending work whilst doing masters) to living off ~£700 a day a few months later with meals paid for and my spending habits completely went off the charts. It’s good to rethink and recalibrate.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@itooflemma lifestyle creep is no joke. It's easy to think that the more you earn the easier it is, but society is designed and built around consumption and spending. These tools are the foundation of strong financial discipline and ultimately financial health. Thanks for sharing 🙏

[@kktt725]

This is really encouraging, thank you! It's difficult for me to remember that saving is hard but your analogy about it being easy to slip into debt and difficult to push and save helps :) especially since I'm the youngest and see my siblings and peers with a lot more saved up

[@michaelb8690]

if you want to save money you need to pay yourself first on pay day.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@kktt725 thanks for sharing. It is indeed hard, and the society we live in whereby we don't talk about money can make you feel alone. In my opinion, when it comes to personal finance don't worry too much about comparing yourself to others. Just stay in your lane and remember 'little and often' is the best way to go. Consistency is key and if you focus on this you'll get to where you want to be before you realise. Enjoy the journey and the things you'll learn along the way too. Appreciate the comment. All the best 🙏

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@michaelb8690 great suggestion 👍

[@sara00095]

This is great! Thanking for making this video as I find them extremely useful! It is interesting to see what others do within a certain budget.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@sara00095 glad you liked it. As you can see, it's very rough. But the numbers and actions are what matters most. Not the app or the formatting (although I couldn't help adding a little colour). Hopefully you find some value here. Appreciate the comment 🙏

[@Jayjayrose16]

I’m in Bristol and my rent is £1000 and that really cheap for the area. I only bring £1900 in and I have a child it’s hard but I use the cash stuffing method to try keep on budget. I recently gave up my car to try save up for a cash banger and a year of insurance. I’m currently saving for my daughter’s physio as she is disabled and the waiting list is like 18 months long. It can be done but hard work and perseverance. Thank you for showing a realistic budget.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@Jayjayrose16 cities are definitely more expensive, so I empathise with this. Great to see you're budgeting towards some goals, the car in my opinion is the best way to go. It's what I did when I sold my expensive car and purchased a cheap one. One of the best decisions I've made. Sorry to hear about your daughters treatment requirements, but it sounds like you've got a plan and the correct mindset so she's got the best person in her corner 🙏 All the best for 2025! Thanks for sharing.

[@Jayjayrose16]

@ thank you for your reply and your kind words. Wishing all the success and fortune for the new year.

[@TheRealHarvjam]

This is interesting. I'm recently out of university and applying for work with similar salaries. It's quite daunting to see a breakdown of costs and what I can expect to be left with. Good video though, thanks for making it!

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@TheRealHarvjam congratulations on finishing university 👍 yeah, it was eye opening for me too. The good thing is, if you build good savings habits at this point, as you get promoted it makes it easier to save the incremental increases in salary. So always worth budgeting, in my opinion anyway. Glad you enjoyed the video, appreciate you reaching out to comment 🙏 Best of luck with the applications!

[@RZA413]

Check home insurance - they normally have an extra called home emergency - usually around 60 per year covers heating, electric and more - £0 excess and unlimited call outs. Should save you some money

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@RZA413 great suggestion, I will definitely look into this in the new year! Appreciate the comment 🙏

[@annah4090]

So approachable and helpful. Thank you 🙏🏻

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@annah4090 Glad you found value here! Appreciate your comment too. All the best 🙏

[@ReCo.707]

Good video. Making a budget i think is very underrated, So many people just spend, spend spend. Then wonder where it all went. I knew a few people that admitted they didn't do a budget as they didnt want to know how bad it was... that to me is crazy. Ive been pay check to pay check before. At least if you do a buget you can see where to cut (if you can) and how much you need to earn to not make it worse.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@ReCo.707 couldn't have said it better myself. A lot of us have been there before, including myself. But once you start with a budget it gets easier. Starting is always the hardest part. We're not taught personal finance at school so it's not surprising many don't budget. Let's just share the message and hope people join along when it's right for them. Appreciate the feedback. All the best 🙏

[@Darkondrago666]

Thanks for this, super useful! I’m 25 and about to buy my first house solo on a similar salary

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@Darkondrago666 you're welcome. Glad you found it useful! Awesome work well done 🙏 best of luck with the buying process. That's super impressive at 25 so be proud of that achievement 👊 All the best.

[@byedwardleung]

I enjoyed this so much!

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@byedwardleung I'm glad you found value. Appreciate the comment too 🙏

[@LawrenceTimme]

If you put that savings in the lisa youd have an extra 20%! Also dont forget to add up the interest you get in a savings account or cash isa too!

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

Great point here. LISAs are good for first time buyers or those savings extra towards retirement for sure.

[@aaronb7820]

I love videos like this however a lot of people on this lower wage is usually in some sort of borrowing maybe credit cards or overdrafts. However this is still very interesting and eye opening! Thank you!

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@aaronb7820 a great point. I do emphasise the importance of staying away from debt, especially in the lower income bracket. However this is not taught or sometimes just unavoidable. In this case I would personally budget for getting out of debt, then move onto savings. Glad you found it enjoyable. Appreciate the comment 🙏

[@pimbd]

Thank you so much! Really appreciate the content

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@pimbd you're welcome. Glad you find it useful. Appreciate the kind words. All the best 🙏

[@adilnizam2120]

I really thank you for this video !

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it. Happy holidays

[@marvinbtn4150]

I was on that salary previously with Dpd well that’s the minimum I would take home without overtime but even with overtime it’s still not enough, I live in London and it was weekly pay and it was hard to manage my finances because the money would just come in and out

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@marvinbtn4150 London is on another level for sure. It's hard to apply generic budgets as places in London can be wildly different, but the blueprint here can be used and filled in with other numbers. Hats off for working hard and paying your way, it's an achievement itself. I'd personally say the thing that worked for me is just getting my income and payments on a page (excel/paper). Once you have a visual of it the planning and budgeting becomes so much easier. Thanks for sharing your perspective 🙏

[@yunghp97]

You had depersonalisation?

[@chonky4784]

Fantastic video! I recently landed my first job out of university and moved out, earning the exact same salary (£26k). So far, I've managed to save £800 a month and am excited to follow a similar approach. I'll definitely start putting everything down on paper to track it more effectively!

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

That's awesome! Well done on both the job and the savings. As well as graduating, a great period all around 👍 £800 a month is phenomenal, great work. Glad you found this useful and hopefully it can help guide you to your goals. Appreciate the comment. All the best 🙏

[@LawrenceTimme]

I live 20 miles from work and it costs at least £120 a month just for fuel. My other car was costing over £300 a month in fuel 😂😂

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@LawrenceTimme must've been a juicy car previously! The cost of fuel in the UK is pretty high compared to other countries. The alternative being shell out £40k a new electric car 😅 not a great choice.

[@yunghp97]

You listened to my request. Nice.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@yunghp97 of course. I try to read all the comments and plan the upcoming videos accordingly. Always appreciate input from you 🙏 all the best.

[@Foosion]

Would love to see a how to cut your own hair video 😂 i was just thinking about this last week

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@Foosion at least the video will have 1 viewer 😅 I'll be posting this very early in the new year 🙏 all the best

[@NA.dontcare_9]

Great job 👍🏾

[@carolcarol1916]

Courtney jones you are a Good accountant Welldone

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@carolcarol1916 thank you for the kind words 🙏

[@DanPaynShorts]

Really useful! Please can you share the formulas you use? I'm trying to replicate something similar on Google Sheets and I'm hoping some of them are the same😅 great video!

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@DanPaynShorts Glad you enjoyed it. Sure. I think the main one here is =sum()+sum(). Inside the brackets are the cells you want to add together. I'm happy to do another similar video in future just explaining some of these in more detail. I sped these up, but can put a section in for key formulas. Appreciate the comment 🙏

[@khamaldaw1503]

In terms of savings for a house. would you suggest putting it in etfs instead of just keeping them in savings account, seeing as I dont plan to touch the money for a few years.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@khamaldaw1503 awesome question. That depends a lot on how much you're able to save, and your time horizon for looking for a house. In my opinion, and when I saved I used a Help to Buy ISA. These have now ceased, but have been replaced, in essence with the LISA (lifetime ISA). I know this sounds super vanilla. But if I were doing this again I would focus on maxing out this account (up to £4k) per year, which would then be 'topped up' by 25% so an additional £1k per year. Basically there isn't an account that's going to give you 25% on your money. This is heavily caveated as it must be either used for a First Time House purchase or retirement. Now that we can use multiple ISAs per year, I personally would then just open a cash ISA, like the trading 212 one I mentioned in a previous video. For any additional amounts. That would keep part of the savings pot flexible for emergencies and the £4k earning an additional £1k for the house. This is effectively what I did, although at the time I could only use one ISA and the rest had to be in a regular savings account. I must of course state this is just an example and no specific advice. Appreciate the comment 🙏 All the best for the house savings!

[@RavenTeamCharlie]

Doesn’t Amazon prime include Amazon music? That would be a saving right there

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@RavenTeamCharlie 🤔 you may be correct. In all honesty I have never really looked into prime music. Might be one to consider for the new year! Thanks for the comment 🙏

[@sierrah6242]

What tips do you have for someone who wants to save money starting university this year? I want to start saving early but cost of living is also so expensive and I don’t have rich parents😅

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@sierrah6242 first congratulations one getting into university and good luck with the first year! Rich parents definitely would help! I too didn't have this so I can relate for sure. Savings during uni is tough and in all honesty I focused on getting high grades and enjoying the experience. That being said I never went into personal debt (other than the student loans of course) on credit cards etc. In my opinion, a small part-time job (weekends or evenings) can help. I mostly was able to live off of my student loan, so any money I did earn I put into savings. I also did a sandwich course, so the year between 2nd and final year studies enabled me to save a lot of that salary I earned. Other than this though I would say that you'll never have more freedom and time than the next 3/4 years. It's a great chance to grow and develop as an individual so provided you're not going into credit card debt or personal loans, just focus on the grades and enjoying the time. The money will come later 🙏 Great question - best of luck with your studies 🙏

[@larckyredzhev]

+1 for the algorithm

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@larckyredzhev Thank you so much 🙏 All the best

[@sm400]

The last time i was in the uk 26 grand a year wouldnt run a pushbike there....😮

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@sm400 it's a tight budget for sure. Might be enough to cover public transport or a very cheap car. It's a general budget rather than specific for each scenario. Appreciate the comment 🙏

[@ros02]

£18 is still a lot. No more than a tenner with 02 is completely realistic (I pay less than that with 02) a quick google for a comparable from another company around the £10 or less mark, state that to 02 and they should be willing to match or better it.

[@MatureStudent-t3b]

It's all relative re phone contracts. If you're going sim only ask yourself how much data do you use a month? Where do you live? Does the provider you're looking at have good coverage in areas you happen to spend a lot of time in? Or is it crap? No point spending money on a cheaper network that doesn't provide good coverage in the areas you frequent (home, school, office, church, or wherever). If you're thinking about leaving at the end of your contract, ask your provider what retention offers they have; these are offers exclusive to customers thinking of leaving their provider. Anyone here saying £18 for a sim only contract with say 50GB data is a lot of money really underestimates the current cost of a sim only contract with a reputable provider today. £6 on a sim only contract may work for you if you don't use much data but at the end of the day the saying still rings true, you do (to some extent) get what you pay for.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@ros02 You're right, it is still relatively high to what you can get on the market. I wanted to put an average here to cover a broad range. For example, I travel a lot to Europe so included in my package is data roaming in Europe, which for me is worth the higher cost. Of course, if you're looking to maximise your savings you can cut this down a lot. Great point to make, thank you for commenting 🙏

[@imconfused1237]

@@MatureStudent-t3b This is also a great comment. About 10yrs ago I recall moving from O2 to Three, as the price was really good. However, I then had 2yrs of hell as I could never get a signal. It was completely useless and I had to use my work (Voda) phone to make calls. Paying half price to receive 10% of the value is a false economy. I am back on O2 and the service is first class. There is no way I would change to an alternative provider until I saw the signal strength first hand through someone using their phone in front of me. Fool me once, but try it a second time? Nah, ain’t happening.

[@sarjannarwan6896]

Spotify you can get cheaper per person with a family plan. I split it and I think it’s around 6 quid a month. I’d probably also avoid cash ISAs and invest in a stocks and shares ISA with greater average returns long term.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@sarjannarwan6896 I do need to look into the family plan for sure! I have a mix right now. As I am building property I want to ensure my cash stays stable in the short term, so the 4.9% is fine. Once completed I will look to move more into invested stock 👍 Great comments, appreciate the input 🙏

[@mrmeldrew693]

The free version is good enough for me most the time. After a few weeks of free I always get an email offering me 3 months for £9.99. I cancel once it finishes and rinse and repeat.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@mrmeldrew693 subscription management on point! 👌 I'd need to put a calendar reminder in! 😅 Otherwise I end up on the higher amounts. Sounds like you have your strategy dialled in. Thanks for sharing 🙏

[@shuma3401]

Yo quick question why include bank fee.?

[@byedwardleung]

he is doing a monthly budgeting, so he included it on the spreadsheet.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@shuma3401 I pay a bank fee for travel insurance and breakdown cover. Of course if you don't need this you could remove it and adjust for what you spend, should you want to follow this example. Good question, thanks for commenting 👍

[@LawrenceTimme]

If your saving for a house a Lisa is better than cash isa.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@LawrenceTimme provided it's your first time buying then yes I agree. Thanks for highlighting this. I will put out a first time buyer video specifically for the buying process and the stages leading up to it, and will definitely mention this. Appreciate the comment 🙏

[@bradyclarkson5369]

For the car £1400-1500 a year is probably more realistic for most people but some people drive a 1000 miles a year others 20000 so how long is a piece of string

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@bradyclarkson5369 you're right. It's really hard to put an average for everyone here. But the budget is designed so that if more accurate numbers are plugged in it will still show you the amount remaining. Cars year on year are becoming more and more expensive to buy and run so I'd imagine this would need to be adjusted annually. Appreciate the comment 🙏 Have a good new year 👍

[@bubbachain]

19 year old, thanks for the vid. salary im on atm living at home

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@bubbachain glad you enjoyed it. Ah nice situation you are in then! Great opportunity to stack the savings up. All the best 🙏

[@bubbachain]

@@CourtneyJonesFinancial exactly that using a SS ISA atm and Cash ISA to save

[@blazinfn8056]

16:54 😂

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@blazinfn8056 Just love cake too much clearly 😅

[@PixelBurstHD]

Informative but a little bit unrealistic for 2024. £650 on a mortgage for someone earning this much money? How would they have got there without a Time Machine back to 1999? Swap that out for a realistic rent in this economy of £1200 unless you're in the jobless north and the money is gone before you even got to gas/electricity!

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@PixelBurstHD great point. My mortgage has only just gone up to £740 and I only purchased my house 5 years ago. Rates and rent have gone up though since then. In this example I am trying to aim at a short term savings budget, so this maybe covers a house share for a little while. I know this varies massively, and it's hard to build it for every scenario. Hopefully it can be a good base template to then put more accurate numbers in though. Appreciate the comment - I'll monitor how living costs evolve and maybe do one with higher living costs in future 🙏 All the best.

[@black1blade74]

I guess london room costs can approach that in the center but in other expensive cities like Cambridge and bristol, think most people on this sort of salary opt for a house share at like 800pm.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@black1blade74 yes, cities are definitely on the top end when it comes to rental costs. This budget is an illustrative example and so can be adapted if needed. Other channel supporters share your sentiment, so I will try and release a city specific video which might be more relevant. Appreciate all the contributions, very valid points 🙏

[@imconfused1237]

To the OP: stop comparing apples with oranges and you’ll better understand what is or isn’t “realistic”. Paying down a mortgage and renting are two completely different methods for housing. My mortgage is only £700 a month. This is because it represents a small amount of debt relative to the overall value of my house, of which the rest is my equity. That £700 is reducing every single year. But if you wanted to rent my house, it would cost you £2,200 a month. That would give the renter the pleasure of not only paying for my mortgage and increasing my equity but also providing me with a profitable - and annually increasing - yield on top. Renting is for fools.

[@black1blade74]

@imconfused1237 sure though most people nowadays get help from family to put down deposit to buy a house (either direct cash or living at home with family) so yeah all those stupid, foolish people who either don't have financially stable parents or their parents don't live in an area with good job opportunities... Of course saving for a deposit of your own back is possible but realistically will probably take like 10 years for a lot of people...

[@k01clrkk22]

Bro £18 too much 😂 I thought you were going to say 10

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@k01clrkk22 😂 I still can't quite believe they are that low. I just don't want to admit that I've been overcharged for so long just yet! Appreciate the comment - this one made me chuckle 👍

[@C0D97]

Nahh it depends what you value. I travel a lot and don't want to stress about not having enough data or being charged for more when I go over. I pay £17 per month

[@k01clrkk22]

@@C0D97true

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@C0D97 £17 is really good compared to mine though! What sort of data do you get and is it European roaming? Thanks for commenting as I am keen to save in this area as long as it fits my needs still 👍

[@C0D97]

30gb 5g and it's European roaming, yes. It also includes some countries outside of Europe too. I'm with o2

[@JB53522]

Do you ever see yourself being an entrepreneur?

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@JB53522 good question. I admire all those who build their own business, it takes a great deal of courage, and a real passion in the field. In my opinion anyway. I think for now I am happy doing this, building up experience in my career and putting out content on KZbin. The latter I do from a passion which is great as it doesn't feel like work! If it grows into something that generates money then perhaps I could build a business from it, but time will tell. Like I said, for now I am just enjoying the journey 🙏

[@MatureStudent-t3b]

Tell you what, to make things more realistic, I can give you my own budget to break down and you can tell me what kind of changes you would make. I earn £32k per year living in London and share a house with my wife that we rent. We budget separately and send a lump sum to our joint account for joint costs (rent, council tax, etc...). Two issues I found with this is it very unrealistic that someone with a £26K salary would have a mortgage, let alone a mortgage/rent costing £650 a month. Someone earning that amount is typically still young (20s) and is either living at home paying little to no rent, or renting out which would make a large proportion of their living costs. Let me know how I can contact you and I'll break down my budget in full to give you realistic figures for another video.

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@MatureStudent-t3b it's hard to make a generic budget for all scenarios for sure. So I can see how it may seem unrealistic. In all honesty, this isn't far from what my budget was when I purchased my first place on my own, at the time I completed on my house my salary was around £28k and I was 27. I don't dispute your points though, this definitely is harder now and especially in London. My new Instagram is linked in the description. Drop your budget in a comment and I will do my best to get to it. I have a couple of videos in the pipeline so may struggle this side of the new year. But it does pose an interesting challenge and I think people will be interested in a London (city) example. Thanks for reaching out 🙏

[@Zero-Investing]

Energy 120? My energy costs are 300 a month. You must be cold in the winter 😂 Credit building video 100%

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@Zero-Investing I have a small house, and have just invested in a heated blanket for my partner so we don't need it cranked all the way up! 😅 It's such a hard one to cover for all scenarios. The main guide is on the process of building and then people can hopefully adapt to their scenario. Appreciate the comment, all the best 🙏

[@LawrenceTimme]

How are you spending £300 a month? Do you have no insulation? Really old boiler? I have a 1950's 3 bed semi and I pay £130 but I don't even use all that and I'm building up a credit. 😂

[@Zero-Investing]

@LawrenceTimme gas and electric together, I pay £300 a month direct debit. The wife doesn't like the cold 😂

[@CourtneyJonesFinancial]

@@Zero-Investing plug in a heated blanket. I purchased one for the missus and she uses it every night now. Heat the person not the room 😂

[@imconfused1237]

⁠@@Zero-Investing £300 a month? 😂 It is easy to reduce energy cost. My electricity is Octopus Agile, giving me dynamic pricing. Some days I literally get paid to use electricity whereas on most others, my p/Kw annihilates Fix tariffs. I also tend to cook on the hob so I’m not drawing kilowatts heating ovens up. I have a drying machine but can’t remember when I last used it. As for gas, I only heat space that is used: kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom. All the other rads are off and all windows and doors are tightly sealed. It’s amazing just how little I have to turn my heating on. My gas bill for Nov 2024 was £70 and that includes subzero temperatures in the third week.

[@NA.dontcare_9]

Great job 👍🏾