WHAT I SPEND IN A WEEK as a 25 year old in London & Cambridge | food, travel, mortgage, bills

All views expressed are my own and are not those of my employers or their clients.
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About me:
Currently working full time in Insurance Consulting, and studying for IFoA professional exams to become a qualified actuary. I studied Physical Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge 2017-2020, and specialised in Astrophysics.
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[@Nhyi]

Have to say, I've been binging your videos after only seeing your channel recently since I stumbled across your channel and it's always nice seeing what another person in Lloyds of London's life is like. You bring super wholesome and lovely energy and looking forward to the next video :).

[@donotdisturb2892]

Love this video and your transparency! Wanna see a holiday version next time 🫣

[@twodee6594]

Love these videos, I've been watching since before I started Uni in 2018 and have just got my first graduate role starting Monday so this has been very helpful :) Thank you Paige!

[@rrroooxxxyyy1]

Really interesting and nice to see what you get up to day to day! 😊

[@allyc0des972]

Love your energy! I grew up in Cambridge so its nice to see this.

[@schadeichsage]

I want to see an ice skating vlog 😍 also loving ice skating atm here in Finland ❄️

[@sophieirwin3497]

I used to love Gusto when I was in the UK, the US hasn't caught up yet. And the portions are really good, with some recipes stretching to three meals even though they're only for two

[@sophieirwin3497]

I always find these kind of videos interesting. Of course everyone and everywhere is different, so a weekly spend is spend is very unique to each person. But it's good to be like 'oooh do I spend too much on such and such? Oh but then I don't spend so much on such and such'. Like rent and groceries are insanely expensive here in LA (although percentage of my salary going to necessities is less than when I was living in Oxford), but the public transport is so much cheaper for one ride. So I can definitely compare like for like in my own stages of living!

[@sophieirwin3497]

My parents phone up sky every year threatening to leave if the bill goes up. They get a discount and a 'free' add on every time. Their package is expensive on the face of it, but broken down, they have a full sky TV package with catch up and some streaming TV included, sky go (the equivalent to Netflix as it were), super fast sky broadband and the landline. Then they also got upgraded sky boxes a year ago for free.

[@franci.12]

Hi Paige, I really like this video! 😊 I’m your follower from Italy (Tuscany)

[@isisbarrientos]

Love this video. Very interesting! And I love skating, too. 🤩

[@lesleytugwell4121]

So interesting and what an eye opener 😮

[@sophiayoung1903]

Super interesting video! I'd love to see more of these:)

[@rationalis5867]

Thanks for sharing this! I was very interested in prices in the UK since I've left in 2022. I would definitely like to see money focused videos, because I myself am quite an avid spending tracker and investor. :)

[@strangecobra9454]

Always so fascinating to see what expenses are like in othee countries! I live an hour and a half east of Vancouver, BC in a smaller community and my monthly rent (converted) is almost triple your monthly mortgage payment. Terrible old 1970s "BC Box" homes are selling for $1.4 million here. 😅

[@neverforgetwhouwere]

Moooore loved it:)

[@gulsekaykc5770]

interesting video loved it Paige

[@sophieirwin3497]

I'd definitely get a nectar card for sainsbury's and get those points. I have saved so much money when I can convert the points into money off at the till. My mum has paid for full 'top up' shops using her nectar card. Same with tesco clubcard

[@PaigeY]

Great tip! For some reason I'm locked out my nectar account, need to fix that asap haha

[@alice-elizabeth]

The price of your ice skating lesson isn't bad! I think I used to pay around £15 for 30 minutes (although it was a private lesson with my coach, not a group lesson - group lessons cost around £5 for 2 hours I think) when I skated at my local rink (I sinced moved away then stopped skating because of financial reasons and the pandemic). Ah I'd love to get back into it, I haven't been in a year!

[@PaigeY]

£15 for a private lesson is a steal!

[@assleepyassayu4619]

I feel like there was no actual grocery items for shopping (fruit veg milk etc.) which would be an easy 20-50 pound a week depending on what you buy, so under 200 a week is pretty standard with a low-cost guilty purchase or pub night with friends!

[@angiesteg]

I’d love more videos like this 😊

[@SomethingNick]

Good god I spend more than your week on rent on a one bed in London 🙃 I was like “I could never spend that on a train twice a week” but maybe I should

[@PaigeY]

Ah wow really! Rent in Cambridge can be fairly high too, but it is a lovely city. Commuter towns closer to London probably do a better job of optimising that commute-rent balance

[@rondoflicflac]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing! ❤

[@lauraelise5095]

I don’t know if a mortgage payment that low exists in many places in the US these days! In comparison my mortgage payment is around $2000 for 20 year fixed rate in PA!

[@dominicblakeartwriter]

Hey Paige :) AwEsOmE video :) Have an amazing weekend, Dominic :)

[@silvialogan9226]

Paige, I always have to be careful about how much money which I spend because I want to make sure If I have enough money for groceries, buying new clothes and shoes and to pick other important things.

[@PaigeY]

I get you!

[@ianmcinnis7747]

Great video

[@nadukas]

ice skating blog please!

[@MothsAreTheBest]

Absolutely LOVE that jumper! Where is it from? Edit: I meant the petroleum-ish blue one you were wearing in the very beginning hehehe

[@PaigeY]

Was from asos about a year ago!

[@stevegoldin6676]

Hey Paigey what jazz are you playing in the background of this vlog? Love the sound….thx

[@PaigeY]

"Don't Fret" by Quincas Moreira, from KZbin audio library!

[@lolorimon]

i wish we have fixed mortgage in jordan ;i feel every month it gets higher

[@bellsfs]

I did the conversion to my local currency (BRL - i live in Brazil) because I was thinking about maybe, in +- 2 years, spending a month in the UK to improve my English (and you made me dream of visiting Cambridge)... and that was a mistake lol the brazilian currency is quite devaluated unfortunately 🙁

[@really.rileyy]

Hi Paige!

[@PaigeY]

Hey!

[@Tsholanang814]

Hello Pagiey!😊

[@PaigeY]

Hey!

[@polnoezabvenie]

Hi! I live in Portugal. To us here, I'd say your mortgage is sort of expensive, as well as electric bill and council tax for a relatively small house. Two train tickets for 50 pounds is insane. Hey, in this country our national MONTHLY minimum wage (which a young entry level professional typically earns) is the equivalent of about 700 pounds in 2024. It's interesting to compare! ;)

[@sarabarros9307]

i'm portuguese too, glad I found someone with that in mind :)

[@Nieljoyceniel]

Completely unrelated to this video, but would you recommend the apprenticeship route for actuaries? I’ve been to a few final stage interviews for apprenticeships, one of them being for a level 4 actuarial technician which if successfully competed moves into a level 7 actuary apprenticeship. I was just wondering as someone who done the university graduate route, do you notice anything difference for actuaries who qualify from apprenticeship, rather than having a university degree? Wether it be treatment from employers or compensation they receive.

[@PaigeY]

Hey! I'm afraid I have limited knowledge of the apprenticeship route. My old employer began to accept apprentices just a few months before I left, and my current team doesn't offer the apprentice programme currently. My impression is that the uni route is still most common in the GI sector. But I do think the apprenticeship is a great new route, getting work experience sooner will mean your industry knowledge is farrr ahead of uni graduates by the time they start work. And at my old employer the apprentices were treated much the same as the uni graduates, although perhaps they were offered a little more guidance to begin with.

[@niayajlyneteodosio1827]

I would like to ask if you know any online courses regarding topics being studied in Actuary? Thank you!

[@majky358]

Tesco's high prices in Czechia, Slovakia so it can be cheaper in UK, thanks later :D Not sure if I get correct, how much can you save on train tickets or any annual ticket?

[@PaigeY]

I get 1/3 off all rail tickets with my 16-25 railcard. And I can save a good £10 by booking my trains in advance rather than on the day! I don't get a season ticket as I don't travel to London enough days per week for it to be worth it.

[@marieroskrow2362]

What about your car?? Tax? MOT? Petrol? Insurance? What about house insurance?

[@nicoleholding]

Wow, it is so much cheaper compared to Australia but our wages are also higher. The only thing cheaper here is train travel. The average house price in Melbourne is $1 million. Paying off a loan in ten years is not even an option here. Young adults in Australia can no longer afford a house. Supermarket prices are huge here. Do you not have student loans to pay off as well?

[@PaigeY]

To clarify, I will be paying off my mortgage for a lot longer than ten years at the current rate of repayment, it’s just the interest rate that is fixed for ten years. Re student loan, it comes out my salary at same time as income tax, so I never see it (and hence haven’t framed it as an “expense” in this video, it just reduces my take-home pay).

[@cathycreates]

Do you save on top of that Paige? Always like a money video, especially now as my son is soon off to Uni!

[@PaigeY]

Yes, I like to save where possible. Maybe will cover that in another video! Good luck to your son starting uni.

[@stisum]

How about car and fuel?

[@florian5425]

what about car and gas?

[@MultiPiddles]

if you do not have gas how do you heat your house? I have gas central heating

[@PaigeY]

I have electric storage heaters

[@nicolad8822]

Plenty of places in Britain are not on mains gas, most modern apartments, but also rural properties.

[@markspin4596]

Hi Paige. Are you related to the ex Australian Cricket Captain Graham Yallop?

[@kyoot2227]

Hi Paige? How are you spending so low on mortgage and your broadband? Virgin media etc are so expensive, I spend like £32.50 on them :/

[@nicolad8822]

Not sure you can get all that much cheaper on broadband these days? I pay £26 with plusnet. She might have been lucky to get a 5 year fix at a the formerly really low rates? My daughter should have done that 2 years ago.

[@PaigeY]

Used Quidco compare broadband to find best deal, and also I don’t bother with a landline

[@4tarsus]

Do actuaries get free auto insurance, or did you just forget? : )

[@PaigeY]

Good point! Car running costs (insurance, tax, fuel) should strictly be added

[@RainWU-px4hy]

I love your clothes !

[@enarania7978]

Single person discount?? it's the opposite of France, England i'm coming

[@grachoderunwiderstehlichen]

ah living at traif-zone 5 or 6 , work adress is in 1 ...sure oyster make no sense 30.15 £ for a week without the option to drive first-class , sorry to expensive ! how about a scooter , and not your nissan ? 😮 ice-skating lesson ...oh...if you grow up with me you become it for free ( bauer ice skate / in-line since 1980 is quality brand only the first days are uncomfortable but later this skates drive "automatic" - good luck and have fun ...do you drive wellington arch london skate day's ?)

[@mentatphilosopher]

Car and car insurance?

[@PaigeY]

Yup, I forgot this! I think fuel + vehicle tax + insurance will add another £15-£20 for the week.

[@carolinehunt8247]

Interesting but you never mentioned car costs petrol insurance tax.

[@laramorrison5973]

She has in other comments

[@smoothierip5693]

That is cheap, we be gettin ripped off here in CA

[@tajmulkhan1544]

My dream Cambridge University Please next video you in Cambridge University I am your old subscriber

[@nkanyezitshabalala5256]

Income? Just kidding I know it's private. But to be honest this is where most of the stigma behind talking about money lies - even with close friends.

[@PaigeY]

Yeah I understand that. Unfortunately it’s too commercially sensitive to share online!

[@Catty9811]

Have you paid all of your student loan?

[@mazda2621]

Not sure they have student loans in the UK ?

[@Catty9811]

@mazda2621 Of course they do. Also I specifically remember she talked about how much her loan was in a video waay back a few years ago.

[@mazda2621]

@@Catty9811 my mistake I'm not sure why I thought tertiary education was free in the UK.

[@Catty9811]

@@mazda2621no worries, yeah not only it's not free, it's also quite expensive

[@laramorrison5973]

She answered this in another comment. Student loan is taken out of salary at the same time as income tax and so we never see it in the UK and so that's why she didn't class it as an expense. It just reduces take home pay

[@philippamuir332]

I just went to Waitrose and spent £50

[@PaigeY]

It'll be tasty food at least! I actually used to work part-time at Waitrose

[@philippamuir332]

I spent £50 because Waitrose costs more and I bought some desserts and cleaning items which you did not buy so if you add on to what you spent by adding toilet roll washing powder bin bags disinfectant steel wool and dish cloths as well as maybe furniture polish then you would spend an awful lot more

[@user-gb4vh4bt4k]

feels like you've skipped student finance repayment

[@PaigeY]

I put it the same bucket as income tax. It comes out my salary, so I never see it! And I guess it’s an unavoidable expense no matter where I’m living/working, much like income tax.

[@jamesmnaylor]

Do you not get your travel expenses paid back by the firm you work for?

[@nicolad8822]

Not for going to your usual place of work.

[@PaigeY]

Unfortunately not - it’s my choice to live in Cambridge despite the workplace being London based, so I have to shoulder commute costs

[@jamesmnaylor]

@@PaigeY That is true. I suppose it’s still cheaper than running a car there a back.

[@ted34300]

Student loan repayment?

[@PaigeY]

Comes out my salary so I never see it!

[@avaverdi-ashton4897]

what about repaying your student loan ?

[@Sarahr98998]

Wow, much less than I would have thought

[@anautismjournal]

Do you not drink?

[@PaigeY]

Not in this particular week. Sometimes at social events.

[@xavy5139]

I like her, but she seems so sheltered, like she hasn't lived a life or experienced anything even mildly distressing.

[@mourya1102]

Meanwhile Indians paying 6 💷 for internet+subscriptions+television+landline

[@benyoyyoyo8381]

your saveing alot , could you buy another propty to rent out , may be with your family in the sun and rent it out for Airbnb, roey scovel comedy speail is out to day , viden are warm firendly and enjoyable , thank

[@muskanjakhar8792]

really loved your video🎀! i would like to know how much money actuarians make including you in the next vlog