The London Diaries: the salad loving reporter
Job: Reporter
Time living in London: Three years
Area that you live in: West Hampstead
Pay range: £25,000-30,000
Relationship status: Single
Rent: £925 per month
Monday
I am never fully awake on a Monday morning, which is dangerous because it is probably my busiest day of the week in terms of calls and meetings. Working from home has certainly eased the Sunday blues and it is good to be able to tuck into breakfast at my leisure. I start off the day with a cup of hot water (a favourite with Chinese grandmothers). I’ve recently moved to a ground floor flat with a substantial patio area, and while the weather was terrible this week, it is nice to be able to go outside and stick my face in the sun.
Work has generally been busy recently, following the Summer quiet months, so I worked through my lunch hour. I have become addicted to salads recently, so I made up a quick quinoa with lettuce salad to tide me over till the evening. After work, I went for a quick run to a nearby Flying Tiger, because I had broken my phone charger and I needed to pick up a new cheap one. The basic, green iPhone charger is around £4.
Total spend: £4
Tuesday
My Tuesdays often look a lot like my Mondays. I worked throughout the day, had a salad for lunch and went for a long run in Hampstead Heath in the evening. I recently moved into my current flat and it is a bit more expensive than my previous house, so to compensate, I quit my gym membership at PureGym. I was paying £40, and now that I live near so many new parks in West Hampstead, I would prefer to save the money and go for more runs. After Hampstead Heath I came home to binge watch Emily in Paris.
Total spend: £0
Wednesday
My mother has recently bought a house in Abbey Wood and I am helping her refurbish it. After work I went to Dartford to go to a bathroom warehouse to pick out some fixtures. Travel out to Dartford was almost £10 one way, but it is tough to find constructions materials in Central London.
After that, I went to a friend’s house for dinner. She outdid herself on the three-course meal, with the best pumpkin pie I have ever tasted. I contributed the alcohol, probably about £40 worth of rum, wine and sherry. My friend recently bought a car and was able to pick me up and drop me off after, avoiding the ever-present need to get an Uber.
Total spend: £60
Thursday
Another day of work, and on Thursday I attended a virtual conference put on by the British Venture Capital Association. The day’s topics were intense and lengthy, but it felt good to learn new things and hear from industry stars. I made yet another salad and added some artichokes from Organico, £6.
In the evening, I worked a little bit longer and then went to the Island Queen in Islington. Guinness pints were £5.25. It was great to hang out with a couple of friends I’m not going to see much of over then next couple of weeks, as I’m leaving for Antigua next week for a holiday. That was probably my largest expenditure over the last few months: £379 on British Airways, and several hundred for an Airbnb. There are very few covid-19 cases on the islands and it’s on the government’s travel list.
Total spend: £390.25
Friday
On Friday I wrote up some of my notes on the conference. Over my lunch hour, my mum and I walked to Paddington Cemetery. On Friday evening I went to see some friends in Victoria Park on the tube (£3). They made a beautiful curry, as my friend runs a vegan catering company, which offers vegan picnics and commercial event buffets and canapes.
I ended up staying the night at theirs, after enjoying some lovely red wine. It was about £10
Total spend: £13
Saturday
On Saturday morning, we went to vegan café Galleria in Bethnal Green. The vegan full English was delicious at £10.25. We did have to wait, but the atmosphere was friendly, and the hot drinks are fabulous, I got a chai latte for £3.25. Later that day I went home and did a bit of shopping, both at the charity shop and at Sainsbury’s at Finchley Road. At the Scope in West Hampstead, I bought several things. The quality is great there, though there were no changing rooms. As such I spent £87 on clothing, with the intention of returning the pieces I did not want to keep. My friend Mollie, a Flo editor, has kindly started making a board for me on Asos so I look there for recommendations for clothing. I am thinking of buying a pair of all-black Puma trainers, £46 on sale.
At the charity shop I bought a grey turtleneck knitted turtleneck dress, £18. At Sainsbury’s, I bought some great earrings, thick gold patterned hoops, £5, and all the organic vegetables were around £20.
Total spend: £125.50
Sunday
On Sunday I woke up at 12:00. I love to sleep in on the weekends. I sleep badly during the week and it is nice to know that I can just stay in bed all morning. In the afternoon, some friends came over and I made pasta salad and some truffle roasted potatoes. The truffle salt has become indispensable (at the risk of sounding painfully middle-class) at the price of £4 from Borough Market. Sunday mornings are a delight. At the gathering on Sunday evening, we played this funny card game, Unstable Unicorns, and chatted.
I tried to go to sleep early and went to bed watching Entourage.
Total spend: £10
Expenditure
Groceries: £120 between two
Dating: 0.00
Drinking: £25 (usually, but this week it was closer to £60)
Rent: £925
Travel: £400 (though probably usually closer to £100)
Gym: 0.00
Dining: £50
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