Over £33k in savings and zero student debt
A young lawyer earning a hefty £150,000 a year has gone public with her spending habits as salaries across City law soar to unprecedented levels.
The junior associate, 26, has lived in London for the past five years but admits she is not “the best saver”, according to an anonymised piece she’s penned for lifestyle website Refinery 29.
The rookie, who takes home around £7,269 after tax each month, lives in the capital with her boyfriend and contributes £1,425 per month towards their rent — a 60:40 split. She contributes 5% of her salary to her pension and splits the utilities cost, around £190, with her boyfriend.
As for student loan repayments? Non-existent because “my parents paid for my undergrad [degree] and my employer paid for the LPC,” she tells readers. She currently has savings in excess of £33,000.
After providing a breakdown of her other monthly expenses, including at least £650 to her savings account, she explains that between the ages of of 21 and 26, she lived in a flat in London which her parents own. “I paid the utilities but a reduced rent,” the young lawyer says.
Since moving in with her boyfriend, she says she is now “100% financially responsible” but adds that she has been “financially responsible since the age of 23 in all aspects”, with the exception of the deducted rent.
Documenting one week of outgoings in detail, the junior lawyer’s spending comes to just over £470 — “slightly above average” she caveats — with the majority of this going on entertainment (£156.35) including trips to a nightclub, the cinema and a painting class.
Money aside, the anonymous associate reveals she is a transactional solicitor so her days are “filled with drafting/reviewing contracts and other documents and liaising with our client and the other side”.
Her breakdown of her week also shows her working day can finish anywhere between 7pm and 11:30pm, with her firm providing a free taxi for late finishes in the office.
