The weekly spend of a ‘cautiously optimistic’ young professional earning £27k in Manchester

Location: Manchester – junior graphic designer – house share

Amira is 24 and lives in Manchester, where she works as a junior graphic designer at a small agency earning around £27k a year. She lives in a house share with two friends from university and doesn’t receive any financial support from her family. She describes her attitude towards money as “cautiously optimistic”. She enjoys spending on experiences but keeps a close eye on her budget and savings.

For Amira, this was a slightly more expensive week than usual for her, mainly because of a friend’s birthday and a couple of impulse online purchases she didn’t really need.

This week’s Money Talks breaks down Amira’s everyday spending, social life costs, and a few spontaneous buys.

Name: Amira (pseudonym)

Age: 24

Location: Manchester

Occupation: Junior graphic designer

Salary: Around £27,000 a year

Living situation: House share with two friends

Current commitments: Rent and bills, phone contract, Spotify, gym, student loan repayments

Main money goal: Build a six-month emergency fund and save for a solo trip to Japan

General attitude toward money: Careful but not restrictive – tries to budget monthly, allows spending for fun

Typical daily spend: £5 to £15 on food or coffee during workdays, more on weekends socially

A week in my wallet

Monday

Coffee before work – £3.20 
Meal deal lunch – £4.50
Bus pass – £15

Total: £22.70

Wednesday

Lunch out with colleague – £12
Vinted dress – £25

Total: £37

Thursday

Gym (monthly direct debit) – £26 
After work drinks – £18

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Friday

Friend’s birthday dinner – £35
Cocktails – £22

Saturday

Lunch – £14 
Skincare restock – £19
Cinema ticket – £11

Sunday

Takeaway – £21 
Amazon – £32

Total weekly spend: £296.69

Weekly reflection

Amira was surprised by how quickly social spending added up, especially drinks across multiple days. Individually, nothing felt excessive, but together it made the week more expensive than usual.

She also realised she defaults to convenience food when she feels tired, even though she had groceries at home.

Conclusions

This was slightly above average. A normal week for her is closer to £220–£250, but birthdays and social plans can push it higher. Amira says she’d skip the Sunday takeaway and cook instead, and probably wait on buying the desk lamp until next month.

Amira says it’s mostly the small, regular spending she wants to get under control.

“It’s not like I’m blowing loads of money in one go. It’s just loads of small things that don’t feel like much at the time,” she says. “Lunches and coffees during the week easy to save on.”

She also mentioned going out: “I don’t want to stop seeing my friends, but I probably don’t need to say yes to every plan or stay out as long every time.”

Saving is another area she wants to be more consistent with: “At the moment I just save whatever’s left. I’d rather move the money into savings as soon as I get paid so I don’t accidentally spend it.”

Overall, she’s not trying to completely change how she lives, but be a bit more aware and intentional with where her money goes.

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