Money Diary: Settling In To Our Home and Lunar New Year
Happy February, my loves!
Long time no money diary. Since I’m continuing to focus on maintaining and improving my finances and investments in 2025, I thought I’d try to share a money diary here on Daisybutter once every other month. I’ve always loved reading this on refinery29 and have shared plenty of them on my own blog. And we’re all a bit nosey, aren’t we?
Life lately is really full and busy. My boyfriend and I have recently moved in for the first time, our families celebrated Lunar New Year and, now the January lull is over, our everyday lives are picking up again. I thought it’d be interesting to document the final week in January: I was working my usual hybrid schedule, we celebrated Milo’s birthday and Lunar New Year, it was payday, and we moved in together.
Note: I won’t be disclosing exact numbers for my salary, as I’d prefer to keep that private. I will be discussing my payday saving ritual, though, where I’ll use percentages to shed light on how I save and spend.
Monday 27 January
Although I usually work from home and start Mondays at the gym without fail, which always sets me up for a productive day and week, today I’m heading to the garage because my car is poorly. Dad drives me home, but not before a quick stop at Costa for coffees for us both, plus my sister who is waiting at home (£11).
A stormy day of WFH and I’m very glad that a) I’m home, and b) I picked a chai latte up. For lunch, I heat up some leftovers and browse some furniture stores – my boyfriend and I are moving in together this Friday(!!!). But, since I have a car bill incoming and we want to paint the walls, I hold off ordering anything just yet.
After work, Mum drops me at the garage to pick up my newly fixed car. £250 of repairs later, I’m en route home for a quiet evening of not accidentally spending anything more.
In: £0
Out: £261
Tuesday 28 January
Off to the office today. We’re in the office for at least three days a week now. Thankfully, there’s plenty of charge in my electric car, so I can aim for a no-spend day.
I’ve brought leftovers for lunch, as I made tofu wings with sweet potato wedges and homemade ranch last night. I’ve even packed a banana and protein bar for my snacks. Am I still on track for a no-spend day?! My colleagues are talking about a quick break and walk to the on-campus shop, and it takes everything in me to decline their offer.
Drive home. I’ve planned a cosy Substack writing session this evening. Spend an hour faffing with an essay that I’m not 100% happy with when, suddenly, a payment drops in my Stripe account from one of my cherished monthly paid readers (£2.33).
In: £2.33
Out: £0
Wednesday 29 January
It’s my dog’s 9th birthday and Lunar New Year today! Work-from-home days are typically low- or no-spend days for me. Having missed my usual Monday workout, which always sets me up for a productive day and week, I start my day at the gym to recalibrate mind and body. I pay monthly for the gym, and it comes out on the 1st of every month – super easy to keep track of and always a good investment for me, personally.
Head home to start my day properly. I grill some of Mum’s homemade lo bak go (turnip cake) for breakfast. Open my work laptop to start my day and I’m ready to be productive after yesterday being distracted by my team at the office. I’m a copywriter! Home is my perfect work environment!
After work, we let my dog, Milo, open his presents and present him with a homemade birthday cake. Thank God for Pinterest! Once my parents are back, we exchange Chinese New Year greetings – as that’s the specific holiday we celebrate! – and my sister and I gratefully receive our red envelopes (£40; £20 from each of my parents). Since we are celebrating with an extended family meal at the weekend, tonight is an at-home hot pot.
In: £40
Out: £0
Thursday 30 January
Thursdays are our core days in the office, a set day where the whole team comes in so we can have our weekly meetings. After another turnip cake breakfast and making a matcha at home, I set off for work, noticing my electric mileage has dropped to 15 miles. Decide to plug in at the chargers outside my building.
As ever, I’ve brought lunch so I save money while my team pick up their Meal Deals. Check my phone to see two lots of paid Substack subscriptions payments have come through (£2.60, £5.76)! I’m really grateful that anybody chooses to subscribe with a paid membership – I’ve been creating online for 15 years and really cherish my community. Currently I have 18 paid readers, which helps to pay for my Daisybutter domain. And, as you can see, I don’t make a huge amount per subscription after tax and Substack’s fee.
It’s 4pm, and I pop down to the charging bays to disconnect my car after work. We have Pod Point at the office and it’s unlocked to allow for 100% charges, unlike some that only let you charge your battery until it’s 75% full, and their tariff is reasonable (£5.22 for a 100% charge on my Nissan Leaf). Drive home to get changed for the Reformer Pilates class I booked last week.
Post-shower and dinner, and I’m ready to do a tiny bit of packing: I’m planning to just take a car load of things over each day since this should in theory be the easiest move I do. I’m so excited to move in and make a home with my boyfriend.
In: £8.36
Out: £5.22
Friday 31 January
It’s payday and moving-in day! I’m working from home again today, so I hit the gym before my brain properly wakes up. I feel strong throughout my upper body workout and even squeeze in a 5k run on a treadmill.
Breakfast at my desk this morning, as I want to sort my money out before work properly starts. I have standing orders scheduled on payday (every four weeks) that go directly into my main savings account (15%), Stocks & Shares ISA (15%) and my rainy day fund (5%). Since I’m moving today(!!), I remove the standing order for housekeeping and electric charging to my parents. On top of that, I have monthly outgoings that leave my account on the 1st. Then, I manually transfer a variable sum each month to my Trading 212 investment account. As it’s shaping up to be an expensive February with the move, I only transfer £100 to invest. (Typically, this would be £250 or so.)
Start work at 9am and think about all the things we still need for the house. Rather than get ahead of ourselves, though, my boyfriend and I have resolved to just slowly work on rooms bit by bit. No overnight transformations here! I make a quick list so that we can pick up some bits at the weekend.
Once I’ve tidied up my desk to mentally and physically signify the end of the working week, I drive to my boyfriend’s – boot and backseats loaded with clothing, skincare, and my other essentials – to start the move! We dump my boxes in the hallway, and celebrate with a takeaway – Eddie’s treat!
It’s going to be a busy weekend, but I’m so excited.
In: £XXXX.XX
Out: £100
Saturday 1 February
Wake up in our home and the slight shift is palpable. I couldn’t be happier!
After some breakfast at home, we head out to get some groceries and start picking up a few things for the house, mostly to organise the kitchen, but I also grab a few home décor ‘essentials’ because I’m just a cosy girl. It’s payday weekend and I work for a supermarket, so it’s double discount all weekend (£37.02). While we’re loading the car up, I notice a few Substack payments come in (£19.83).
The 1st is also when my gym membership fee, phone bill and pet insurance payment comes out of my account (£47.98). Even though many of my regular payments have been scheduled on payday, I find ‘the 1st’ to be a good date for my brain to keep track of.
We pop to a local market for lunch and Eddie treats me since I got the food shop. After, I pick up some biodegradable toothbrush heads (£9.99 for two) before heading home to sort a LOT of things out and hopefully not spend too much more money.
Spot the DUSK payday offer and order our bedside lamps (£59.99).
In: £19.83
Out: £154.98
Sunday 2 February
My family and I are celebrating Chinese New Year with a belated family meal today, so we get ready and drive out for lunch. My parents kindly cover the meal and then we receive more red envelopes from aunties, uncles and my married cousins (£80).
After lunch, my sister hops in the car with us so she can see the house for the first time, as well as help with more moving and unpacking. This will be our lives for the upcoming weekends as I buy my wardrobe and our lounge furniture! As we had a big lunch, we pop out to pick up some picky bits for girl dinner (£7.97) and also to charge the car (£5.33).
In: £80
Out: £13.30
Weekly round-up
Considering I had a car disaster and moved house, I’m not too fussed about this week’s damage. Going into the move with a level head has helped though: we’re going to work on each room slowly and my bigger pieces are going to be ordered next month, now that I’ve been paid. It was also quite lucky that Lunar New Year fell this week: those red envelopes for Chinese New Year really came in handy!
