This is the spending diary every millennial has been waiting for – yep, we’re delving deep into the wallet of an influencer! I’ve had an insta-crush on Beth Sandland for years, and recently she gave me my Cady Heron moment when she noticed me and made me feel like *maybe* I’m cool after all?!

Anyway once I’d stopped hyperventilating and fangirling, Beth said she’d record a spending diary for The Broke Generation – so here we go. What An Influencer Spends in a Week. ENJOY.

About Beth: Beth works freelance as a blogger/influencer and jack-of-many-trades in London, UK. You’ll find her on Instagram @bethsandland posting drool-worthy travel content and real, honest life and style snaps that make you love her, not hate her. Beth has zero debt (except student debt) and considers herself pretty hot on saving, so her financials are generally in good order (if you listen really really carefully you’ll hear the squeak of Beth shining her halo).

Despite her income being up and down month-to-month, she saves around 50% of her income (ooooookay so she’s a megababe and a savvy saver. Maybe now you can hate her). That said, the 50% also covers the tax man’s portion.

Beth’s rent and utility bills are paid monthly and not included in her spending diary (because who pays for water daily?) but she is a member of a health club, and has accounted for that in her daily expenditure. To account for the fluctuations in freelance income, Beth adds up her average annual income and pays herself a monthly salary into a trackable spending account for food, travel, clothes, socialising and other outgoings.

Beth manages her money using 4 separate bank accounts:

  • 1 main transaction account for income and bill-based outgoings

  • 1 Monzo spending account (trackable spending account for non-bill expenses)

  • 1 AMEX CC for cashback and protecting big purchases (and generally feeling like a G when whipping it out in shops)

  • 1 external savings account that isn’t linked to transaction account

Beth also admits she is fortunate to receive a lot of product gifting and paid-for lunch meetings as part of her influencer life – but it’s okay, we love her so we’ll allow it. And free food. Always take free food.

Alright, here comes an influencer’s spending diary *vomits with excitement*:

Monday

Beth had a strategy meeting with a client first thing and they had a Nespresso machine – FREE COFFEE ALERT. Post-meeting, Beth leeches off of Wholefoods’ free WiFi, but resists buying snacks that cost more than her own left kidney. You go girl. Her only expense this morning was £9.80 on the tube.

Lunch was free thanks to a company who were basically entertaining her (read: schmoozing), and an afternoon facial was complimentary in exchange for Instagram content.

Monday evening means yoga time, so Beth heads off to her gym which costs her £2.20 per day (averaged out across the month).

For her evening meal, Beth eats from the fridge (well done).

Online splurging saw Beth buy New Years Eve park entry for £22.52, and two Lonely Planet pocket guides for £14.67 for upcoming trips.

Total daily expenditure: £49.19

Tuesday

Ladies, whip of your bras and do the hula with Beth – SHE HAD A NO SPEND DAY! Working from home meant not a single penny slithered its way out of her account. Aside from the £2.20 she allotted to the gym membership.

Total daily expenditure: £2.20

Wednesday

Beth didn’t have the best start to the day. She spent £7.50 on the train to get to morning coffee meeting (fine, just fine) but misjudged the location so had to get a black cab which cost another £6.00. She admits she is a mug.

During said meeting she guzzled a smoothie – #healthgoddess. But the meeting host paid so WOO free nutrients for Beth.

As part of a content agreement, Beth visits another health spa venue, enjoying her second free facial of the week. At this point she’s starting to regret agreeing to record this week for The Broke Generation because even she hates herself a bit right now.

The facial went on longer than planned (not jealous at all, really we’re not) so Beth reschedules the rest of her afternoon. But was that a mistake for her wallet? She wanders back to the station via the most ridiculous of Halloween displays and even more ridiculous Belgravia houses, only to stumble into Peggy Porschen (the most Instagrammable bakery there ever was). She picked up a cookie for an Instagram collaboration content piece, and another just for herself. Aaaaand it’s at this point that her brain explodes. The till rings up at £19.90. Yes almost TWENTY POUNDS on two biscuits.

Beth is too busy picking up the pieces of her broken heart to tell the cashier that they were taking the piss. So she pays the £19.90 and makes the best of a bad situation by taking a very spontaneous Instagram photo with the extra biscuit.

The world’s most overpriced cookie would’ve been pretty lonely in the Instagram snap all by itself so Beth trots into Waitrose to snag some props to keep it company. A small bottle of cloudy lemonade and one (yes one) lime later, she’s out of there. At this point, clutching the lime, she admits that yes, being a full-time influencer is utterly bonkers at times.

By night, Beth spends £2.99 on a Kindle book that was supposed to be the ‘Bridget Jones for a new generation’. Spoiler alert: it was not. She gave up after 2 chapters.

Oh, and that gym cost £2.20 per day as usual, but she didn’t go today.

Total daily expenditure: £39.98

Thursday

If you can’t meet fellow self-employed friends for breakfast on weekdays, what is even the point of working for yourself? Appropriately, Beth meets a pal for brekkie and spends £11.20 on parking for the whole day, and £17.38 on her share of the bill.

She snaps up a birthday present for a friend for £35.04 (we’re wondering what the £0.04p was, but we don’t ask).

The £2.20 on the gym membership got put to good use today, as Beth spent the rest of the day working there and enjoying the free WiFi.

A long day meant the Chinese takeout vibes came a’knockin’. Split between 3 pals, Beth’s share of dinner costs £16.70.

To round off a jolly day, the ever-disciplined Beth pays off her American Express credit card, which has a balance of £112. There was a cashback offer and some Lululemon activewear took her fancy, so that’s that paid off. Go Beth.

She also notes that The Broke Generation said Lululemon was worth splurging on – and she’s right, we did say that. So we’ll allow it.

Total daily expenditure: £194.52 (but it includes the credit card pay off)

Friday

Beth works from home today and fuels herself with food that’s already in the fridge. Basically free, right? The £2.20 gym membership fell by the wayside based on the fact that sleep is better than yoga. We completely agree.

Beth attends a work event in the evening, and makes a night of it at a cheap and cheerful BYO curry house. £20.20 for food and £9 for travel later, she’s home and dry.

Total daily expenditure: £31.40

Saturday

Ah, the life of a blogger. Beth went out for lunch, but the food was paid for by gift card as she was shooting for content. Yep, now we’re jealous. Then, she bought a coffee purely to shoot a photo (lol, we feel you girl) and didn’t even drink it. That was £2.00, and our old mate the gym membership chewed up another £2.20.

Total daily expenditure: £4.40

Sunday

The gym still costs £2.20 a day even when Beth’s feeling lazy (no judgement here). So lazy in fact that she missed the 4pm supermarket closure, so had to buy food at a smaller, higher priced convenience store for £25.90 as it stayed open later.

Total daily expenditure: £28.10

Total weekly expenditure: 349.79

Beth says: I was over my weekly budget, but I’m not too concerned as the culprit was the Lululemon pay off! #worthit. I guess my unnecessary spending came from those stupidly expensive cookies, the Chinese take out and that unplanned cab journey when I was running late!

TBG says: Beth did very well this week. The perks of the job certainly help with enjoying the finer things in life for free, but she works very hard for that stuff, so it’s totally allowed. I guess it’s kind of like the bloggers’ equivalent of holiday pay or staff parties?! Anyway, freebies aside, Beth seems to have a good grasp on her money. She didn’t mindlessly spend, or pick up anything on impulse (except those cookies!).

Thank you SO much to Beth Sandland for taking part in our What I Spent This Week series. Find Beth doing her thing on her blog or on Instagram at @bethsandland. You can read more on her budgeting tips in this blog post, too.