Industry: Freelance writer / actor

Age: 34

Location: London

Salary: Very variable as I recently went freelance but my rough monthly take home has been £950 after tax for the last couple of months

No of Housemates: 0 – unless you include the cat

Monthly Expenses

Rent: £585

Council Tax: £74

TV licence: £13

EE broadband: £20

BT Sport: £20 (this is a package I have for work)

Sky Sports bundle: £35 discounted rate but about to increase to £50 (also package for work)

Equity membership: £10 (I’m an actor and this basically protects my acting name)

Spotlight: £10

T-Mobile: £35

Drama school loan: £20

Total: £822 – Which leaves me with £128. Divided by four weeks that's £32 a week. When money is this tight you have to organise spending down to the last penny.

Day One

7am – I have breakfast which is homemade muesli and granola with homemade almond milk – all made last week. I buy a bag of Almonds for £2.99 from my local grocer and it lasts me two weeks’ worth of almond milk, almond butter and almond flour – all of which I will use this week but not have to buy.

11am – I have two slices of homemade banana bread, also made last week – usually, I will eat half fresh and freeze the other half for the following week, these are the last of the fresh slices. I also have fresh brewed coffee using my percolator.

1.30pm – I head to the pub with my sister and order a soda and fresh lime. I’ve reduced my alcohol intake to barely anything this year as a lifestyle choice, which really helps when I don't have much spare cash. Then my sister buys me a Beck's Blue (alcohol free) anyway. £0

3pm – I wander the shops with my sister and try on a dress in the sale for £20, breathing happily when it doesn’t fit quite right.

3.20pm – I do my weekly shop. I get the cat food from Tesco Express as it's the only place that stocks the brand she likes, as is a cat's way she will ONLY eat the expensive, gourmet range of wet food which is usually £4.17. Luckily it's on offer – I grab one box for £3.50 as we still have half a box left.

I have tried shopping in the large Tesco nearby to reduce food costs in the past but I found the saving was very small and the food quality so poor I threw half of it away (which I hate to do), so I do my weekly shop in our main supermarket… Waitrose.... I know, but it’s actually not that expensive anymore. I buy:

Large bottle of sparkling water: £0.45

Bag of sweet potatoes: £1.50

Bag of pink lady apples with seven in a bag: £2.00

6 x free range eggs: £1.00

Bag of celery sticks: £1.00

Two Romaine Heart lettuces: £1.00

Bag of kale: £1.00

Fine green beans: £ 1.50

Chicken goujons pack: £2.20 (I would normally buy a pork belly or whole chicken and cook that for the week as it’s cheaper and lasts longer but I have a mad craving).

Houmous: £1.20

Broccoli: £0.75

3 x limes: £1.17

1 x pepper: £0.60

Total = £15.37

3.45pm – By the time I get home I am starving and too hungry to make anything so I have the second frozen pizza from a Goodfellas pizza I bought last week with a bit of salad followed by an apple with homemade almond nut butter. I sit in sun on my roof terrace reading a book. My studio flat might be a shoebox but the outside space that my landlord tells me not to use is a godsend.

6pm - Back to the pub to meet a friend, have a soda with fresh lime and a Virgin Mary for £2.75.

I head home at 8pm and crash on the sofa, too lazy to cook. I have some cheese and chorizo that I bought last night. It’s here that I should add that, every few weeks, I spend my entire week’s money on food stocking up the cupboards with lentils and couscous and quinoa and a whole host of stuff for sugar free baking as I am trying to live as cleanly as possible. This week I still have good stocks of everything so I could afford the £15 shop to get enough to work with.

Daily Total: £21.62