Olivia’s story.

Finding my way in life.

OLIVIA, 20

Understanding my finances

My current situation

I am 20, single, and currently live at university. I have a part time job that pays about £540 per month. Most of this is spent on socialising, phone bills and transport.

I also have a student loan and an overdraft. I struggle to budget and often do not have any money left at the end of each month, meaning I regularly use my overdraft.

I will be finishing university in the next couple of years and hope to get a well-paid job at the end of my course.

My goals

Short Term – understand my pay slip and budgeting.
Medium Term – understand how best to pay off my overdraft.
Long Term – start saving into a Lifetime Individual Savings Account (LISA) for a house deposit.

What I need

I think that I would benefit from further financial education on topics such as:

Understanding the breakdown of my pay slip
- What is National Insurance?
Why saving early will benefit my future.
The Renting vs Buying a house dilemma.

I would also like access to a budgeting tool to make sure I don’t miss out on any social events.