A single woman living in Prague on €2.3k a month
"I would love to own an apartment. It feels almost impossible at the moment, especially on a single income, but I have faith in myself. Hopefully I can achieve it in the next ten years. "
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Status
Age and gender: 31 yo, female
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Education: BA in marketing
Relationship status: Single
Does your family support you financially? No
Do you support anyone financially? No
Income:
Your job title: Product Manager
Industry: Fintech
Your monthly salary: €3000
Your monthly take-home pay: €2300
Do you receive yearly bonus? Yes, about €5000
Do you have any side hustles? No
Assets: no assets
Partner’s job title/salary: n/a
Partner’s monthly take-home pay: n/a
Total monthly take-home pay: €2300
Note: the original currency is CZK. Everything was converted to EUR.
Savings:
Savings account balance and how much you contribute monthly: €4320, I try to save €200-300 monthly.
Emergency fund: €350.
Investments: €850, I just started buying stocks recently.
What are your saving goals? I want to be able to save a years worth of my salary + save enough for a downpayment.
Housing:
Accommodation: I live in an apartment close to the metro station. It’s a one bedroom apartment not far from the centre, in CZ it would be classified as 2kk - one room plus a room with kitchen in it.
Mortgage/Rent: My rent is €1000
Current mortgage balance: n/a
When did you buy your home: n/a
What did you pay for your home: n/a
Mortgage interest rate: n/a
Utilities: €100 (gas, water, electricity)
Internet: €20
Are you happy with your home? Yes, it’s a great apartment, however given a chance I would prefer to own.
What are your housing goals? I would love to buy an apartment in the next 10 years. To achieve it, I would most likely need to get a might higher paying job and start saving a lot more.
Children:
Do you have children and what are their ages? No children.
If no, are you planning on having children? I would love to have children, but I don’t see it happening in the next few years. I don’t have a partner and I don’t want to be a single mother. My opinion might change, of course.
If yes, how much do you spend on childcare and other things? I imagine children cost a lot :)
Do you have anything else to add? Not on this topic
Transportation:
Do you have a car? I don’t have a car and am very happy about it. Prague is small and perfectly walkable, public transportation is amazing, and parking is a nightmare.
Monthly car payments: n/a
Monthly public transportation: €20 - Prague has one of the best public transportation systems out there.
Taxi, car sharing: €20
Debts:
Student loan: Zero! Education is mainly free in the Czech Republic.
Other loans: No loans.
Credit card: No credit card.
Insurance:
Health: Health insurance is paid out of salary.
Other: n/a
Food:
Groceries: €200 (doesn’t include meal vouchers provided by employer.)
Eating out: €200 (doesn’t include meal vouchers provided by employer.)
Entertainment:
Events: €30 - I occasionally go to theatre.
Subscriptions: €20 - Netflix and Apple Music.
Memberships: no memberships.
Other: n/a
Other:
Self-care: €60 - I go to massage and do manicure once a month.
Clothing: €50 - I used to spend a lot of money on clothes, and it took a long time to reduce it to 50 euro.
Home: €50 - I buy flowers every week and other small things.
Holidays and vacations: €3-5k per year. I go on longer vacations twice a year - once alone and once with my girlfriends. Also, every couple of month I will do a short weekend trip.
Donations:
Do you donate? I don’t have a standing donation but I try to donate every month to specific causes. A lot of my friends ask for donations to some organisations instead of birthday gifts.
Money story:
Did you worry about money as a child?
No, never. I had everything I needed and my parent never showed they were stressed about money.
Do you worry about money now?
Yes, constantly! Who knew being adult is so hard.
When did you become financially responsible for yourself?
I finished university at 21 and immediately got a job. My parents helped me for a couple of month while I was easing in.
How do you and your partner split your finances?
n/a
What are your biggest money regrets?
Not starting saving earlier and spending too much money on clothes.
What are your top financial priorities?
Save up
Invest more
Buy an apartment
What is your biggest financial dream?
I would love to own an apartment. It feels almost impossible at the moment, especially on a single income, but I have faith in myself. Hopefully I can achieve it in the next ten years.
Is there something you want to stop spending money on?
Clothes! I have way too much clothes as it is. I believe I am making progress in this regards.
What is something you never regret spending money on?
Food, going out with friends, vacations. I think it’s important to find balance between working hard and enjoying life. I love cooking, it’s a way for me to decompress after a long day. Same goes for meeting friends in a local pub.
Anything else?
I realise that I live quite a comfortable life and am very grateful for it.
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