Women in the UK hit “peak earnings” four years earlier than men, according to new research. Whereas on average, women can expect to command their highest salary at age 40, men do so at age 44. In Women’s average salaries are higher then men’s at age 21, the research by Totaljobs found, but from this point on men’s average earnings outstrip women’s. In time, men’s “peak earnings” will be more than £8,000 higher on average. This is no surprise given that women’s career prospects are more likely to be adversely affected by childcare costs and an inability to access the flexible working arrangements that can help working parents to thrive. “An individual’s ‘peak’ is heavily influenced by a combination of factors, such as gender, region, age, education, and experience,” said Jon Wilson of Totaljobs. “Finding the balance between achieving the right salary at the right time for personal priorities can be a real challenge, and workers are often navigating salary negotiation without really knowing what is fair and what they are worth.” The research also found that women’s pay rises are, on average, nearly £500 lower than those awarded to men. Since 2017, companies with 250 employees or more have been legally required to report their gender pay gap – the difference in earnings between their male and female staff members. To help even the playing field, Totaljobs’ Jon Wilson called for “more transparency” in the workplace when it comes to discussing salary expectations, bonuses and earning potential. “This is particularly important for women, who, as our data shows, are experiencing sizeable pay gaps and peak earnings faring far below that of men,” Wilson added. “The only way out of this longstanding issue is for businesses to truly commit to measures such as equal pay audits, transparency on pay and bonuses, and the removal of any biases that can impact an individual’s chances of a successful career path and higher wages.” You can get an idea of what your “peak earnings’ might be by trying out Totaljobs’ Peak Earnings Predictor. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?This Is How Many Students Are In Rent DebtMoney Diary: A 25-Year-Old In New Zealand On 31kYoung Women In Big Debt
Pandemic rules means he may have to quarantine.
The ceremony will be closed to the public for health and safety reasons
They spent lockdown together at Windsor Castle.
The hip hop community and fans worldwide have been reeling since news broke Friday (April 2) that DMX, born Earl Simmons, had been hospitalised because of a drug overdose. A week later, The Associated Press confirms that the rapper has passed away at 50. While many fans, peers, and media outlets had offered hopeful messages for a full recovery, there was an overwhelming display of other insensitive sentiments surrounding the rapper’s substance use. In the past week, the Twitter community commemorated the rapper’s life and work with fans recalling their favourite memories of the artist and the high points of his career, one that is to be admired. But I also saw tweets (which have since been deleted) that blamed DMX’s overdose on a lack of self-control, without having any context to support these claims. While it is easy, lazy and in poor taste to make “crackhead” jokes or poke fun at people who are very clearly navigating their relationships with substances when videos surface on social media, it does nothing to foster a climate of care for individuals, families and communities who have been impacted by this issue, especially regarding the language we use. However, this tragedy involving one of the most famous and beloved rappers of the 2000s is providing an opportunity to shift how audiences and the media engage with substance use, mental health, and the complications that arise with celebrity visibility. Throughout his tenure, the artist known as DMX has collected several public accolades: he’s had many chart topping albums like his debut It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot and the four following studio albums. His chops as a thespian were on full display in major budget films like Belly and Romeo Must Die. Additionally, he was a founding member of Ruff Ryders, a collective and label that was an integral part of propelling hip hop culture and music to the mainstream. These accomplishments crystallised the artist as a force to be reckoned with both within and outside of hip hop. Not many artists can boast that their first five albums debuted at number one and that they’ve gone platinum while balancing an acting career that garnered leading roles in blockbuster films. No matter how you look at it, DMX was a rap legend. But in the same way that his wins were public, so was his substance usage. DMX has spoken candidly about navigating his struggles. Most recently, in a November 2020 interview as a guest on Talib Kweli’s The People’s Party, he shared that at 14 years old, he was offered a blunt which he later found out was laced with crack. This incident, DMX says, is when “a monster was born” and his battle with addiction started. No matter how you look at it, DMX was a rap legend. But in the same way that his wins were public, so was his substance usage. While his interactions with substance use are both public and storied, the language that surrounds his usage, and many other people like him, tends to be callous and apathetic. “Since DMX’s situation has come to light, I think people have tread a bit more carefully in the sense that DMX is obviously a very beloved musical figure and a lot of us have deep sentiment attached to him and his music, but I don’t think the ways that they’re talking about it reflect a deeper and seeming respect for drug users in general,” Baltimore-based harm reduction worker Lex Wilson tells R29Unbothered. “The things they’re saying don’t reveal deeper respect for people who use substances, people who have chaotic relationships with substances or people who experience or have experienced addiction.” Because of their visibility, it may be easier for some people to extend grace to public figures. Social media has collapsed the space and distance between fans, celebrities and their public and private lives so there’s a level of access and surveillance (even if consensual) that we’ve not been granted in the past. Given the digital age, and the intrusion of gossip blogs, tabloids and paparazzi, we have an abundance of archived data of people navigating their substance usage. When public figures like Demi Lovato, Ben Affleck and Lindsay Lohan have been open about their use in the past, we know that their struggles aren’t exclusive to their status. We also know that fame, mental health and substance use has a long history of being documented in the media, though there seems to be a shift that tilts towards a more sympathetic lens, especially with the recent #FreeBritney movement and the Framing Britney Spears documentary. This turning point is an indication of an attempt to try to right the wrongs of past offensive views when it comes to celebrity and mental health. But what is to be said of people who exist on the fringes of pop culture’s purview and how we discuss them? Wilson provides us with insight on how to change language in our daily conversations. They share, “Addiction is a word I don’t use until other people name it for themselves, so I’ll just say ’chaotic relationship with substances.’’ It’s great that we can look at DMX and can name this as being pretty traumatic and understand how this trauma shapes his experience with substances, but we shouldn’t have to have all that information to extend grace and empathy to people who use drugs. We shouldn’t have to know about someone’s childhood trauma to be respectful to them, to extend care to them,” they say. “These are things we should be doing for drug users regardless of whether they’re prominent social figures, regardless of whether we know all the details of their complex experiences, regardless of whether or not they have been traumatised.” DMX needs grace by virtue of being a human being, by virtue of being a Black person, by virtue of being a substance user and every intersection there is…Lex Wilson Understanding the dynamic that people have between their usage or efforts to regulate it has the ability to shift our tone a great deal. We can then identify who does and does not get captured when the net of empathy is cast. Whitney Houston, even posthumously, is still the brunt of many jokes when videos of her seemingly erratic behaviour reappear on timelines, despite the numerous biopics, reports and accounts that confirm she was having a hard time changing her relationship with substances. “I think that DMX needs the extended grace by virtue of being a human being, by virtue of being a Black person, by virtue of being a substance user and every intersection there is,” Wilson says. “But I will say the amount of grace that we extend to DMX is inextricable from him being like a cis-het man. This sort of grace is not often extended to Black women, Black women who are sex workers, Black women who are fat, Black women who are disabled. There are biases that impact who we extend grace to and who we do that with more often.” Those ‘biases’ are an important addition to an already complicated conversation on the culture of addiction and the legacy of remembrance. As a Black cultural worker and archivist, I often think about the work involved in intentionally documenting culture. It’s important to me for multiple reasons: First, so much of Black history has been undocumented or mis-documented. Secondly, I have a deep desire to make our history and cultural production accessible to generations to come. In order to do so, we must contemplate the methods we employ in remembering, preserving legacies and memorialising places, things and people. With the advent of social media and the closing gap of our proximity to public figures, our conception of “celebrity” seems to be changing. In DMX’s case, he’s had a riotous history with substance usage, and unfortunately allegations of verbal and psychological domestic abuse. It’s important to acknowledge when there are polarising reactions to public figures — especially men — with a history of harmful behaviour. There will be people who want to celebrate their achievements and people who rightfully do not wish to because of the harm these men may have caused. And there shouldn’t be an expectation for those who feel the latter to join in the posthumous celebrations. In the wake of Kobe Bryant’s passing, many people took to social media to celebrate his achievements, but a lot of users called attention to his sexual assault case. While there was a desire to acknowledge his wins, many showed solidarity with survivors and the cause, standing firm in their completely valid convictions. The discomfort that comes with bringing up questions surrounding abuse or the problematic pasts of Black men does not excuse any of us from the conversation. Even when they are rap legends who provided the soundtrack to our childhoods, we should not make concessions for alleged abusers. We should contend with their pasts in a manner that acknowledges the entire scope of their history, which sometimes includes being a perpetrator of harm as well as being a survivor of it. “When you’re painting a composite picture of somebody and talking about people in all the spectrum of experiences they’ve had, it’s important to name that in many ways substance use can be a response to harm and people are often trying to navigate situations,” Wilson says about the act of remembering individuals who navigate substance control. “I like to talk about substance use through the frame of escapism because then we can better interrogate why we are so reticent to accept certain forms of escapism over others. I think a lot of people look at substance use and they’re able to name it as a coping mechanism, and then straight up say that’s bad. I am much more interested in interrogating the conditions that make people want to escape. Why do people keep trying to escape from reality? Maybe we can think about that, systems and biases that make life pretty insufferable like capitalism and white supremacy.” It is no secret that DMX has given fans a wealth of music and memories for a lifetime. Last summer, we were reminded of the energy he so often impared on stage by way of his Verzuz with Snoop. And when his rendition of “Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer” reemerges on our timelines every year, we happily share it with friends and family alike. We have access to archived videos of his performances at festivals and concerts of the past that we can fall back on for a waft of nostalgia. As DMX transitions into ancestorship, we can and should celebrate his contributions to music and culture while acknowledging his difficult history. If you are struggling with substance abuse, please visit Talk to Frank, call 0300 123 6600, or text 82111 Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?Hip Hop Icon DMX Dead At Age 50Ed Sheeran Opens Up About His Substance AbuseTana Mongeau Details Substance Abuse
The star and director of ‘Promising Young Woman’ tell Clarisse Loughrey how their film ‘weaponises femininity’, ask why the stuff that girls traditionally like isn’t treated seriously, and discuss how women respond differently when something happens to someone they love
Though he was married to a queen, he was named a prince for a reason
Included: glorious gardens and a pool house.
"Our thoughts are with the royal family at this sad time," a statement from Netflix and The Crown's production team said.
The Duke of Edinburgh "passed away peacefully" at Windsor Castle
It’s been 20 years since Tara Reid played Melody Valentine, the sweet, spacey drummer from Josie and the Pussycats, but she still talks about her as one would a beloved friend. “Out of all the characters I’ve ever played in my life, she was one of the greatest because every day I woke up and I got to play the happiest girl in the world,” Reid told Refinery29 over the phone. In 2001, Melody was mistaken for a dumb blonde. Now, Reid knows she was right to bet on her. Josie and the Pussycats, once a critical and commercial failure, has since been reborn as a cult classic. What Roger Ebert once called “dumb as the Spice Girls” is now widely recognised as a landmark cultural phenomenon for an entire generation of young women. Josie McCoy (Rachael Leigh Cook, hot off of She’s All That), Valerie Brown (Rosario Dawson), and Melanie weren’t just punk rock prom queens — they were proof that women could value friendship over love, and excel at our chosen path without having to tear each other down along the way. It’s a lesson that has steered Reid as she undergoes her own transformation. Once an underestimated talent who dominated tabloid headlines as the girl next door from American Pie and Van Wilder, she made an unexpected and unprecedented comeback as an action star in the behemoth Sharknado franchise. At 45, she is reinventing herself once more, this time as a producer. Reid is no longer waiting for the right role to come along. Instead, she’s making that material for herself. Her IMDb page is loaded with projects — 21 in various stages of production as of this interview’s publishing — but the one she’s most excited about is Masha’s Mushroom, a thriller directed by White Cross, which Reid is both producing and starring in. She plays the titular Masha, a mum whose birthday party goes very, very wrong when she and all her guests are drugged and forced to battle hallucinations in order to get out alive. There’s been a learning curve — ”Normally, I get the part, I get to set, I do my job, and I leave,” she said. “I never realised how much goes into making a movie.” But Reid isn’t a quitter. After all, the industry has forgotten about her before, and she’s always bounced back in new and unexpected ways. “I’m a survivor,” she said. “At the end of the day, when you love what you do, you’ll always come back to it.” Ahead, Reid looks back at the legacy of Josie and the Pussycats, and what’s next. Refinery29: You never auditioned for Josie and the Pussycats. How did you end up getting cast as Melody Valentine? Tara Reid: “I had a three picture deal with Universal [Pictures]. The first two movies were American Pie and American Pie 2, and the third one was Josie and the Pussycats.” What did you like about Melody? “She’s such a free spirit. She seemed naive, and some people called her dumb, but she was never. If you really watch the movie she had these psychic moments, and predictions. Her heart was so big — if a rose fell down, she’d feel like the rose was dying with her. And I was with girls I loved, and we had so much fun together. It was like a sleepaway camp. We had to learn the instruments, which was hard in the beginning. Rosario didn’t know how to play the bass; I didn’t know how to play the drums; Rachael didn’t know how to play the guitar. They made us take lessons for like three months, and finally we learned.” Do you still play? “No, because I live in a high rise, and if I played the drums here I’d probably get kicked out of the building! It’s not the most light sound. But when I’d go out before the pandemic — I can always play the bongos. I know my beat now!” SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Tara Reid attends ScotWeek red carpet Launch Party celebrating Scottish Culture And Excellence at Fairmont Miramar – Hotel & Bungalows on March 29, 2021 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) What’s so special about Josie and the Pussycats is that it’s the rare early aughts movie that starred three young women who weren’t playing a love interest or competing with each other for a guy. “I loved that. I don’t think movies have to be about competing for a guy or always having to have a love interest. Let’s be natural! Times have changed. We’re not in the days where you need a man, you have to get married and have kids. Women can do whatever they want. We have just as much power as they do, but it took a while to do that. Josie and the Pussycats is one of the first female empowerment movies of that time — no one knew that at the time, even we didn’t! And now 20 years later, it’s become this cult film. It was awesome to be working with these incredible actresses.” If you go back and read the original reviews, it’s pretty shocking to see how dismissive critics were of the movie, given how important it was to young women who saw it. “It was before social media. It was so ahead of its time. We were saying Puma is the new Adidas, red is the new black, all these subliminal messages. No one understood what that meant. But today, it makes perfect sense. If it came out now, it’d be a huge hit. And it is in a different way — it did terribly at the box office, but now everyone wants to have an interview with us about it, asking What happened, and What changed? “It was girls, with each other, not being mean to each other. We had the best time of our lives, and I think people see that. When people watch that film, they go, Wow, I wish I could have that.” Do you have a specific memory from filming that you cherish? “Something so silly is that we were wearing the smallest costumes, and it was freezing – we were in Vancouver. Everything was custom-made, and they were so small! We were shivering to death every time we had to go outside. And every time we would finish a scene, we would just run to the trailer and they would have three pairs of Ugg boots put together. We’d kick our heels off and put the Uggs on and sigh, Ahhhhhhhh. It was heaven. “ I was obsessed with Melody’s wardrobe. All those early aughts going out tops! “Melody’s wardrobe was amazing. Leesa Evans, our costume designer, was so cool. She asked, ‘What do you feel Melody should be like?’ We were so involved. I wanted Melody to be a total rockstar, totally cool, but that’s just her. She has no idea she’s even doing it. That was one of the best things about playing Melody. All I had to do to play her is to be happy. I didn’t even have to look for happiness, I had it with my co-stars. It was fantastic.” Did you get to keep any of the outfits? “Some of them! We usually had four or five versions of the outfits in case something happened, so I have a piece of all of them.” You’ve made this pivot to producing, and you now have so many projects in development including Masha’s Mushroom. What prompted this shift in your career? “Sitting down in my house during [quarantine], I started going back and reaching out to people I’d worked with in the past. White Cross and I have a movie coming out called Mummy Dearest and we really connected, so we decided to make this film called Masha’s Mushroom — I’m Masha obviously. And we started a company together, we became friends and started going at it. Because we were on lockdown, we got in touch with people that usually you can’t get on the phone. But everyone was at home, no one was busy. I accessed so many people and relationships. Right now, Masha’s Mushroom is one film of five. It’s like another American Pie or Sharknado — but this one’s my baby. It’s such a cool movie, when you see it you’re gonna get it. There’s nothing like it.” “Everyone was looking at my senior yearbook, and yet I was growing into a woman and changing.”Tara Reid What did you learn from the experience? “Normally, I get the part, I go to set, I do my job, and I leave. I never realised how hard it was as a producer and how much goes into that. How many years it takes to make a movie, to get the financing, to get the distribution. Being on both sides of the fence is the most incredible feeling. Even when we go to negotiate with the actors for different things — I know what they want; I know what they need, because it’s what I want and what I need. “Instead of waiting for a part, which I did for a long time, I thought: You know what, it’s time for me to create my part. The ones that I want to make, the ones that will make people notice me again and put me back in the game. And it was me that created it all. At the end of the day, everyone says, if you want something to happen, who has to do it? You. It’s very satisfying. It makes you feel good, and that’s something that’s so important right now.” Have you found that people in the industry still hold on to the image you had when you started out? “For a long time I felt like that, but not so much anymore. Imagine you look at your senior picture in your high school yearbook, and then look at yourself now. Do you look the same? That’s how I felt in the industry. Everyone was looking at my senior yearbook, and yet I was growing into a woman and changing. But until you can show them the change, they can’t see it. Like, guys, it’s 20 years later. I’m 45 years old. I can’t even do what I did back then, I’m too tired. It was never a typecasting situation. It was about me turning the page. In Hollywood, it’s hard to turn the page if you don’t show them the next page.” Speaking of typecasting, I saw you posted on Instagram about loving Bridgerton — would you ever want to take on a period role? “One of the best shows ever! I’m obsessed with period pieces. That would be a project I would love to do.” We’re now having this cultural reckoning with the tabloid coverage of young women in the early aughts, especially in the aftermath of Framing Britney Spears. Do you feel like you were unfairly portrayed? “I hated it, but time is a healer of everything. Hollywood is changing. Women are having their time to come back up — that never happened before, where we have control of ourselves. It’s the women directors who are doing incredible, it’s women actors who are taking over. It’s our time. If anyone is going to get bullied, it would be me, and it’s not me anymore.” “In Hollywood, it’s hard to turn the page if you don’t show them the next page.”Tara Reid What advice would you give to young women coming up in Hollywood today? “To be patient, to be careful, to still always be inspired. Love your craft, and if you love something else, then love something else and go that way. Because it’s not the easiest job in the world. To be a working actress constantly in Hollywood is almost impossible.” Was it difficult for you to transition into different kinds of roles as you’ve gotten older? “When you’re that young, you’re playing high school or college roles. That’s not a leading lady. A leading lady is someone like Julia Roberts. Now, I’m getting to that time. I went through the awkward stage, and now I’m getting to a time when I will become a leading lady. [I am] doing it myself with my rules, my territory, and controlling my image, my press, which I didn’t know how to do before because I was too innocent and too young. I didn’t understand it. With age, you learn a lot. “I wouldn’t even take anything back. If everything was so easy like it was when I was on the cover of Rolling Stone, I wouldn’t be here on the phone with you. At the end of the day, I’ve learned so much. I feel like my career is starting really for the first time now.” This interview was edited for length and clarity. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?Josie & The Pussycats Was Way Ahead Of Its TimeBeyoncé Was Almost In <em>Josie & The Pussycats</em>Tara Reid Asked For A <em>Sharknado </em>Raise
It’s been just over a year since it was first reported that the 2020 Met Gala would be postponed due to the pandemic. Two months later, Vogue made the official announcement that fashion’s biggest night would be cancelled completely. Though the About Time: Fashion and Duration exhibition opened later in the year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, no pink carpet was rolled out to celebrate it, nor did Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Zendaya, or any of the other stars who frequent the Met Gala, show up in fashion fit for the occasion. According to Page Six, though, the 2021 soirée won’t meet the same fate. On Thursday, the publication reported that this year’s Met Gala will take place, and no, it won’t exist only on Instagram like this year’s award shows. That said, it won’t be on the first Monday in May as we’ve grown to expect, either. Instead, the benefit, which raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute and is known in the industry as the “Oscars of Fashion,” will take place during New York Fashion Week in September. Ahead, everything we know (so far) about the 2021 Met Gala. When will the 2021 Met Gala take place? The gala will reportedly take place on September 13, 2021. According to Page Six, the date was changed in the hopes that, with the current vaccine rollout, it will be safe to gather by then. Whether or not that will turn out to be true is yet to be determined. Furthermore, the date apparently could not be held on the first Monday in September due to the fact that it’s Labor Day, and American national holidays trump even Vogue’s Anna Wintour. Who will host the 2021 Met Gala? According to Page Six sources, Vogue is considering Inauguration Day poet and the magazine’s May cover star Amanda Gorman for its 2021 Met Gala host. Tom Ford, the CFDA chairman and designer, is said to be joining her. Of course, Wintour will also be a host. What will the 2021 Met Gala theme be? The theme for the 2021 Met Gala hasn’t yet been released, though, given that we’re still five months away from the alleged event date, not to mention the special circumstances this year, we’re not all that surprised about the delay in the announcement. Insert *only (About) Time will tell* reference. Prior to 2020, Met Gala themes included Camp: Notes on Fashion, which saw Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Janelle Monáe, and Ezra Miller, among others, don fashion at its most over-the-top, in 2019; Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination in 2018, which was unofficially won by Rihanna, when she showed up wearing a Pope costume by Maison Margiela; and Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between in 2017, which featured co-host Katy Perry in custom Maison Martin Margiela, Lily Collins in Giambattista Valli, and Zoë Kravitz in Oscar de la Renta. We will update this story as more information regarding the 2021 Met Gala is confirmed. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?Here’s What You Would’ve Seen At The Met GalaAn Ode To The Best Met Gala Bathroom Selfies EverThe Met’s New Fashion Exhibit Is Right On "Time"
Prince of Wales already has a shrine in one of the villages
Anyone with platinum blonde hair will tell you: The colour is a commitment. So, if a day of double-process dyeing at the salon isn’t in the cards for you, a wig is an easy way to try out the look. Yaya Ogun, the star of Hair Me Out’s latest episode, opted for a platinum blonde wig to change up her style without spending hours in the chair with foils on her head. “I’ve never done real colour before,” Ogun says, explaining that she’s only ever experimented with shades of brown. Bright blonde was a far cry from what she’s used to, but it didn’t stop her from taking the plunge. Millicent Reid, a wig expert based in Los Angeles, helped Ogun with her transformation, installing an icy blonde wig (think Saweetie) on her client. To start, she braided Ogun’s hair down into straight-back cornrows. “I used the hot comb because I want the braids to lay very flat,” Reid explains. Once Ogun’s hair was braided down, Reid used makeup on the wig’s lace to help it blend into her client’s complexion, then secured it using Bold Hold Glue. “This is an adhesive glue that is going to stick the lace to her skin,” Reid explains. To ensure a safe hold, Reid bonded the glue to Ogun’s skin using a blowdryer. After the wig installation was complete, Reid styled Ogun’s baby hairs and created soft curls. “This is probably the biggest physical change I’ve ever done,” Ogun says. “It’s boosted my confidence. I feel super levelled up.” Click play to see her transformation in full. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
From jaunts across America to steam specials through Staffordshire, we offer our pick of great rail trips for 2021 . UK and Ireland Flying Scotsman and Tornado With arguably the two most famous steam locomotives in the world running together on the national network for the first time – and along the Settle and Carlisle line, one of the most spectacular routes in the UK – this is surely mainline steam’s highlight for 2021. Four tours, all originating from different locations and running to Carlisle, are planned during October (20, 21, 27 and 28); passengers will get to ride behind Tornado one way and Flying Scotsman the other with the locos swapping at the border city. From £135pp (a1steam.com/railtours) Bespoke Cornish Explorer Slow Travel start-up ByWay organises bespoke rail trips, making the journey part of the holiday. Their Cornish adventure begins inside a private cabin on the Night Riviera sleeper from London Paddington. The morning views over St Michael’s Mount near Penzance are breathtaking. Alight here and follow ByWay’s self-guided tour along the coast path, pausing at tiny fishing villages and swim-friendly coves. Included in the price are a kayak expedition, an open-top bus ride and a shuttle along the scenic St Ives Bay train line. Plus three nights in a luxury B&B. Upgrades and alternative routes on request. From £361pp for a four-night package (byway.travel)
It’s not uncommon for dogs to have salmonella bacteria present in their GI tracts
Sometimes the smallest tweak can make all the difference
Little Marvin’s drama about a Black family in white 1950s LA has remarkable similarities to Jordan Peele’s 2019 film, but if this is the start of a new genre of racial trauma, then we neither need nor want it, says Micha Frazer-Carroll
Welcome to Money Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking a cross-section of women how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period – and we're tracking every last penny.This week: "My financial situation has been a bit anomalous for the past few years as my income has been supplemented by scholarships since 2017. My current role is also the first 'proper' job I’ve had – previously my income has been a patchwork of scholarships, research/teaching jobs, nannying, hospitality, etc. My partner, J, and I came to New Zealand in 2019 for J’s job. I found it very hard to get a job that reflected my level of qualifications when we moved here and ended up working as a barista and in a call centre, which is what prompted me to look for further study opportunities. I already have one master's degree from Canada and am currently doing a second master's here in Auckland. Ironically, once I started my degree I found a new job and ended up getting two promotions in the space of about eight months, so my income has increased about £8,600 ($17,000) in that period (minimum wage is pretty generous in New Zealand so I was already on £22,300 ($44,000) as a call centre worker). I’m lucky to have some very generous scholarships that cover all my fees and most of my living costs. My previous master's was also covered by similar scholarships, which has allowed me to save quite aggressively for a few years (although as you’ll see, I do like spending money a bit too much). I currently work between 25 and 30 hours a week, alongside full-time study. I have also recently taken on a marking job and do some ceramic work as well. My relationship with money is pretty erratic: I had a comfortable childhood and never had to worry about money growing up but I still have a lot of guilt and anxiety around money and spending (although speaking to lots of my millennial/Gen Z friends, I think this is quite a common age/gender feeling). I definitely look at my peers from undergrad and measure my salary/job prestige against theirs (and generally come up short), which I think also contributes to money worries! J is the smarter financially of the two of us – he persuaded me to move my savings into equity last year and also built the budgeting spreadsheet that I use religiously. Overall, I have been trying to balance spending money to enjoy living in such a wonderful country and being free to travel/socialise/live (almost) COVID-free with saving enough for the future."Industry: Tertiary educationAge: 25Location: Auckland, New ZealandSalary: £31,400 (60,800 NZD)Paycheque amount: £775 approximately but I am only working 25 hours/week while studying. This will go back up to £965 (1,870 NZD) full-time. Number of housemates: I live with my partner (J) and another couple (L and D) in a three-bed, three-bath apartment. Auckland rent is notoriously expensive so this is pretty standard for a central rental. Monthly ExpensesHousing costs: £510 (1,000 NZD) rent per month (for my half). £60 (120 NZD) on household bills (my half). Our household bills cover Wi-Fi, water, power, a fortnightly cleaner and generic house expenses (toilet roll, tin foil, etc.). One of my scholarships currently covers these costs for me, so my rent has effectively been £0 while enrolled as a student. Loan payments: £0 right now but my student loan repayments will restart once I go back to working full-time. Transport: Normally £40 (80 NZD) a month on the bus and £36 (75 NZD) or so a month on petrol but this varies a lot depending on whether we have trips planned.Savings? ISA, approximately £22,000 invested in various equity funds. £15,000 in shares for a company my mum used to work for. £6,500 (12,500 NZD) in a three-month notice access saver in New Zealand (half of this is earmarked as my 2020 pension contribution, half will go towards travelling around NZ next year). £1,000 (about 2,000 NZD) in a superannuation scheme through my employer, I contribute 5% of my pre-tax paycheque to this and my employer adds another 6%. J and I own a car and a camper van together. We split rent, petrol, insurance, household bills, food and other joint expenses 50:50 (we have a joint account but only really use it for direct debits and bills). Other: Phone: £15 (29 NZD) a month for 2GB and unlimited texts/calls. Les Mills gym membership: £60 (119 NZD) a month. Car insurance: £11 (22 NZD) a month. We paid our annual camper van insurance and AA membership in a lump sum earlier in the year, approximately £100 each (190 NZD). Charity: £10 (20 NZD) each to a children's charity. We also donate semi-regularly to local charities/the food bank but this tends to be larger one-off sums. Pottery studio membership: £47 (90 NZD) annually. Spotify and Netflix: I'm still on my parents' family plans for both (eek). Cloud storage: £2.09 a month. Health insurance: £309 (600 NZD) annually but my scholarship paid for it this year. I will be eligible for NZ healthcare once I finish so won't renew. I try to contribute between £500-1,000 a month to savings. Day One6.15am: Kicked awake by the person next to me in our bunk room. Check the time, roll over and try and get another hour's sleep. We (my partner, J, and friend, A) are on day five of one of New Zealand's Great Walks – a five-day canoe trip down the Whanganui River – and staying in a 20-bed bunkhouse.7.15am: Wake up properly. Sleeping bag away, wash my face, brave the camp toilets. It looks like J broke his toe trying to go to the toilet in the dark last night so I offer some sympathy while he attempts to tape it up. We pack all our belongings into waterproof barrels to go back in the canoes. 8am: Make a coffee with A's AeroPress. The hut we stayed at last night is on the edge of Tieke Kāinga Marae (a Māori meetinghouse), which looks gorgeous in the mist this morning. Drink my coffee and watch the piewakawaka catching bugs. 12pm: We're finally off the river and meet the trucks driving us back to our car. It started to rain a few hours ago so I'm soaking wet and freezing cold. Managed to not capsize this trip, which means I can put my (irrational) fear of being bitten by an eel to rest. Change into dry clothes and wolf down two packets of chocolate belVita breakfast biscuits. 1pm: Get signal for the first time in five days, see that I have 78 emails in my inbox. Manage to resist checking Teams for about five minutes before caving. Luckily there's nothing urgent in my inbox or Teams and it looks like an email campaign we had planned for last Friday went off without a hitch. 2.30pm: Stop at a gas station and grab some coffees, a bag of crisps, a pie for J, some water, and an air freshener for the car (we don't smell the best after five days and it's a long drive). £10.30 ($20) but J pays. 4pm: Fill up the car with petrol. £31 ($60) split three ways. £10.304.15pm: Stop and pick up 10 avocados and a watermelon from a roadside fruit stand a few km later – avocado toast is my go-to work lunch and they're often £1.30 ($2.50) each or more in the city. £9.30 ($18), J pays again but we'll even up later. J is driving so I run through my to-do list on my phone. Schedule a laser hair removal and Botox appointment for later in the month while I remember. I've been getting laser hair removal on my neck and chin for a year or so now – it's been one of the best investments, no more pesky black chin hairs! I get a few units of Botox in my frown lines and forehead every few months and am due for a top-up. Book in a mole spot check for next week as well – my mum's had problem moles removed before so I try to be proactive with getting them checked. See a Teams notification pop up and can't help myself checking it. I want to delete the app off my phone as I inevitably end up working on my days off because of it but I worry about being out of the loop with my team. 5pm: Stop and get a veggie burger and sweet potato fries from Burger Fuel in Hamilton. The first proper meal I've had today. £10 ($19.50) for mine. 8.30pm: We got home at 7pm, unpacked, laundry, showered etc. I have great plans to do some work but end up going straight to bed. Do my skincare routine and respond to some of the more urgent emails that came in over the weekend from my bed. Total: £20.30Day Two6.15am: Alarm goes off, snooze for 20 minutes. Finally get up at 6.35am. Immediately make two double Nespressos with a dash of soy milk (Happy Happy Soy Boy is the best I've found in NZ). I have a pretty packed day and feel like I can't face it without truckloads of caffeine this morning. Run through my skincare (La Roche-Posay mist and serum, Sunday Riley C.E.O. Glow, Dr. Jart Ceramidin, Ultraviolette suncream) and put on some makeup. 7.30am: Make it out the door for work. Stop at the German bakery on the corner to buy croissants for my team. One of my team had a COVID bereavement this week and we had two new team members join last week so I figured we could all do with a treat, £10.50 ($20.30). Realise by doing so I've probably made myself miss my bus but, honestly, I've put in so many unpaid hours at work this year I'm not too worried about being late. Catch a later bus, 80p ($1.70) with my tertiary discount (but topped up £10.30 ($20) last week so £0 today). There are no community COVID cases in Auckland at the moment but masks are still mandatory on public transport and we have a COVID QR scanner app to check in places. Text J from the bus and try and persuade him to see a doctor about his toe.9am: Make it an hour at work before my team all go for a coffee. Buy a sandwich for lunch later since we haven't had time to get groceries yet for this week. £7.75 ($15) for sandwich and a cold brew. 10.15am: Cave and eat my croissant from earlier. I've been trying to do intermittent fasting (not eating for 16-18 hours overnight to lunch) but I'm starving today and just got my period. Catch my boss for a quick five minute chat to ask about some staffing issues for my team. One of our temps has been offered a job in another department but I'd really like to keep her so want to see if we can offer her a permanent job. 12pm: Eat my sandwich at my desk, RSVP to a friend's wedding in the UK that was rescheduled to this summer. Sadly with the current NZ border restrictions we can't leave the country to go home for a visit, as we wouldn't be allowed back in to NZ.2pm: Eat three of the free biscuits at work, mostly as an excuse to take a break. I've been flitting between various tasks all morning and not really getting anything done. I have a meeting with my master's supervisor at 2.30pm to go over the data analysis for my final chapter. My supervisor is amazing so I'm hoping this makes me feel more productive. 5pm: Finish work and head straight to a meeting for a not-for-profit consultancy firm. I was 'hired' last week as a team leader for one of their upcoming projects – I want to move into consultancy but don't have any relevant experience at the moment, which is why I applied for this firm. It's all volunteer work so I'm doing it alongside my job/study but the organisation's values align with mine and hopefully it will pay off in the long run. Feel a bit out of my depth in the meeting with all the consulting lingo but remind myself that's why I'm doing this. Make a mental note to google 'value proposition' and 'discovery questions' on the bus home. Text J about dinner plans – neither of us has had time to get groceries yet so I offer to go on the way home if he cooks. Bus 80p ($1.70) but comes off my loaded credit so £0. 6.30pm: Stop in New World and get enough food to hopefully last us both the rest of the week. Shopping in New World always makes me tempted to buy fancy groceries I can't really afford (think the NZ version of Waitrose). £50.60 ($98) split between two, my scholarship will cover my half. Get home and cook filled pasta for J and I (we renegotiated the dinner deal if he picked me up from the supermarket). J reminds me that I owe him £77.50 ($150) for canoe rental from last weekend (debate whether I have to include this in this week's money diary and decide it was last week's expense?). 7.30pm: Feeling pretty shattered from my period so make a decaf Nespresso to try and trick my brain into work mode. Settle down at my desk to work on my thesis. 9pm: Procrastinate by making a COVID QR check-in poster for a party we're having this weekend and discuss what we need to buy with our housemates. Watch the fireworks for the end of the Americas Cup (yacht race) out of the upstairs window. New Zealand won so most of the city is celebrating. 11.30pm: Upstairs, shower, skincare, etc: prescription tretinoin, Glow Recipe Banana Soufflé Moisture Cream and more Dr. Jart Ceramidin tonight. In bed by midnight (how have I let it get to midnight). Total: £43.55Day Three6.35am: Make it out of bed by my second alarm. Nespresso with soy, skincare. It's one of those mornings where every outfit I put on looks wrong. Make an iced Americano to take to work and out the door by 7.20am to catch the bus (80p ($1.70) but off my loaded credit). I'm lucky to have some great bus routes within a few minutes' walk of my house so my commute is normally only 20-30 minutes. Read a novel on the bus (this was my NY resolution to try and stop spending so much time on Instagram) and text my siblings back in the UK. My sister went back to in-person school today so I catch up with her about that. 9.30am: Walk to the coffee shop with my team but resist buying anything today. The baristas know our names and orders, which is probably a sign we spend far too much time (and money) here. 12pm: Finish a training session and eat some pita and hummus at my desk. Message a friend in Canada to check in with her after the Atlanta shootings last night. Send her an Uber Eats card to buy dinner tonight to try and take one task off her mind today (£29/50CAD) and match it with a donation to the Chinese seniors outreach programme run by the women's centre in her city (£29/50CAD). Feel a bit lost trying to support friends from so far away, especially with such heavy issues like anti-Asian racism in the wake of COVID. 12.30pm: J texts asking if I want to meet for a bubble tea. Only too happy to get away from my desk. £8.70 ($16.80) for a soy matcha milk tea for me and a dirtea coffee milk tea for J (whatever that is). I get a mango green tea with coconut pearls for my friend D back in the office. I pay for all three (but get one drink free with my loyalty stamp card).5.45pm: Finish work. I'm supposed to go to welcome drinks for this consultancy gig but most of my project team aren't going (and I still haven't googled what a value proposition is) so I decide to go home and work on my thesis instead. I'm finishing work early tomorrow, which is why I've stayed late the last few days. 80p ($1.70) on the bus (but off my stored credit).6.20pm: Get home and knit a few rows on a vest I'm making for my sister before starting work on my thesis. I taught myself to knit a few weeks ago, mostly driven by a desire for fancy hand-knitted sweaters (but not the price tag on fancy hand-knitted sweaters), only to realise they cost that much because wool is bloody expensive and knitting takes ages. So now instead of spending that money on someone else making me a beautiful hand-knitted sweater, I'm spending the same amount to make myself a lumpy, misshapen hand-knitted sweater. But I find the process therapeutic at least. 7.30pm: Cook sweet potatoes with chilli chickpeas, kale, avocado and hummus for J and I for dinner. 10pm: Wrap up work and FaceTime my mum for an hour. Start getting ready for bed at 11pm. Catch up with a good friend I haven't spoken to in a while who also happens to be up late. Shower, skincare, creep in bed by midnight to not wake J (how has this happened again? I'm normally better at early bedtimes!). Total: £66.70Day Four6.15am: Wake up at my first alarm, scroll social media in bed for a bit and reply to texts from my family in the UK that have come through overnight. Get up and make a Nespresso, skincare, get dressed, etc. 7.30am: Make an iced Americano to take to work, out the door at 7.30am. I'm driving to work today because I have an appointment this afternoon and don't want to have to rely on the bus. £8 ($15.60) for parking. D arrives at work with a caramel slice for me from our favourite coffee shop. My team are honestly the best and my favourite thing about this job. 9.30am: My team go to the coffee shop again and I join for the walk but resist buying anything. Eat my caramel slice back at my desk at 10am (intermittent fasting has not been going well this week). 12pm: I had brought avocado toast ingredients for lunch but my team is going to a local Japanese place so I decide to join them and save my lunch ingredients for later. J meets us there. £12.90 ($25) for a tofu donburi for me and a chicken katsu for J. 2pm: Finish work and head off to my tattoo appointment – I'm getting a little portrait of my dog who passed away last year. I booked this appointment mid-2020 and it's been rescheduled three times due to COVID (on top of the waitlist for this artist). This is a pretty big one-off expense but one that I've budgeted for as I've known about it for so long. Pay £3.40 ($6.60) for street parking. 5.30pm: Appointment done! I love it. Bank transfer the artist £206 ($400) (I had previously paid a £52 ($100) deposit). J texts and asks if I want to go out for dinner with his work friends. I have a bag of filled pasta in the fridge but tell him to let me know where they end up. My thesis is calling in the meantime. £2067.30pm: I have the laser hair removal appointment I booked earlier in the week. I get my lip, chin and neck done. The clinic has a sale on so only £11.60 ($22.50) for all three areas. 8pm: Decide to skip J's drinks and eat at home. Embarrassed to admit but it's filled pasta with ketchup and cheese for dinner. I promise I AM an adult even if my sleep pattern and food choices say otherwise this week. Walk to the Dairy (NZ corner shop) and get an ice lolly for dessert and one for J when he gets home. £3 ($5.80)11pm: Get ready for bed, skincare, etc. I actually ended up spending most of my evening building a bedside table instead of studying. I've wanted one of those tiled cubes that are popular right now but they cost £250+ ($500) here. It turns out alright, although definitely a first attempt! Total: £244.90Day Five7am: Alarm goes off but it's still dark outside and I can't face getting up in the dark on a weekend so I snooze it and go back to sleep. 9am: Wake up, J is already downstairs tidying up for the party. Reply to texts from people in the UK that came in overnight. Send photos of my tattoo to various family group chats (my dad is not impressed haha). Have two Nespressos with soy milk for breakfast. 10am: Head out to my pottery studio. I've got a commission I need to finish and I've not been able to go with my work hours this week so squeeze it in now. £15.50 ($30) for studio time and an espresso cup I pick up from one of the other artists to send to my dad. 12pm: Spend the rest of the morning tidying the house and moving anything remotely breakable upstairs. Catch up with my brother about his uni work. J wakes up from a nap (his work group went quite hard last night) and I make us both avocado toast for lunch. J heads to Countdown to get the remaining things for the party. £25.80 ($50) but he pays. 2pm: House is tidy, valuables are upstairs (including my precious houseplant and ceramic collections) and drinks are out – we've made huge quantities of Pimm's and sangria, and J brewed 40 litres of beer for this. Settle down on the couch to do some marking of student papers before people arrive. We've invited about 40 of our colleagues and other friends from Auckland, and our housemates' friends. 12.20am: We asked guests to bring food and four people bizarrely brought packs of crumpets ('cause we're English maybe?). Toast and eat four crumpets and have a fierce debate with our housemates over the appropriate level of toasting for a crumpet. Most people have left, decide to go upstairs and try to hide from everyone debating where to go out. Hear murmurs of ‘karaoke' from downstairs but the false eyelashes are off so I'm committed to bed. Somehow shower and do my skincare routine. Discover a drunk man passed out in our room and recruit J to help me get him out – we park him in the spare bedroom and both go to sleep about 1am. Total: £15.50Day Six8am: Wake up feeling remarkably fresh, although I had super vivid dreams all night. Drunk man from last night let himself out earlier this morning. Brace myself to look at the mess downstairs from last night – our housemates are already up and having a go at cleaning. Sit in bed with my Nespresso and read the most recent money diary (impressed by how much she saves!). 10am: J and I head out for brunch at a super popular place just round the corner from us. Normally we have to queue to get in here but we're lucky today and get seated straightaway. J orders a full English breakfast and I go for an eggs benny and an oat iced latte. Chat about family back home and how much we miss doing things like this with them. J's dad gave us some money last week that we use to pay for this – last weekend was the first Mother's Day since we lost J's mum to COVID so he wanted us to have a Mother's Day meal to celebrate her. £39.50 ($76.40) for us both but £0 as J's dad paid. 12pm: Spend the morning doing my bit tidying up the house. Luckily our cleaner comes tomorrow so it doesn't need to be spotless for now. Feeling a bit sticky and hungover so have a cold shower and wash my hair. Hair washing is a once-a-week activity as my hair is below my bum and takes ages to wash and hours to dry.1pm: Make an iced oat latte and sit down to do some more marking. I have 34 student blogposts to mark this week for my supervisor. 3pm: I've been meaning to wash our down sleeping bags and jackets for about the last three months. Finally get round to washing them today. We don't have a tumble dryer so drive round the corner to use a laundromat. Get £10.30 ($20) out in $1 coins, spend £5.20 ($10) on the dry cycle. J will go pick them up in an hour. 3.30pm: J's done an online food shop from Countdown for the next week. Avocado toast for lunches and pineapple tofu, pesto gnocchi, orzo primavera and Mexican bowls for dinner this week. I am vegetarian (mostly vegan), J occasionally eats meat when we are out but we cook vegetarian at home. Also get other household necessities like Nespresso pods, shower gel, protein powder and a lunch bag (because someone keeps stealing my food from the work fridge and I hope the bag will put them off). £56.80 ($110) for my half, my scholarship will cover this. 4pm: Go to a spin class at Les Mills. It's a five minute drive down the hill – I normally walk but can't face the idea of walking back up the hill today. I try to go to the gym at least once a day but haven't had the time/energy since we got back from the canoe trip. Resolve to do better next week. 5.30pm: Class finished, stop in New World and grab a garlic bread and a detox drink on my way home (I'm kidding myself I know), £6.50 ($12.50) off my scholarship. Home and showered. Cook the gnocchi for dinner for J and I and eat with our housemates, discuss who was the most embarrassing last night. A video surfaces of me performing "Love Story" by Taylor Swift complete with dance moves so I definitely win the embarrassment competition. Remember to transfer £46.50 ($90) to our cleaning lady for tomorrow, this comes out the bills account. Back to my desk to do some uni work. 9pm: FaceTime my parents and sister. I've been wanting to pick my dad's brains about this consulting project as he works as a management consultant. Finish the call with lots of ideas and a methodology in mind for approaching the project. 10pm: Debate doing some more work but I've made it all day without a nap and I'm shattered. Skincare, brush teeth, etc. Knit a few more rows on my sister's vest – I want to get it finished this week so I can post it home along with the espresso cups for my dad next weekend. 11pm: Scroll Instagram for a bit before going to sleep. Total: £51.70Day Seven6.30am: Snooze my alarm for 15 minutes, up by 6.30am. Have a Nespresso with soy, scroll Instagram while I get ready. Grab my lunch stuff and out the door by 7.30am (including my new anti-theft lunchbox lol). Ran out of time to make a takeaway coffee this morning. 8am: I have a dentist and hygienist appointment this morning. The last time I went was in 2019 in the UK so this appointment is long overdue but my insurance doesn't cover routine dental so I've been putting off paying out of pocket. I've already postponed this appointment once which is why I ended up with a tattoo and dental in the same week (my poor bank balance, sob). The dentist is next door to my office so catch the same bus as usual, 80p ($1.70) but off my stored credit. 9.45am: Dentist appointment done. £147.30 ($285) for dentist and hygienist – no problems with my teeth though, which is good! 10am: Set up at my desk then nip out to grab a soy latte with D and catch up about her weekend. Commiserate about how hard it's been to find graduate jobs in our fields of study. D finished her master's of architecture the same year I finished my master's of history. £2.89 ($5.60). Back to work! 11am: Procrastinate work by ordering a box of doughnuts to be delivered to my tattoo artist as a thank you for creating such a beautiful tribute to my dog. £21.45 ($41.50) for four doughnuts, including delivery. Order from a tiny local WOC-owned company that I love, £5 ($10) a doughnut is pricey but I'm more than happy to support them over Dunkin'. 3pm: Work finished for the day. Had a productive team meeting before I left so feeling good about where we are for the coming week. Dash off to a marking meeting with my supervisor to discuss these student blogposts.4pm: Head to a two-hour lecture for the undergrad course I'm marking for. Catch up with the other teaching assistant on the way and stop to buy another soy latte – feel guilty at buying two coffees in one day (thank god payday is on Wednesday). £2.89 ($5.60)6pm: Bus home (80p ($1.70) but off stored credit). Our wonderful cleaner has been so the house is spotless. J has made Mexican bowls for dinner – eat together and chat about homesickness with our housemates. We're all feeling the effects of not being able to go home and visit family (with no end-date in sight). Decide to crack on with this marking tonight, as I can watch Netflix in the background. 8pm: Head to Les Mills for a sprint spin class, persuade myself to walk down the hill instead of driving. 9pm: Back home from the gym, shower and back to marking papers for the rest of the evening. 11pm: Wrap up marking for the evening, shower, skincare, etc. Teeth are feeling very clean and shiny after my appointment this morning. Try not to wake J up. Scroll Instagram in bed for a bit before going to sleep. Total: £174.53The BreakdownFood & Drink: £105.38Entertainment: £15.50Clothes & Beauty: £11.60Transportation: £21.70Other: £463Total: £617.18Conclusion"This was an expensive week for me, although with the exception of my tattoo and the dentist it was a pretty typical week. I would never normally have two big expenses in one pay cycle like this but the COVID lockdowns in February meant things got rescheduled. On the whole I was quite happy with my spending. Even though it was a lot of money, most of my spending was quite mindful/conscious (rather than mindless clothes shopping, not eating food I have at home or buying multiple coffees out, which I only did once or twice). It did make me think maybe I need to address some of the anxiety I have around spending/money. I did realise this week how much financial privilege I have, and how lucky we are to be living in New Zealand right now! Going on trips, having a party, going to the gym and having a tattoo – I definitely don’t take all this for granted." Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?Money Diary: A TV Producer On £300/d In LondonMoney Diary: A 25-Year-Old Civil Servant On 40kMoney Diary: 29-Year-Old Comms Executive On 25.5k
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