Talking about money in France is still taboo.However, this is an exciting subject, and by certain aspects ... feminist!In our settlement of accounts, people of all kinds come to peel their budget, tell us about their financial organization (as a couple or solo) and their relationship to money.Today, Elsa agreed to open her accounts for us.
The income of Elsa and her husband
For her employee work on a permanent contract in the field of technology, Elsa affects € 2,036 per month.When asked if she considers herself well paid, she answers:
"Given my experience and my field of work, I feel badly paid.But on the other hand, I manage to live very well with this sum ... This is a complicated question!»»
Her husband receives a similar salary, € 2,100 monthly.Without further source of income, this makes them a total budget of € 4,136 each month.
The relation to the money of Elsa and her husband
To understand the expenses of Elsa and her spouse, it is important to understand their reports to the respective money.Indeed, they come from very different social backgrounds, as Elsa explains:
"I come from a very easy family where we were not taught to manage.For a long time, I saw money as something that comes without effort, as a guarantee of life.My spouse, conversely, comes from a working environment: his family had a lot of trouble at the end of the month.His biggest fear today is having an empty fridge or not being able to buy clothes for your children.
I left my family abruptly at the end of adolescence, and overnight, I found myself living alone and with small sums.But I did not save, and I was in the open every month.»»
It was when she started to live with her companion that Elsa began to manage her budget:
"I had the means to have an apartment because my parents were forced to give me money to live, when he had nothing.I offered to live with me, and I took care of all the expenses.He felt very bad to depend on me, and as soon as he was able, he started working to participate.
When I lived alone, I didn't mind jumping a meal from time to time.But when he got home, I didn't want to impose my mismanagement to him: I learned to pay much more attention.»»
The couple's financial organization
After years of financial galley, the situation of Elsa and her husband stabilized about a year ago.Now both on permanent contracts, they pay their common expenses from a joint account but each keep a current account and an individual savings account.
"Even if we win about the same thing, it was very important to us that everyone had their own account.First, to be able to have a kind of "secret garden", and buy what you want without the other knowing it, but also to stay free.
My parents had all their money on a common account, and my father used it to control my mother's expenses, and I don't want to reproduce this.»»
On this common account are taken the races, their rent, their insurance, and their loan refund.The rest is distributed over their personal accounts.Each month, they pay a fair sum according to their net salaries: if one of them wins less, the other will take care of more expenses.
The expenses of Elsa and her husband
The highest expenditure of the couple is, as often, in the rent. Pour leur appartement de 70m2en banlieue d’une grande ville, ils paient la somme de 550€ par mois.But for this same good, they have not always paid for this sum:
"We are tenants of an apartment at a reduced price (1% housing).We were entitled to it because we were on the poverty line two years ago.The price of the accommodation adapts to our salary: at the beginning we pay 150 euros per month, and now 550.But we plan to move as soon as possible, to give way to other people who need it.»»
To get it, the couple will have waited for two years.In addition to their rent, they pay € 165 in invoices per month for water, electricity and gas.A sum that practically doubled last month, due to the increase in energy prices.
As for food races, the couple estimates the cost of their organic, and vegetarian diet at € 340..
« Notre voiture, c’était notre première folie»»
The second largest monthly expense of Elsa and her husband is the refund of a credit: the one they contracted to buy a car, which costs them € 418 per month.She tells :
"Our madness, after 6 years of financial galleys, was to buy our first car.We bought it used, but in a fairly expensive range: we wanted a hybrid, and automatic. Cela fait un gros prêt !»»
It is therefore € 20,000 that they reimburse over three years for their vehicle, which also costs them around thirty euros per month in petrol, and € 97 insurance costs.
They also have some spending on their cat's health: it is too old to be eligible for a mutual and needs regular treatment that can be quite expensive.Between veterinary costs, food and litter, it costs them 50 € each month.
Finally, their fixed expenses include € 15 for bank charges, € 10 home insurance, € 25 for an internet subscription, and € 30 for streaming movies and music.
In all, it is therefore € 1,681 in common expenses that the couple is shared every month.
Personal expenses of the two spouses
Once these costs are paid, each spouses keep around € 220 on their individual current account.They spend this sum for their personal costs, their leisure ... Elsa distributes this sum as follows:
"What costs me the most are Chinese lessons at 40 € per month.I also pay 45 € for a session with a psychotherapist.
Then, I pay my telephone package, my health costs when everything is not always reimbursed, € 10 of snacks, when I want a chocolate bread when I get out of work for example, and 30 € of donations toAssociations per month.»»
Son conjoint, quant à lui, a pris la décision de payer toutes les dépenses dites « féminines»» ainsi que la contraception.This amounts to around € 40 per month:
"It was he who decided to pay all menstrual hygiene products, contraception, and my appointment with the esthetician.One day, he said to me "But you pay a lot for all of this, these are expenses that I have never had!Come on, I take care of it.He educates himself a lot in his corner with feminist accounts on Instagram, and I think that made him sensitive to these questions.»»
Du côté des loisirs, Elsa et son mari privilégient les choses gratuites, à faire à la maison : se former sur YouTube à de nouveaux talents, dessiner, lire, bricoler…She tells :
"We don't go out a lot, a movie and a restaurant per month maximum.We never go to bars for example, it does not fit into the budget.In the past, we did not have enough money to do it, and it became a habit.
It doesn't bother me: when I think of my parents with whom I went to the restaurant every day, I tell myself that these moments had no value.While now these outings are special, and we take advantage of it! ”
"The fear of missing is a trauma»»
If Elsa and her husband restrict their personal expenses at around 200 €, it is because they want to save as much as possible:
"The fear of missing is a trauma.When I finished my studies and I found myself without any income, with my husband who earned 700 or 800 euros per month, it was very complicated: the slightest concern for health became a hole in the budget, we do notCan not have the means to save anything ...
Since then, our situation has stabilized but we don't really have to please ourselves.Priority is to be sure that we can ensure our financial security.As soon as we found our jobs respective, we said to ourselves: "Let's not add new expenses, and keep our life standard than what we earn.»»
Since then, they save around € 1,000 per month, above all by need for security.Because even with a permanent contract, she knows that stable things are not always doomed to remain so.She adds:
"In the field of tech, it moves a lot.These are environments that can be difficult to live: I have already experienced sexism, racism at work ... It happened to us to resign because the company was toxic and in this case we have no help.For us, being well at work is very important: we would like to be able to leave if necessary, without being afraid.»»
Photo credit: Andres Ayrton / Pexels
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