Location: Paris – salary: €22,000 – lives with parents
Ever wondered what a week in the life of someone with luxury taste but a stingy streak looks like?
This week, our Money Talks dives into the spending habits of Penelope, a 25-year-old teacher living in Paris.
Penelope is the first to admit she’s “got luxury taste” but is “stingy at the same time.” In other words, she’s happy to splash on a designer coat, but also ops for a trusty meal deal to keep things financially light.
She lives with her parents, earns €22k a year, and is trying to start investing in stocks. But at the same time, she’s factoring in Klarna payments, music lessons, public transport fees and even a ChatGPT subscription.
The week at a glance
Annual salary: €22,000
Living situation: With parents
Current commitments: Transportation card, Klarna, lunch, music lessons, ChatGPT subscription
Main money goal: Investing in stocks
General attitude toward money: “Luxury taste but stingy — always hunting for a discount”
Typical daily spend: Varies a lot (especially this week with sales)
Penelope’s spending diary
Sunday
€65 – flight to London
Booked at 11:55pm when she realised, no – the prices aren’t going to drop last minute: “I could have bought them early ngl, but I just procrastinated.”
Daily total: £65
Monday
€125 – Eurostar ticket
€43.99 – Vueling ticket
The midnight spending continued – unfortunately unavoidable.
Daily total: €168.99
Tuesday
€3.03 – lunch at Lidl
Specifically a focaccia with brie, a croissant, and ginger shots. A great combo.
+€80 – Vinted sale received
A lovely bit of unexpected income for a Tuesday!
Daily total: €3.03
Wednesday
No spend day
But, more incomings included:
+£6 – Giffgaff refund
+£1,687 – salary (paid early)
Daily total: £0
Thursday
€2.03 – light Lidl lunch (due to illness)
€94 – COS coat, wool jumper and earrings (Klarna first payment)
Planned Black Friday purchases (except for the earrings, oops). T
Daily total: €96.03
Friday (Black Friday)
£50 – Urban Sophistication phone case
A little luxury, long awaited.
+£70 – SSENSE refund
Partial refund after receiving a damaged shoebox.
Daily total: £50 (net +£20 after refund)
Saturday
£50 – Skincare NIOD/Deciem serums
Penelope only buys skincare during sales – this time it was the NIOD/Deciem serums that made the basket, but she also got a free serum.
Daily total: £50
Weekly reflection
Total weekly spend: Chaotic but expected for Black Friday and holiday season – Penelope factored in for lots of travel and intentional Christmas purchases.
This week was way more pricey than usual, mostly thanks to stacked travel bookings and planned discount buys that added up. Penelope says she was most shocked by flight prices, admitting she procrastinated instead of booking early.
If she could redo anything, she’d skip the earrings. “I don’t need them,” she wrote, but we all like a little treat.
Other than the early salary and sporadic Vinted sales and refunds, nothing dramatic happened financially this week. Although it wasn’t a typical spending week – Penelope’s normal spending is usually much lower when Black Friday isn’t in the picture.
Her biggest goal going forward is to start investing properly.
Conclusions
Penelope’s week is the perfect example of someone who loves nice things but also refuses to pay full price unless she absolutely must. A girl after my own heart, tbh. She strategically times her skincare purchases, survives on cheap lunches and splurges only when there’s a sale on.
Her approach shows a surprisingly balanced mix of indulgence and frugality. Penelope got gifts, treats and could afford larger travel costs, largely due to her careful budgetting with day to day costs. A good plan whilst living at home and aiming to invest for her future.
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