The veneer was already thin, but the facade of Refinery29’s money column didn’t fully crack until the middle of January 2018 when the women’s site posted an article, the subject of which would forever be dubbed “Money Diary Girl”. The piece was part of its Money Diary series, “tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money”, which asked women from different walks of life and with different incomes to record their spending for a week. It purported to be a useful column to help women gain a better understanding of the reality of finance.
This particular diary followed a freelance writer living in London on £14,400 (“if I take no holiday and pay no tax”). The first entry was for New Year’s Eve, and the writer has only £33 left in her bank account. She proceeds to use her credit card to spend hundreds of pounds on cocaine, Ubers and rounds of drinks for her friends – seemingly aware of the financial pit she is building for herself, but pushing through with a relentless “Yolo” attitude anyway. The rest of the week she spends money on brunches, takeaways and more Ubers – until she recognises that she is so broke that will have to move back in with her mother.
Content from our partners
