Credit cards and locum (for shit rates) got me through FY1. I lived "comfortably" at the cost of accumulating significant debt, knowing that I will pay it back in FY2 with much better locum rates. Most people would argue I was an idiot to live the way I did in FY1 - maxed overdraft and multiple credit cards but I was absolutely sick of studying for the best part of my last decade and living like a house elf. I needed a year to feel like an adult and make me feel less depressed about work so I ate out, went on holidays and bought a lot of expensive gifts for myself and others. The thing is, I wasn't living that lavishly, I was just trying to live like a "normal" person, how all of my friends in other disciplines were living (and not even the finance guys).

I'm now in FY2 and I haven't started locumming just yet but I've been paying off my debts from FY1. I fucking hate how I can't enjoy my life because of our shit pay and outrageous living costs. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a PGY-2 doctor to live a normal life whilst being able to save some money at the same time but that's not possible at the moment.