'A year of money ups and downs'

Daniel Donaldson, 29, is a law graduate working as a trainee solicitor in Edinburgh.

Daniel has been recording his spending as part of a panel monitoring the changing cost of living over the past year.

'Focussing on what's important'

'Fuel, food and jobs still key'

I was on holiday from work when asked to keep a note of my expenditure for the week. Part of the time, my partner and I were finishing up our tour of Scotland, the rest of the time I was at home.

We decided to stay in Scotland and have a driving holiday up north. We had looked into going abroad but it was really expensive - cheaper flights seemed to be a little thin on the ground if you wanted a decent holiday.

I noticed while I was on holiday that things cost more when you are outside the city, although I doubt whether wages are any better.

This year has been full of ups and downs for everyone. There has been a great deal of uncertainty in the job market, lots of unemployment amongst graduates, redundancies which hit close to home and the banking crisis meaning we all now have to pay more for credit.

The government reduced VAT; this had little effect. However, I did notice that the reduction in interest rates reduced both my mortgage and professional studies loan interest. However, fuel started to reduce in price and then increased again. It was difficult to keep track of and nobody seemed to be able to explain how the system of setting prices worked anyway.

See Daniel's diary of living costs

In terms of food prices, well, I have changed supermarkets. I found an older receipt from July last year. It was interesting to see how different the prices were. For example, cereal bars used to be around 75p for six and now they are 98p. Likewise, milk was around £1.25 and now it's £1.54. Bread is an interesting one - the price has gone up and come down, so it's difficult to compare.

All in all, I would say that prices in my old supermarket have increased on average. However, for the life of me, I cannot understand how a frozen meal in Farmfoods costs £1.50 and the same meal is £2.99 in Sainsbury's.

My main worry going forward is finding a full-time job in a year's time when my current contract ends

The supermarkets seem to be making more use of of their marketing budgets and creating new offers. However, I am always suspicious of this and can see through the scam. For example, two packs of cheese for £2 - not bad, seems like a good offer on the face of it. However, a year ago there were 10 slices in every pack and now there are only six. So, there is not actually much of a saving here.

To be honest, I am sick of seeing the "we're cheaper than you" adverts. Asda and Tesco really need to get a grip - saving 2p off a bottle of coke or 4p on a packet of cheese is really not much of a saving. £1.50 versus £2.99 is a real saving.

My main worry going forward is finding a full-time job in a year's time when my current contract ends. I am also concerned about property prices going forward. I was looking to move again in the next year but it is taking at least six months to sell property in Edinburgh just now and I hope that things pick up soon.

I received some good news from my gas and electricity company. I actually got £115 back from them because I had over-paid them by direct debit! This came as quite a surprise.

Although it is a small victory, I hope that things begin to get on an even keel again in the economy. Too many people have lost both opportunities and jobs over the past year because of the recession/banking crisis and it's time for things to pick up again.

Keeping tabs on the cost of living