Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
WELCOME TO HOW I Spend My Money, a series on TheJournal.ie that runs on Wednesdays and Sundays and looks at what people in Ireland really do with their cash.
We’re asking readers to keep a record of how much they earn, how much they save, if anything, and what they spend their money on over the course of one week.
Want to take part? Details on how to do it are at the bottom of the piece.
Each money diary is submitted by readers just like you. When reading and commenting, bear in mind that their situation will not be relatable for everyone, it is simply an account of a week in their shoes.
Today, a 29-year-old data analyst from Waterford, who works for a bank and lives in Brussels. This person shares an apartment with two housemates and travels a lot.
I work in a bank and share an apartment with two housemates. I travel very often and a lot of my money is spent on flights, trains, buses, etc. I have a bank loan of just over €11,000 which I am paying off every month. My salary should increase fairly substantially in March and I am torn between finding my own one-bedroom apartment to rent and staying in my current shared apartment and paying off my loan within a year and then saving for a deposit to buy my own place.
Occupation: Data Analyst
Age: 29
Location: Brussels
Salary: €39,225
Monthly pay (net): €2,480
Monthly expenses
Rent: €508
Household bills: €50
Transport: Paid by employer
Phone bill: €40
Health insurance: Around €100 annually (more information on Belgian health insurance here)
Groceries: €200
Subscriptions: €15 for a long-term bicycle rental
Loan repayments: €260
***
10am: I wake up – it’s late but I’m off today and I went out for a few drinks last night with a friend so I didn’t get to bed until late. I’m home in Waterford for the weekend and my cousin is visiting soon with her new baby so I get ready for her to arrive.
12.30pm: When my cousin leaves, I go to the supermarket to pick up some beer, chocolates and a card for my dad’s birthday and also get some soup and a sandwich from the deli for my lunch. Everything comes to €40.87. Usually, my two sisters and I would share the cost of the present but I decide not to ask them for anything towards it as there are other bits and pieces that they pay for seeing as I’m living abroad.
2pm: I’m flying back to Brussels this evening so take the bus to Dublin airport. I buy a bottle of water for the journey for €2 and also buy my bus ticket for €19.
5pm: I’m already thinking of how long it is until my next pay day as I spent more money than I should have at home last weekend. I set myself a strict budget every month but always end up spending more. I browse through books at the airport and see one I want but decide against it as it’s €20. This happens to me often – I rarely make unplanned purchases that aren’t food or drink.
6pm: Before my flight, I spend €9.35 on a meal in Burger King and make a mental note to not go there again because I don’t like the chips. The burger was nice though so I’m happy about that.
7pm: Just before my flight takes off I buy my ticket online for the bus from the airport to Brussels. It’s €14.20.
7.30pm: I’m gasping on the plane so get a can of Pepsi for €2.50.
9.30pm: I fly into an airport just south of Brussels and have to get a bus and metro home. I have a monthly travel pass for Brussels which is paid for by work so I don’t have to buy a metro ticket. I get a bottle of water for €1 in the shop because I’m thirsty.
11pm: I’m finally home and really tired so I unpack my bag and go straight to bed. Before I fall asleep, I’m thinking about how much I spent today and how I really have to reign in my spending if I want to make it to my next payday which is almost four full weeks away.
Today’s total: €88.92
8am: I get up an hour later than usual because I’m tired after the weekend at home. I have a quick shower and head out the door at 8.35am. I get the bus to work and use my monthly pass, so this costs me nothing.
9am: I arrive at work and realise I have left the key for my locker at home, so can’t get my laptop to start work. Seeing as I have some time before the facilities team comes to open my locker, I get a coffee. There is free coffee from a machine so I get one of those.
12 noon: It’s lunchtime and usually I bring my lunch, but seeing as I arrived home late I have to buy it. We have a huge canteen at work with loads of options and I get soup and a sandwich. It’s €5.31.
3pm: I get an e-mail from a company that gives massages at the office saying they have to cancel mine for tomorrow. It’s usually €20 for the massage and it’s no harm that it has to be cancelled, considering my overspend last weekend.
4:30pm: I leave work and go to the supermarket on the way home to pick up stuff for lunches. I spend €8.61 and this will be my lunch for the rest of the week.
6:30pm: Some of my colleagues from Romania are in Brussels this week to work so we go out for dinner. I spend €16.40 on a burrito and a beer.
9pm: I’m wrecked so I go home for an early night. My housemates show me a new light fixture they have bought for the kitchen. It was €60 split threes so my portion is €20. We use an app that automatically splits our bills and I’m owed about €50 from them, so I’m pretending the light was free because I don’t have to hand over any cash.
They tell me they can install it themselves, even though I think an electrician will have to do it. On the way home, I buy a bag of Maltesers for €1 and have them with a cup of tea in bed and fall asleep to an episode of Shameless.
Today’s total: €51.32
7am: My alarm goes off but I don’t get up for another half an hour. I shower and am out the door at 8.05am. There’s a really nice coffee truck at the bus stop and sometimes I get a coffee there but my bus is due in one minute so I don’t want to risk it. In the end, the bus takes about 10 minutes so I’m raging. I use my bus pass so there’s no cost.
8:30am: I get to work and make a coffee. I have a Bodum travel mug that’s also a French press so I can make nice coffee at work as the stuff in the machine isn’t great. We get baskets of fruit delivered in work so I take two pieces from that for my breakfast.
12 noon: It’s lunchtime so I head to the canteen with my colleagues. I eat lunch I prepared last night and head back to my desk for 1 pm to resume working.
1:30pm: We have a two-hour planning meeting at work so I get a “fancy” coffee from the machine, which is not free but it’s only €0.70c. My boss asks for one too but I get her a free one because my bank card won’t work again for some reason. I’m secretly delighted and also realise there are lots of coffee options at work, most of which are rotten.
5pm: I leave work and on the way stop for some garlic bread. It’s €1.50. When I get home I put on a wash and make my dinner. I realise I need to buy washing powder soon.
7:30pm: I am in a choir and we have rehearsals tonight so I get the metro there.
10pm: After choir we usually have a drink together. I just have one beer tonight and it’s €2.
11pm: I get home, eat half of tomorrow’s lunch and go to bed.
Today’s total: €4.20
7am: I wake up and notice that one of my housemates has added some expenses to our Tricount, which is the app that tracks our common expenses and evenly splits them. My portion is €28 and it’s for the internet bill, food for a party we’re having on Friday night and a blender I knew nothing about. I tell them to check with me first before splitting the cost of things they want and they offer to remove the cost of the blender for me, but it’s not a big deal and it will come in handy for making soup in the winter. Even though this has cost me money, I don’t have to pay anything right now as I am still owed money from them.
8:05am: I’m out the door. I get a cappuccino at the coffee truck for €3 and I’m bawling because usually you get a little sweet with it but today there’s none. But the bus is waiting for me when I arrive at the stop so things are looking up.
8:30am: I’m at my desk and get stuck in straight away as I have meetings all day starting at 9am and want to reply to some e-mails beforehand.
11:45am: I go for an early lunch and eat what I prepared and also get a bowl of soup for €0.92. After lunch, my colleague buys me a coffee in the cafe at work. I will buy her one back the next time. We do it in rotation.
12:30pm: I’m back to work for the afternoon and it’s all meetings.
5pm: I leave work and decide to get the metro as this evening I have to go to the city hall to pick up my new Belgian ID card. I imagine there’ll be a huge queue and I’ll be there for ages so I mentally prepare myself for Belgian bureaucracy.
6pm: I’m surprised how quickly things go at the city hall. My housemates and I are having a party tomorrow night so I go to Lidl and buy beer for the fridge and a few groceries. It comes to €35.26. I put the cost of the beer on the tricount so I will get €20 back from my housemates. After Lidl, I go straight home, make my dinner and relax for the evening. It’s my only free evening this week so I make the most of it.
9pm: I’m already falling asleep.
Today’s total: €47.18
8am: Fridays are considerably more relaxed in work and I have no early meetings so I get up later. I take the bus to work and I’m there by 9am. In the cafe at work, I treat myself to a croissant because it’s Friday and I’m delighted. It’s €1.25, which is actually quite expensive.
12 noon: I go for lunch and have brought it with me from home. I resist buying a dessert in the canteen and instead get a Balisto bar in the cafe on the way back to my desk for €1.
12:30pm: I want to finally open a Belgian bank account so I start to do this online. I’m still banking with my Irish bank because I have a €300 overdraft which is handy. But now I have everything I need to get credit in Belgium so I’m thinking of applying for a credit card for the more expensive months.
2:15pm: I go to the vending machine and get a Coke zero. I use my Revolut card for this. Its €0.80 but every time I use this card, it rounds up to the next euro and saves the “change” in a savings account. So when I bought the coke, €0.20 went into my savings. I use Revolut for all my day-to-day spending. It’s a really easy way of saving without even noticing. I’m halfway there with the cost of flights to Dubai already, where I plan to go to visit friends in March.
5:30pm: I leave work and get the metro home. On the way, I stop at the supermarket for more beer and some groceries. I spend €15.72 but this will go on our Tricount again. When I get home, I have something to eat and get ready for the party.
9:00pm: Most people have arrived at the party. We stay in for the night and horse into the food and drink.
Today’s total: €8.29
7am: I wake up on the sofa and go upstairs to my bedroom.
12 noon: I wake up again, make some pasta, bring it to bed in the pot and fall in and out of consciousness for the whole afternoon in between shovelling the pasta into my face.
7pm: I meet my friends for a casual dinner just around the corner. It’s only €15 for my food and a beer. Afterwards, we go to the shop and I buy a Reese’s peanut butter cup for €1. I go home, watch a film and go to bed.
Today’s total: €16
10am: I wake up and pull out my earplugs, which I put in at about 2am because my housemate had friends over, and they were chatting downstairs until late.
11am: I make a pot of coffee and have a bite to eat. I have some work to do on my computer, so I settle into that for the afternoon.
6:00pm: I go for a walk to get out of the house and end up meeting a friend and we go for another casual dinner together. It’s only €4.50 for a big chicken sandwich and chips. On the way home, I stop off in the shop for milk and a pack of biscuits and it’s €2.70. I go home, have a cup of tea and get ready for the week.
Today’s total: € 7.20
What I’ve learned:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
A nervous prospective father was sent to the pub next door by the midwife and told to ring for updates. He rang after a few pints but there was no news. Even more nervous, he started on whiskey. Now half scattered, he rang, but in his haste put in the wrong number and got the local cricket club. He asked if there was any news? The person on the end replied, ‘all ten out and the last one was a duck’.
Spot on. Current parental leave is very bias towards the mother. There should be a mechanism by which the mother can assign her maternity leave to the father if that’s what parents decide is best. We can’t be feminists if we don’t believe in equality for men too.
@Alison O’ Connor: 100% agree with this. Should be the ability to split this equally. When I asked on mat leave if it was possible for my husband to take the last few weeks (as I needed to go back to work) I was told there was only one circumstance where mat leave can transfer… the mother needs to be dead.
@Jane Bresnan: omg that is the height of ridiculousness. And what about cases of two dads that adopt? Are neither entitled to maternity benefit? Very arcane and unfair
@Alison O’ Connor: they’re entitled to the same adoptive leave as a male/female couple, or a female/female couple. There’s no actual unfairness there. Doesn’t mean that other things aren’t still unfair though.
@Alison O’ Connor: parental leave is the same for all. You are confusing maternity n paternity leave with parental leave. As for maternity leave being better than paternity leave last time I checked only women can give birth, breastfeed etc and their bodies also need to recover. It’s not biased it’s based on facts of nature but I don agree that if a woman decides to go back to work she should be able to allow her partner to take the rest of her leave.
@Kate Ní Bhriain MhicAodha: are you crazy? All facts & laws of nature have been suspended forthwith in the name of equality.
Mothers and fathers have what eight months notice of a baby coming… Loads of time to set a few bob aside and take as much leave as you can. That’s how I funded my unpaid leave in advance.
@Sinead Mooney: not everyone can afford to save any money let alone save enough to pay the bills for a few weeks while on leave.
@Sinead Mooney: the main issue is the cut to €245 pw. If the mother is only getting that for 6 months it can represent a significant reduction in monthly wages for a family. Having the other income in the family reduced to €245 pw can just be too much to take. Unpaid leave is just not an option for most. The cost of living us v high here and whereas it may be possible to save to get by on the reduced income for 6 months it is v v tough to save for anything outside of that.
@Anto Curran: but then you’re getting into the question of having kids you can’t afford. I’d love more but not an option financially.
@Michael Connick: if you can’t afford to save for a baby, then how do you expect to pay for the baby? If you can’t afford one, don’t have one. Don’t expect the state to pick up the tab for any of ye.
@Michael Connick: if you can’t afford to save, how can you afford a baby?
@Sirius: ridiculous statement. The issue isn’t that he can’t afford a baby, it’s that he can’t sustain a house and family with a newborn child on €245 a week. Hence the reason that he returns to work – to provide for his family. I pay a grand a month in tax. If I do that for 5 years, shouldn’t I be entitled to more than €245 a week to allow me to be able to afford to spend more precious time with my newborn child? I think my contributions down the years should entitle me to that
@Alan Roddy: Well said
€245 would not go far in the pub each week
@brian reid: these new rules only suit people who are paid by the government. They will receive their full wages while the rest of us have no choice but to keep working.
@Humphrey Harold Haddington: it’s a civil service vote catcher nothing else !
@brian reid: When my son was born I knew I would be taking a couple of weeks off using paternity leave so I prepared by putting a few quid to one side. It’s not that difficult to plan ahead, especially for only 2 weeks.
@brian reid: it did if you were on fosters hahaha
Regina Doherty is 100% right. This is a BS excuse. Take a man earning a grand a week. After the paternity payment there is a €750 shortfall. €1,500 for two weeks.
Stop the €30 a week on takeaways (according to cso it’s what the average couple spends) and you have you’re €1,500.
Or drop the sky subscription.,
Watch what people spend their money on and you’ll understand their real priorities
@Paul Lanigan: actually I found I saved a fortune after my first child with lifestyle changes – no weekly cinema, no meals out, no weekends away. And babies are very low cost until childcare kicks in – which ironically if you’re not working is free but if you’re working is a second mortgage.
@Paul Lanigan: also I think the point is that dad’s want to take more than two weeks and regardless of saving it can be a step too far for parents already struggling with high rents or mortgage payments. We had our kids before any paternity leave was allowed and my hubby saved his holidays. When it comes to a choice between extra unpaid maternity and or paternity leave, we would have chose maternity.
@Paul Lanigan: LOL your maths work for a man earning a grand a week AFTER tax which would mean they are on 75k+ which is serious minority of people so your argument is pointless, not to mention your ignoring all the other massive costs of living that average families are haveing to meet, like the average mortgage of 1000 per month or if its their 2nd child the insane price of childcare again close to 1000 per month, but yeah your totally right its the weekly takeaway thats the problem……
@Ian McNally: it’s ok though if you don’t spend €30 (€15 as a couple is two) a week on a takeaway then you’ll make up a €750 a week shortfall ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@Paul Lanigan: So with your advice Paul I would save about €40 per week. That really helps with the €750 per week drop you mentioned. Not to mention the mother has also just taken the same drop in wages. With your logic we went from 2000 a week to less 500 but who knew all we needed to do was stop the weekly takeout and don’t even think about having sky TV for entertainment. Thanks I’ll be able to take all the paternity I want with all that extra cash lying around.
@Paul Lanigan:
Whatever about the takeaways giving up on the sky is not on … No cartoon Network for babysitting.
@Paul Lanigan: 1500 is most people’s rent.
@Paul Lanigan: you lost me at “you’re”. And you barely had me in the first place
@Motherofthree: Why do people not working need childcare?
@Teresa Ryan: cause they’re not working
@Motherofthree: then you die.
When my children started arriving I felt I had to work harder to provide for them ,the last thing I was thinking of was myself .I would be a bad father by to days standard
Gay men are currently the most oppressed when it comes to having children. Paid surrogacy is still illegal in Ireland. A generous female friend may volunteer to carry their child without official payment but current laws mean that the female would still be considered the child’s most “legal” parent. One of the two men would obviously be the biological father of that child (through sperm donation) but if he dies then the “non-biological” father would have little to no rights over the child and the female carrier would most likely be considered guardian of the child. In terms of the parenteral leave, both men would only be entitled to 3 weeks with their newborn baby, which is ridiculous to think that after 3 weeks a child would need child care. Ireland needs to stop living by outdated laws
@John Fitzpatrick: omg this is actually horrifying. For sure this is discrimination on the grounds of gender AND sexuality which is totally illegal under European human rights law. The problem being, of course, that someone has to front the money to take the government to court and force a change in law. Sure who among us ordinary joes can afford to pay for that.
@Alison O’ Connor: Completely true, these are laws that just don’t fit with the “perceived” views of modern society. Still a long way from equality and, unfortunately, a large portion of society still have a “not my circus, not my monkeys” attitude towards issues that don’t affect them personally
@Damo.f: Nobody said you could. But your right to be able to create a loving family shouldn’t be hindered just because you were born attracted to the same sex and can’t do anything about it. You are the prime example of homophobia and “not my circus, not my monkeys” attitude
@John Fitzpatrick: why should the non biological parent have any rights? That’s just ridiculous when that child has none of your blood running through their veins. Adopt the child if you want to be its legal guardian. Poor child.
@Clarissa: because the non-biological parent has been the child’s parent for however many years. Being a parent is much more than biological relationship. As long as their parents are people who love them, then the child doesn’t care, studies have shown. It’s people like you who have a problem with it and want to project that on to children
@John Fitzpatrick: You may not like it John but the woman who carries a child to birth is the mother. that baby is already creating a bond with that woman for 9 months and at all possible should not be taken away from its mother. In no system should that woman not have legal rights to be the guardian of that child. Thankfully we do not have children being sold like commodities in this country. It is biology that discriminated against how the 2 sexes were to reproduce not some anti gay agenda you want to stir up. I agree there is far more to parenting than biology and if two gay men adopt and care for a child I have no doubt they can do just as good a job as any other adoptive parents. The child should however always retain legals rights of access to the biological parent.
@LD: I never said the woman shouldn’t have legal rights. But by current law, if a woman carries a baby for two men in order to allow those two men to have a loving family of their own, and with no desire to raise the child herself, then she shouldn’t be OBLIGED whether she likes it or not to be the next in line guardian. Biology has nothing to do with parenthood. Millions of children are adopted, or grow up without a mother and father, and they’re just as happy, loved and healthy as a child raised by a biological mother and father. By your ideology, any child who is raised without a biological mother is somehow at a disadvantage, which, as we’ve seen from adopted children and children raised by single fathers.
@LD: that just isn’t the case at all
@John Fitzpatrick: I do believe that the bond between a mother and her baby is absolutely unique. To minimise this to an irrelevance is both ignorant and misogyny. However it does not mean that children cannot prosper and have a decent life in the absense of this relationship but it is not replicable with anybody else no matter how caring they are.
@LD: this has nothing to do with misogyny. I’m not minimising the fact that mothers have a strong bond with their children. I’m saying that alternative families shouldn’t be hindered by this view. If two people can love and care for a child with all of their heart then they should be just as entitled to start their own family. My point is that at present, laws make this much more difficult for gay couples
@John Fitzpatrick: conception and birth is a process of nature between a male and a female not some social construct that can be debated. Therefore, it is nature that will determine one’s right to a child not a law. We sadly though live in a culture where we are told we can have anything we want, but I do not believe in legal mandates that turn children into paid for accessories which in my opinion is what paid surrogacy does. There are already children in this world that through no fault of their own are in need of adoption. If you can’t naturally conceive then this is to my mind the most moral avenue that a couple can take. This includes couples from any sexual orientations. You will probably see my views as archaic but maybe somethings are just not meant to be altered.
@LD: agree to disagree
@John Fitzpatrick: agreed John
@John Fitzpatrick: never knew gay men had kids!
So the governments answer to “supporting” families is to provide a few extra weeks paternity leave to Dad’s ?? Unpaid.
We are going backwards.
Government policy is to have both parents working full time paying tax.
Cost of childcare, buying a house or renting a basic 3 bedroom semi is so prohibitive to having a family.
Couples now have to wait until they are well into their thirties before being financially “stable” enough to start a family but sure a few extra weeks paternity leave “unpaid” will help !
Dont like this writer when he says men usually earn more. Men cant cope with women that earn more. It batters their ego. I’ve certainly earnt more than any other man I’ve been out with.
@Allison Smith: He said ‘Usually’, not: ‘In Alison Smith’s case’. He’s stating a fact not an opinion. A fact that is mostly down to the women having to take such a career hit for having children. Extending men’s paternity leave is one step towards eliminating this.
@Allison Smith: Jesus what bloke pissed in you’re Cocopops this morning.
@Allison Smith: If you’ve earned more than ‘any other man’ you’ve been out with that would seem to imply that you also are a man.
@Allison Smith: it’s a fact, men do usually earn more than their partners. I don’t see why you are arguing that fact.
@Allison Smith: my partner earns more than I do. My ego is just fine thanks very much, but I appreciate the sweeping generalisation
@Clarissa:
It shouldnt be a fact. I deserve a good wage. I earn twice as much as any man.
@Allison Smith: my ego would have no issue with you as main breadwinner. Wanna go out?
@Allison Smith: their now real men their half woman.
@Allison Smith: ah but it is a fact. I’m sure you make more money than most men but if you take maternity leave you shouldn’t be offended if you don’t get that promotion over your male counterpart who has worked when you chose to take time off.
@Allison Smith: “i earn twice as much as any man” even bill gates?
None of our government parties are capable of any radical change once in power, all just vote grabbing for the next election. Power mongers are not forward thinkers. If I had taken this parental leave and not my holidays I would have lost 40% of my wages. I’m not going to lose my wages so I can make Regina’s Doherty’s stats look good.
Also, to The Journal. This is my first comment on your app, why are you telling me my comment will be seen as toxic???? This is surely some under handed attempt at censorship. Do my comments against our government cause harm to the public?
Well said Derek. I found Minister Doherty’s comments ignorant, sexist and belligerent. Where does she imagine rent or mortgage payments come from? 245 a week wouldn’t cover rent on a bin these days.
“. stop using excuses and start stepping up to the plate” it’s a disgrace that an elected offical can get away with such out of touch comments, stop treating men like dogs.
@Dave time: its a disgrace that the phrase “stepping up to the plate” is used by people. Its a baseball analogy & anyone caught using it in Ireland should be deported immediately.
Men have very little to do with childbirth other than to stand there like a spare tool offering encouragement while being told by your partner that you’re a complete b@stard for putting me through this
It amazes me that many people want to have kids but can’t afford to actually pay for them themselves and by extension, they then expect others to pay for them. Its simple, don’t have children if you cant support them yourselves.
Lets be honest here the irish way is many fathers not sticking around to care for their children so why would they take a few weeks off, many single parents i know who asked new fathers for support either financial or otherwise were told to go to the social welfare. That is the reality.
@Lynn Mac: it is not the Irish way!!! yes there are more single parents these days but a hell of a lot more partnered parents. That is the reality.
@Butterfly: i sure hope so,
Just felt that has to account for some of the statistics
@Lynn Mac: absolutely and I do agree if the father is not in the picture, he would not be entitled to any ‘would be’ ‘paternity leave’
@Lynn Mac: You could say the same for many mothers. Having more and more children to fund an self entitled lifestyle and purposely keeping the father(s) at arms length. Women hold all the cards when it comes to parental rights, far more pressing issue than what this fool of a writer is talking about. Get on with it, make it work however you can and count yourself lucky that you can see your children. IMO this guy is the definition of a snowflake
@Lynn Mac: what about the father tbat wants to be there for their child and is not left see the child because all the laws here are fu@ked up no rights for father’s is a joke. I’d give my left arm to see my girl but some women are just very bad people.
@Lynn Mac: maybe women should be more careful who they have children with & maybe there should be more repercussions for deadbeats who don’t want to contribute to their children’s upbringing.
I love this quote as it says it all really…. money is the reason!
“Originally, the European Commission was more ambitious with regard to parental leave, proposing not only that the entire four months not be transferable but also that this leave would be remunerated at the same level as sick leave. These proposals were rejected by the member states, who wanted to retain control over the matter of remuneration”
@William O’ Connor: this map shows that we are even worse than uk
You’d think that the author would have researched the difference between paternal leave and parental leave.
Each couple get an allowance of parental leave which can be taken by either or divided between them. This is unpaid and can be taken anytime up until the child is 11 years old.
Paternal leave is time off for the baby being born. Like maternal leave it’s at the discretion of the employer. Employers are by law obliged to give a mother time off to birth a baby and heal after said birth, but they’re not obliged to pay the mother, most mothers get money from the social welfare. Most give fathers a few days off, mostly unpaid or from annual leave allocation.
Misleading headline of unresearched article as usual!
Journal, if you don’t like people commenting on stupid, ignorant statements by one of your contributors, then don’t have a comment section. If you don’t have the balls to leave them up at least do the decent thing and delete the whole story.
Joke of a system where you are punished for trying to be a supportive father. What happens if mammy has a tough delivery or section and needs the full time support of her partner for more than a couple of weeks but in order to keep a roof over the family and food on table daddy has to back and earn a full wage. All this does is add more stress to one of the most stressful times in a family.
have your say