WELCOME TO HOW I Spend My Money, a series on The Journal that looks at how people in Ireland really handle their finances.
We’re asking readers to keep a record of how much they earn, what they save if anything, and what they’re spending their money on over the course of one week.
Are you a spender, a saver or a splurger? We’re looking for readers who will keep a money diary for a week. If you’re interested send a mail to money@thejournal.ie. We would love to hear from you.
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, so let’s be kind.
Last time around, we heard from a 25-year-old primary school teacher on €38K living in Dublin. This week, a financial crime investigator on €60K living in Dublin.
I am a single parent working as a financial employee in the east of the country. I rent from a local authority, but I am currently saving approximately €1,300 a month (I receive my bonus mid-year, so this will also go towards my deposit) for a mortgage with the hopes of buying somewhere of my own by the end of the year.
I know some people are in worse situations than I am and can do with subsidised rent, so I intend to save as quickly as possible to be able to give the property back to the local authority so someone can have the same opportunity as I had when I was a struggling college student with a small child. I know some people see local authority properties as ‘a home for life’, but I don’t see it that way. I believe they should be used until a person finds their feet and then can hopefully purchase their own property or rent where it is affordable.
I put aside about €110 a month for my personal savings. I have an emergency fund of €90 a month and I keep €80 aside for entertainment, such as a trip to the cinema or a takeaway. In order to save a bit of extra money, I’ve changed our Netflix subscription to the basic plan as I realised €12.99 is a lot of money to be paying. I also decided to get a family Spotify subscription with my cousins so I pay about €3 a month.
I pay €60 a month for gym classes and that is really as far as it goes. I tend not to go out to socialise as I’d rather save that money or spend it on something my child may need. I see this as something temporary and hopefully, when I have bought somewhere permanent, I can enjoy the luxury of going out for dinner, etc.
I am working from home for the time being and it’s been really helpful as I haven’t had to worry about paying for after school fees.
Occupation: Financial employee
Location: East
Salary: €60,000
Monthly pay (net): €3,245
Petrol: €120
Rent: €460
Household bills: €120 – I usually set aside €60 each month for gas and electricity so when the bill comes, I have money there
Phone bill: €54.98 – I have a 30-day rolling contract which costs €14.99 and Broadband and Tv cost €39.99)
Health insurance: Covered by my employer
Life insurance: €19.57
Groceries: €310
Subscriptions: Netflix €7.99 and Spotify €3
Gym: €60
7.25 am: My alarm goes off and it’s time to get up to have a shower. Once I’m done, I wake my child up (sometimes a struggle!) and we go downstairs to eat. I sort out lunch for school and he makes his own breakfast.
8.35 am: We are out the door to school. I am very lucky that the school is only a three-minute walk away so it’s always nice to have chat before school starts as we don’t have to rush to get there.
9.00 am: Once back at home, I log on to work and look through all of my emails, getting back to the most urgent ones. I usually have a few meetings first thing in the morning too. After catching up with the team I will have string of clients that need to be onboarded.
1.00 pm: I take a 15-minute break. I have toast and scrambled eggs along with a cappuccino which I make at home.
2.15 pm: I’m out the door to collect my child. Once we are back home, I’ll usually make a quick snack or I’ll have dinner from the night before ready for him to eat. Today, it’s the former.
5.00 pm: I finish up at work, log off and five minutes later, we are on the way to his evening sports activity. The activity costs €2, but I pay an annual €250 fee for it, so it’s already covered.
6.30 pm: We arrive home and I put dinner on. We have chicken curry and rice with naan bread.
7.30 pm: After dinner, I wash up and put everything away. We are both exhausted by this stage and decide to just watch TV. I also allow my child to play games on the iPad in the evening, but not for too long.
9.00 pm: My son goes off to bed. I have always had a bedtime schedule since when she was a baby as I was either in school or in college, which meant I needed my evenings for studying, etc. I am furthering my studies with my professional certificate so a bedtime schedule is still very much needed.
10.30 pm: I finish up studying and my nightly scrolling of Instagram and Twitter. It’s lights out for me at this stage.
Today’s total: €0.00
7.25 am: The same morning routine as yesterday.
1.00 pm: Having been stuck in meetings all morning, I grab some scones that I have frozen, defrost them and eat one on the go as I get out for 15 minutes of fresh air.
5.00 pm: I log out and grab a quick bite to eat for both of us. We then head over to my mum’s house, where he stays until 7pm as I go to my gym class at 6pm. My gym class time usually never changes as my mum works night shifts, so Tuesday is usually the only day during the week where I can do something for myself.
7.20 pm: We arrive back home and just like yesterday evening, we take it nice and easy.
10.00 pm: I head to bed after an hour to myself to take a breather and have a Curly Wurly.
Today’s total: €0.00
7.40 am: It was a struggle to get out of bed this morning, I just felt extremely exhausted. I think everything starts to hit me mid-week between homework, my studying and work.
9.00 am: After the school run, I make myself a latte and have some crackers with cheese just to give me a bit of energy before work.
2.00 pm: I decide to get out early and incorporate my 15-minute break into my lunch, so I got my steps in and collected my child from school.
5.00 pm: I finish work for the day and it’s time to get my son to his evening activity. Usually, for the hour, I’ll head home to get some washing on or I’ll stay if any of the parents are staying.
7.30 pm: We are winding down for the night after dinner, we decide to watch a movie which is nice to do.
9.00 pm: It’s bedtime for a very sleepy child. I have a bit of studying to do as I have an assignment due at the end of the month. As this is my last assignment for my course, I’ve been working hard to make sure it is of good quality. At first, I didn’t think I would complete the course as I was already trying to juggle being a parent and working full time but I gave myself a pep talk and another curly wurly. If I could get through a four-year degree, I could get through a six-month course.
10.00 pm: I am in bed, but my friends called me for a catch up as we are all fairly busy but once we have a few minutes free we’ll always try to call one another on FaceTime.
Today’s total: €0.00
7.25 am: I am up and ready for the day. I feel less tired today and I am looking forward to the weekend.
2.00 pm: I take the same approach as I did yesterday and get out for my walk during my break. I do the school collection on the way back. Before going back to my desk, I prepare a stew for dinner and leave it in the pot ready to go for later.
5.00 pm: Time to log off for the evening. We head out for a walk since the weather is nice. On our way back, we stop at the coffee shop and get a hot chocolate and a chocolate bar each (€7.20). We are lucky to have green spaces at our doorstep. After a long day, it really does help me to unwind and forget about the other one hundred things in my mind.
7.30 pm: We have the stew which I put on just after we came in this afternoon for dinner. Afterwards, we relax for the rest of the evening.
9.30 pm: It’s lights out for me. I think all the walking must have tired me out.
Today’s total: €7.20
7.20 am: I’m up and happy it’s Friday.
1.10 pm: I get out for a walk on my 15-minute break. There’s a shop just below my apartment so I pick up a cereal bar on my way home. (€1.50)
5.00 pm: I finish work for the week – yay! We head to our local takeaway and grab a pizza, which costs €13. We usually have a takeaway for dinner twice a month
7.30 pm: We decided to watch a movie on Netflix. I had never watched any of the previous Spiderman movies, and since Netflix now has all of the Spiderman movies, we decided we’d watch the one from 2017.
11.00 pm: We both head to bed as the two of us are extremely tired after the long week.
Today’s total: €14.50
9.30 am: I have a nice lie-in and sit in bed for a bit just going through my course manual for some answers.
10.30 am: We are finally up. I get some pancake batter made and by 11am, we are finished with breakfast.
12.15 pm: After getting ready, we finally decide to head over to our local shopping centre. As many of you will know, children never stop growing, so I pick up a few bits which come to €41.
1.30 pm: We stop for a bite to eat while we’re out, which costs €15, before continuing with the shopping.
5.00 pm: We are in for the night and I decide it’s time to get dinner sorted. We have turkey burgers with homemade chips. I also make some cookies for after dinner, which we both enjoy.
10.00 pm: We are in bed for an early night, as Sundays are always dedicated to competitions and tournaments.
Today’s total: €56.00
7.50 am: We are both up as the tournament starts at 9:30am, and by 8:45, we are on the road. The soccer matches are always intense, but it’s even more intense when there’s a battle between two good teams and when you have parents coaching from the sideline, the kids are trying even harder. It was all worth it in the end though, as the trophy came home with us. Everyone was delighted.
12.00 pm: We head to Tesco after the tournament and do our weekly shopping, which ends up costing €72.35 - a little under our weekly €78 budget. After grocery shopping, I fill my car up with petrol for the week. (€30)
7.00 pm: We have spaghetti bolognese for dinner and eat the last few cookies which were left over from last night afterwards.
8.30 pm: I iron his school uniform for the week. I usually do this every Sunday night so we are good to go on Monday morning.
9.00 pm: We both head to bed.
10.45 pm: I watch some TV in bed before I switch it off to go asleep ahead of a new week.
Today’s total: €102.35
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What I learned -
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