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 24-year-old software developer on €50K living in Louth. This week, a sales executive on €47K living with her husband in Dublin.
I’m 38 years old, working in IT sales for the higher education sector, and currently living in South Dublin. I came to Ireland in 2014 and stayed two years as a student until I got married and decided to build a life here. We made the decision not to have kids because it doesn’t suit our life goals and interests.
During the pandemic, we opened a joint savings account into which we put €2,500 every month (€1,250 each). This will go towards our second home purchase. We have been homeowners since 2018, but we are going to rent our current house and move to a new one later this year.
We love going out to eat, especially brunch, and enjoy outdoor activities when the weather permits of course. An ideal night and even weekend because we’re very chill people, would be watching movies, series and documentaries on any of the platforms we pay for. My husband doesn’t drink, but I do enjoy good wine, a cocktail here and there, and beers, so of course, this adds up to my monthly expenses.
When it comes to holidays, because we have been working towards getting a new house, and considering the pandemic, we have not travelled since summer 2019. Once we move, we’ll plan a trip for sure!
Occupation: Sales executive
Age: 38
Location: Dublin
Salary: €47,000
Monthly pay (net): €3,330
Transport: €86 (when working on site)
Mortgage: €344
Household bills: €141
Phone bill: €25
Health insurance: €47
Dog’s insurance, medication, and food: €85
Groceries and booze: €290
Pension: €152
Mom’s support: €200 (mom lives abroad and I help her on a monthly basis)
Subscriptions: €35 (Wow Plus, Spotify, Netflix, and Amazon)
Joint savings account: €1,250
I also put aside €185 every month for certain expenses I need to consider will happen every 4-12 months:
Hair treatment: €50
Dentist and GP: €40
Veterinary costs: €10
Language course: €50
Property tax, house alarm monitoring, and TV license: €35
Joint savings account: €1,250
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7.30 am: I’m working remotely until further notice, so I can get up at 7.30 am, whereas if I had to go to the office, I’d have to be up by 6 am. I go for a quick morning walk with the dog and then come back to shower, have coffee and a bite to eat and get ready to sit at my desk for 9 am at the latest. I try to start earlier as I usually have personal stuff to go through before my workday begins – I’m learning another language, so always have some homework to do. This morning routine is perfect to save money as I can make breakfast at home and not spend anything on pastries and coffee on the way to the office.
9.30 am: I have a catch up with my manager and the team. It’s normally a 30-minute call, accompanied by a homemade coffee (the second of the day, again, at no extra cost).
11.30 am: I had a snack to keep me going until lunch (could be fruit, a smoothie, or a biscuit with tea or coffee). My days can be hectic with phone calls, meetings, and the usual workload, so time flies and then it’s lunchtime.
2.00 pm: I eat lunch at my desk most of the time, but I do disconnect from work and watch something on YouTube while I eat. Monday to Thursday, we cook the night before so the next day’s lunch is sorted out. Again, big money saver to do this.
4.00 pm: As lunch was light enough, I have a mid-afternoon snack. It’s usually something sweet to wake me up from the after-lunch slumber.
5.30 pm: Work is done for the day. I rarely work extra hours, so it’s me-time now. I start preparing tomorrow’s lunch while listening to some music and having a glass of wine.
6.30 pm: I feed the dog and wait for him to finish (he wouldn’t eat alone, LOL), and then go to have a shower.
7.30 pm: It’s time to continue watching Yellowstone. Would recommend it if you like a good western drama. Great cast including Kevin Costner, so you can’t go wrong with that!
Today’s total: €0.00
7.30 am: I get up and go for my morning walk with the dog, which takes 10-15 minutes average. Come back to shower, have some coffee, eat breakfast, and get ready to start the day.
9.30 am: I have the daily catch up with my manager and the team. Homemade coffee on the side (again, at no extra cost).
10.30 am: There are other morning calls scheduled for today, so I grab a tea or coffee and get ready to get through those.
1.30 pm: I varied lunchtime and went at 1.30 pm today. I eat lunch at my desk while doing my language course homework, with some music playing in the background. I’m learning Portuguese and have my lesson every Thursday evening. There used to be some on-site, but the remote ones have turned out to be really popular and user friendly, so the Institute moved them to online lessons only. It’s just a couple of hours a week, so it doesn’t affect my dynamic that much.
3.00 pm: As lunch was earlier than usual, the mid-afternoon snack was necessary at this stage. A piece of dark chocolate helped.
4.30 pm: There’s another call at this point of the day, and an online training session.
5.30 pm: I finish work and get ready to work out. I got a spinning bike, a bench, some dumbbells, and other accessories for around €1,200 four years ago. I took over a space in one of the rooms (which happens to be my office as well) and put everything in there. I try my best to work out a minimum of three days a week. A home gym is the best investment I’ve made since we moved to this house. Doing the math, I would have spent the same €1,200 at the cheapest gym over those four years (assuming a cost of €25 a month), so spending the same amount, I got to keep the items I bought for the €1,200. While I exercise, my husband feeds the dog and cooks tomorrow’s lunch.
6.30 pm: Workout done. Time for a post-workout shower.
7.30 pm: We continue watching the series of the moment, with a lovely glass of wine.
Today’s total: €0.00
7.30 am: I get up and go for a walk with the dog, and come back to the usual shower, coffee, bite to eat routine to start the day.
8.30 am: I listen to a podcast while I get ready.
9.30 am: I have the daily catch up with my manager and the team.
10.30 am: More morning calls, with my cheap homemade coffee and a biscuit or cereal bar on the side.
2.00 pm: I eat lunch at the kitchen as it’s a sunny day, and I love enjoying a bit of the light and warmth any time I can, before going back to my desk.
3.30 pm: Time for a mid-afternoon snack (as healthy as it can be).
4.00 pm: I go online to get tickets to meet my mum in a few months. Between hers and mine I spend €995. I take this from my own savings, as I have around €490 a month to spare, so I can afford this kind of unexpected expense or even emergency that might arise. This situation will change as soon as I get my driving license because I’ll have to add a new car and all the things that come with it to my monthly/yearly finance plan (not very excited about it).
5.30 pm: I finish work and get ready to exercise. Today, it will just be 20 – 30 minutes on the bike.
6.30 pm: Head downstairs to feed the dog and cook dinner/next day’s lunch.
7.30 pm: I have my post workout shower and settle down for another relaxing evening along with a glass of wine.
Today’s total: €995.00
7.30 am: Wake up early again and go for the daily walk with my dog. Come back to take a shower, have my strong morning coffee and something to eat.
8.30 am: I listen to a podcast while I tidy up the house a bit (especially the kitchen and the bedroom).
9.30 am: I have the daily catch up with my manager and the team.
10.30 am: I attend some morning calls, with a tea or coffee on the side of course!
11.30 am: I go online to order some doughnuts for next day delivery. I don’t do this weekly; I’d say monthly or every six weeks. Spend €29 on a dozen, including delivery.
1.30 pm: I go on my lunch break, and after eating something, I decide to have a nap. This is one of the advantages of remote working. Don’t feel like doing this every day because I want to keep it as an option, not a habit.
4.00 pm: Time for a coffee.
4.30 pm: I keep rolling with work. It’s always busy but I find Thursdays to be quite hectic because customers might not be in on Fridays, so they want everything sorted out before they go to enjoy their weekend.
5.30 pm: I finish work and get some material ready to have my language course, which is at 7.30 pm.
6.00 pm: It’s time for a quick shower now.
6.30 pm: Head downstairs to feed the dog and eat something before my course.
7.30 pm: Go online to have my weekly language lesson. It’s a bit tough sometimes if I’m tired, but the teacher can sense that and makes the grammar side of things a bit more fun and playful to wake the team up. I’m on the advanced level, so some lessons are more about discussion of day-to-day subjects and news.
8.30 pm: Once the lesson is over, I go to watch telly and chill for the rest of the evening.
Today’s total: €29.00
8.00 am: Time to wake up. I gave myself 30 minutes of extra sleep time. Don’t do it all the time, just when feeling like it. I go for the usual walk, come back for a shower, have coffee and cereal. I have to rush it a bit because I slept for longer.
9.00 am: I take a moment to organise a few things at work because we don’t have the daily catch up on Fridays, so it feels like a day off (LOL).
10.00 am: I head downstairs to have a quick coffee before going back to my desk to continue working.
11.30 am: Grab a banana to keep me going until lunch. I order a takeaway once a month on a Friday. This is usually a €20 expense. Generally speaking, I’d be getting Thai food.
1.30 pm: Lunchtime now so I take my full hour as per usual to enjoy myself.
2.30 pm: It’s kind of quiet after lunch, so I spend the afternoon going through red-flagged emails and other stuff I did not have much time to do during the week.
4.00 pm: Coffee time.
5.30 pm: Finish on time and get ready for a Friday night workout.
6.30 pm: Sometimes I do the laundry to avoid the tasks on the weekend. I apply a face mask which costs around €7, feed the dog then head for a post-workout shower.
7.30 pm: TV time + glass of wine.
07:30 pm – TV time + glass of wine. I love having an Argentinian wine called Luna. Not too sharp so you can eat anything with it, and not too expensive either, €11.99 a bottle.
Today’s total: €27.00
8.30 am: Time to wake up because the dog had to go outside to do his business. I make some coffee and watch Wow Plus.
9.30 am: I prepare a more elaborate breakfast than weekdays and get ready to do some grocery shopping.
10.30 am: We went shopping and spent around €180 (€90 each), and I added my wine to this which was €44. Just keep in mind, in this household, we share all expenses when it comes to food and bills.
11.30 am: We come back home to organise the stuff we got, and then head out again for a drive as I’m practicing for my test. I don’t have a date yet to sit the test, but I’m on the waiting list, so I better get ready for it. I began my lessons after Christmas and finished them six weeks later as I did six lessons of two hours each instead of 12 individual ones. I must admit I am a very nervous/anxious driver, so it’s proving to be quite challenging. A work in progress, let’s say!
2.00 pm: We go for a coffee and cake to celebrate my amazing driving skills (kidding) and spend €16. We take turns on paying for little treats like this, and this weekend, it’s my turn.
3.00 pm: Come back home to chill a bit. I call my mum and spend an hour chatting on the phone. I make lunch while talking to her. Saturday is steak day!
4.00 pm: We eat what is for us a late lunch (dinner is waaaaay later, like around 8-9pm). We finish lunch and watch some TV.
6.30 pm: I work out for around 40 minutes and once done, I go to feed the doggie.
7.30 pm: Shower and wine time. We had some toasted pita bread with loads of cheese and parma ham with grapes on a side. It’s a lovely snack/dinner.
Today’s total: €150.00
8.30 am: Once again, the dog dictates when it’s time to wake up. He has an internal clock and starts whining to go outside. Make some coffee and watch Netflix for a while.
9.30 am: We make breakfast and watch some more TV.
11.00 am: We do our weekly house cleaning. We do it frequently to avoid deep cleaning. It’s a lot easier to maintain the house this way.
1.00 pm: Went to visit a friend so the dogs could play a bit. Had a coffee which was €7 for the two of us.
3.00 pm: Back home and we decide to order pizza – husband pays (€28). We have it while watching TV.
5.00 pm: Today is a chill day. We watch a movie with a beer on a side.
7.00 pm: I go outside to play with the dog to give him some more exercise and head back inside to feed him.
7.30 pm: Shower and beer time.
Today’s total: €7.00
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What I learned –
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