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 customer care assistant living in Queensland on $65K. This week, a 22-year-old HR assistant on €27K living in the northeast of the country.
I am a 22-year-old HR assistant living in the northeast of the country. I have just finished my first year working since finishing college last year. I have a level 8 degree in Global Commerce and I specialised in HR. I am still living at home with my parents. I am extremely fortunate that my rent is low at €50 per week at home. It’s very small, but I like to help out around home too. I communicate well with my parents and always check in if we need bread or milk and things like that. I do my own washing and try to help tidy around the house. I don’t mind living at home for now as this has been my first year working full time since finishing college last year. However, I would like to move out and live with my boyfriend at some stage.
As a young person, I feel a bit defeated at times. I try to live a quiet life; I enjoy spending money on things that make me feel good. I will never say no to meeting my friends for drinks, food or ice cream, etc. I am not a big one for going to pubs or clubs unless it’s my friend’s birthday or something. I much prefer to keep my money for weekend breaks or travelling somewhere with my friends or family. I try not to fall into the habit of getting my nails or lashes done all the time as I like the idea of it being a treat for special occasions. I am quite athletic and enjoy going to exercises classes during the week as it’s so good for my mind and body, as well as helping to train my local under-16s football team.
Despite trying to keep my spending low and practical, I still feel like I am struggling to make big moves. I have been living with my parents and living this lifestyle for exactly a year now. I would like a higher income to give me some more freedom and so I can save more or even splurge a bit more.
Occupation: HR assistant
Age: 22
Location: The northeast of the country
Salary: €27,378
Monthly pay (net): Around €2,050
Rent: €200
Fuel: Currently increased to around €220
Car insurance: €78
Phone credit: €20 pay as you go
Gym membership: €20 per month (€60 euro for three months)
Savings: €600 (I take out €300 when I get paid fortnightly)
7.00 am: Get up and have a shower. Have porridge with dad and throw my uniform on. Make a cuppa coffee for the car and head for work. Mondays are always a busy morning sorting out any new joiners, bank details, etc.
9.00 am: The work day begins.
1.30 pm: Lunch time. I’m guilty of going to the canteen every day in work. But we have a great canteen that is subsidised. You get a proper dinner with spuds and veg for €5. I find it keeps me in good humor and fuelled for most of the day.
2.30 pm: Back to work.
5.00 pm: Out the door. I stop on the way home to fill up my car with diesel. €105 – sad times. I also stop in Super Valu and grab a few bits for my tea. I am going through a turkey burger phase. They are so handy to stick on the grill. Have it with some salad and a burger bap and you’re good for the evening. Pick up some bits for my work snacks. Turkey burgers five for €6, baps, lettuce, two packets of Nature Valley bars for €8. (€16.50)
6.30 pm: I head home, stick a burger on for me and my dad, prep the salad and boil the kettle for a cuppa. Delicious.
7.00 pm: Not long until it’s time to head to my local sports center. I go to circuit classes three times per week. I have previously paid €60 membership, and then the fees for the class are €4 for members and €8 for non-members. I throw on my gear and walk over for my 8pm class as it’s not too far from my house and with the price of diesel at the minute, I’m trying to cut down on smaller journeys. €4 and get a great sweat on. The thought of it is always worse than the reality. I try very hard to make time for exercise because it’s so important to move your body after a long day of sitting down.
9.00 pm: I walk back home, earphones in and tunes on. I have a quick shower, get my uniform ready for tomorrow and snacks for work too.
9.30 pm: I get into bed and call my boyfriend and chat for 20 minutes before doing some scrolling through TikTok, Instagram etc. Before you know it, it’s 10.30 pm. Bedtime!
Today’s total: €130.50
7.00 am: Alarm goes off and up I get. Always my least favorite day of the week. My morning schedule is the exact same every day – throw on the uniform, me and dad eat our porridge, made with some frozen berries and I bring my coffee for the car journey. The drive to work is only around 20 minutes and it’s a good enough road, so I’m happy with my commute. I previously did my college placement in Dublin, and I knew one day I would appreciate being closer to home, not stressing over Dublin Bus, the noise, the constant topping up your Leap card, etc. I love the peace of having your own car, own tunes playing and freedom. It’s something that I really appreciate.
9.00 am: The work day begins. Tuesdays consist of following up with new starters forms, etc, lots of scanning and seeing what we need for the week ahead. What areas need new people, what CVs we got in, and setting up interviews for the week.
11.00 am: I have a Nature Valley bar with a cuppa tea and a banana to keep me going until lunch time.
1.30 pm: Lunch time arrives. Same again, I go to the canteen for lunch (€5). I eat a yoghurt after my dinner and a cuppa tea. I love tea.
5.00 pm: Finish for the day. The one great thing about Tuesday evenings is I never have any plans for a Tuesday, so I head home.
5.30 pm: Back home. I make a turkey burger again and catch up on some errands that I need to do. I failed my NCT over the weekend, so I book a retest for two weeks’ time (€28). I call the local garage and ask when he can take me in to fix some bits. He schedules me in for Thursday.
Today’s total: €33.00
7.00 am: Same again: porridge, coffee, off to work.
10.30 am: My morning break of a cuppa, a Nature Valley bar and banana keep me going.
1.30 pm: I head to the canteen again and get my dinner (€5). I try to come in 10 or 15 minutes early on a Wednesday so I can leave a few mins early. I help coach my local under-16s football team alongside two or three others. It works well because between the few of us, if one of us can’t attend, someone else is always available.
4.50 pm: I leave work and rush home as the training starts at 6pm. By the time I get into my house, throw my gear on and eat something, 6pm doesn’t be long coming! I call mam before leaving work and ask her to make me some scrambled eggs to throw into me before going.
6.00 pm: I go to the training. Like most things, sometimes when I’m tired after a day’s work, I dread the thought of going. But once I get out in the fresh air and get talking to the girls, they re-energise me. When I was younger, I played football all through my teens. My motive to coach the girls is to give back for all those years that someone coached me and organised games. I have a great passion for the girls to get out and exercise and have fun. Playing football was some of the best memories of my life. These days, so many young people are spending so much time on their phones, it’s great to get them out and mixing with real people rather than scrolling on their phones. It gives me huge satisfaction and makes me so proud of them – even if we never win a game!
7.00 pm: Once training finishes, I head home, down a quick cuppa before its time to head back to the sports complex for my circuits class at 8pm. (€4)
9.00 pm: I get home and I’m in for the night. I jump in the shower, prep my uniform and snacks for work, call my boyfriend, scroll through my phone and text a lady from a local football club to try to organise a challenge game.
10.30 pm: I eventually nod off.
Today’s total: €9.00
7.00 am: Nearly there, one of my favorite days of the week! This morning is slightly different. I drop my car at the garage and get a lift with my friend who drives the same route to work as me.
9.00 am: Into work.
10.30 am: Have my wee break as usual.
1.30 pm: Time to get the usual in the canteen for lunch. (€5)
5.00 pm: My friend drops me to the garage on the way home. I collect my car and pay €90 for the bits that needed repairing.
6.15 pm: I love Thursday evenings. Come home from work, eat, and sit on my bed and catch up on the latest episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. It’s my one evening I can just chill and relax after work. I have a shower and do all my favorite things like put on a face mask, put on fake tan, paint my nails and all those bits that make you feel a bit better about yourself. It sets me up for the weekend.
8.00 pm: My boyfriend works in Dublin, but he gets to work from home on a Friday. I head over to his and stay in his house for the night. He lives near to my workplace so it’s handy heading there in the morning.
Today’s total: €95.00
7.00 am: I get up and throw a bowl of cornflakes into me. My boyfriend and I have a cuppa tea before I head in.
9.00 am: The work day starts. Fridays are great at work because we finish up a bit earlier at 3pm.
1.30 pm: I go to the canteen again. (€5)
5.10 pm: After work, I drive back to my hometown and get my eyebrows waxed and tinted (€15). Getting my brows done is something I look forward to every five or six weeks. There is a local 5k run in my town tonight for the local athletics club and one of the people organising it stopped me and asked me to take part. I agreed at the time, but now I am dreading it. I am tempted not to go, but my guilty conscience catches up on me! I did athletics throughout my whole childhood for the club so again, it is good to support the local club.
8.00 pm: I pay €12 registration and run the race. I come through the final gates at exactly 29.59. I am delighted with myself as I haven’t been running in a long time! I did lots of running through lockdown and the most I was getting was around 29 or 28 mins, so I am surprised I got close to it.
8.45 pm: I skip the surprise ceremony as I want to head over to my boyfriend’s football game. I head over to his game and I’m late, so I got in for free He wins the game so we’re in good form. We get a pizza with his family after the game, and he pays.
Today’s total: €32.00
8.00 am: Wake up a bit later than usual and have breakfast. My under 16s train from 10am – 11am on a Saturday morning, I head down and help.
11.00 am: After training, I get a text from my best college friend who is from Monaghan. We did our placement together whilst in college. She went on to work with the company full-time and recently completed one round of her exams. I am so excited to meet with her as she has been studying very hard and is barely home, so I drive over to Monaghan to meet her.
12.00 pm: We go for lunch and we both go for the Eggs Benedict and a cappuccino. Delicious. We chat for ages and as she just finished her exams, I treat her (€32). We tip into Dunnes for a nosy and I buy two new black cardigans for work as the one I wear is starting to wear and tear. (€20)
1.15 pm: I head home and meet up with my boyfriend. We watch a movie on Netflix – LA Confidential.
3.30 pm: When the movie’s over, we sit around and chat with his family for the afternoon. I get on very well with all of his siblings and love catching up with them.
5.00 pm: I got paid yesterday and always forget to do my transferring, so I do it now. I transfer €50 over to my mam on Revolut for my rent for the week and put €300 straight into savings.
6.30 pm: I head home and just chill out for the rest of the evening before heading to bed.
Today’s total: €402.00
9.00 am: I get up, throw a banana and a cup of coffee into me and go to my circuits class at 10am. (€4)
11.00 am: Again, the thought of the class is tough, but once it’s over, I feel great. Another bonus – once the class is over, someone from the athletics club approaches me and tells me I won a spot prize at the 5k on Friday! (I skipped the prize ceremony to go to my boyfriend’s game). He isn’t sure what the prize is but he thinks it’s a voucher for a local business. I’m delighted! Every little helps. I love the class on a Sunday morning, especially because it means I can sit up all afternoon and chill out without feeling guilty
1.00 pm: I meet up with my boyfriend and we go out for our dinner to a local restaurant. We split the bill and head back to his and watch another movie (€16 each). It’s been a chill weekend, but I love them.
5.00 pm: I head back home and the Sunday night fear starts creeping in. I wash all my work shirts and clothes from the week. I tidy my room and prep my snacks for work. I go online and order a present for my twin brother. Our birthday is coming up and I like to get him something nice. He just finished his college exams, so I am delighted for him. I buy him a new jumper for €70 from a website called PURE. It is an Irish company that is focused on sustainability. I know my twin already has a jumper from them and likes to support Irish businesses, so I hope he likes it.
Today’s total: €90.00
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What I’ve learned -
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