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 an accounting manager in Dublin earning €86K a year. This week, a civil servant on €32K living in Dublin.
I am 32-years-old and I work in the civil service. I live in Dublin with my fiancé (also in the civil service) and we have a son who is 18 months. I have worked in the civil service since the beginning of 2022. Before taking my maternity leave, I was working in the private sector and earning a lot more money than I am now, but when weighing up the pros and cons, it did make sense to make the move. Even though I have less disposable income now, I am happy I did.
We both work full-time and it can be a struggle at times. We are lucky to have family around to help with childcare as well as a few days in crèche (we couldn’t afford a full-time place even if we could get one!). My mam is currently away so this week I need to take some annual leave to care for our son.
We bought a two-bed apartment in 2021 and currently have a fixed-rate mortgage on it for another year. My previous wages were a huge factor in getting our mortgage; it would have been out of our reach to buy if we were doing it now on two civil service wages.
I do love shopping and if I am working in town I usually spend whatever extra cash I have on bits and pieces. This has become a bit of a habit, but I love hunting for a good deal. We put cash away in joint vaults on Revolut for things like Christmas, holidays, our apartments’ maintenance fee, car tax and insurance etc. This is usually about €600 (put away bi-weekly) and I budget around €200 each week for Leap card top-up, food shop, petrol, coffee out, etc.
Long-term we would like to buy a house, even though I love where we live now. If we plan to grow our family, I think we would need more space.
Occupation: Civil servant
Age: 32
Location: Dublin
Salary: €32,000
Monthly pay (net): €1,994
Transport: Leap card top-up – €30, petrol – €80
Phone: €20
Mortgage: €408 (my half)
Personal loan: €200
Groceries: €200
Bills: €100 is put into a vault for gas/electricity/life insurance, etc.
Creche: €120 (my half)
Car insurance: €42 (my half)
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6.30 am: Alarm goes off and baby stirs too. Snooze for five minutes and listen to an early morning rendition of Wheels on the Bus. Get out of bed, make a bottle for my son and get myself dressed. I am in the office today so my fiancé is doing the crèche run.
7.10 am: Out the door to catch a bus (literally on my doorstep, very handy). I use my Leap card for this journey, which was topped up last week.
7.50 am: Arrive at my desk and clock in. Journey was not too bad time-wise considering road works and my walk through town. Start to check my emails and have my breakfast of yoghurt, oats and berries (made last night). Print off some documents to prep for meetings that I have today and then make a cuppa to have at my desk.
9.20 am: Walk to a different office for our meetings today.
1.00 pm: That was a long morning and I am starving. I spend €9.85 on a bagel and coffee. Very disappointing bagel. I stop by the Spar to get some ham for sambos tomorrow and berries and chocolate (€12.29). I Revolut €120 to my son’s crèche (my half is €60, taken from a vault so I don’t include this for today’s spend). This is paid bi-weekly.
2.00 pm: Back at the desk and catch up with emails – it has been a busy morning.
3.00 pm: Tea and chocolate at my desk.
4.00 pm: Clock out and race to catch the DART home. I use my Leap card again here which was topped up last week.
4.50 pm: Off the DART and my fiancé picks me up. Straight into the car to hear about my baby boy’s day. Also given my first art piece from crèche (finger paint and feathers – BEAUTIFUL).
5.00 pm: In the door and my fiancé had the lasagne on before he went to collect us so just give it a few more minutes and stick on some garlic bread.
6.00 pm: Fed and watered, kitchen cleaned and now for bedtime routine. Bath, PJ’s, books and snuggles.
7.00 pm: Baby down so I get to tomorrow’s prep. Make lunch, make overnight oats, get our clothes ready for the morning, top up my Leap card with €10.
8.30 pm: Finally shower and sit down to watch some TV.
10.00 pm: Bedtime for me. Some reading and light out 30 mins later.
Today’s total: €32.14
6.20 am: Up and get ready to go into work. Throw the breakfast and lunch into my bag and stop to play with the diggers and tractors that my son has accumulated at my feet. I hate leaving in the mornings. My fiancé works from home today and his parents will take our son off for the day.
7.10 am: Into the car to drive the five minutes to the DART station (not ideal with the bus being so close to me but I feel my time is precious and it facilitates me getting home ASAP to my son – buses coming home from work are a nightmare and take way too long).
7.20 am: Onto the DART, which is paid with the Leap card.
7.45 am: At my desk. Clock in and have a cuppa and my breakfast while catching up on my emails.
11.00 am: On my coffee break I go out to M&S to look for some dinner for tonight. I get a meal deal for €16 and grab a coffee for €3.70.
12.30 pm: Have my lunch quickly in the kitchen in work – tuna sambo (I am that person in the office). None of my co-workers are here luckily for them! Head out to the shops for the rest of my break and I spend €11.50 on some small Easter gifts as my family has quite a few babies that are too young for chocolate.
1.00 pm: Back at my desk for the afternoon.
4.00 pm: Clock out and walk to the DART station. Looking forward to getting home.
5.00 pm: Arrive in the door and I’m greeted by my son. My in-laws are having a cuppa after their day with him so they fill me in on what they did – a trip to Bray.
5.30 pm: Meal deal dinner on, very easy. We dance and play while dinner is cooking.
7.00 pm: Dinner eaten, kitchen cleaned and little man is down. I have a shower and get into PJS.
8.00 pm: My fiancé and I watch an hour of a workshop that we had bought a few weeks back. It’s pre-recorded so it is handy to watch in your own time. Then we watch some Happy Valley.
10.00 pm: Bedtime for me – reading, lights out 30 mins later.
Today’s total: €31.20
8.00 am: My fiancée is up with our son earlier so I can stay in bed until 8am. I am not feeling great today so struggle to get going. I am on annual leave today and my other half is heading into town to attend his course.
8.30 am: I have my breakfast, which is shared with my son (he has had his own breakfast too). Time to get dressed and get going. Still so sluggish.
9.30 am: Off for a walk to the park and my son falls asleep.
10.15 am: Still asleep as we get in the door and I make a coffee and down a pint of water and just sit.
10.30 am: Feeling slightly better and baby awake for some snacks – raisins and rice cakes.
11.15 am: We are off to meet my cousin for brunch in a local café.
12.30 pm: A great catch up and food – I pay the bill for us and it comes to €36.40 (this is with a fiver tip). We head for a walk afterwards and don’t feel the time go by.
2.15 pm: In the car and my son and I head to Dunnes to pick up a few bits (€25.17). I am dying to get home now but my son has fallen asleep in the pram and I don’t have the heart to wake him so I sit in a café and get another coffee and spend €3.25.
3.45 pm: That was a long nap! I am finally in the door and unpack the shopping.
4.30 pm: I prep dinner – cajun chicken pasta.
5.00 pm: Other half gets in the door and I start cooking.
6.00 pm: Dinner eaten and the usual clean up begins.
7.00 pm: Baby down. I have a shower and try to ignore the blocks, cars and books scattered into every corner. A small tidy up and fold some laundry.
8.00 pm: Chill and some TV.
10.00 pm: Can’t keep my eyes open, so I head to bed and read half a page of my book before turning in.
Today’s total: €64.82
7.00 am: Up with my son and the playing has begun. The usual breakfast for both of us. My other half has an online course today and I am on annual leave so I plan to be out for the majority of the day.
9.30 am: Off to a musical playgroup (€10). Free tea and coffee for parents, which I avail of as caffeine is needed. The kids love it!
11.00 am: Meet a friend for coffee which ends up being a coffee and chat in the car as the baby has fallen asleep in the car seat. I Revolut her €10 for coffees and a lemon cake that we share.
12.00 pm: We head to Aldi for the weekly shop which ends up being €122 (my half is €61). I need to recharge so we drop into a local café and I get a coffee and water (€5.95). My son has some of his snacks brought from home – banana, raisins and a yoghurt.
1.30 pm: I got some flowers in Aldi and want to pop them on a family grave (this is not something I do regularly but should). It’s a cold but sunny day so it is nice to be outdoors. I clean the grave up as much as I can and take a walk.
2.00 pm: We stop on a park bench and demolish a chicken wrap I had bought in Aldi earlier. My son has more fun picking the fillings out of the wrap than eating it. Tantrum thrown and I think it’s time to go.
3.00 pm: Home finally and straight in for a nap. I have a cuppa and a Twirl bar and wait for my fiancé to take a break from his course to get the shopping from the boot.
4.00 pm: Snack and out for another walk
5.00 pm: The forgotten Aldi shop is brought up from the car and I put the chicken pie in the oven (made last week and frozen). Shop unpacked and it’s playtime.
6.30 pm: Dinner done and kitchen cleaned, it’s time for bedtime routine and snuggles.
7.00 pm: Shower for me and PJs.
8.00 pm: Wine open and I watch some Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (I love it – my guilty pleasure) before my partner joins me and we watch some Netflix.
10.00 pm: Bedtime. Read some of my book then lights out approx. 30 mins later.
Today’s total: €86.95
6.30 am: Up and give my son his breakfast. Quick scramble around to get out the door. Crèche day so I don’t have to worry about his lunch and snacks today.
7.30 am: Everyone in the car and I drop my fiancé to the DART station and then onto the crèche.
8.15 am: Back in the door from crèche and only a few tears today when I was leaving. I know he will be fine once I am out of sight. Log onto work and have my breakfast while catching up on emails. Lots and lots of email.
11.00 am: Work is busy but I stretch my legs and take a five-minute break away from the laptop and pop a wash on and make a coffee. Have a banana and some chocolate (balance?) while getting back to some emails.
12.30 pm: Lunchtime and I head off for a walk. Once back in the door, I hoover very quickly and then into the shower while all is quiet.
1.30 pm: Have my lunch – a sambo – while clocking back in to check emails.
2.30 pm: More coffee! Work is quiet enough at this hour of the day.
3.00 pm: Revolut my colleague €3 for the Euromillions draw.
4.15 pm: Clocked out and out the door to collect the boys. Crèche pick-up first and his teacher gave a glowing report and he is full of baby babbles on the way to collect my other half from the DART station.
5.00 pm: All home and dinner in the oven, and an easy one again – chicken enchiladas, sweet potato fries and corn on the cob.
6.30 pm: Usual clean up and bedtime routine.
7.00 pm: Baby is down. He is exhausted after his day in crèche. I put on a layer of tan – I do this most weekends as it makes me feel good and lasts the majority of the week. Self-care and all that.
8.00 pm: Wine, some Real Housewives until my partner joins me and we have some snacks and watch Happy Valley. It’s good!
10.00 pm: Bed, reading and lights out!
Today’s total: €3.00
8.30 am: I got the lie-on this morning. The boys have been up since about 7 am. The usual breakfast, a cup of tea and we get to playing – jigsaws, cars, hurls etc everything is out.
10.00 am: I take a rain check on the morning walk. They head out and I tackle changing the bedclothes.
11.00 am: Baby still sleeping so we have a coffee and a chat in peace. Once he wakes, I take him off to see his grandad.
12.00 pm: Out to the local park near my dad’s house and have a stroll and catch up with him.
12.30 pm: Back to grandad for a cuppa and some lunch. My son is in great form and we are getting a great laugh from him – he is a messer! And full of treats from grandad.
2.00 pm: I get back home and leave the car and we decide to walk to the local Dunnes for a few bits. They have some good deals on Easter eggs so I pick up a few, along with some dinner bits and also some socks and a hoodie for my son. We go halves on the Dunnes shop and my half is €25. I drop into the chemist too and get some shampoo and an eyebrow pencil (€7.75).
3.30 pm: Unpack shopping, cuppa and playtime again – colouring in this time.
4.30 pm: My fiancé preps dinner and I bring our son down to the building works down the road from us because he loves looking at the diggers and cranes.
5.00 pm: Stir-fry and rice tonight and I get to use a few ingredients I bought in the Asian Market last week. It goes down a treat.
6.00 pm: Clean up and bedtime routine begins.
7.30 pm: Watch some Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and take two paracetamol as my throat is feeling a bit scratchy.
10.00 pm: Bed for me! No reading tonight.
Today’s total: €32.75
6.30 am: I’m up early with our son and we watch some cartoons and have a cuddle. The best. The usual breakfast for us and playtime begins.
10.00 am: After a brief tidy up we are all dressed and head out the door to the park.
11.00 am: Baby is still sleeping when we get back so we have a coffee and some cake.
11.30 am: Our son wakes and we decide to FaceTime my mam for a catch-up.
12.30 pm: I make an easy lunch of scrambled eggs; my fiancé has a hurling match today so we head out to watch some of that.
1.00 pm: We just watch the first half and then I’m off to meet my friends nearby and bring the kids to the playground. I get two coffees and a hot chocolate (€10.50).
3.30 pm: Finally home and a late nap for my son. He is exhausted from today.
4.15 pm: Wake-up time and he’s groggy after his nap, so we just snuggle on the couch for a while.
4.45 pm: Pop in the dinner – half a roast chicken and roasted veg with potato gratin. A shower for me while that cooks.
6.00 pm: Dinner eaten and the usual clean up begins followed by the bedtime routine.
7.30 pm: Son is finally sleeping and I tackle some jobs – iron shirts, make breakfasts and lunch. I have Shellac polish on my nails, which chipped, so I take on the task of removing this as I have meetings tomorrow and I hate the look of it. After 45 minutes of filing and soaking like a mad woman, I give up and paint over it to camouflage the mess I made.
9.30 pm: Finally sit down and have a G&T to settle the Sunday feels.
10.15 pm: Bedtime for me and a quick read before turning in.
Today’s total: €10.50
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What I learned –
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