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 IT associate on €47K living in Dublin. This week, a public servant on €83K living in Dublin.
I am a public servant in my 40s married with two teenage children and living in Dublin.
Our money is just one big pot, apart from my health savings. I pay annual car insurance, property tax, music lessons, food, cleaner and he pays the mortgage, gas, electric, house insurance, DIY, car and dog expenses – but really, it’s just one big pot and we probably end up most months with similar amounts in our bank accounts (we never got around to amalgamating them).
We spend money on wine, books and holidays and lots of music lessons, but we have very healthy savings. We could pay off our mortgage, but it is one of the ECB+ fixed rates that really isn’t worth it.
We both have good pensions (mine public sector and his private that has done well). We have enough money set aside for university for the children and we are saving for a new car in two-to-three years time.
Occupation: Public servant
Age: 40s
Location: Dublin
Salary (gross): €83,347
Monthly pay (net): €3,621.28 (includes the public service pension-related deduction, property tax paid at source and cycle to work scheme).
Child benefit: €280 monthly (straight into savings for their university costs)
Transport: €0
Mortgage: Himself pays
Phone bill: €80 contract for the four of us – but usually end up €95
Health insurance: €0 – I’ve self-insured for 20 years and put away €200 a month to cover health expenses for me, himself has health insurance through work and children are not covered
Car insurance: €37.50
Subscriptions monthly: €7.99 – Xbox, €14.99 – Netflix, €7.99 – Audible, €8.99 – Disney+, €10.05 – milkman, €78.05 – newspapers, €117 – charities, €9.99 – Dropbox, €30.99 – mortgage insurance, €62 – gym membership for children, €29.87 – union membership
Subscriptions yearly: €99 – Office 365, €376 for a magazine I like, approx. €1000 with a wine club, €110 for a bike MOT, €600 for children’s clothes budget
***
7.15 am: Alarm goes off, but I’m not a morning person so drag myself out at 8 am to make sandwiches for the children off to school.
9.00 am: Two cups of tea, Wordle, Duolingo and physio stretches later, I sit down to work online at 9.30 am.
10.00 am: Morning meeting followed by a grabbed coffee.
12.00 pm: Cleaner comes in for two and a half hours. (€34)
1.20 pm: Second meeting overruns, so I only knock off now and head out for a run.
2.00 pm: When I get back, himself has returned from taking one of the dogs to the vets and makes homemade chips – have a chip sandwich followed by a quick shower.
2.35 pm: Back at my desk. The afternoon was pretty uneventful got on with some grunt work. Needs doing but is very boring.
6.05 pm: Finish work and have a search for new runners online. Find a pair I like for €140.
6.30 pm: Time for dinner. Have a steak that needs using up with vegan sausage rolls, mash and salad – I would have done chips, but we had them for lunch.
7.30 pm: Do some music practice and shout at the kids to do theirs. Watch ‘The Hand of God’ on Netflix. Alright.
11.45 pm: Time for bed.
Today’s total: €174
7.35 am: Time to get up. No bread for breakfast. I make savoury pancakes for the kids for school. One needed €22 for a school trip and the other brownies she had made wrapped up for a cake sale. I ask himself for some money and he gave me €200 to stash around the house. I set some bread to rise and do the daily Wordle and Quordle.
8.30 am: I sit down for some Duolingo – morto with my Irish.
9.30 am: I realise the time. I quickly do my physio stretches for 20 minutes before sitting at my desk to start work. Still in my pjs with a jumper for camouflage. Touch base with my line reports and we agree a meeting later in the week to reshuffle some work.
11.40 am: Quick break. Go and get some sheep’s yoghurt (Lidl special) from the fridge to eat with my homemade stem ginger. Delicious. While eating, I check my personal emails and see a notification to pay the school’s “voluntary” contribution. And insurance. And sports contribution. This annoys me every year – either we have free education or not. €320 lighter, I also note that €15 has been taken out of my account for children’s pocket money. I give them €7.50 each week each to cover bus fares and incidentals and €300 each at the start of the year for clothes (counted above).
12.00 pm: Back at the desk and mad busy.
1.50 pm: A well-needed break finally arrives before I note texts from family – mammy has been taken into hospital.
6.30 pm: I finish work, prepare dinner and fly up to A&E to see the mammy. Fill up the car on the way up (€80) and pick up some chocolate and toothpaste for her (€5). Two motorway tolls there and back (€4 paid by standing order), €4 in parking.
11.20 pm: I arrive home, eat an unappetising dinner and mourn the substandard rise on the bread (himself is not a good cook). Collapse into bed shortly after.
Today’s total: €431.00
7.30 am: Time to get up. I’m in work today, so I drag myself up, make the kids’ sandwiches, have a quick shower and cycle into work for 9.30 am.
1.00 pm: Break time. A colleague pays for my coffee and I have a rotten lunch in the canteen (€5).
1.30 pm: Back at my desk.
6.00 pm: I’m just about to leave work when I realise I need to prepare a presentation for tomorrow. Fantastic.
6.50 pm: I finally finish up and cycle home.
7.15 pm: One child having an online music lesson and the other at an in-person one (driven by himself). I heat up some leftovers. Get a message from the Zoom music teacher about fees – I pay by Revolut (€200). I also see a notification about fees for a school trip and pay that too (€18.36).
8.00 pm: I give Mammy a quick ring, but no results yet.
9.00 pm: Watch the 9 o’clock news and collapse into bed.
Today’s total: €223.36
6.45 am: The early night paid off. I enjoy lying in bed waiting for the sweet sound of the alarm before getting up to the usual morning routine. Make sandwiches and clean the kitchen from the night before (since no one else had bothered).
8.00 am: I do my Duolingo, Wordle and Quordle for the day and check in with both the parents.
9.00 am: Realise the time and have to have a lightning-fast shower (environmentalists would be pleased) and cycle into work.
10.00 am: The work day begins.
1.00 pm: I worked through my coffee break earlier, but this break will be a short one as I have another meeting (in person!) I grab some veggie chilli from the canteen with a Diet Coke for more energy. (€6.50)
1.15 pm: I hop on my bike and head over to the meeting.
2.15 pm: Finish up with that and cycle home to finish work from there.
6.30 pm: Nothing like finishing work to head home only to find you’re already there. Unfortunately, though, my back has gotten increasingly sore all day.
7.00 pm: I end up taking a couple of painkillers and having a hot bath. Let himself do dinner – quick pasta, can’t beat it.
9.00 pm: Should have gone to bed early, but there’s a Putin documentary on. End up watching it with a few glasses of vino.
Today’s total: €6.50
7.30 am: Slept OK until painkillers wore off. Fortunately working from home today, so drag myself out of bed
9.30 am: Online to start work. I feel rubbish even with the painkillers and heat pack, but there’s nothing at work too onerous today.
1.00 pm: Lunch. I can’t garden, clean, bend to do the laundry or go for a run, so I just check my emails, eat leftovers and then go back to work.
2.00 pm: Email in from one of the schools – €250 for transition year! And it’s only the first instalment. It. Never. Ends. After school, my son wants €20 to buy protein bars as apparently his pocket money is not meant for food. I just hand it over. (€20)
6.00 pm: Finish up at work and start dinner.
7.00pm: Mammy being kept in for the weekend – I limp to Penney’s and spend €120 on a few bits for her like pjs, pants, etc. as well as €10 on chocolate. Himself takes them in, she’s in rotten form but he cheers her up.
Today’s total: €400
7.00 am: Still wake up early despite being off work, but it is what it is. Get up and make some breakfast for everyone.
9.00 am: My back is much better, but I can’t do my usual park run. I plan the week’s meals, make a shopping list and head to Asian Market (€26) then Lidl (€146). This was less than normal on food because I still have ingredients for fancy meals left from this week. Food is usually closer to €250.
12.00 pm: Tidy up a bit since my back is slightly better and it needs to be done, then sit down to a cuppa.
1.00 pm: I have volunteered to help Ukrainians today and don’t feel I can cancel it, so I head over.
10.00 pm: I work from 2pm until now and my back is in rag order. I have a few sandwiches on the run (provided free), so I won’t have any dinner.
10.30 pm: Home – glass of wine and bed follows.
Today’s total: €172.00
9.00 am: My back is terrible. I lie in bed and read the newspapers. There is no hospital visiting because of Covid so I just lie in bed.
12.00 pm: Get up and make an elaborate brunch before starting in on the laundry. My daughter asks for €20 for the cinema – this should be from her pocket money but I don’t have the energy to argue – just hand it over.
3.00 pm: Fairly uneventful day so far. I WhatsApp back and forth about mammy. She is still in terrible form and the hospital has told us nothing. Himself is starting to talk about her unable to manage by herself – this is not a conversation I want just yet.
Today’s total: €20.00
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What I learned -
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