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 part-time call centre supervisor on €29K in her final year of college. This week, a 25-year-old sales representative on €35K living in Dublin.
I’ve been living in Dublin ever since I moved up for college in 2014 and have always kept an eye on my expenses as money tends to just run away from me. My current job is as a sales rep in a small company which means I have to wear many hats and work in all departments at all times.
I keep a monthly budget but I wouldn’t consider myself particularly frugal. I probably end up with about €400-€600 saved by the end of the month but that tends to get snapped up with expensive dinners or trips away throughout the year. I have only just paid off a loan which I had for five years and I can already feel a huge freedom in the amount of money I have by the end of the month.
I currently live alone in a small studio apartment so I feel very fortunate that my rent is so low with this in mind. I have one of the few rare “nice” landlords so my rent hasn’t risen at all since I moved in five years ago. The only bill I pay is electricity as well so the landlord covers the internet and bins. I have my own car but I don’t really use it unless I’m driving home to my parents house or if I go on a hike at the weekend – not a common occurrence these days! I often think about selling the car but I do find it handy to have and while I can afford it I might as well keep it.
Myself and my partner plan to move away within the next year or so and I would like to have a decent bit of money saved before then. We both have a good amount of savings already but I do appreciate upending your whole life for another country isn’t cheap.
Occupation: Sales representative
Age: 25
Location: Dublin
Salary: €35,000 (with monthly bonuses depending on sales)
Monthly pay (net): €2,631
Transport: €20 Leap Card + €50 petrol
Rent: €140 weekly (a steal, I know)
Household bills: €80
Phone bill: €35
Health insurance: N/A
Groceries: €200
Subscriptions: €8.99 for Netflix, €8.99 for Disney+, €9.99 for Spotify, €1 for Mubi, €7 for NowTV, €4 for Patreon (The Creep Dive Podcast), €35 for gym membership
Discretionary: €40 for nails (non-negotiable)
***
7.00 am: Wake up using my sunlight alarm clock which makes me feel like a superior person. I used to suffer terrible pangs of anxiety first thing in the morning, but this small change has improved my life significantly.
7.30 am: I am working from home today, so I head to my local gym to get a short session in before work. I have a roaming membership which is handy as I can use the gym near my house as well as the one in town for the days I work from the office. I was in London this weekend so feeling a little guilty about eating, drinking and spending so much and working out helps me feel a bit more back to normal. I do my food shop after the gym to get most of the essentials and it comes to €17.33.
9.00 am: Start work at my home office and try to refamiliarise myself with what I actually do. I only had a day and a half annual leave last week but I feel like it was nearly not worth taking due to the mountain of work I have to come back to. I tear through as much as I can while listening to the radio in the background.
10.00 am: Please don’t judge me, but I have leftover chicken balls from a Chinese takeaway I got the night before for breakfast. They are cold out of the fridge and everything. Love my life.
1.00 pm: Make myself a bagel for lunch and do some household chores as a break from work. Working from home is great for doing things around the house and I put all my washing away from the night before. I probably should get out in the sunlight but I stay in my little hobbit hole.
6.00 pm: Finish work for the day after it felt like I would never get through everything. I’m meeting my family in town so I don’t feel one bit guilty about closing my laptop and running away. My uncle is over from America and I haven’t had a chance to see him until now so we meet up in a pub in town. My mam, my sister and my partner join us.
8.45 pm: We don’t stay long. I think I have three pints which amount to €19.20. Myself and my partner nip into a burrito bar for a quick meal before heading home separately. I cover his meal as well so it amounts to €20.50. Pretty expensive evening for a Monday!
Today’s total: €39.70
7.00 am: Wake up and start walking into town. I walk everywhere these days as I am pretty close to town and I hate public transport. My philosophy is that I can trust my feet to get me somewhere on time but I cannot trust Dublin Bus. I have an appointment with my dentist before work and have a little bit of time to kill. I buy a jambon from the deli and walk around the park. (€2.70)
10.00 am: Catch up on some work and have my breakfast at my desk. For the days I’m in the office, I feel like I don’t spend too much on food as they do provide a lot for us. I have porridge and a coffee using the office kitchen and get back to work.
1.00 pm: Time for a lunch break. I make a bagel with some stuff that I brought from home and afterwards, I head out for a walk to try and keep active. I need stuff for dinner tonight so I head into Lidl and get a few supplies. (€12.85)
6.00 pm: Finish work and head home after a tough day. Despite my earlier statement I decide to get the bus home as I am very tired. Covered by my Leap card.
8.00 pm: Read in bed for a bit after dinner. My mam got me a kindle for Christmas which I am loving, especially as it included three months of “Kindle unlimited” which allows you to read books for free. It’s mainly old books and classics and I am currently halfway through the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Eowyn and Aragorn just met and she is giving him major flirty vibes. Haven’t heard anything about Frodo and the actual ring so far in this book. I hope they are getting on okay.
11.00 pm: Sleepy nighty snoozy snooze.
Today’s total: €15.55
7.00 am: Wake up and head to the gym for a training session with my personal trainer. I only recently started working with her thanks to some Christmas money my dad gave me. She’s great and I really look forward to our weekly sessions together. We mainly chat about things we saw on the internet for most of the hour but I do some exercise as well. For some reason, this session feels tougher than most and I feel like I could be sick by the time we finish.
8.30 am: I nip into the shop on the way home to get some fruit. I made overnight oats last night again, but feel like they can be a bit heavy so needs berries to salvage my efforts. (€2)
10.00 am: Back home to start work a little later than usual. We do flexible working sometimes which is great (in theory) when I have something on in the morning. Clients are already wrecking my head as soon as I sit down and I feel like crying. Work has been so busy and today it really gets to me and I feel completely burnt out. I take an Ashwagandha herbal capsule to try to relax.
2.00 pm: Take a break and cry on my bed. I don’t want to look at my phone as my eyes are tired from staring at a screen and crying. I read from a self-help book and get angry because the author sounds so patronising. Eat a bagel for lunch and brace myself to log back onto work.
6.00 pm: A coworker encourages me to order a takeaway to treat myself after a hard week and a particularly hard day. I am easily influenced and go on Deliveroo and order myself something nice. There is a discount code that can only be used if you spend over €20 so I do so and the total ends up €19.82. Loss leader really. But I did get a spare fizzy pop for another day!
7.00 pm: Finish up work and sit on my bed and contemplate life. I have a small existential crisis and then watch Everything Everywhere All At Once using my partner’s Prime Video account. Make a mental note to call my mam the next day. I realise I’m due my period next week which explains a lot.
10.00 pm: Skincare to relieve stress and into the leaba.
Today’s total: €21.82
6.00 am: Up early for the gym and throw some clothes on and get walking. It’s nice and quiet in the gym at this time, particularly when it gets closer to the weekend. I work out for one hour and get showered and changed and head to work.
9.00 am: Start work with a coffee from the office machine and eat a morning snack which I brought from home. I feel a bit sheepish after my dramatic day yesterday so I just keep my head down and don’t speak to anybody.
10.00 am: Breakfast of porridge and coffee all covered by work.
2.00 pm: Lunch is brought from home and head out for a walk. It’s my mam’s birthday in a couple of weeks so I look in a few shops to see if I can find a gift for her but nothing stands out to me so I end up not getting anything. March and April are expensive months for gifts but I like to take my time and find the perfect gifts regardless of the price.
6.00 pm: Finish up at work and walk home to drop my bags off. I then head to the pub to meet my friend for a meal to celebrate her birthday earlier in the week. We both get pizza and I get two pints while she gets a cocktail. €56.10 in total which I get and she’ll Revolut me her half.
10.00 pm: Fall into the bed to rest my weary bones.
Today’s total: €56.10
7.00 am: Wake up and consider risking my entire employment for an extra few minutes of sleep. Eventually get up and shower and start walking into work. Fridays tend to be quiet in the office but after this week of hell, I feel as though I shouldn’t get my hopes up for a gentle day. I’m a little hungover (after only two pints, somehow) so I buy a jambon from the deli beside work (€2.40).
10.00 am: Caught up on a good bit of work so time for breakfast. Porridge and coffee are all paid for by work.
1.00 pm: Time for a break. I brought my lunch to work and already ate it at work but I go for a walk to stretch the legs and buy a snack for the afternoon (€5).
4.30 pm: Sneaky office beers. By the time it hits 4 pm on a Friday, we usually get treated to a desk drink. It’s silly but I love it and we are all tired from the hard week so it feels well earned.
6.00 pm: Finished work for the week and ready to cherish the weekend as if it is much-needed therapy. I feel terrible about eating out so much this week, so I’m looking forward to cooking but as I get home I realise I forgot to take the salmon fillets out of the freezer :) Straight to my local Chinese. Special offer on. It comes to €13.
7.00 pm: Flake out for the evening catching up on this week’s episode of The Last of Us using NowTV and then start the new adaptation of Daisy Jones and The Six on Prime. I hadn’t read the book but did read another by the author so I have a feeling I would love it. The show is pretty good! I then go down a rabbit hole of TikTok fan edits of the characters and determine that I am #TeamCamila.
Today’s total: €20.40
10.00 am: I have a decent sleep in which I feel my body needed. I don’t have many major plans to get up for so I have a slow morning of breakfast in bed and listening to the radio.
11.30 pm: Get up and start my chores which I’ve been putting off recently. I do a deep clean of my shower, put on a load of washing, and do general tidying of the apartment. I have more to do later but take a break to have another coffee.
1.00 pm: Walk into town to hit the gym. I would usually go to my local one on the weekends but my partner goes to the same gym in town so we coordinate to work out at the same time. We go for lunch together nearby afterwards and he treats me to it. I go to get a nice fancy beer to have with my dinner and I get him one too so it amounts to €7.
3.00 pm: I nip into the bank while walking home to get rent money out for the week. I pay €140 a week in cash which is a bit old school but I try to not ask too many questions seeing as it’s so cheap. I got the electricity bill for December and January during the week so I get cash out for that as well. With the government credit taken off, it comes up to just about €74 which I understand is pretty good considering what some people are having to pay. I read an article about a 100-year-old pensioner getting a bill of €990 during the week so I feel a bit blessed that my little apartment requires so little heating and electricity. The total I get out of the ATM is €220 to cover both rent and electricity.
3.30 pm: I tackle the big chore of the day which is sorting out my cupboards and wardrobes. I hate clutter so every three-to-six months I tear the place apart and Marie Kondo my life until it feels more organised. I stick on a movie in the background. I got an offer for three months of Mubi for €1 per month which is pretty good. There’s limited stuff on it but it has a good amount of artsy movies and classic horror films which I love. I watch the original Suspiria which is camp and cartoonish and VERY scary.
7.00 pm: Salmon fillets successfully defrosted this time so I cook myself dinner, enjoy my fancy beer and settle in for the evening. I do like living alone and sometimes a Saturday night just by myself is exactly what I need. I do some skincare and stay in bed until I fall asleep.
Today’s total: €227.00
8.00 am: Wake up early and shower and have breakfast. No major rush on plans today either so I watch the new episode of The Mandalorian and another episode of Daisy Jones and The Six while doing my life admin for the coming week.
10.00 am: Drive over to Rathfarnham to visit my partner as he is dog-sitting for his parents while they are on a trip abroad. We take the dogs for a walk around the park and settle back in the house for a cup of tea. We have been meaning to book our summer holidays for a while now so we pull out the laptop and get everything sorted. Flights and accommodation booked but only the flights to be paid for at the moment so I transfer my half, which is €269 total.
1.00 pm: We head back to his apartment after a prolonged goodbye to the dogs. I’m starving so we call into a local grocers and get a sandwich as well as some nice bits for dinner that night. (€19.48)
3.00 pm: After himself finishes with the PlayStation and I finish with a nap, we sit down and watch The Sopranos. He has seen it before but I hadn’t so we are doing a full watch through of the series and slowly getting through it. We finish season 1 and he starts to cook dinner.
8.00 pm: We have dinner with a few glasses of wine and turn in for bed. The ‘Sunday Scaries’ sink in and I feel intense fear of going into work in the morning. Why does the weekend run away so fast?
Today’s total: €288.48
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What I learned –
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