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 PhD researcher on a €22K stipend living in Dublin. This week, an administrative worker on €46K living in the Midlands.
I live with my husband and our 18-month-old baby. We bought a house three-and-a-half years ago, got married two-and-a-half years ago and then our baby followed, so we have burnt all our life savings and are trying to build up a rainy-day fund again along with putting money away to eventually do up our 70s bungalow and replace a car that is about to go!
We try to save €600 a month for the car/rainy day fund and then divide money into Revolut pockets for oil, Christmas, birthdays and weddings, house renovation and typical car costs (tyres, tax, services etc.) This helps us visually see how much disposable money we have each month and not to get carried away. We do keep dipping into the pockets though!
Since I went back to work after taking maternity leave (and its extended non-paid leave), I dropped down to a four-day week. This has had an impact on our finances, along with having to pay creche fees. As my husband and me pool our money together, we share the one bank account. He earns €52,000.
Occupation: Office admin (four days a week)
Age: 34
Location: Midlands
Salary: €46,000 (8% withheld to be placed into shares I receive annually)
Monthly pay (net): €2,410 (husband takes home €3,400 so a pool amount of €5,810)
Transport: €400 (this is both cars)
Mortgage: €876 a month plus house tax, insurance and protection means we pay a total of €1000.
Creche: €522
Household bills: Electricity – €180, bins – €25, Eflow – €20, car insurance (both cars) – €115
Phone and broadband bill: €55
Health insurance: €84
Groceries: €520
Subscriptions: YouTube – €12, Spotify – €15, ChatGPT – €23
Personal trainer: €160
Revolut pockets: Christmas and oil – €150, wedding abroad next year – €200, home renovation – €300, house keep – €100, garden keep – €50, clothing (for everyone) – €250, car costs – €100
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7.00 am: I get up and am exhausted as the toddler was awake throughout the night.
7.45 am: I drop him at creche and on the way back, take a stop in the local petrol station to pick up some bits. We had a very busy weekend, so I didn’t get a chance to do the weekly food shop. I buy beef mince, sauce, a couple of croissants and a chai latte (my new guilty pleasure) (total €12.40).
8.15 am: I am WFH today, so I log on at the sofa and get through the emails that came in since last week. Usually, I do all our laundry and batch cooking on a Sunday as it’s our electricity-free day, but we attended a birthday party in Dublin on Sunday, so I get stuck into the laundry. I notice that I am nearly out of fabric softener so I buy some online on Amazon (€8.70 for a 5l drum) as it will be delivered on Wednesday.
3.45 pm: I collect the toddler as the husband is very busy with a work project for the next few weeks.
4.30 pm: We come home, and I make scrambled eggs, bacon and sweet potato fries.
7.30 pm: Once I pop the toddler to bed, I head out to our garage to do my workout. I am currently signed up with a personal trainer to try and get myself fitter and healthier. Exhausted, I go straight to bed to log my food count and read a bit of my book.
10.00 pm: Turn off the lights and go to sleep
Today’s total: €21.10
6.30 am: The toddler wakes early this morning, husband makes breakfast (scrambled eggs and toast).
7.45 am: We head out the door to work and creche. I have a busy day at work today and as I didn’t do the usual Friday food shop, I will have to eat in the canteen at work, it is subsidised so that is helpful!
11.30 am: After a busy morning getting contractors set up to do some project work for us, we head to the canteen, and I have a fry (bacon, fried egg and potato bread) (€3.30).
3.00 pm: We have a busy afternoon session trying to get everything the contractors need to do in one day, so we miss the canteen lunch slot and have to do with vending machine sandwiches. I get a wrap (€3.50) and I had brought a high protein bar with me from home.
4.30 pm: Collect the toddler and head home. Husband has been to the shop to get some milk, bread, ham and cheese. He also made some Bolognese. Toddler is having a fit because he wants to watch TV while eating his dinner. He seems out of sorts this evening and we notice a rash on his chest.
6.30 pm: I usually go to an art class on a Tuesday but when I go get ready the toddler goes hysterical, so I decide to skip class. I am glad I do as he is out of sorts, very upset and not acting his usual funny chatty self.
8.30 pm: I struggle to get the toddler to sleep and am completely shattered when I finally do. My husband and I chat for a while and contemplate keeping the toddler at home tomorrow.
10.00 pm: I head off to bed, shattered.
Today’s total: €6.80
6.00 am: The toddler is coming down with something as he woke constantly throughout the night and was quite distressed. I gave him some Calpol and brought him into our bed, we both sleep on and off throughout the night but probably only get about four hours of sleep in total.
8.00 am: I text my manager and let her know that I will need to take the day off as the toddler is not well. His rash seems to have spread but he has no temperature, so I am not too worried. Husband makes us some scrambled eggs and toast before he goes off to work.
10.00 am: We have an easy morning doing jigsaws and as his mood seems a little better, I decide this might be my only chance to get some groceries. We head to Lidl when he perks up and we buy enough food to do us until Sunday (€50.82). We also head to SuperValu to get some extra bits and I am craving a chai latte from the Frank and Honest machine. While there we buy some cleaning products, and the toddler sees a tractor he is so delighted with I decide to buy and put it away for Christmas. (€33.40)
12.00 pm: We head home, and the toddler eats about four yoghurts from his pack of six and refuses anything else. I suspect he has a sore throat. I put him down for his nap and I have a nap too.
2.30 pm: Husband comes home early from work as he must work late that night. We have a small catch up and I feel a scratchy throat coming on. I go wake up the toddler and we play outside in the garden for a while.
4.30 pm: We go inside and the toddler ‘helps’ me make dinner.
6.30 pm: We wait for the husband to finish his work call and eat at 6:30 pm. I make a chicken and mushroom pasta, and toddler eats most of it at the table so he is seeming a lot better and I think we might be able to go back to creche/work tomorrow.
7.30 pm: I put the baby down and have a quick catch-up with husband. He goes to get some extra work done in the home office and I go off to bed.
9.00 pm: I don’t feel the energy to get my workout down today. I log my food and go straight to sleep.
Today’s total: €84.22
7:30 am: The toddler woke only a couple times throughout the night, but I noticed that the rash on his belly had moved to his hands and mouth, and they are starting to develop blisters – he has the hand, foot and mouth virus. We have been warned that it’s been doing the rounds in creche. I know I will be taking annual leave again today. Husband is already up and working from the home office.
8:00 am: Toddler eats a Weetabix for breakfast and now it’s my turn to feel unwell, so I just have a cup of tea. Baby is playing catch up on his appetite and eats all the yoghurts I bought yesterday.
9:00 am: I also forgot to get milk, so I get us dressed and back to Lidl we go to get a couple of bits. I let the toddler use the toddler trolley and he has a great time. (€10.70). I use sanitiser on us and on the trolley, and we keep our distance from others, just to be on the safe side.
11:00 am: We come back home and play outside for a while and then after the toddler has some more yoghurts (definitely has a sore throat!).
12:00 pm: I put him to bed for his nap. Husband asks me to pick up some smokes and a coffee for him as he is wreaked from working late last night and not sleeping great. I run to the local shop and get myself a chai latte too and a multipack of KitKat. (€26.25) I log onto my work laptop while my toddler naps and check my mails in case anything urgent has come in.
1:30 pm: I feel unwell, so I go rest in bed until toddler wakes up. 10 minutes later and the toddler stirs but I still feel the benefit from a little lie down.
2:30 pm: After a pasta lunch for the toddler, I’m still not feeling well so just eat a slice of toast. We go outside to play in the garden, but it is very blustery, so we don’t last long. I conjure up a makeshift ball pool with the summer’s paddling pool and a bag of soft play balls.
4:30 pm: I start to make dinner, but toddler is starting to get cranky so the husband steps in and finishes it while I unsuccessfully soothe the toddler. TV goes on for the smallie while me and the husband eat our dinner.
6:30 pm: After dinner, I try to feed the toddler a yoghurt, but he just gets upset. He is starting to really come out in blisters now. I pop him in the bath, and he happily plays away and drinks a bottle of warm milk.
7:30 pm: Once he is down for bed, I get myself ready too. Bringing a cup of tea and a Kitkat to bed with me to watch a little TV before bed.
9:30 pm: Turn off the lights
Today’s total: €36.95
6:30 am: Early start after an awful night with the toddler. Today I am booked in to get my hair done and my mother has kindly offered to babysit for me.
9:00 am: Running late always seems to be the time that the fuel gauge must flash to tell me to fill up! I spend €20.00 at the station nearest my mother’s. I normally fill my car full but can’t afford to wait as the pumps are so slow.
9:30 am: Rush into my hairdresser’s and my sister-in-law is waiting for me with a cup of coffee in hand. How did she realise how much I needed that cup of coffee today? I spend an amazing couple of hours getting my hair done and having some rest. The hair doesn’t cost me anything as I have a voucher that I got from Christmas.
11:30 am: Dart back to my mother’s to collect the toddler and head home quickly to make sure he doesn’t fall asleep in the car. The car gives a terrible shake on the way home and I pray to the powers that be that it doesn’t go either (this is meant to be the good one we haven’t budgeted to replace).
12:00 pm: We get back home and I pop him into his cot, he is exhausted. I am feeling quite down today but I know it’s just the stress of a week of sleepless nights, so I try not to dwell on my feelings too much and go have a lie down. I can’t sleep as I am too anxious and stressed, after a while trying to talk myself around, I decide to read a book to take my mind off everything.
3:00 pm: The toddler sleeps three hours, so I get a good long break today and feel a lot more rested by the time he wakes. I have made him some soup and spuds and he gobbles it all up, he seems to be improving but the blisters from the hand, foot and mouth look so sore. I play with him a while and then go to make dinner for me and the husband.
5:00 pm: The toddler plays with water in the sink while I try to cook dinner. Husband finishes up work and takes over the rest of the cooking and I go and play with the toddler. We all sit and eat more chicken and mushroom pasta, and then I run the toddler a bath.
7:30 pm: After bathtime, I put the toddler to bed. Husband and I sit up and catch up on our day a little and both have an early night as we are both exhausted. Will have to get back into my workouts next week.
9:00 pm: Turn off the lights.
Today’s total: €20.00
10:00 am: Husband offered to get up with the toddler this morning, so I enjoy a long lie-in. I’m starting to not feel as sick and looking forward to getting back into my workout routine. Husband goes to the shop to buy smokes and comes back with two coffees (€23.00) – one chai latte for me.
12:00 pm: He puts the toddler down for a nap and I proceed to make a roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings.
2:30 pm: When the toddler awakes, we all eat and spend the evening chilling out together as a family.
7:30 pm: Put toddler to bed and me and husband sit up for a while having the chats.
11:30 pm: We head to bed for the night
Today’s total: €23.00
8:00 am: Today is husband’s turn for a lie in so I get up with the toddler (after a couple of long night wakings) we have some porridge together and play for a while.
10:00 am: I start doing the laundry which I will do all day, and sort all the clothes out tomorrow. It feels good to be getting back into routine after being so busy last weekend. I write my shopping list and start to get the toddler ready for out. Husband decides he will come with us too.
11:00 am: We all go to Lidl and do a small weekly shop as I have some food in the freezer I want to use up. (€30.00) Husband suggests we go to a nearby cafe to grab some brunch (€38.00) and then we head home.
12:30 pm: Toddler goes down for their nap as I am feeling a bit better, I start getting stuck into my weekly cleaning routine of washing floors, cabinets etc.
1:30 pm: Toddler only sleeps an hour, but as he’s on the mend I decide to head to my parents to give my husband a bit of peace and quiet before his hectic week next week. Spend a couple of hours around at my parents and then head home for seconds of the chicken roast.
6:30 pm: Give toddler a bath and pop him to bed.
8:00 pm: I decide to take a long bath myself with a glass of some wine I had in the fridge. It’s exactly what I need after what’s felt like an exhausting week.
9:30 pm: I head to bed early as I don’t know if I will be up again during the night.
Today’s total: €68.00
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What I learned –
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