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 executive assistant living in Buenos Aires on a short-term contract for a few months. This week, an architectural graduate on €35K living in Dublin.
I am an architectural graduate working with a practice in Dublin city centre. The company works in residential, commercial and conservation projects. I’ve studied in Dublin since 2016. After completing three years of architecture school, I took a year out to get work experience. I returned and completed my final year as an undergraduate and subsequently completed my Master’s in architecture. I have just begun studying for my professional practice exams part-time which I hope to complete this time next year. After completing this, I can register as an architect after seven years of studying. It has been a long haul but I am lucky because I enjoy my job and have met great people.
I currently rent a house with two young professionals. I found the property on Daft over a year ago and have been living there since. At the minute I am busy with college assignments but I enjoy socialising with my friends in bars and exploring the city, cycling, hiking and playing golf on the weekends. I often travel home to visit my family and friends. I have just completed my first half marathon and I hope to compete in a triathlon in the new year.
I love sports, music, art, food and travelling. I would not consider myself to be materialistic, I don’t spend lots of money on clothes. I am struggling to save at the moment and have been working now for almost two years post-graduation. I owned a car for about six months before having to sell it. I just couldn’t afford it and I was in the red every month. I think it’s about time to start to put money away and not live paycheck to paycheck, but I’m finding this very difficult and often end up in an overdraft at the end of the month (I have a €500 overdraft). I would like to be stricter on spending and hope this exercise will help.
Occupation: Architectural Graduate
Age: 26
Location: Dublin
Salary: €35,000
Monthly pay: €2,740
Transport: €21
Rent: €700
Household bill: €60
Health insurance: €46
Groceries: €200
Subscriptions: €30 (Spotify, Patreon, Irish Times)
Gym membership: €49
Phone bill: €44
Savings: €370
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7.30 am: I had great intentions of going to the gym before work, but snoozed the alarm and now it’s time to get a shower, have breakfast and get on the bike to work. It’s a fresh morning and cold for the first time in a while but bright.
9.00 am: I get to my desk, switch on my computer and quickly head for the coffee machine. After some small talk with colleagues, I sit down at my desk.
10.00 am: I’m working on an office development in the city. I am on a team of six people and work closely with one of the project architects. She checks in with me and we discuss what it is that the builders are demanding this week. For the first half of the day, I am setting out electrical devices on drawings. This consists of co-ordinating what the subcontractor has specified and building codes requirements.
1.00 pm: It’s lunch time and I’m delighted I made the effort to make lunch. There not much conversation from the others on Mondays so after eating I take a stroll and try to get some Vitamin D.
2.00 pm: Next task is to set out the sanitaryware for the toilets. It’s not the most glamorous job in the world but someone has to do it!
4.30 pm: Every Monday, I leave early and head to college. I have two and a half hours on a Monday evening from 5.30pm to 8pm. During the break I buy a protein bar to get me through to dinner. (€3.50)
8.30 pm: I manage to narrowly avoid the post-lecture pints and I head home. I don’t feel like cooking so I have two soft boiled eggs and some quick ravioli from Lidl. Not the most nutritious meal but its quick and easy.
9.00 pm: Clean my room and read a book.
11.00 pm: Time for bed.
Today’s total: €3.50
8.30 am: I’m up later than usual and have to rush to get to work on time. I’m lucky that my commute only takes 15 minutes on the bike. This means I spend hardly any money on transport every month.
9.20 am: I make it to work a little later than normal and have no time for breakfast so I get some fruit and a coffee from the kitchen and make do.
1.00 pm: I didn’t make a large dinner last night – usually, midweek I make a dinner and save the leftovers for work the next day, but there’s always a day a week that doesn’t work out for one reason or another. Today is one of those days and I head to Spar to get a chicken roll for lunch as well as a packet of crisps. (€7)
2.00 pm: We’re back at the desk and drawing some internal elevations.
6.00 pm: I got invited to an open mic by a friend of mine. His girlfriend is playing her first open mic at a bar in town so I go along to support and get a pint of Guinness (€6.40). I manage to get out by 8 pm and stop in the shop to pick up some chorizo, mozzarella and some salad (€9). It’s unexpectedly cold this week and I’m leaning to comfort food. I make a chorizo tomato gnocchi bake for dinner. I’ve only made this dish twice and have yet to perfect it, but it hits the spot.
10.00 pm: After cleaning up, I sit down at my desk in my room and do some essential reading from my course and I’m in bed by 11 pm.
Today’s total: €22.40
6.30 am: I successfully make it to an early morning gym session and I remember why it’s worth that extra effort, it’s so quiet in the mornings. I buy a protein shake from the vending machine afterwards and skip breakfast. (€3.50)
8.30 am: I was invited to a charity dinner in two weeks so I drop my suit to a dry cleaner on the way to work. (€20)
9.00 am: Werk!
2.00 pm: I read a personal finance article at lunch that explains how saving deposits are much better in European banks, and that Irish banks aren’t great for saving money in comparison. I realise I have two savings accounts on my online banking. One is a seven-day notice account and the other for a rainy day fund. After a call with the bank, I decide to close one and focus my attention on the account offering the better interest rate. I wasn’t aware of this stuff at all. I need to find out more. I would suggest that the subscription just paid for itself though. For lunch, I had the leftover gnocchi.
6.00 pm: After work, I run to the shops and pick up some bits for dinner and lunch for the next couple of days. (€18.50) I also bought two lines in the national lottery and one line in the EuroMillions. I don’t always play the lottery unless there is a large jackpot (I realise it’s a total waste of money and there’s no hope of winning, but I have a good feeling about this one!).
7.00 pm: I organised a game of five-a-side locally with some friends – €5 each for the hour. Really nice way to socialise and exercise.
9.00 pm: Cook food. Egg fried rice. Then bed.
Today’s total: €43.50
7.30 am: Get up, shower and breakfast and hop on the bike. My room is a mess but it will have to wait until this evening. I never have time in the morning it seems. I am always in a rush. I do not feel very motivated for today so I get to work a little bit early and head to the nearest and dearest coffee shop around to ease myself into the day. (€4)
9.00 am: The sanitaryware schedule needs updating to send to the quantity surveyors for a cost comparison, so my first task to make sure it is all in order.
1.00 pm: Lunchtime. I have leftover egg fried rice from last night. I go for a stroll in the misty rain before getting back to work.
2.00 pm: I begin a new task updating drawings from the latest change in the design. This time a pergola has been removed from the roof terrace. It was a value engineering decision but I am not involved in these decisions I simply update the drawings.
5.30 pm: It’s been a long day and I decide to go for a cycle after work to change things up. This turns out to be a terrible idea. I bought a new bike recently, I’m not familiar with, it was raining, dark and rush hour traffic. I almost died three times. Would not recommend it.
7.15 pm: I get home and begin to make some dinner. Chilli con carne is on tonight’s menu. I’ve been eating so well this week and decide tonight I deserve a treat so I walk to the shops while the food is cooking and buy a bag of Doritos and two bottles of beer (€7.50).
10.30 pm: After some Netflix, I get into bed a try to get an early night.
Today’s total: €11.50
9.00 am: I arrive at work and get some coffee from the kitchen.
10.00 am: I’m asked to prepare drawings for a client meeting for a potential new project. It’s a large extension and remodelling of a house in south county Dublin. It’s a welcomed change of pace and I work on presentation drawings for the first half of the day.
1.00 pm: Lunchtime and I have some chilli from the previous night’s meal. Three of us go to a local coffee shop and I get a flat white. (€3.80)
2.00 pm: Back to my desk and to continue to work on the presentation drawings which is a nice task for a Friday evening!
5.00 pm: After work, I get the train home (€5). I’m lucky that my family home is only 40km from Dublin. I’m on the way home because a friend from school is back from the Netherlands where he has been living for two years now. Before going to the pub, I stop in to the local pitch the watch my younger brother play a match. It’s a good game and he scored a goal, but I have to leave at half time to get to the pub – I’m already late.
9.00 pm: There are five of us in the pub and thankfully I have missed the rounds, but I still buy three pints before calling it a night around 12 am. I get a lift home from one of the lads who wasn’t drinking. (€18)
Today’s total: €26.80
10.00 am: I am back in my family home and have a lie-in before getting out of bed. My brother is frying some bacon so I have some eggs and bacon for breakfast.
10.30 pm: I take a short 3k stroll in the morning while the sun is out. I had arranged to meet a friend from school for coffee but I have to cancel because I have college work to do. I also planned to go to the cinema later with my mother.
11.30 am: I’m at the kitchen table to study for college. I have a draft assignment due in ten days so I want to get some work done over the weekend as I have limited time during the week.
2.00 pm: I go to the local barber’s to get a haircut. I always get my hair cut when I’m at home – I know the barber, and it’s a better value (€26). I make sure to get in early because there’s usually a queue and there’s an extra charge after 5 pm. I’m not seen to until 3 pm because I am waiting for my usual barber.
4.00 pm: I get home and make myself a snack from the fridge before going back to study.
4.30 pm: I sit back down at my desk to get in a couple more hours of studying.
7.00 pm: The family sit down for a meal that my mam has prepared which is lovely.
8.00 pm: We go out to the cinema to see a movie (€15) and I buy some pick-n-mix (€5).
Today’s total: €41.00
10.30 am: Wake up and have some breakfast, take care of some life admin. This consists of checking the register, the election was announced the previous week. I need to head back to Dublin this evening and my younger brother kindly agrees to drive to the rented house.
3.00 pm: We stop in to a pub to watch a cup final. I buy two pints (€12.40). I put a bet on the match on the Paddy Power app – but don’t win. (€10)
5.00 pm: After the game, we head to another place to get some food, I pay for my brother since he drove. (€28)
6.00 pm: We get back to the car and the parking costs a whopping €16, so we split it (€8) and he gives me a lift back to my rented house. When I get back, the fridge is empty.
7.00 pm: Reluctantly, I drag myself to Lidl to do a decent shop (€27). I prepare some lunches for the next three days. Chicken, peppers, couscous and kale salad.
8.00 pm: I bought some frames a week ago. Adding some pictures or art might help the starkly white walls, so I put a postcard of a Picasso painting in one and hang it on the bedroom wall.
9.00 pm: Sunday is the worst day of the week. I doomscroll on social media for an hour before trying to get an early night.
11.00 pm: I struggle to get to sleep after staying up late over the weekend, so I listen to an audiobook – it’s Paul Goldberger’s book Why Architecture Matters on Spotify. That does the trick and I nod off around midnight.
Today’s total: €85.00
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What I learned -
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