Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
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 legal secretary on €39K living in Dublin. This week, a public servant on €55K living in Co Westmeath.
I am 30 years old and back living with my parents while saving for my first home. Before I moved back to my childhood bedroom, I was living in Dublin. While living there, I saved €30 a week in the Credit Union, and also saved for trips abroad. I really value seeing the world and have ticked lots of places off my bucket list. While living in Dublin, I also ended up eating through my savings between rent, bills, travelling, socialising, a big trip to Africa, working beside a shopping centre, and overall not budgeting properly to live within my means!
Since moving back home 20 months ago, I’ve saved €1,000 in a mortgage account monthly, and I increased this to €1,100 monthly in February. I am paid fortnightly so from my next paycheck onwards, I will need to save €445 a fortnight to pay off a bucket list trip to South America which must be paid by the end of August. This will be particularly challenging on top of my mortgage saving, but I am up for the challenge, and it will be worth the sacrifices!
I work three days in the office and two days from home. In my spare time, I like to go to the gym and go walking, as well as meeting friends and going on day trips at the weekends. I love eating out – that’s probably where most of my disposable income goes after I save for my mortgage and travelling. I am conscious that I will need to cut back on this for the coming months due to my upcoming trip.
Occupation: Public servant
Age: 30
Location: Co Westmeath
Salary: €55,835
Monthly pay (net): €3,100. Some months, if I have meetings/training, I may get some money in expenses, averaging at about €600 a year as this doesn’t happen often sadly. My pension and union fee are also deducted from my salary.
Mortgage savings: €1,100
Savings: €100/€200 – I’m trying to build up an emergency fund as I can’t dip into my mortgage savings. I plan to use this account for car related expenses (my ageing car is becoming a money pit), unexpected bills/expenses, and emergencies, so trying to not touch it for a few months! However, with my current car problems I will need to clear it out this month.
Diesel: €240
Household bills/rent: €0 – I am very fortunate that my parents want me to save as much as possible for my own home so I don’t have these expenses.
Phone bill: €7.99 – a great deal I bought on offer that is no longer available.
Health insurance: €0 – torn between whether I should get health insurance or have faith in the public system.
Groceries: €100
Gym: €120 – unlimited classes and worth it for both physical and mental health.
Travel savings: €890 – I am spending a month in South America later in the year. I am paid fortnightly and calculated that I will need to save €445 a fortnight starting from my next paycheck to fund this by the deadline for the full payment (farewell social life, it’s been fun). While this may seem extortionate while trying to save for a house, I am quite recently single and this trip gives me something to look forward to amongst mortgage saving and navigating life at present after a difficult few months.
Subscriptions: Spotify – €10.99, Cloud storage – €2.99.
***
8.10 am: Alarm goes off. Training today so a later start than usual. A few snoozes and I’m up at 8.30am. I can never stomach breakfast first thing, so I grab a banana and cereal bar to have when I get to training.
9.45 am: Arrive at the hotel for training and meet my colleagues. Swallow down my banana and cereal bar before we get into it.
12.00 pm: Coffee break with free coffee and biscuits… I’ve never needed a coffee so badly!
1.00 pm: I thought lunch would be provided at training, however we weren’t in luck so headed to the deli. Got a ham salad roll and Taytos to put in the roll (€6.25). Silver lining – I can claim back a lunch allowance of €19.25 so I was the real winner in the end.
2.00 pm: Back at training until 4.30pm and home I go. Brain was full when I got home so had a quick scroll on my phone and a nap. Had a girl dinner of brown bread, ham cheese and coleslaw before the gym.
7.00 pm: Dragged myself to Hyrox and really enjoyed it. The thought of going is always worse than being there!
8.00 pm: Home and quick walk with the dogs. I try to get out for a walk at least once a day. Shower and an hour of TV before hitting the leaba. My Apple cloud storage (€2.99) and Spotify subscription (€11.99) also came out of my account today.
Today’s total: €21.23
6.15 am: First alarm goes off for an early start at the gym. Lots of running involved today and the sun was shining so it set me up nicely for the day.
8.00 am: Home and shower. I was ravenous after the gym so had some scrambled eggs and toast. Made some peppermint tea and hit the road for day two of training.
10.00 am: At training until 4.30pm – I won’t bore you with the details! Got a wrap in the deli for lunch today (€5.75). I can also claim allowance of €19.25 again today – woohoo! I will submit my expenses at the end of the month as I have some other work expenses this month. Ate outside with my colleagues enjoying the sun.
4.30 pm: I’ve never been so happy for a training to end… I don’t know how I completed college. I have the attention span of a duck. Looking out the window at the good weather didn’t help things either.
5.30 pm: Arrived home and sat outside for a few minutes enjoying the sun. Made lasagne and salad for dinner for my household, it was delicious. Full disclosure – it was pre made lasagne, but it was as good as homemade!
7.00 pm: Walk with the dogs and caught up on some voice notes with a friend.
8.00 pm: My parents collected me on the road. They were on the way to the local harbour so I took up the invite to join them. We went for a short stroll and my dad insisted we stop in for a pint in the local on him, so I had a Porn Star Martini (thanks Dad!). Sometimes I feel disheartened as I didn’t plan to be back living with my parents at 30, but I am grateful to still have them to spend time with and be able to live with them rent-free while I save for my own home.
10.00 pm: Home and straight to bed. I love going to bed early especially when I have the gym in the mornings.
Today’s total: €5.75
6.15 am: Early alarm again for this morning’s gym session. It was a good mix of weights and burpees so it was a sweaty one! After the gym, I got some groceries in Tesco (€10.17) – some yellow sticker bargains and my club card helped with the low cost. I also filled my car with diesel on the way home (€54.38).
8.30 am: Got home, showered and got dressed for the day. I am working from home today which was much needed after the training days. I’m generally more productive at home as there is a lot of chatter in the office, but I’ll take it handy today.
9.15 am: Start work, take a break at 9.45am as I am hungry after the gym. Reheat some lasagne and add some salad. Yes I had dinner for breakfast – no hate please.
11.30 am: I decide to take my laptop outside as it’s such a glorious day. I work away until lunch time and have some tea and chocolate to overcome the Wednesday slump.
12.45 pm: Making the most of the good weather I drive to my local woods for a walk. I don’t take the dogs as my dad walked them this morning and it’s quite warm out. I walked much faster without them, but I did miss the company! I had planned to listen to a podcast which I forgot to download and there was zero signal in the woods, so I spent time at one with nature instead!
2.00 pm: Back to work. Have some blueberries.
3.45 pm: Have more lasagne and salad.
5.00 pm: Finish up work and have a little lie down on the couch. I’m often tired on the days I go to the gym early.
6.00 pm: Rise from the dead and walk the dogs to the local village and back which is about 3.5km. They weren’t too enthusiastic so it was a very slow stroll – I think they are sick of this route as we do it most days.
7.30 pm: Make sandwiches for lunch tomorrow – and also make a sandwich to eat as I was feeling peckish. I nearly always bring my lunch to the office as lunches add up! Spend the rest of the evening helping my dad with some life admin – he is not the best with technology and my patience was tested… deep breaths. I do one of my daily scrolls of Daft and I think I may have found the perfect home that has just gone up for sale, so I email the estate agent to arrange a viewing. Secure one for Friday. I also donate to a Go Fund Me page I saw online for a woman my age requiring neurological treatment abroad.(€10)
11.30 pm: Bring the dogs out for their last piddle as I am the last one to go to bed. A quick shower and later to bed than usual tonight, but no gym in the morning, so I can sleep in a bit.
Today’s total: €74.55
7.20 am: My alarm goes off. Up and dressed and say a prayer to the patron saint of NCTS as I have my NCT first thing.
9.00 am: Drop off my car and walk half an hour to work. It was a beautiful morning!
9.30 am: Arrive to work and have my porridge. I try to eat porridge every day I’m at the office. Paperwork, meetings, more meetings, and meetings about meetings brings me up to lunchtime.
1.15 pm: I walk down to get my car. The NCT was a big dirty fail. Too many major faults to count, so my prayers and new air freshener didn’t work sadly. I was optimistic that she would pass (maybe I always have the radio up too loud) so hadn’t budgeted for car repairs this paycheck. Goodbye small amount of emergency savings! I stop into the shop to get a wedding card (€3.00) to send out to a school friend in Australia with her family member who is travelling over for the wedding. I will Revolut some dollars as a gift.
2.15 pm: Back to work for the afternoon. It’s a sin to be inside in the good weather.
6.00 pm: Arrive home and I’m too stuck for time before Hyrox to cook dinner, so I have a sandwich and then head to the gym. Another sweaty one!
8.00 pm: Drop the wedding card to my friend’s family then spin to Tesco to get some halloumi and avocados. I also pick up some ice pops… the sun made me do it! (€6.18)
8.30 pm: Arrive home and visit my neighbour with my mam as it’s her birthday.
10.00 pm: Do some hoovering, shower then head to bed with my sock curls. They are a game changer for those like me who are hopeless at hair! It was well after midnight before I went to sleep as I was looking up couches and TVs for my new home (manifest and all that).
Today’s total: €9.18
9.00 am: Another work from home day, another lie in. I turn on the laptop and get to work.
10.30 am: Make myself some halloumi, avocado and tomato on toast. Porridge is strictly a work breakfast so I change it up on work from home days. I eat outside as it’s a lovely morning and work outside on my laptop until lunch. Text my mechanic a photo of my NCT faults to see when he can take my car. I’ve to call him on Monday, and I’m not looking forward to hearing the cost. Maybe I should get a bike?
12.30 pm: Lunchtime and I head to the house viewing. The house is gorgeous and in turn-key condition. I put in an offer, so fingers crossed! Trying not to get too excited as I’m sure there will be a lot of interest in the property. This is the first house I’ve viewed that was an instant yes. What’s for you won’t pass you, as the fella says.
1.15 pm: Home. Clean the bathroom and make up the guest room for my friend coming to visit.
2.00 pm: Back to work for the afternoon.
5.00 pm: Finish up work, lie down and you guessed it… I napped for half an hour. Get up and get ready for dinner.
7.00 pm: My friend arrives and we head to a nearby town for dinner. We don’t see each other too often so it was a great catch-up. We shared a starter and a dessert. I had two starters as my main (I love trying different dishes so I often do this) and we both had a cocktail and a coffee. We split the bill and the tip and nearly have to be rolled out of the place (€60 each).
11.00 pm: Arrive home and have a glass of wine to send us off to dreamy sleepy nighty snooze snooze.
Today’s total: €60.00
8.30 am: Wake up and do some research on South America while awaiting my friend to wake. I had been fairly set on a tour I would do and there’s a sale on, so it’s €387 cheaper than when I last looked at it. I take it as a sign so pay my deposit (€75). It feels great to get it locked in and start properly looking forward to it and knuckle down on the saving for it. A great start to the day and gives me a little thrill! Do some sums and figure out how much I need to save between now and the final payment being due.
10.00 am: Get up and showered and dressed for the day. I make avocado, halloumi and bacon on toast for my friend and I. We have it with iced coffees outside and it’s glorious. We decide to go for a walk before my friend heads back home so choose a walk by a lake that’s on her route home.
12.00 pm: My uncle phones me and asks me if I could look after his dog while he goes on a spontaneous night away, so we bring the dog along for the walk. Have a lovely walk by the lake and say goodbye to my friend.
2.00 pm: Return home and make myself a pulled pork burger for lunch. My parents are also gone away for the night so I take advantage of the peace and quiet and read my book outside, doze in the sun and do some laundry.
6.30 pm: Walk my own dogs, then head back up to my uncle’s to walk his dog again. She enjoyed a swim in the river too which looked very refreshing.
9.00 pm: Get home and I’m feeling a takeaway, but as I’m already eating out twice this weekend, I rein myself in and make a ‘fakeaway’ of bacon and cheese chips with taco sauce. It satisfies the craving and was somewhat healthier and cheaper.
11.00 pm: Shower and wash my hair, do my dog mom duties and head to bed.
Today’s total: €75.00
6.45 am: I’m woken by a dog crying to go out to the toilet, and discover there are a lot of “gifts” on the floor, so not sure if he’s feeling a bit sick. Clean up the gifts and decide as I was already up to go to my uncle’s and do my dog duties there. Bring his dog for a quick walk and head home.
8.00 am: Get back into bed (it is a Sunday after all) and doze off until 9.15am. Get up and ready to go to Dublin to meet a friend for a coastal walk and lunch.
12.00 pm: Arrive and meet my friend. We have a lovely walk and a delicious lunch. I had a smash burger which I thoroughly enjoyed and we both had a coke. We split the bill (€23) each. After we walk down to the village and my friend insists on treating us to 99’s as I’ve done the driving to her. We enjoy our ice creams by the sea and say our goodbyes for another few months!
6.00 pm: Get home and I feel wrecked after the day in the sun and four hours of yapping. I lie down and catch up on my phone and end up nodding off (what a surprise). I have a slight headache, which I’m hoping is just from the sun.
7.45 pm: Go out for a walk with my dad and the dogs.
9.00 pm: Have a shower and make myself some tea. Get ready for back to work tomorrow. Send $150 for my friend’s wedding gift on Revolut. (€80.02)
10.00 pm: Take out my laptop and catch up on this money diary.
11.30 pm: Complete the last of my dog duties, and into bed at long last.
Today’s total: €103.02
***
What I learned –
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say