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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 interior designer on €45K living in Leinster. This week, a lab specialist on €70K living in Dublin.
I live and work in Dublin. I’ve been in my current job for just over three years and I bought a two-bed apartment last year. I was saving since I started working seven years ago (that feels crazy to say, I still feel like a child!) so I thankfully, I have a smaller mortgage.
I adore my home, and I feel really lucky and grateful to have bought it. However, buying and furnishing has wiped my bank account clean so I am trying (it’s going very slowly) to build my savings back up.
I live alone. It’s just me and my dog here – she’s great company! I work about 30 minutes away from where I live, and usually work from home once or twice a week. I go to the gym quite often to keep healthy. I love to cook, read and play video games in my spare time.
Occupation: Laboratory specialist
Age: 32
Location: Dublin
Salary: €70,000
Monthly pay (net): €3,955 (after pension contributions)
Transport: Approx. €150 on petrol – this goes into a vault on payday so I have it handy
Rent: Mortgage is €1,070
Household bills: Electricity is between €45 to €50, internet is €35 and gas is usually around €50
Phone bill: €20 (Still PAYG, don’t fix what’s not broken)
Health insurance: Paid by employer
Groceries: €250. Goes into a vault the same way the petrol money does. I usually end up spending €50 a week between two food shops, and this includes dog food and packets of ham/chicken for her treats
Credit Union: €120 (€30 comes out of my bank each Friday for car, home insurance and gym membership as they are all due the same time of year. I find this way really works for me as I don’t notice it comes out and when it’s all due, I’m not out of pocket)
Subscriptions:
Vet plan: €24
Doggy medicine: €45
Mortgage protection: €11.11
Therapy: €140 (two sessions per month)
Service fee: €150 – this goes into a vault each month so I can pay it off in full at the start of each year
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5.00 am: I get up at 5 am most mornings to go to the gym. It’s not as awful as it sounds – after a few days of it, your body is used to waking up. I have to get to bed early though, which is actually the hard part. It’s nice to have an empty gym as well and not have to wait for equipment. It’s leg day today.
6.30 am: I head home, and walk the dog. She gets a quick half hour in the morning before I start work and then a longer walk in the evening. The walks tire her out, so she is normally snoozing all morning. I shower when I get home.
7.30 am: Start work. I’m working from home today. I have a report due next week so try to get a start on that. It reminds me of my college days where I would never start work until the deadline is right on front of me. I have a homemade oat bar while I’m tipping away.
9.00 am: I use the time I’d normally take for breakfast to fly down to the vets and pick up a month’s supply of her medicines (€45.60). I stop into Aldi and get some groceries and lunch on my way back (€15.78).
9.30 am: Back to work on a project that is keeping my hands full, but makes me happy. I will be so proud when it’s finished and handed over.
12.00 pm: I bring the dog on a quick stroll around the block and have leftover pasta for lunch. I live alone, so cooking is quite easy – I make food for two and have leftovers the next day.
12.30 pm: Back to work for the afternoon.
4.00 pm: Finish work and take the dog out. I put an audiobook on (The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne) to pass the time.
5.00 pm: Cook a tofu stir fry for dinner (and tomorrow’s lunch). I put Scrubs on the TV on while I eat.
6.00 pm: Spend the evening playing Baldur’s Gate 3. The time goes by too quickly.
9.00 pm: Time to get ready for bed. The bedtime routine is bring the dog around the block so she can go to the bathroom, coax her into her bed with a treat, get myself ready and read a few pages of a book.
Today’s total: €41.38
5.00 am: Wake up and head to the gym. Back and arms today. My gym is a ten-minute drive from where I am, so I’m usually there around 5.20 am, then I get an hour and ten minutes. I get back home around 6.40 am and walk the dog until about 7.15 am.
7.25 am: Decide last minute to work from home. I have my shower, make a bowl of cornflakes for breakfast, then start work.
9.00 am: Have a second breakfast of an oat bar (some days one breakfast isn’t enough), and my monthly Netflix payment goes to my sister automatically on Revolut. (€6.00)
1.00 pm: I drive over to Dunnes on lunch and pick up this evening’s dinner and some groceries (€21.57 – I love those €5 off vouchers!). Then head to Aldi for some pet toys on their special buys (€9.98). I let the dog out around the block, then head back to work for the afternoon.
5.00 pm: Finish work and bring the dog out for a walk. Get home and buy some CDs online with a voucher I got from work, so only had to pay (€2.47). I like to have physical media like books, games and CDs, but I still use digital games, Kindle and Spotify.
5.30 pm: Throw a frozen protein pizza in the oven for a quick dinner and tidy up. I always make such a mess during the week. I am trying to adopt a ‘put it away, don’t put it down’ mindset, but I need practice!
7.00 pm: Shower and light some candles for a cosy evening. I read my book (The Last Wish) for a while, then start up the Playstation and play The Witcher 3. An evening full of Geralt’s shenanigans.
9.00 pm: Decide to buy two bottles of alcohol online, and it comes to €38.36 with delivery. I want to try to make a lychee martini on the weekend.
9.30 pm: I’m tired after a long day and head to bed.
Today’s total: €78.38
5.00 am: Up and ready for the gym. It’s quads today. I’m trying to increase my weight for squats, but it’s proving very difficult.
6.30 am: Home to walk the dog and shower before work.
7.30 am: Head to work. I normally eat a nut bar in the car because I’m already hungry and don’t take breakfast in work until about 9.30 am.
9.30 am: Go for breakfast with the team. I’m having a homemade protein oat bar.
10.00 am: Back to work. I make a solid dent in my report so feeling a bit better. I will send it for a review before the week is out and hopefully it’s all good for next week.
1.00 pm: Lunch in our canteen is subsidised for us, I pay €3.25 for a salad and a roll because the hot food option wasn’t particularly appealing to me.
1.30 pm: Back at the desk to work on the report all afternoon. Looking at Excel charts has my eyes square by hometime.
4.30 pm: Home to walk the dog. I put an audiobook on most walks because I don’t really enjoy walking unless it’s the height of summer, but the dog loves it and needs it.
5.00 pm: Tidy around the apartment and do the dishes that have been sitting there a few days. Living alone makes you lazy in that sense – the dishes sitting in the sink aren’t bothering anyone, so I don’t need to do them right away.
5.30 pm: Friend from work comes over (she started and finished later than me), so we order a takeaway and yap about work. We split the bill on revolut and it comes to (14.88) each.
8.00 pm: She heads home, and I play the PlayStation for an hour.
9.00 pm: I am shattered, so I get ready for bed and fall asleep like a light.
Today’s total: €18.13
5.00 am: Up and at ‘em. Push day in the gym (shoulders, chest and arms). I had to drag myself out this morning, I was not feeling it. So I didn’t give 100% but that’s okay. Can’t win them all!
6.30 am: Home, dog walked, showered.
8.00 am: Arrive at work. Still not feeling it today, and I have back to back meetings all morning, so no time for breakfast. I keep a stash of protein bars in my locker for emergencies like this.
12.30 pm: Head to lunch with my team. Soup and a roll looks good (€1.60) but it doesn’t fully fill me, so I decide to get a muffin as well (€1.00). I head back to the office and start working on a presentation for my project update, for next week.
4.30 pm: Finish up and head home to walk the dog. Stop for petrol on the way because the tank is basically empty. I usually fill it when it’s half empty but I just kept forgetting. (€70.04)
6.00 pm: I have friends coming over tomorrow night for drinks, so I scrub the bathrooms and spare room. My friend is at the shop and I ask him to pick up a bottle of Jameson for tomorrow – I send him €27.00 for that.
7.00 pm: Make some dinner and prep breakfast for tomorrow, and play Playstation for the evening until it’s time for bed.
9.00 pm: Bit of reading in bed before nodding off.
Today’s total: €99.64
6.45 am: I decided not to set the gym alarm last night as I’m having friends over tonight and don’t want to be falling asleep on them. I get up, walk the dog, shower and head to work.
8.00 am: Get set up for the day, reply to some emails and start working.
9.30 am: Head for breakfast, this morning it’s Biscoff overnight oats.
10.00 am: Back at the desk to finish up my presentation.
12.00 pm: I head for a quick lunch with the team, it’s €3.50 for a veggie burger and chips. The quality of food is just fantastic for the price I pay.
12.30 pm: I have a few calls this afternoon and I finish off my report in-between those. I have that lovely Friday feeling with the report and the presentation off my plate.
3.00 pm: I haven’t finished all my work but I leave site to try beat the traffic (I don’t beat it) as I have to collect my CDs from the post office depot on the way home. I also stop into Dunnes to buy food for tonight and breakfast for tomorrow for the four of us, which comes to €34.85.
4.30 pm: I arrive home and walk the dog.
5.00 pm: I log onto my laptop to finish up with the work I needed to complete today.
6.00 pm: I change the bedsheets in the bedrooms as everyone will be staying over, and I make up a bed for myself on the couch so I don’t have to worry about it later. I make up a cheese board and prep some ingredients for cocktails later with the TV on in the background.
8.00 pm: Friends arrive and we spend the evening catching up, playing co-op Playstation games and having drinks. I really enjoy nights like these – I’m finding it so expensive to go on a night out these days.
2.00 am: Everyone heads to bed and I fall asleep on the couch.
Today’s total: €38.35
7.00 am: Wake up with a bit of a sore head, but feel better quick enough. I swear my hangovers aren’t as bad since I started drinking 2L water every day. Bring the dog out for a quick walk and wait for my friends to wake up. My body naturally wakes up early because I’m up so early on weekdays, and I hate naps. So I will be lazy today.
9.00 am: I make French toast for everyone, then we sit down and chat with the TV on in the background.
11.00 am: The guys leave and I do a big clean. Sparkling floors and surfaces. I have all the windows open to air out the place as well.
1.00 pm: Head to the pet shop to stock up on her dry food because I’m almost out. I am delighted to see there is a buy one get one free on the brand I wanted (Hills). (€19.95)
2.00 pm: Back home and take the dog out for an hour. I put an album on to try it out and end up loving it (Porter Robinson).
3.00 pm: Sit on the couch and finish the second half of my book (Piranesi). It took me a while to get into it, the first 80-odd pages were scene-setting, but then it got really good. I haven’t read anything like that before.
5.30 pm: I am way too tired to cook, so I order an Indian takeaway for collection. It would have been €17.85, but my sister got me a Just Eat gift card for Christmas that I’m finally using. It was so tasty – I got a mixed vegetable curry, garlic naan and pilau rice. I watch one of the last few episodes of What We Do In The Shadows while I eat. I’m going to be so sad when I have no more to watch, it’s such a good show!
7.00 pm: I take a shower and I’m not pleased at all with the water temperature, not hot enough at all for my liking, I need to check the boiler. I play Playstation for an hour but start to feel tired, so I bring the dog out and get ready for bed.
Today’s total: €19.95
7.00 am: Wake up and read in bed for an hour. I’ve started a new book (A Court of Thorns and Roses) – I’ve heard great things but don’t know if I will love it. Bring the dog out for a walk in around the local park for an hour.
9.00 am: I balance out yesterday’s relaxation with a run. I do 30 minutes and manage just shy of 6k. Get home and have breakfast of a chocolate pastry and some berries.
10.00 am: I have a quick shower and put on a wash. I have a balcony that gets a lot of sun but the weather is miserable today, so I leave it drying in the spare room with the window open.
1.00 pm: Meet my friend for a short walk and we get some cakes. I pay as she got the last treat, it comes to €23.95.
3.00 pm: Head home and do some batch cooking for the next few days. I read a quote ages ago – ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ – and it applies to me so much with this. I spend so much money on the weeks that I don’t get my breakfasts and lunches ready.
5.00 pm: Bring the dog on her evening walk and put some music on to keep me entertained. I have a look on Vinted while she is zooming around the park and decide to buy a jacket (€43.16) and a black shirt (€6.45). I love Vinted for finding gems that nobody else has.
6.00 pm: Home for the evening. My friend bought a two-player game (Magicka 2) so we play online together for a bit before he heads out. I switch over to Baldur’s Gate for an hour before I head to bed.
9.00 pm: Get my bag ready for work tomorrow and get the dog and myself ready for bed. Another week done!
Today’s total: €73.56
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What I learned –
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