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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 a tech company director on €60K living in Co Wexford. This week, a legal secretary on €39K living in Dublin.
I am 23 (turning 24 in June!) and living in Lucan. I graduated from college two years ago and have been working ever since. I started my current job, which is my second out of college, three months ago.
A month ago, me and my boyfriend (25) moved into a one-bedroom, cost rental apartment. We are delighted as we have both been living with our parents/in shared houses up until now. I applied to three different cost rental apartments before being selected for this one.
My boyfriend works full-time in retail. He has a driver’s license, but we don’t have a car. Where we live is really well connected with public transport, so a car isn’t a necessity. In saying that, he is slowly saving up for one, as we would love to be able to take trips on the weekend.
Our main savings goal is to save for a house in the next five-ish years. However, we are still young and want to see as much of the world as we can in our four annual leave weeks a year, so holidays are also a big priority for us, even if they are done on a budget. For example, we went to Reykjavík in February and ate pasta in our Airbnb for the week, but it was one of the best holidays we’ve been on!
Occupation: Legal secretary
Age: 23
Location: Dublin
Salary: €39,000
Monthly pay (net): €2,730
Transport: €46 (€12 weekly cap for students/young adults on Leap card)
Rent: €771.94 (me and my boyfriend split the €1,525 rent and €18.88 building maintenance fees)
Household bills: €30 for WiFi (half of a €60 bill – our electricity bill for last month was €12, but we think this must be a glitch)
Phone bill: €55 a month
Health insurance: I am lucky that my work pays for good health insurance.
Groceries: €50 a week, €200 a month
Subscriptions: €11.99 for Spotify, €1.99 for Disney Plus (this is a promotional deal for four months and will definitely be cancelled once the deal runs out as we rarely use it), €15 for monthly prescription.
Savings: €700 (I have a direct debit for a “mortgage saver” account with BOI)
Other: This month I paid €500 for a medical appointment. I am due to get a €125 refund from my insurance that I have through work, whenever they process it. I am sort of relying on this refund or else I will have to dip into my savings!
We also paid €300 each towards our accommodation for a holiday in June.
Things are definitely tight this month because of these two expenses. We are on a budget, no treats, but it is for a good cause; a week in Sicily next month.
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6.00 am: My alarm goes off, and I snooze it.
6.30 am: Second time’s a charm. I am up. My boyfriend is normally awake before me, but he’s off today, so I am super jealous that he gets to stay in bed. I get ready for the day. I pack my bag with my makeup as it’s our anniversary and we are going to a jazz club, but I’m not arsed doing my makeup this early in the morning. I’ll do it after work.
7.00 am: I make a smoothie bowl with granola and put it in a portable container, and pack my lunch, which is a soup from Aldi and a dinner roll.
7.30 am: I leave for the train. I’m so lucky to live literally two minutes from the train station, but I still speed walk to get the 7.40 am train just in case they decide to leave early and not tell anyone (anxiety things). I eat my smoothie bowl with granola on the train while scrolling through my phone. (€1 tap onto train).
8.20 am: I get off at Pearse Station and walk 20 minutes to work, arriving with 20 minutes to make a cup of tea and chill out.
1.00 pm: It’s lunch time, and before I reach for my boring soup that my coworkers slag me over, I see that one of my coworkers has brought in three platters of food left over from a party she had on Sunday. Potato salad, pasta salad and coleslaw, all homemade… don’t mind if I do.
2.00 pm: I am sent out to apostille a document. I love leaving the office, it makes the day go faster.
5.30 pm: Finished work. I go to the bathroom to put makeup on for my hot date.
6.20 pm: I get the bus to the jazz club. (€1 on Leap card) We paid €10 each for a ticket a few weeks ago. We went to Vienna not so long ago and visited the famous Jazz Land, and it was incredible. Expectations are definitely high! We don’t have the budget for a meal out right now, so we brought a packed lunch so we’re not starving. (We obviously do not eat it in the club.)
7.00 pm: We arrive at the pub. I have a Corona, my boyfriend has a Carlsberg. The total is €13.30. I’ll get the next round.
8.00 pm: We go upstairs for the jazz, and it’s my turn to buy a round. I get a Carlsberg for him and a glass of Sav for me. It comes to €15.80.
9.45 pm: It’s time for us to leave to make it home at a reasonable time for work tomorrow. The jazz was incredible, so it’s hard to leave! On our way to the train (€1 tap on), pizza calls our name. At €13.99 for a pretty big pepperoni pizza, we cannot refuse. Our packed lunch from earlier which we ate to avoid this very thing, gives us a disappointed look. (€7)
10.30 pm: We are home, eating our pizza in bed. Great anniversary on all counts!
Today’s total: €35.80
6.30 am: Snoozed the alarm again. No surprise.
7.00 am: Up and at ‘em. My boyfriend is at work today, so he’s up well before me and has my coffee and breakfast smoothie all ready. What a gentleman.
7.30 am: I walk to the train and tap on (€1). I drink my smoothie on the train.
8.20 am: I arrive at Pearse and walk to work.
8.45 am: I arrive at work, make a cup of peppermint tea and take a banana and a biscuit from the canteen. I start work at 9 am.
1.00 pm: It’s lunch time. I have my usual soup and dinner roll combo with some fruit from the canteen. I also go to the post office beside my office to pick up Vinted parcels. I have not bought a new item of clothing in months, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I don’t stop banging on about how good Vinted (an app where people buy and sell preloved clothing) is, and I’ve gotten all my friends and the lady in the post office on it. The clothes are super cheap, and it’s sustainable as I am not contributing to fast fashion. I tend to only use money I have made selling clothes to buy new clothes. In my mind, this means the clothes are free!
5.30 pm: I am done work and hop on a bus, then a Luas and then the train, which may sound like a convoluted way home, but it’s actually the quickest (50 minutes). I tap on to each, but because of the daily cap, I only spend €3 on travel a day.
6.20 pm: Home. I do some quick tidying and some laundry, have a shower and then start dinner. We are having hake and roast veg.
8.20 pm: My boyfriend arrives home and we have dinner, watch the end of a movie we didn’t finish at the weekend and watch the start of an episode of Temptation Island (terrible, but entertaining).
10.00 pm: Into bed!
Today’s total: €3.00
7.00 am: I am up slightly later today. As usual, my boyfriend is up before me and makes me a coffee and breakfast smoothie. I get ready and am out the door at 7.50 for the 7.56 train.
8.30 am: The train is delayed by 13 minutes, and I am reminded why I should get up earlier and get the 7.30 train! I get the bus from the train station and barely make it in on time.
1.00 pm: Lunchtime. I again have my soup and dinner roll, a slice of the cake a colleague brought in ,and I go for a walk in the park beside my office.
2.00 pm: Back to work!
5.30 pm: I finish work and get my usual three modes of transport home (€3 cap for the day). The three different modes actually break it up and make it seem faster. As someone who used to do a two-hour commute not so long ago, 50 minutes is a BREEZE.
6.20 pm: I get off the train and nip into Aldi, which is right beside the train station and my apartment. I get wraps and dry shampoo because I ran out. This comes to €7.70.
7.30 pm: After a shower and some Netflix (An American Marriage had me gripped), I pop chicken goujons in the oven, chop some onion, make a quick guacamole and lay out the salsa, cheese and sour cream. Wednesday is wraps day, which is the dinner which requires the least effort. Perfect for a Wednesday. It’s also probably our favourite meal.
8.20 pm: Boyfriend is home. He comes in the door, watching the football on his phone! This suits me perfectly as I am bet into the Netflix crime doc. We eat dinner watching our separate things and then spend the rest of the night watching Breaking Bad. It’s my first time watching it – no spoilers!!!
10.00 pm: I barely make it to 10 pm before I am out for the count.
Today’s total: €10.70
6.30 am: I am up at my usual time after yesterday’s fiasco. My lovely boyfriend as usual has my coffee and smoothie ready. As you can probably tell, he makes sure I am fed in the morning and I make sure he is fed in the evening! He starts later than me and I finish earlier than him, so this works for us.
7.30 am: I leave the house for the 7.40 train. (€1 tap on)
8.20 am: I arrive at the train station and walk 20 minutes to work in the sun. The weather this week is really putting me in a great mood. No wonder people emigrate to places where it’s constantly like this!
8.40 am: I arrive at work and make a cup of tea and settle in.
10.00 am: I am sent to Grafton Street to pick up Nespresso pods for the office. I am not complaining: the more I can get outside on a day like today, the better.
1.00 pm: Lunch time. I surprise everyone by having… soup and a dinner roll. I am just so unpredictable.
2.00 pm: I have to leave the office again to get a document apostilled. I know the end of the day will fly by because of this, so I am delighted.
5.30 pm: Finished work and I take my usual three modes of transport home (€3 cap for the day). I am home by 6.25 pm. I have a quick shower and then start on dinner. Tonight is my rendition of chicken alfredo that would probably make an Italian cry.
8.10 pm: Boyfriend is home and we eat our dinner in front of the TV watching some Breaking Bad. I am realllyyyy enjoying it.
10.00 pm: I fall asleep on the couch! My boyfriend makes me get into bed so I don’t wake up with the back of a 60-year-old in the morning.
Today’s total: €3.00
6.30 am: I am up! It’s Friday!!!! We made it. My boyfriend wakes me up with sausages and a coffee. I don’t think I can stomach meat at 6 am, but he tells me we are out of our smoothie ingredients, so this is what is on offer. I make a mental note to buy some more after work.
7.30 am: I leave for my 7.40 train. It is a bit cooler this morning, but I brave it without a jacket because I know it will warm up soon enough. I don’t pack a lunch because a colleague is leaving today, and the whole office is going out to lunch to say goodbye. What a treat!
8.20 am: I walk 20 minutes to the office. I make myself a peppermint tea in the office and settle in. Next week is a busy one with lots of board meetings, so today I focus on preparing for it.
12.45 pm: Me and my colleagues leave the office and walk around the corner for our colleagues leaving lunch. I have a lovely fish and chips, a Diet Coke, and then we all take coffees back to the office. We don’t get back until 2.30 pm, but I am NOT complaining.
5.00 pm: Today is full of celebrations, it seems. Another one of my colleagues got engaged on Wednesday, so we have champagne in the kitchen to congratulate her. This goes on until about 6.15 pm, and then we jump into a taxi to a pub on the quays. This was not a planned outing, but the sun is beating down in Dublin, so I cannot resist.
11.30 pm: Somehow, I have about five glasses of wine and have not paid for a single one. Not without trying! My colleagues are very good. But it is definitely time to go home, or else tomorrow will be a write-off. I walk about 10 minutes and then get a direct bus home.
12.20 am: I get in and scoff down some chicken and rice, my boyfriend kindly left me before going to bed.
Today’s total: €3.00
9.00 am: I wake up with a sore head. I rarely drink these days for this exact reason – it just doesn’t agree with me.
10.00 am: My boyfriend and I stroll over to our local coffee shop to have a coffee and a pastry and read our books. He kindly pays for my coffee. What a gentleman.
11.30 am: The boyfriend goes off to work. He only has to work the odd Saturday, and today is one of them. I tidy up the house because my mam and sister are on their way over.
12.00 pm: My mam and sister arrive. We have a cup of tea, and she gives me her drill as I want to put up some shelves at some point (as soon as I learn how to use a drill). We have planned to go to Howth for a walk along the sea as the weather is yet again PHENOMENAL.
2.00 pm: We arrive at Howth and browse through the markets. I nearly buy a million things but manage to restrain myself (not much restraining is needed as the only money I have is for my food shop for the next two weeks…). Thankfully, I am still a bit fragile from the night before, so I’m actually not tempted by all the gorgeous food.
5.00 pm: We arrive back at mine after a lovely walk. I nip into Aldi and buy turkey burgers and burger buns for tonight’s dinner (€7).
6.30 pm: I say goodbye to my mam and sister and get cracking on dinner. My boyfriend comes home at 7.30 pm. We eat, watch the latest Mission Impossible in preparation for going to see the new one next weekend (his parents have Sky Cinema and get two free cinema tickets a month, which they don’t use, so guess who does!).
10.30 pm: Bedtime. I am wrecked after our walk.
Today’s total: €7.00
10.00 am: I wake up later than usual, but I probably needed it after Friday’s late night (12.30am is late for me!). Me and my boyfriend walk to Aldi to do our weekly shop. Six dinners and stuff for both breakfasts come to €59.00. He gets his own lunch stuff as he is all about the protein, and chicken is an expensive commodity these days. I also pay for my own lunch, but I actually have enough soup left over from the last week, so I didn’t need to buy any. (€30)
11.30 am: My boyfriend makes me breakfast (sausages and eggs covered in sriracha) and then I start my Sunday deep clean, which includes changing the sheets, doing the laundry, hoovering, cleaning the bathroom, taking out the bins and cleaning the kitchen. I even get outside and clean the windows because I am my mother’s daughter, and a sunny day means cleaning the windows.
2.00 pm: I picked up some flower seeds in Aldi and plan to plant them in our tiny patch of dirt at the front of our apartment. I realise I have absolutely no gardening tools, so I go outside and start raking the ground with a fork. Thankfully, no one calls the police on me, and I “plant” my flowers. If they don’t all blow away in the wind, I might have some flowers in 18-24 days. After my gardening, me and my boyfriend sit outside and wait for the flowers to grow. He reads his book, and I try and catch a tan. At some point, he leaves and reappears with a six-pack of Coronas. Crazy what the 21-degree heat can do to you! I Revolut him €7 for half of the beers.
5.00 pm: We go inside and I make dinner while he watches some football highlights. On the menu tonight is a salmon and avocado rice bowl. This is my favourite meal of the week. We finish the rest of Mission: Impossible and then start another movie, but of course, we don’t finish it!
10.00 pm: We get into bed. He reads his book, and I scroll my phone for a bit before bed.
Today’s total: €37.00
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What I learned –
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