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 civil servant on €42K in Dublin currently on maternity leave. This week, an early childhood educator on €35K living in the east of the country.
I am a 27-year-old early childhood educator living in the east of the country. Myself and my partner recently bought our first home back in August. To save for the house, I worked three jobs for two years and promised I’d ease off once we got our keys. I saved everything I could. Covid came and made that continue a year longer, so three years in total. We needed over a third of the house price in cash savings in order to stay/buy in the area with the wages we earn. We managed it, but it was tough going.
We had been renting and were lucky to pay a small monthly rate of €960 for a place. It wasn’t the most pleasant, but it was sufficient. When we got the approval, we moved into my mam’s house thinking it’d be a stopgap of just a couple of months. We also paid her a small rent of €600 a month and looked after our own shopping of course. An entire year passed, but we got there in the end. Once I’m set on something, I’m quite determined to get to the finish line! I’m working one job less, but still working most days to save to do up the garden, convert the attic, start a family, maybe buy a car and just have a small nest egg of savings. Also desperately need to set up a pension as that scares the life out of me not having one.
My income is split between two jobs and my hours are not always consistent within my second job as a waitress. I work full time 8-5 in a creche and I work in my brother-in-laws’ creperie for a couple of days a week. This is sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more. My main job is paid on a 10-month contract at €27,520. I’ve been there five years. We ran summer camps before Covid, but it wasn’t financially viable to do that during the last two years so I had to manage on just the 10-month contract and pick up more hours in the creperie during the summer months.
Hopefully this year, we can run them and the creperie also has an outdoor area during the summer months so will be there most evenings. This will impact income but it remains to be seen how much. During regular weeks though, when I am paid in the creperie, after tax it’s not much as my tax credits are split with most going to my main income. This is a bit of a nuisance but I generally get a hefty sum of tax back at the end of the year once Revenue sends me a balancing statement. At the moment they are just split the best they can be.
I love both my jobs. I love working with kids and although it’s an extremely undervalued sector, it brings me joy in my work and I would rather work hard at something for less and be happy every morning going in than be absolutely miserable and earn more. Your misery doesn’t just end when work ends: it seeps into other areas of life and to me, that’s just not worth it. I continue to live in hope that somewhere, the Government will realise we need to be hugely funded to improve things for staff. The recent funding has been absorbed by businesses who have incurred massive insurance hikes, rent increases and increased energy prices – leaving nothing to add to staff wages.
I get on really well with the two girls I work with, which makes work so much better too. It’s something I don’t take for granted as I know not everybody can say the same of their work colleagues. I also sincerely hope any plans to reform childcare doesn’t affect this set up as I’m not sure after being paid so poorly over the years, I would be moved from this position for only a small jump in pay. As I said, the girls I work with are the main reason I’ve hung on so long. I have sent several emails to local TDs in relation to this, but have yet to hear anything remotely beneficial back from them.
I also love working in the restaurant, it’s like the complete opposite of needing to be Mary Poppins in the creche. You can have open, honest conversations with grown ups and not mind every word you say. It’s a good release to talk to people when they’re also off the clock and relaxing over a meal. People are refreshingly open about everything. I know many life stories of customers who are willing to share. I enjoy listening and meeting the different characters and hearing their thoughts and what experiences they’ve had.
I like reading these Money Diaries, but often get frustrated as they represent higher earners the majority of the time. The comments from other people underneath often echo my thoughts! I also wanted to use it as an opportunity to highlight the pay in the early years. I am paid extremely well in comparison to others within the sector. That’s something I’m very aware of. However, I’m in childcare for ten years and have a Level 8 degree, which I did at night whilst working full time and finished when I was 21, so I’ve been qualified for a large chunk of my working years in childcare.
We are inspected by the Department of Education along with a million other governing bodies. We have an absurd amount of paperwork to fill in, we follow an educational curriculum and on top of that, often have to prepare meals and clean after everyone is gone. In other jobs you would have a secretary for paperwork, someone carrying out the work and cleaner who comes in after hours. We are all of those things. For all the work we do, there is still a serious shortcoming in wages for staff. This is at a time when teachers unions are fighting for a wage increase to combat inflation. We aren’t unionised. We don’t get heard the same, we are inspected by similar entities, we’ve never had even close to the same pay, inflation is hitting us just as hard and yet decent income for staff is non existent. Anyway, I digress…
I tend to save well, but not the exact same each month, just whatever I can is moved to savings from my main pay and I work with the smaller pay then a week to week and my tips and never carry money forward to the next month. If I have money left over it goes into savings. This way our savings build up quickly, I don’t ever deprive myself of going out for a meal or a drink but I’m careful with my money and work hard for it. I don’t wear makeup regularly, or get my nails done, or smoke or get my hair done all that often. I prefer to save money and go on a holiday or get a big thing done in the house.
I am very wary of if one of us ever becomes sick though as we would have very little to fall back on and we have no health insurance. We’ve about €17,000 in the joint account which will soon be eaten up by getting a smart fence out the back installed, artificial grass laid and some garden furniture for the summer. We didn’t get in last year in time for good weather but plan to have a Hawaiian themed cocktail party as a very late house warming in the garden! Woodies have a wide selection of fun things to kit out the party which I’ve been eyeing for a while.
I work a lot so meal prep once a week/fortnight and a good shop once in a while are how I usually manage with only a trip to the shop to get a few small bits during the week. I also don’t have a car yet so tend to do a big shop every two months and get lots of sauces, spices and meat and freeze things into portions. It’s the cheapest way I’ve found of eating well. We don’t earn enough to buy fresh produce every couple of days and with only two of us, it’s hard to use up fresh food quickly enough. We eat relatively well though with meat and frozen veg mixes and plenty of flavour in spices and stuff. I like cooking and can make a good few dishes by having a few staple ingredients.
I’ve no debts. I work about a five minute walk from my house and the other job is about a 20 minute walk from my house. I walk a lot during the week so tend not to sign up for gym memberships etc. although I could probably do with a few weights! I also enjoy travelling a lot and have been to 33 countries so far across Europe, North America and Australia. I would love to either make it to Peru or travel around Asia in the coming years. Or camp in the Sahara! I think I need to start working a third job again….
My partner works as a barman and depending on the week, sometimes we have two or three evenings off together and other weeks, we barely see each other: just a good morning and goodnight while one of us is half asleep. This week we will be like passing ships!
Occupation: Early childhood educator
Age: 27
Location: Leinster
Salary: €27,520 + €8,000 (in the restaurant approx) + tips
Monthly pay (net): €2,315 (for ten months of the year) + €450 (approx in the restaurant) + €20-€200 in tips. (Again very hit and miss – I don’t ever rely on this as a given) On average about €2,800 per month
Transport: €0
Mortgage: €1020.50 in total, €510.25 each
Household bills: €302.85 including life assurance, €151.42 each
Phone bill: €40
Health insurance: N/A
Groceries: €200 in total, €100 each
Subscriptions: I don’t generally watch telly all that often so I don’t have any subscriptions like that. I have Spotify but don’t pay for it as my short walk to work never really lets me listen to more than two songs.
Total: €801.67
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7.15 am: I get up for work. I have my sister’s dog while she is away so I let him out and watch him run around like a maniac! I wish I had that energy this morning. I shower and have cereal for breakfast and a cup of tea.
8.30 am: Back to work today after the Easter break. I’m wondering who will cry more: me or the kids. I stop off at Centra and get two coffees - one for me and a welcome back coffee for my work buddy. (€5.60)
12.30 pm: We’ve sent our morning kids home and have a few minutes with a smaller group in between, so we each take turns having a quick break. I eat a pasta salad from Tesco which I bought in the shopping the weekend just gone. I inhale that with a few minutes of peace to myself and head back to work.
5.00 pm: Home time has arrived, but I’m taking two of the kids home with me until 6.30pm. I used to nanny for the family and since both parents are back at the office, they needed longer hours than the creche usually operates.
6.20 pm: I walk the kids home and walk the longer route home to get a few more steps in. I bring the dog with me. The weather is nice and I could do with some fresh air and sunshine!
7.00 pm: I’m home and contemplate what to make for dinner. I’m thinking chicken kievs, mash and veg. I need to make it before I get too tired to be bothered to eat (happens more often than I would like it to).
7.30 pm: I finish making dinner, eat and tidy up. I sit down with a cup of tea and eat the ears off a chocolate bunny, courtesy of one of the kids in the creche as an Easter gift. I text my mom to see if she’s doing Darkness Into Light this year as we usually do, but we’re not usually this late at signing up. I quickly hop onto the website and sign up (€26).
8.00 pm: My brother-in-law texts me to meet his friend who is a baker as he has made a cake for my sister’s birthday. Their flight isn’t until later on, so I go to collect it.
9.00 pm: I get home and chill out for the rest of the evening and read a book my other sister lent to me written by a psychologist called Stranger in the Mirror.
10.00 pm: I probably have 3/4 more cups of tea before calling it a night. (Seriously need to cut down). I get into bed and like every Monday evening, remember the bin needs to go out just as I’m comfy. I get up put it out for the morning and head back to bed.
Today’s total: €31.60
7.15 am: Why must my alarm be going off!? I let the dog out for the last time before he goes home today :( I shower and eat the same breakfast and, of course, have tea.
9.30 am: I walk down to the shop, bringing two of the kids with me for the walk. It’s the girl I work with’s birthday. We get a tray of cupcakes, a few bags of jellies and a bunch of flowers. We go back and throw a small party. I tell her to avoid the shop for the rest of the day as the kids have informed everyone that it’s their other teacher’s birthday! (€21.50)
12.30 pm: Today’s lunch is just roast chicken soup with a slice of bread from the creche. The soup was bought in the shopping.
5.00 pm: Home time for a few before I go babysit for a family who used to be in the creche also. It’s handy, only down the road. They are only heading to a show so hoping it won’t be a long evening. I’m not particularly hungry, so I don’t bother to cook. I have tea and a cereal bar.
6.15 pm: I walk to their house, chat to the parents a bit and then we say our goodbyes. We play in the garden, colour pictures, make rice crispy buns and watch ten minutes of a show before bed.
9.00 pm: The two kids are in bed and I’ve some work observations with me to do for the folders we send home at the end of the year to work on for the evening.
11.30 pm: The parents are home and chat again for a few minutes before I head on. I walk home. I’m up €70 for the night.
12.00 am: I’m home and make a cup of tea, chill out on the sofa while catching up on the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard case. Afterwards I head to bed.
Today’s total: €21.50
5.20 am: I wake up ridiculously early and fidget in the bed until I annoy myself and just get up. I shower and breakfast is the same as the other days. I boil some pasta for my lunch.
12.30 pm: Lunch today is pesto and pine nut salad with some tuna mayo and sweet corn. All from the shopping still.
5.00 pm: I finish my day and head downtown to pick something up for my sister’s birthday. I get her a few bits in Boots, a voucher for Next because she said she saw a dress she liked and new pyjamas. (€55)
6.00 pm: I head up to my sister’s to wish her a happy birthday and to have some delicious cake. This doubles up as dinner as it’s so filling. I stay for a couple of hours chatting with my sister, brother-in-law and nephew as I haven’t seen them for a while with them being away. I make a plan to have them over for dinner next Tuesday evening and my nephew requests “the nice tomato and basil herb coated chicken from Super Valu.”
8.30 pm: My brother-in-law drives me home. I get into pyjamas and chill out on the sofa with a cup of tea (of course). I start to read my book but decide the floors need to be badly swept and mopped after the dog has been here. I do some laundry while I’m at it.
9.30 pm: I finish cleaning and try to read my book again. I can’t get comfy on the sofa, so decide to read in bed. I read for a while until I start nodding off.
Today’s total: €55.00
7.15 am: I wake with my alarm and get up to the same routine as all the other mornings.
12.30 pm: Today, lunch consists of roast chicken with dry Cajun spice, rocket, tomatoes and crispy onions. I am obsessed with crispy onions!
5.00 pm: I’m finished and I head around to visit my mam for an hour to have a cup of tea and a chat. I pop into Aldi on the way and get her a small bunch of spring flowers (€9.99). I end up staying longer than anticipated and eat dinner there, so no cooking for me today! I help with the washing up and then watch an episode of Superstore with her.
9.00 pm: I walk home from my mams. Fold the laundry from yesterday and pack my t-shirt to change for tomorrow’s shift at the creperie. I head to bed early today as I’m too tired to concentrate on TV or a book.
Today’s total: €9.99
7.15 am: I’m up and doing my usual.
8.00 am: I arrive to work and the girl I work with has bought me a cappuccino because it’s Friday!
9.00 am: We greet all the kids with a “Happy Friday” on Friday mornings. They’re always in better form too. It’s funny how early in life you appreciate a weekend. It’s also payday so an even happier Friday. I move €2,000 over to the joint account straight away. It’s my half of the mortgage/bills plus money towards the garden being done soon.
12.30 pm: Lunch is the same as yesterday. I chat to the others at work about possibly going for a drink on Sunday night together as this coming Monday is a bank holiday. I ring the dentist to schedule a clean and enquire about getting my bottom two wisdom teeth out. There are no late evening appointments until the third week in May. Had the top two removed pre-Covid and was supposed to get them out after, but then they weren’t doing extractions and I’ve not been back since. Dreading it and the price!
2.30 pm: One of the parents ask me to babysit on Sunday night and I agree. It’ll stop me going out and save me from a hangover, plus it’s money for the dentist. I rearrange drinks to Monday as I’m off and plan to have a cheese board with just one of the two girls from work. The other girl has gone home but I’ll text her later to drag her along too.
5.00 pm: Home time has rolled around and I head down to job number two.
5.20 pm: I arrive, chat to the chef and my brother-in-law to see how the day has been, what bookings there are, any dishes not on, etc. I quickly change t-shirts, spruce myself up and I go from teacher to waitress in two minutes.
10.00 pm: Closing up. Shine all the glasses and cutlery ready for tomorrow again. Count the till and split the tips. My brother-in-law drops me home on his way to his. I make €20 in tips.
10.15 pm: Before getting too comfy I realise I’m a bit peckish. I don’t like eating this late usually, but I walk two minutes around the corner and get a small takeaway chicken noodle soup from the Chinese (€3.80). I eat it and head to bed.
Today’s total: €2003.80
9.45 am: Alarm is going off, bit of a lie in this morning. I make a cup of tea and eat a pain au chocolat for breakfast. We bought a bag from Aldi when we went shopping and I try to refrain from eating them all in one go! Not the healthiest, but it’s the weekend!
10.30 am: My brother-in-law picks me up and we head to work. It’s busy from the time we open until about 3pm.
3.10 pm: I take a quick break and have a staff lunch. I pick a gallete with cheese, onion and mushroom with a side salad. It’s delicious! I sit for five minutes to eat and down a quick cup of tea.
4.30 pm: We close for about an hour as it’s gone quiet around the town and all staff need a break before a busy dinner service. We chat about it being pay week for a lot of people so hopefully it’s busy. I text my friend to see if she’s around for a catch up tomorrow morning over a coffee. She is! We make a plan.
5.30 pm: I set the tables out with candles and make sure the floors are still looking clean, clean the toilets and stock the drinks fridge again.
6.00 pm: Customers start arriving and we have a busy four hours of feeding and watering the customers. Everyone leaves happy.
10.00 pm: Closing time – I count the till, split the tips (make €25 today) and head home. Have tea and wander about the house aimlessly before heading to bed. Don’t even remember hitting the pillow…
Today’s total: €0.00
8.30 am: I wake up and hate myself for not being able to have a lie on ever. I go downstairs, make tea and eat a pain au chocolat. I head back up to bed just to lay down but don’t fall back asleep.
10.00 am: I get up and throw something on. Don’t need to look too presentable today. It’s raining, so I don’t end up meeting my friend for a walk. We chat for a bit on the phone.
11.00 am: I head downtown just to get out of the house. I pop into Dealz and end up buying a packet of toothbrushes and some cereal bars (€3). I come home, have fruit salad and a cup of tea.
3.30 pm: I get a text to say babysitting is cancelled for the evening. One of the parents isn’t feeling well. Now I’ve to look at my own four walls for the night! Don’t fancy going to the pub with the others tonight as I’m pretty tired after the week of work. I sit down and plan out how next week will go. I love a to-do list! I meal plan, do a shopping list, sort out hours I’ll be working, etc.
4.00 pm: I make stir-fried rice with chicken, mixed veg and soy sauce. I take a cat nap on the sofa for 20 minutes after.
5.30 pm: I clean the house, stick on some music and sing loud enough that I’m pretty sure the neighbours hate me!
6.30 pm: I light the fire and chill out reading for the evening. Don’t think I’ll move much other than going to bed.
Today’s total: €3.00
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What I learned -
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