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WELCOME TO HOW I Spend My Money, a series on TheJournal.ie that looks at what people in Ireland really do with their cash.
We’re asking readers to keep a record of how much they earn, how much they save, if anything, and what they spend their money on over the course of one week. Want to take part? Details on how to do it are at the bottom of the piece.
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.
Last week, a marketing manager on €60,000 a year gave us an account his week and today, a financial services worker living in the capital explains his daily spending habits.
Occupation: Financial services
Age: 27
Location: South Dublin
Salary: €34,000
Monthly pay (net): €2,350
Monthly expenses
Rent: €1,475 (split €775 to me and €700 to herself)
Household bills: €190
Transport: €20
Phone bill: €45
Health insurance: €40
Groceries: €150
Subscriptions: €25
Gym membership: €60
Work holiday fund: €70
Pension contribution: €70
Myself and my girlfriend live together in a one-bedroom apartment, roughly 35 minutes walking distance from the city centre where we both work. We would like to carry on living in Dublin, and indeed close to town.
As a result we are in relative gay abandon when it comes to money, rent excluded. To purchase a home in an area that we would like to live, we would require incomes twice more than we currently earn for a mortgage. We have come to the realisation that there is little point scrimping and saving to buy a house or an apartment that we resent, in an area that we are unhappy.
On a good month I save €150, generally it’s more in the region of €100. You might ask for what am I saving? Indeed I ask myself that question too. It’s most likely for a rainy day, but to be honest, it’s probably better in the bank than in the cash registers of Dublin’s pubs.
***
My alarm goes off. It’s 6.40 am. It’s the moment I’ve been dreading since leaving work on Saturday lunchtime. I’m not a morning person, my reveille is unwelcome. Getting out of the bed is akin to a barnacle being prised from the underbelly of a ship with a toothpick.
Following a far-too-long shower, I wander into the kitchen. It’s 7.10 am. I need to be in work at 7.45 am. Nothing, literally nothing, is worth missing breakfast for. I am absolutely comfortable with making myself late in order to eat a breakfast. I add some muesli to yogurt (SuperValu own brand, very tasty, plenty of fruit) and follow this up with a handful of M&Ms, the bag was lying out on the countertop and far too inviting to avoid. Grabbing the sandwich I made last night, I rush out the door without a moment to lose and negotiate Dublin’s crowded morning streets.
Luckily I’m only five minutes late this morning. I generally enjoy a mid-morning coffee. Today one of my colleagues bought a delicious flat white in Lolly and Cooks, but had to rush into a meeting before he could drink it. Sad to see a good coffee go to waste, so I contentedly lap it up – if anyone asks it was cold and binned.
I head to the gym after work. This keeps me out of Dublin’s taverns. Arriving home, herself has the dinner on as she returned from work first.
Today’s total: €0
Woke up. Fell out of bed. Dragged a comb across my head. Little bit of a lie in today, covering a colleague’s later shift so no need for me to be in the office until 10am.
Having said that, still a bit of a struggle to be on time as I need to collect dry cleaning: a winter overcoat, suit trousers and a tie: total €38.
If I’m in a hurry to get to work and fancy a cooked breakfast, I don’t waste money on a breakfast roll from Spar. I grab an egg or two from the fridge, cut two slices of black pudding relatively thin and wrap in tin foil. When I get into work, I drop the eggs into the kettle and put on boil, throw the black pudding wrapped in tin foil into the toaster and switch on. Delicious. Generally most offices have a spare cut of bread lying around too. Hey presto, you’ve got yourself a first-class brekkie.
For lunch today I went to the local deli. Got a brown roll with pastrami, Swiss cheese, coleslaw and a couple of pickles, total €5.15. The sandwich is delicious, but half the fun is the people watching. Groups of people orbiting the salad bar, plucking out measly morsels of mulch, relenting at the till and adding a sly Catch bar to the purchase. I’m sure yogalates later will burn that off.
I went to rehearsals with my amateur theatre group after work so gave dinner a miss.
Today’s total: €43.15
Another grand lie in as I’m in the office for 10am. Slightly more expensive start to the morning as I received a letter threatening fines for not paying the TV Licence. As a staunch supporter of our national broadcaster, national orchestras and national psychosis, I hastened to pay this €160 as soon as possible.
Had a nice breakfast at home of egg salad on bread and prepared my lunch yesterday evening from the weekly grocery shop.
Had a rough enough day, so on the way home bought a bottle of plonk (€10) for the two of us.
Today’s total: €170
Shock horror, back to that awful early start of 7.45am. Wake up at 6.30am and the day begins with more of the same.
Today I was at an external event where there was pizza. Cost of lunch, nil.
Popped into the parents on the way to rehearsals this evening where I was made feel guilty, as usual, for not saving for a mortgage. Somehow I feel I’m right and the world is wrong. If there’s a more benevolent, kind-hearted demographic in Irish society other than landlords I’d like to meet them. Oh yeah, bank workers.
Myself and herself are heading to London in December to visit friends, and from there to Amsterdam to visit other friends, who incidentally moved due to the rising cost of rent in Dublin. We’re taking the train from London to Amsterdam, and it was less expensive than you might think, €40 each. That’s already paid and we booked our flights last month, €60 return. London is horrifically expensive for accommodation so ended up paying €240 between us for three nights in a Premier Inn in Clapham, followed by €190 for three nights in Haarlem. Pay day is two weeks away so this is all going on the credit card to be addressed at a later period. We were already very good and paid for the flights and the train up front.
My advice, if you are visiting friends abroad, NEVER STAY WITH THEM. If you stay with them you become indebted to them. This could potentially result in some manner of financial expenditure in the form of a pint, or working on the principle that a bird never flew on one wing – two pints.
Today’s total: €215
Day went as usual, got up and went to work. Looking forward to a three-day weekend ahead of me.
Brought a lunch with me, a nice plain ham sandwich and some soup.
A work event followed the day, so myself and a few colleagues bought a couple of beers and had them in the office. Nice soothing beer. The perfect medicine and antidote for the week.
Headed to the event which was in a different office in town and thank god there was a free bar. Costs were hence kept to a minimum. I did somehow manage to spend a couple of euro on pints afterwards in the local boozer, according to online banking.
Today’s total: €16.50
Felt rough, to say the least. The only thing to be done in such inauspicious circumstances is to clean.
As with all Dublin rental accommodation, mould is an issue in the apartment. Not as substantial as I have seen in some places, but still needed attention. I went to the hardware store and purchased a mould remover, which was €13.50, and a tin of WD40 for my bicycle (€8). I treated the affected area with the mould remover and nearly passed out from the fumes.
Had a friend over for dinner tonight before we headed out to one of our associate’s birthdays. Cooked up a grand bit of pork steak and the friend brought wine for us.
Again in retrospect, I opened up the online banking the following day to analyse the cost of the evening, it was €48.50. I have no intention of listing the individual drinks I consumed. I am writing this the following day and feel somewhat nauseous. Thinking of the pints is doing nothing to improve my health.
Today’s total: €70
Had a three-hour rehearsal today with my amateur theatre group.
Bought a two-litre bottle of fizzy water. I find the bubbles in it most soothing for the old liver. Don’t ask me to put my hand in my pocket besides, for I am genuinely penniless until payday.
Back to the old grind tomorrow. Can someone let me off this carousel of carnage called life?
Today’s total: €1.68
What I’ve learned:
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.
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He boils eggs in the kettle in work? I hope he washes it out(i know its boiled but christ!)
And foil in a toaster? Probably picks it out with a knife while its still on.
@Jayo Breathneach: lol
@Jayo Breathneach: it’s actually worse and dangerous. Just ask yourself where the last place that egg was?
Whoever is drinking tea or coffee after that guy best be careful…..
@Philip King: In the cardboard egg box I’d imagine depending on whether they have a little holder in the door of the fridge that they decant their eggs into.
@Diarmuid Hunt: up a chickens ass! It will also most likely still have faeces on the shell. Not good to drink if you think about it. But thanks for your input….
2 salaries they could easily save for a deposit instead of squandering their money , very defeatist attitude, the property market could change in a year’s time , prices may drop , etc.
@Mrs M: Exactly, I saved during the boom years and waited until the collapse and bought cheap, it will happen again maybe not as big of a drop but it will happen.
@Mrs M: when the prices drop one of them will have probably lost their job. There needs to be price controls. When the market was collapsing the government gambled away 100 billion to prop up prices. It’s a rigged market place.
@prop joe: or neither of them could lose their job. You can’t plan your life around the worst case scenario.
@Peter Hughes: agree with you
@Emachine: actually financially you have to prepare for the worst case scenario. And when they have kids, they’ll be down a wage or have to pay sky high child minding fees. In your 20′s you should be able to save. Because as your responsibilities grew you don’t have the financial breathing space, you have when you are single and childless.
@prop joe: all the more reason they should stop with the negative thinking and get to saving while they have the ability, make sacrifices, take work more seriously get promoted instead of resigning themselves to a life of paying someone else’s mortgage.
So blasé about being late for work, don’t expect a pay-rise any time soon.
@PaulineSmith: that’s the appropriate attitude. Anyone who puts on the hair shirt over being five minutes late once in a span of a week needs to relax and get a sense of perspective.
@Wastrel: “somehow I feel I’m right and the world is wrong”. I think that line sums him up really. Hopefully his attitude changes but if not he’s going nowhere fast. The kinda lad I’d hate to sit beside in work.
@PaulineSmith: ah give over! I was late nearly everyday for my job but worked very hard and never left work on time either. I was never passed over for a promotion either! The decent employers dont have an issue with being flexible!
34k is a fairly low salary for someone who works in financial services in Dublin. Is there anything you can do to try and move upwards in your career, maybe upskilling to find a niche that will boost your earning power? Also 720 per annum for gym membership is too much when there are other options that are half that amount.
@Paul M. Barrett:
The attitude around timekeeping would need to improve first.
@Paul M. Barrett: In fairness he’s only 27 and probably just starting out in his career. It’s not a bad salary for someone who’s still relatively very young.
@Paul M. Barrett: and did you notice he didn’t go to the gym once that week? At 60 quid a month, that’s roughly 15 wasted straight away….
@Jumperoo: Not that it matters but to be fair, he did say that he went to the gym on the Monday.
@Paul M. Barrett: Yeah living 35 mins walk from town means walk to work and save on Gym and bus fare.
@Paul M. Barrett: admin work for a top 10 firm.
Upbeat, well written. An enjoyable read.
He only spends €150 per month on groceries? He spends €60 per month on gym membership. If he eats so little why is he in the gym?
@John O’Neill: I would spend a bit less than that on groceries each month. If it’s two people that’s €300 a month, which I would say is fairly normal
@John O’Neill: A brisk walk to work costs nothing, saving the expense of a gym membership. Money spent on rent is dead money. The same amount spent on a mortgage for a modest starter property would be better.
@Smiley: cause walking is a balanced exercise regime…
Plenty of back, chest, shoulder and arm development from walking to work…..
@Liam H: considering there was no mention of him using a gym all week then it is a better option.
@John O’Neill: I agree John. A gym membership is a luxury these days, I quit the gym and also gave up my car this year. I walk and cycle everywhere. He needs to stop feeling sorry for himself. I am on less of this whinger’s salary paying half of a 1600€ a month rent between myself and my OH.I am saving 500 a month, my partner saving more as he earns more towards our deposit for a starter home.
We cook all our own meals at home, bring lunch to work etc. Only subscription I have is spotify for 9.99 a month which I use every day commuting to and from work.
Weh weh weh call the wambulance!! this man is behaving like a 4 year old child. How about grow up and be an adult. Adults make decisions on what’s right not what feels good. Yeah it’s crap, wages are crap, but use your income that you have as your tool out of this mess. Also, I agree that he is on a low salary for a financial role in Dublin. However, he may only be an administrative financial worker which would make sense for the lesser salary.
College and up-skilling would be expensive, but a little night course maybe?
@Lorr: Calm your t its
Wow all of the experts dishing out financial advice here. We are all surrounded by experts who were/are hardworking focused financially astute 27 year olds in their day
One third of net pay for a share of a one bed apartment. Insane, expensive property is just another form of tax on young workers. NAMA is doing it’s job well. Keeping the golden circle in business.
Top marks for the nod to the Beatles a day in life.
€34k for working in a financial services role.. hope there are some ungrateful teachers reading this who are turning their nose up at their starting salary of €36k!
@Deirdre: after 6 years in college in many cases and with a degree and a masters.
Teachers are well qualified.
Most people starting out in financial services have a degree and are working towards professional exams while they work.
Teachers can’t do that.
My comment isn’t going to change your mind.
You’ve your mind made up – I can tell by the “ungrateful” comment.
It isn’t a race to the bottom.
€36k isn’t great money in Dublin
@Deirdre: Also last time I checked, starting salary for NQTs is 34,848, the issue with the pay is that it’s not equal, not that teachers are ungrateful
@Liam H: to work in financial services you need to have spent at least 4 years in college and in a lot of cases people do a masters. I don’t know why that is the argument that teachers jump to, most teachers I know haven’t done a masters. Some do of course but not all and they’re not the only profession to do so.
In any industry it’s common for pay scales to change over time. You’re not always going to get the same that someone who started 10 years ago got.
It’s widely reported that the new starting salary is €36k. There was an article here yesterday about it
@Deirdre: you form necessarily have to have gone to college to work in finance. You can just do all of the professional exams rather than getting exemptions and only doing a few.
I enjoyed reading this ! Well written and enjoyable . I like this guy.
Most entertaining one yet in fairness. They could have a similar city lifestyle in Oz or Canada in better accomodation whilst still saving money. Get out for 3 years would be my advice.
Easy to dish out advice but as a 27 yr old on the average industrial wage, if this couple feels so hopeless, what does it say about the general state of our society, our government, our policies?
We probably should be ashamed for electing a government that, in different guises, has quite literally sold us to the highest bidder despite the fact that we paid for their gambling debts!!
Join your trade union and mobilise for a pay increase. Profits for financial services in Ireland are 9 times higher than the rest of the world. That’s €409,000 per employee.
@Dave Gibney: Irish trade unions have crippled this country. They are why your train is late, your road is flooded during average rainfall, it takes months to get a passport, the lazy older teacher voted to keep young teacher’s pay frozen, the list is endless. “That’s not my job, I’m goin’ to me union”.
@PaulineSmith: absolute comment of the day. Wholeheartedly agree
@Dave Gibney: Unions are a scourge on productivity. If you don’t like your conditions, then leave. We’re not exactly short of jobs at the moment.
@PaulineSmith: rot and it doesn’t take months to get a passport. Typical nonsense comment
@Fergus Fring: there’s plenty of productivity to go round, unions are there to get workers a better share of the pot.
@PaulineSmith: i missed the bit where the unions got bailed out with €64 billion so?
@Wastrel: even if they don’t deserve it?
@Emachine: – Wholeheartedly disagree – if it weren’t for unions – workers would have no rights at all – not even toilet breaks – never mind anything else!
Wow all of the experts dishing out financial advice here. We are all surrounded by experts who were/are hardworking focused financially astute 27 year olds in their day
Save your money mate and get the hell out of this banana republic you are been totally screwed over.
Join the local tennis club for half the gym membership, better exercise, more social and cheaper pints
@Peter Byrne: or run around the local park for free. We can’t have it all despite what some people would like to think. We make our choices and live with the consequences
Have you ever met people who are in Tennis clubs?? Tag rugby is a safer bet.
I hope his missus is on the babby pills, that will change everything.
@Stevie Doran: yes. Stevie you are right, she better be taking full responsibility for both of them. Thanks for the laugh pal… what a thing to say!certainly made my thurs morn
Very short sighted, what if there were another crash, they’d be in a prime position to strike. Even if there weren’t it’s no excuse to be talking like that. It’s depressing how short some people’s memory is.
Jesus I truly despair when I read these articles. Drinking someones leftover coffee and passing it off as good fortune shows a worrying degree of a person with low expectations of life.
€70 a month on a pension? Thats brutal, i hope his employer us putting in a hefty sum
So people in mid-late twenties who may only have started working afew years can’t afford a house? What’s new here in all fairness.
It takes working hard to succeed in your job to attain a better salary and putting away what you can in the meantime . As you get more experience under your belt, generally the saving grow more and more but it slow process.
No surprise that it’s often early to mid 30s before 2 people can afford a house. Not 27 !!
People constantly assume that people who work in banking are well paid. I worked in branch banking for 13 years as a mortgage advisor and earned less than the average industrial wage. I had to leave after my second child because I couldn’t afford to pay for childcare on my salary.
This article is made up bullsit. He can only save €150 a month? He should be saving €500 a month. And he puts eggs in the kettle? What a knobend.
@John Walsh: perhaps you could write him a plan of how he could be saving €500pm! Seems you know how to, go on share your wisdom!
That’s it
I like the sense of humour portrayed
Buy in Tallaght. Problem solved.
saving s a pain in the hole and yes property prices are mental but the alternative is staying in the barely regulated irish rental market paying someone elses mortgage
@Breandán Ó Conchúir: Haha it’s people like yourself that bought in boom and throttled in negative equity now with that attitude.
Renting is a vital service that allows the flexibility to move where they like with little notice and avoid the risk of buying until people are ready .
They probably voted FG … you reap what you sow
Really cheap 1 bed in dublin at that price!
Erm is pension contribution not taken at source, ie before tax? Same goes for health insurance if his employer offers it. That’s 115e that shouldn’t be included on his monthly outgoings, nearly 1400e a year.
“As with all Dublin rental accommodation, mould is an issue in the apartment” what!? I’ve rented in Rathmines, Drumcondra, Blackrock, Castleknock, Ashtown Smithfield market and Phoenix Park RC and never rented anywhere with mould. I did see 2 places that had mould problems but I’d never live there!!
To.be honest after reading your withcomments it’s like ye are living the high life ( sorry but we bought in late 70′s 80′s and mortgage interest rates 17.5% . No luxurious lifestyle and only few sets of clothes. No social life and no holiday only way was to do without big time
I can’t understand the mentality of the generation of today. It’s just mind boggling to be honest. Took 20 years to start living and eventually pay off mortgage. Crazy or what the mentality of generation today. Just giving a picture of what we went through in 80′s.
have your say