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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 production manager on €78K living and working in Co Meath. This week our reader is extending her maternity leave for a little longer.
I’m currently enjoying time out of the workforce to stay at home with my son. I considered going back to my marketing job when he turned one, but unfortunately, my employer wouldn’t allow a part-time role, and with my husband running his own farm and my workplace an hour’s commute away, we decided it would suit our family best for me to stay at home.
We are extremely lucky that we own our small house having saved ferociously to buy it mortgage-free. We spent years living with family to save money, and Covid lockdowns were of significant help to my savings account especially! My husband is very money-conscious, much more than I am, but I have managed to adjust to just the odd splurge so that I can have this precious time at home with my boy.
You don’t have to do much to entertain a toddler: we like to go to the park, beach, or simply potter around on the farm. A lot of people are surprised at my decision to stay at home instead of going back to work, but the break from working life is honestly refreshing and I know I’m really lucky that we can afford to do this.
Being a stay-at-home mam has its own challenges, but it’s so worth getting to be the one who watches him learn and grow every day and I’m really enjoying it (with the exception of our sleep troubles – which you’ll read more about!).
Occupation: Stay-at-home mother
Age: 36
Location: South East
Salary: None
Monthly pay (net): My husband puts €1,700 into an account for me to pay for groceries and household expenditures and anything I might need for myself and our son.
Children’s allowance: €140 per month
Transport: €80 approx on diesel for my car
Household bills: Husband pays for the electricity and home heating, I pay for the broadband €53. We bring our rubbish to the local recycling centre as needed, a boot load is just €5
Phone bill: €35 – I need to shop around for a better deal as I think I can get better value
Health insurance: None
Groceries: €650 approx
Subscriptions: Netflix – €8.99, Spotify – €11.99
Gym membership: €300 for six months – paid in October
Hair and eyebrows: I get these done every two months, €160
If there’s any big expenditure like car repairs/insurance/a holiday my husband will generally take care of those unless I have a surplus in my account.
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7.30 am: Up after a terrible night’s sleep. Our toddler goes through bouts of not sleeping and we are currently in the midst of sleepless nights yet again. He woke at 3 am and refused to go back to sleep – something I don’t discover until I take out my earplugs and emerge from the spare room in the morning. Delirious husband hands him over and heads to work. I make a coffee in my new Sage coffee machine that I was gifted at Christmas (highlight of my mornings!) and after an hour, the little man finally caves in to sleep. Usually on Mondays, I give the house a decent clean, but I’m sucked into a book and decide to make the most of this unexpected long nap time by reading for an hour while eating breakfast of egg and toast and fruit.
10.00 am: Reality hits so I get up to tackle the kitchen, sort the clothes, pick up the toys scattered everywhere, hoover, wash the floors and get lunch ready.
12.30 pm: He’s out of bed and has his lunch – usually a combo of potatoes, veg and meat, followed by yoghurts/crackers/fruit. We head for a walk and a spin on the tractor with Daddy – the highlight of my little boy’s day!
4.00 pm: It’s back home and on with the dinner: roast chicken, veg and of course, spuds – a farmer’s staple.
6.00 pm: Grandad drops in for dinner. He lives close by so it’s a normal occurrence for us to eat together once or twice during the week. Grandad plays tractors with the little man and we clean up.
7.00 pm: The bedtime battle begins and it’s after 8 pm by the time the little man is asleep. Usually, we’d watch Netflix, but we’re between programmes and tiredness levels are high with our interrupted sleep lately, so it’s off to bed to finish my book. Lights out by 9.30 pm.
Today’s total: €0.00
7.30 am: Toddler actually slept all night – what’s rare is wonderful! I run a mother/toddler group so I grab a quick breakfast of toast and coffee before heading off to meet up with some mams and their babas. I grab some milk and tea in the shop en route so we can all have a cuppa (€5.93).
12.00 pm: Back home after a lovely morning and it’s lunchtime – sausages, rashers and pudding on the grill for me and the husband, who comes in home for his meals during the day. It’s nap time so I tackle the washing basket and get dinner prepped for later.
2.00 pm: Little guy is up and at ‘em – he has lunch and we play outside in the garden and call down to the farm to see Daddy at work. Life as a farmer’s wife can be hard as the work is never done, but it’s also great to be able to catch up during the day and for our boy to see Daddy at work.
5.00 pm: It’s dinner time for the little one (spag bol today) and a quick snack of leftover chicken and a boiled egg for me as I’m gym-bound this evening and trying hard to snack healthily. I’m not sure what’s worse, the bedtime battle or this gym class! Tough going tonight with a HIIT session.
7.00 pm: I swing by a nearby housing estate to collect a microwave I saw advertised on Facebook marketplace for €50 – it’s brand new and would have cost €80 in the shops. I love finding bargains online. Home for dinner with the husband – bacon, cabbage and spuds, quick clean of the house (it’s never-ending) and fall into bed by 9.30 pm.
Today’s total: €55.93
8.30 am: After (another!) disrupted night of sleep, I wake with a fright to a silent house. I discover my husband has taken the little lad off to help with the farming so I could get go back for some extra sleep – heaven! I stick on a grill for my husband at his request, and I have egg and toast with a coffee.
10.00 am: Me and little man head to the library to bring back some books and discover there’s a play group on so we stay for an hour and he enjoys all the new diggers at his disposal. I post off a birthday card to my niece with a few bob inside (€25, and I have a book of stamps already so no postage to be paid). Parking comes in at €1.80.
12.00 pm: Up to Granny’s house for lunch and a nap for little man while I hit the gym for a spin class and a swim. I forgot my refillable bottle so pay €2.75 for some water. I’m glad of it after all that though. I drop off some cushions I offered for free on a Freebie page on Facebook, I’m happy not to dump them and the new owner is happy to give them new life.
2.00 pm: Little boy has a snack and we head to Tesco for a bag of potatoes… and end up with two full shopping bags and a bill of €80.56. I did a small shop on Saturday costing about €35, so this and some dinners I have frozen in the freezer should see us to the end of the week.
5.00 pm: We head home to reheat yesterday’s leftovers and have some play time before bed.
8.30 pm: Husband is gone off to a meeting so I reward myself after a difficult bedtime by buying a new Kindle book (€6.95) and hop into bed. I’m but a few pages in and my eyes start to shut – I’m asleep just after 9 pm.
Today’s total: €117.06
7.30 am: Toddler woke at 1 am and I threw him into the spare bed beside me and we got to sleep until now – feeling like I got some decent sleep with the exception of a few kicks! Up and coffee for me, cereal and toast for him.
9.00 am: Husband comes in for a quick breakfast of cereal and toast and then he’s gone again to get some jobs done as he’s minding the little lad while I go to an appointment in town. It’s €30.00 to get my bloods taken, and was €70 last week to see the doctor, an increase of a fiver since last year!
12.00 pm: I was supposed to meet a friend for lunch but she’s had to cancel so I make the most of my free time and pop into the shops. Parking is €2.25 for 90 mins and I grab a new foundation, face cream and vitamins (€45.97) and a birthday present (€28.00) for a friend. I get a loaf of bread in the local shop as we are running low – luckily still some on the shelves ahead of storm Éowyn (€2.10).
2.00 pm: Back home and husband has a toasted sandwich and soup on the table when I walk in the door (he’s coming off pretty well in this diary!) When the little lad gets up he has a snack of yoghurt, crisps and fruit and I have a coffee and we watch some TV. We head out to check on a new baby calf and have a spin on the tractor. I’m not from a farming background but I do like the lifestyle and think it’s a lovely way for our son to grow up.
6.00 pm: Dinner of pork stir fry with rice for me and spuds for the boys. Husband and I divide and conquer – he plays tractors and loads the dishwasher, I run the hoover round and clean the bathroom.
7.30 pm: Bedtime goes smoothly tonight (Halleluiah!) We celebrate with a few episodes of a programme on Netflix – Missing You – and I enjoy a bar of Galaxy – my first chocolate bar all week!
11.00 am: Into bed to listen to the storm raging outside.
Today’s total: €108.32
8.30 am: Things are still a bit quiet on the farm at this time of year but once more cows start calving my husband will be working from 6 am, so we are enjoying our last few lie-ins – when the toddler allows! We wake to a house without any power, water or internet after the storm. No damage outside so we don’t mind this inconvenience and there’s a generator to run the farm. We have a gas hob so I heat the toddler’s breakfast and boil up some water to make an instant coffee – not a patch on my Sage machine, unfortunately. I strip the beds and collect the array of clothes airing on rads around the house and put them away – why is this always the worst part of the washing?
10.30 am: We all pop down to Grandad’s house to have breakfast together as we have no water to make tea. I make up some quiches for lunch and little lad ropes Grandad into playing tractors.
12.00 pm: The power is back on and so is the water – I head home and put on the wash to avail of the good drying (I’m now turning into my mother!). The sun is out so we play outside with some sand before little man has some lunch.
2.00 pm: Naptime arrives. Once the clothes are out I have another coffee and catch up on the world after surviving without internet for the morning. We have lunch and I do a few jobs around the house (aka more cleaning).
3.30 pm: Little man has a snack and we do some colouring until he tries to take the drawing onto the walls. We head down to the farm to see the cows being fed. Daddy takes the little one and I head back to the house to cook a homemade lasagne that I had in the freezer and pop on spuds and a boiled egg for the little fellow.
6.30 pm: Finished dinner and husband has to go back to the farm to sort out an issue with a machine. Bath time for the baba followed by his books and into bed.
8.00 pm: We hit the couch for more Netflix and have some fruit salad. My husband is in and out checking on a new calf so it’s 11 pm by the time we finish up and head for bed.
Today’s total: €0
6.00 am: Little man comes into us and we cuddle up and fall back to sleep together. Husband’s out the door at 7.30 and I wake the little lad at 8am to start the day – breakfast for him and coffee for me. I do an hour of cleaning and prep lunch for him and dinner for us this evening – salmon that was in the freezer and some sweet potato and parsnip fries.
10.00 am: Looks like I won’t make it to the gym again this week, so I head off for a long walk with my son in the buggy. We make a pit stop at his cousins and meet a few tractors along the way so he’s happy.
12.00 pm: Lunch for little man and I make a pork stir fry and we read a few books before naptime. The fridge is getting bare but we are eating out tomorrow so I’ll wait until Monday to do a big shop. A local mums’ Facebook group mentions a new toddler gymnastics class on Monday morning so I book a ticket to try it out (€10.00). I have my eye on a cute lampshade for my son’s room, and another for the spare bedroom and decide to go ahead and purchase (€60.00). I have a coffee and some fruit and tidy the hotpress and the fridge while it’s almost empty.
3.00 pm: I collect my mam from the train and drop her home – little fellow really enjoys seeing the ‘choo choo’ in person. We have some tea and cake before heading home.
6.00 pm: Dinner time, followed by the usual – tractor play time until little one is packed off to bed with a few books.
8.00 pm: There are a few new arrivals on the farm so husband heads off to check them and I search for a new series to watch on Netflix. We have a glass of wine and microwave popcorn when he gets in and start a new series. Off to bed at 11 pm.
Today’s total: €70.00
8.00 am: Another night spent in the spare room with the little fellow. Up and the usual, coffee for me and breakfast for him. It’s lashing out so we cosy up on the couch and watch some TV.
10.00 am: Husband arrives home from work and we all head to Mass together. Afterwards, husband pops into the shop and picks up fruit, yoghurts and a packet of rashers (€25.60 – he pays). We have bacon butties as a late breakfast and the little one tucks into a plate of fruit with bread and cheese. We all chill out for a bit – my husband tries to take time off on Sunday but it’s not always possible.
12.30 pm: Husband heads back to the farm to do a few jobs so we can all go off later and I sort through little fellow’s chest of drawers and take out anything that doesn’t fit. I take the chance to have a half an hour nap while toddler sleeps to keep me going for the rest of the evening.
3.00 pm: All up from the nap and I grab a coffee and some cream cheese on crackers, chocolate rice cakes and a kiwi to keep me going until dinner. Little man is hungry so has a bowl of spag bol.
5.00 pm: We all go to a restaurant with my mam to celebrate her birthday. The food is delicious – I have a seafood starter and pork belly for main and half a sticky toffee pudding for dessert. We get a bottle of wine to share too. The bill comes to €210, I have a €50 voucher to put towards it and my husband pays the balance.
9.00 pm: Little man finally goes to bed and we finish off the evening with two glasses of wine while watching a very emotional Room to Improve!
Today’s total: €0.00
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What I learned –
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