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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 engineer on €65K living in Co Galway. This week, a marketer and her civil servant husband living in the west of the country.
I wrote a diary a couple of years ago when I was still renting in Dublin, being young, wild (probably not wild) and trying to pass the driving test.
A few changes have happened since then. I passed the driving test (for those wondering), moved to the Wesht, bought a house, got a doggo and got married twice in two months (to the same person, but in different ceremonies, one was held back home).
This is an effort at maintaining a combined weekly diary with the husband. I sound like an adult!
Occupation: Marketer (myself), civil servant (himself)
Age: 26
Location: West of the country
Salary: €45,000 (myself), €57,000 (himself)
Monthly pay (net): ~€3,450 for me
These are our combined expenses:
Mortgage: €1,104 (we are on 5.1% fixed for two more years)
Food shop: €500 – this includes the odd takeaways and eating out (the joys of living in the middle of nowhere). I pay for these, whereas he pays for the fuel.
Fuel: €400 across both cars (has two fuel cards — I was never able to understand the maths here so will leave it to you to work it out)
Health insurance: €156 (I pay for this)
Internet: €50 (my work pays for this)
Phone: €28 (€20 mine; €8 himself)
Home alarm: €37.99 (I pay for this)
Coffee: €150 (we enjoy coffees so please don’t come at me, not shopaholics, not pub goers, not even an easy one every now and then- I pay for most of it)
Electricity: €100 approx (himself)
Pension: €30 every week for me, €97 himself bi-weekly
Income protection: €37.99 (me), €17.87 himself bi-weekly
Miscellaneous: €200 each
Personal loan repayment: €262.59 (mine)
Car loan repayment: €351 (himself- the other one is paid for)
Trying/hoping to save: €200 each after paying off bills (His dad helped us out with the post-house purchases, and though he said he doesn’t want the money back, it won’t sit right with me if we at least don’t pay him back small chunks whenever possible
Investments: €100 (mine), €150 (himself)
Home insurance/bins: €80 (himself)
***
6.45 am: Wake up to check how much time I’ve left before squeezing in the best part of sleep. Determined to have a no spend day today, as I have been bold lately (just a gal).
Himself brings our dog out to answer nature’s call. We used to let him out by himself before, but holy moly he took off on a few occasions, resulting in an absolute meltdown, so never again. Himself has to do stuff for work before ‘properly’ starting work.
8.30 am: Himself starts. I start at 9am (I get bombarded with a few texts before 9 am though — I don’t mind it).
10.30 am: Work is busy for both of us. Coffee break. Doggo is working hard at being cute.
1.00 pm: Made a sweetcorn chicken bowl for dinner. We tend to have our bigger meal during the day (helps with digestion too).
4.00 pm: Himself logs off and goes for a run.
5.30 pm: I finish work. Bring doggo out where he does his business and gets zoomies. For those wondering, doggo gets fed one scoop of nuts for breakfast, two scoops for dinner and snacks throughout the day.
7.30 pm: Fold away the huge pile of clothes that himself has left for me. There are just two of us, but you would think we do the washing for a battalion. He does the washing and hanging them up, though — bliss. We’ve had a few very busy weeks with even busier weeks coming up, so need to chill when possible.
9.30 pm: Showered, I do a bit of reading. I love Freida McFadden’s books, but they can get a bit predictable at times. Post something on my other Instagram page (call me a wannabe) then do some bed rotting. Himself and doggo watch TV — favourite part of all of our day. Lights out by 10.45 pm.
Today’s total: €0.00
6.45 am: Alarm goes off. Same morning ritual as that of yesterday.
1.00 pm: A hectic day at work — no two days for me are the same given the nature of the business I work for. It’s challenging, which I love, as I can’t picture myself doing anything monotonous. Bully himself into getting us a coffee (€7.40). Again, street corn chicken bowl to be devoured.
5.30 pm: Finish work. I’ve a call later on — I’m trying to help out a friend as they embark on their new business venture. Himself and doggo are spread out on the couch after he went ‘farming’ for a few.
8.00 pm: Put a few cocktail sausage rolls and toasties on, shower, bed rot. Fall asleep somewhere around 11 pm.
Today’s total: €7.40
7.10 am: Wednesdays to Sundays are #supportlocal (or treat yo self) days as I call it. We go for our coffee run and spend €13.30 because we may have bought a couple of macarons as well. Looks like himself had a few emails this morning when he got up to do the file transfer — because of which he is in a solemn mood. Never have coffee on an empty stomach, hence I have chicken bites (a great snack) whereas himself has his cereals.
9.00 am: Work day. Get some breakfast at some stage — you know the drill.
1.00 pm: Everything going okay till someone rings and starts asking annoying questions only to realise they had misunderstood. Sigh. We’ve soup for lunch.
6.00 pm: I have only recently picked up golf (trying to) so thought we could go out, but I’m not feeling the best. I do my volunteering shift instead. It’s online, and only requires two hours per week, so I either try it to do on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. They’re a great team. I feel bad for not being able to do the four hours that I used to. Hoping I’ll get back to it at some stage.
8.30 pm: Dinner today is stuffed potatoes. Mine is with beans and himself is mince. Breakfast beans are the absolute GOAT and I will not have it any other way.
10.00 pm: A bit of reading. I try to proofread a few documents for the friend before heading into bed. Feeling wrecked. Maybe because I’m due my period too.
Today’s total: €13.30
6.30 am: Up early as usual. Chicken bite snacks. Coffee (€7.80). You know the drill.
1.00 pm: Busy, busy. I managed to squeeze in some breakfast too. Yesterday’s stuffed potatoes for lunch – too stuffed it seems. Work.
5.45 pm: Bring doggo out for a few. Head to pilates.
7.30 pm: Home. Had a tiff with himself so I’m not in the mood for anything. I eat a bit of toast.
10.00 pm: Patched up but just meh.
Today’s total: €7.80
7.00 am: Same morning drill. €8 spent on coffee.
4.15 pm: Head out to get food shopping. Pick up lots of bits from Aldi + Dunnes that should last us a while. (€105)
8.30 pm: Impromptu plans but stopping at a local community event raffle. €25 ‘voluntary’ contribution towards the entry (himself paid). We happen to win a hamper as a spot prize though, so I won’t be complaining!
Today’s total: €138.00
9.00 am: Breakfast. Head into town to have a relaxed coffee (not on the go) and do some shopping for a few household bits.
1.30 pm: After €110 spent (himself paid half of it), home time. Worth it because we don’t really spend on outfits or anything.
3.00 pm: His dad comes to give a hand with fixing the toilet flush. The flush isn’t fixed and today’s really warm, so I’m in absolutely no mood for anything. We eat fish and chips though as that didn’t require much efforts apart from putting it in the oven.
7.30 pm: Himself has a race later that evening. We bring the doggo too. A warm day turned into an absolute downpour. Lashing. Home to bed.
Today’s total: €110.00
8.00 am: Hit the road as we are heading on a road trip down the country to catch up with a few people!
11.00 am: We make three stops — first round of coffee (€7.40), second round of coffee (€10.00 — sorry, didn’t realise I was on Wall Street) and third for some deli sausages (€2.90).
2.00 pm: Our friends feed us well, and we meet another friend at a pub.
8.00 pm: Home. Wrecked. Off tomorrow, so yay.
Today’s total: €20.30
***
What I learned –
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