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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 senior fund manager on €67K living and working in Luxembourg. This week, a digital marketing manager on €74K living in Dublin.
I live in Dublin (originally from the west of Ireland), and I’m currently going through a divorce (no children). I’ve got a shared mortgage with my ex but I pay 100% of it and all the other household bills and maintenance costs.
My ex has his own house outside of Dublin, mortgage-free, and is living there. I work remotely full-time for a tech startup, and I travel abroad for work four to five times a year which I enjoy as it breaks up the routine.
My three rescue dogs keep me entertained (and exercised!) throughout the week. My financial priority at the moment is to save up a three-month emergency fund as well as prepare for the divorce expenses.
Occupation: Digital marketing manager
Age: 37
Location: Dublin City
Salary: €74,000
Monthly pay (net): €4,150 (after PRSA contribution)
Transport: €40
Mortgage: €1,500
Income protection: €105
Household bills: €325 (on electricity, wifi, home insurance, mortgage protection, bins – no gas or oil)
Phone bill: €15
Health insurance: Paid by employer
Groceries: €400
Subscriptions: €30
Dogs (food, toys, medications): €150
Home loan: €150
Trade union: €20
Prescriptions: €100 (not covered by health insurance)
Savings: €500
Winter electricity: €75 (I don’t want the shock of a large bill in the winter, and I don’t expect there will be a government scheme to cover electricity costs this year, so I’m setting this aside each month)
Christmas + birthday gifts: €50
Clothing and shoes: €50
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8.00 am: Get up and let the dogs out. Take a shower, get myself ready for the day. Feed the dogs, and make a pot of green tea (I use a thermal teapot which means one kettle boiled = six mugs of tea, staying hot for about four hours). I don’t eat breakfast so I settle into work at my desk at 8:45am.
12.00 pm: Prepare my low calorie lunch – spinach and feta omelette with a side of homemade hummus and carrot sticks. In the past few years, stress has caused me to pile on weight and I’m focusing on losing it now. Working from home definitely helps to keep this under control as free snacks at the (optional) office are too easy to fall for.
5.00 pm: Sign out from work. Take two of my three dogs on a 6km walk (the oldest one isn’t always up for it). Thankfully it’s not raining!
7.00 pm: It’s Dad’s birthday soon so I Google a few ideas on what to get him but no decision yet.
8.00 pm: Prepare my low-calorie dinner – cauliflower and chickpea curry (oven baked), with marinated chicken skewers and a greek yoghurt garlic dip. I cook all my meals from scratch and I eat out once or twice per month at most (I never get takeaways). Stick on a TV series (currently watching The Bear on Disney+) while the dogs play outside.
9.30 pm: Prepare the dogs’ dinner. I follow the same feeding schedule as the kennels they stay in when I’m travelling, routine is important for them.
10.00 pm: Time for bed. I need nine hours of sleep so winding down from 10pm to 11pm is essential. I’m immersed in a great book at the moment, and get through a chapter before lights out.
Today’s total: €0.00
8.15 am: Get up, let the dogs out. Same morning routine as Monday except I decided to leave the shower until the evening. I start work at 9am.
12.30 pm: Very busy morning at work so lunch is a bit behind. Prepare my low-calorie lunch – leftover curry plus a low calorie bagel with quark (a fat-free cheese spread, high in protein; I make it taste good by adding dried chipotle peppers and chives).
5.00 pm: Sign out from work. Take all the dogs for a walk, 5km today. I want to make a salad later so I grab lettuce from the local shop (€1.39).
7.00 pm: Take a shower, then Facetime a friend for half an hour. Can’t believe we haven’t talked in over a month, but that’s how life goes.
8.00 pm: Prepare my low-calorie dinner – mixed green salad with tuna and feta, and another slim bagel with quark on the side.
8.30 pm: Remember a book that my Dad really wanted to read, so I ordered it online from Eason’s (€17.00). Watch some cooking videos on YouTube to get more inspiration for my meals.
9.30 pm: Prepare the dogs’ dinner, run the dishwasher and take a shower.
10.00 pm: Time for book and bed.
Today’s total: €18.39
8.15 am: Get up, let the dogs out. The youngest one has been restless during the night, so I check him over and notice a rash on his belly and a little swelling around the eyes and ears. Decide to keep a closer eye on him since he’s behaving normally otherwise. Make tea and get to work.
10.30 am: Dog is definitely having an allergic reaction as his eyes are very swollen. I ring the vet and they say I can walk in. I drop a note to my team that I’ll be back in half an hour, and head to the vet (luckily it’s just at the end of the street). Exam, antihistamine injection and antihistamine tablets cost €56.46. Poor fella looks really miserable but he’ll be OK. We’re not sure what caused it but most likely he ate something while out walking.
12.30 pm: Lunch time. Youngest dog is fast asleep but the swelling has started to come down, so I’m relieved. I make a low-calorie ‘smash burger’ which I saw on YouTube, with a side of hummus and carrot sticks. It’s very tasty, and makes you feel like you’re not on a diet.
5.30 pm: I add on the half hour I missed from my vet emergency earlier today. It’s pretty handy to start late/work late sometimes so I can coordinate on projects with my colleagues in the USA. I take two of the dogs for their walk (6km). The youngest is back to himself so all is well in the world again.
7.30 pm: We got caught in some rain and the park was a bit muddy, so I have to give the dogs a quick bath to get the dirt off their bellies and paws. I make the same dinner as yesterday to make sure the lettuce gets used. I hate wasting food, it’s just money down the drain!
8.30 pm: Group chat with friends suggests food and drinks on Sunday afternoon, and I sign up. I put the bins out for collection and see that I’ve built up a good bit of glass and clothes for recycling. I book a GoCar for two hours on Saturday afternoon to do a recycling spin (€22).
9.00 pm: Prepare the dogs’ dinner and watch the next episode of The Bear.
11.00 pm: Bed time.
Today’s total: €78.46
7.30 am: Get up a bit earlier because I need to have a longer lunch break, so I shower, feed the dogs, make tea, and get started at 8.15am. There’s a work party in town tonight for a colleague who’s leaving, so I need to walk the dogs at lunchtime rather than after work.
12.00 pm: Make a spinach omelette filled with low-fat cheddar, onions, red peppers. Take the dogs for a walk (5km). I’m a bit hungry when I return so I have a tin of tuna as a snack. I top up my teapot and get back to work.
5.00 pm: Get ready for the night out, which is dinner and drinks in a city centre gastro pub (paid for by the company). I top up my Leap card (€20) and take the bus since it drops me almost directly outside the restaurant. I give the dogs some long-lasting treats as their dinner will be a bit late tonight and these kinds of chews keep them busy for a while.
10.00 pm: Back home on the bus. Feed the dogs and let them out for a while since they’ve been stuck indoors for the evening. It was good craic to spend time with the team, we don’t see each other often as we all work remotely.
Today’s total: €20.00
8.30 am: Bit of a late start to the day as I’m tired from yesterday. After the usual routine, I get stuck into work just after 9am. It’s payday today!
12.30 pm: Lunch of chicken skewers and greek yoghurt dip, with a portion of steamed broccoli. I order a Tesco delivery for tomorrow. I buy a full month’s worth of non-perishables, cleaning and personal hygiene goods every payday as it stops me from having to run into the local shop for missing items every few days, which can really add up (€257.36). I also order a full months’ worth of dog food, poop bags and treats from Petstop (€118.04). Keeping them on good quality grain-free food is a priority, and it’s also best to keep what they eat consistent. I set aside €150 each month for the dogs, and the leftover balance goes towards a squeaky toy or bouncy ball.
5.15 pm: Sign out from work. Take two of the dogs for a walk, 6km today.
7.30 pm: Update my monthly payday budget spreadsheet with today’s spend. Transfer my usual €500 to the credit union and put €200 towards my credit card balance (€600 left to pay after a holiday last month). I think about what additional costs I’m going to have for the month, and transfer those amounts to my bank savings account to ensure they’re covered in advance. I use the savings account as a way to mentally “pre-pay” upcoming known costs which are not every month. This month, I know I’ll need to get my hair done (€150), get a new tub of face cream (€55), replenish my perfume (€70), and get the three dogs their quarterly flea/tick/worm treatments at the vet (€130). I find it works best for me if I do as many of the “big” monthly expenses within a couple of days of payday so that I don’t come up short halfway through the month.
8.30 pm: Make a low calorie smash burger with green salad on the side, and go through YouTube to watch my favourite content creators’ new uploads.
9.30 pm: Feed the dogs, and give the youngest an extra brief 15-min walk since it’s a nice evening outside. Continue reading my book and am asleep around 11pm.
Today’s total: €605.40 spent / €500 to credit union / €405 into separate account for upcoming expenses = €1,510.40
9.00 am: Weekend sleep in. Usual morning routine, then throw on a round of laundry and vacuum the house.
11.00 am: I volunteer every Saturday, as remote working can be a bit isolating at times. It’s also a way to stay in touch with the neighbours (I don’t do social media as I found it really bad for my mental health; I quit after the pandemic).
2.00 pm: Absolutely starving, forgot to bring something healthy to eat with me. I have a slim bagel with quark, steamed broccoli, and a few other random bits from the fridge so it’s a weird meal. Can’t wait for the groceries to get delivered later today so I can make something proper.
3.00 pm: Pick up the GoCar and do the recycling. I don’t use the full two-hour booking, but you never know with traffic on a Saturday.
4.30 pm: Take the dogs for their walk. Just 4km in distance today but they got lots of off-lead park time.
6.00 pm: Home to wait for the Tesco delivery. I cut the grass and weed the backyard.
8.30 pm: After putting away the groceries I make miso glazed salmon and stir fried veg, along with a glass of dry white wine.
9.30 pm: Feed dogs, finish watching some of the YouTube content I’d started earlier. Asleep by 10.30pm after a busy day.
Today’s total: €0.00
8.00 am: Wake up refreshed after a great sleep. Check my messages and see that dinner with friends has been set for 4pm, so I make a mental note to ensure lunch is under my calorie limit so I can indulge a bit in the afternoon. I weigh myself in and am happy to see that I’ve lost two stone so far this year. No point weighing in every day as you only see the difference over longer periods of time, so it’s a good motivational tip.
8.30 am: Have fed the dogs and made my pot of tea. I stick on some music and catch up with different news websites across Ireland, UK and USA. I like keeping up with current affairs, politics and business trends.
11.00 am: Make a Caprese salad with low fat mozzarella and some basil from the garden, and take the dogs out for a long walk since I’ll be out for the afternoon/evening. We do 7km. It’s a lovely sunny day so I take my time.
2.00 pm: Phone call with Dad to check in. It goes a bit longer than I’d planned and I’m almost late for my afternoon outing.
4.00 pm: Early dinner with friends. Everyone’s been really busy all summer so it’s been hard to get together, and we have a proper catch up. I treat myself to pasta and cocktails (€48).
8.00 pm: Back home to let the dogs out to play in the garden. I crash on the couch in my pyjamas and continue my TV series.
9.00 pm: Feed the dogs, check my work calendar for morning meetings and mentally prepare for them. Open my book for a while and am asleep by 10.30 pm.
Today’s total: €48.00
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What I learned –
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