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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 teacher on 48K in Cork. This week, a financial services employee on €109K living in Dublin.
I live in Dublin and work in the office one day a week. The rest of the week, I just work from home. The standard weekday with work is nothing exciting other than walking the dogs, work and going to the gym. But at the weekend, I will do something else, it depends on what is on that week.
I’m very lucky that I have a house in Dublin which I currently live in. I bought my first house in Dublin ten years ago when I saw that house prices were lower. I sold it after eight years and was lucky to buy another house to live in, and a small apartment which I now rent out.
I have three dogs that keep me entertained and busy throughout the week. I also sponsor two children who are living in Togo through a charity which focuses on child development. My financial priority at the moment is to clear out one of the mortgages as much as possible so I can work less and prioritise what I want to do in life.
Occupation: Accountant
Age: 38
Location: Dublin City
Salary: €109,000 including annual bonus
Monthly pay (net): €4,810 (after PRSA contribution)
Rental income: €1,650
Transport: €10
Fuel: €50
Mortgage: €950 + €800
House insurance, mortgage protection, car insurance: €136
Household bills: €208 (on electricity, wifi, bins, gas)
Management fee: €200
Health insurance: €94
Groceries: €350
Child sponsorship: €70
Church offering: €300
Gym subscriptions: €30
Money to my mum: €250
Dogs (food, toys, medications): €180
Savings: Approximately €1,500 to €2,000, it depends on how many times I go out with my friends for dinner
Skincare: €100
***
7.30 am: Get up and walk the dogs.
8.30 am: Normally I start working early before my usual 9 am start as Monday is always busy and it’s good to plan the week of work.
10.00 am: Cereal, Greek yoghurt + fruit for breakfast.
1.00 pm: Prepare lunch – today I have oven-baked salmon together with green beans.
1.30 pm: Head to Lidl to top up on fresh vegetables and fruit, and buy some strawberries, grapes and mushrooms. Spend €8.96.
4.30 pm: Sign out from work. Take three dogs out on a walk.
5.30 pm: Back home and prepare food for doggies.
6.00 pm: Back to work to see if there is anything urgent that I have to deal with immediately. Usually, I can log out within an hour if there’s nothing really urgent.
7.00 pm: Go to the gym to have a sweat class today.
8.00 pm: Back home and have a shower, thank God the gym is really close to home.
8.20 pm: Have fried chicken udon that I made last night as I knew I would be extremely tired tonight.
8.30 pm: Meeting with the committee (online) as I am the treasurer of a charity.
10.50 pm: Meeting finished (finally). Thankfully we don’t have these meetings very often. Bring my two doggies out to go to the toilet as they don’t do it at home or in the concrete garden, so I have to bring them out to the field in front of the house.
11.00 pm: I put the bins out for collection and finally I can relax a bit, and watch a 45-minute drama on Netflix.
12.00 pm: Time for bed.
Today’s total: €8.96
8.00 am: Get up and walk the dogs.
9.00 am: Start working.
10.30 am: Two boiled eggs, a banana and a cup of tea for breakfast as I know I’ll need some energy later.
12.45 am: Go out to do my 30-minute run.
1.30 pm: Arrive home after my run and do some stretching. Put marinated chicken, mushroom, tenderstem broccoli and baby potatoes in the oven to cook while I have a shower.
1.45 pm: Back to work, still very busy this week. I have my lunch while I work, which is a bit of a contradiction to my healthy lifestyle goal, but I’m pretty busy today and I don’t have time to work in the evening so no other choice.
5.00 pm: Sign out from work. Take three dogs out on a walk and try to relax my brain a bit as well.
6.00 pm: Back home and feed the dogs. Cook some wonton soup and noodles and get ready to go to church.
7.00 pm: Attend bible study.
10.15 pm: Arrive home and bring my doggies out to go to the toilet. All three decided to go out tonight so it takes about 15 mins instead of the usual 10.
10.30 pm: Watch an episode of Suits on Netflix followed by a documentary.
12.00 pm: Time for bed.
Today’s total: €0.00
8.15 am: Get up and get ready to work. My boyfriend has a day off today so he comes over to help me to walk the dogs.
11.00 am: Breakfast is ready, we are having a mini Irish, with two fried eggs, sausage, tomato, spinach and toast.
11.30 am: Back to work as lot of projects happening.
1.00 pm: Lunch time but I am not hungry due to having a huge breakfast not so long ago. But I make tea and coffee to take a bit of rest and catch up with my boyfriend.
1.30 pm: I go back to work as really busy these few weeks.
5.00 pm: Had a few hours of meetings with various people so my brain is a bit congested. We bring the dogs out after and have a full hour relaxing walk.
6.00 pm: Feed the dogs and get ready for my run. My boyfriend joins me today on his day off. Running is really a one-person exercise but sometimes it is nice to have company to keep you motivated. We run for 40 mins together.
7.00 pm: I want to make dinner today as my boyfriend has been helping me so much while I am having a busy week in work. On tonight’s menu is ribeye steak with peppercorn sauce, onions, asparagus and sweet potato fries.
9.30 pm: After chatting, I get a shower and clean up. We move to the sitting room to enjoy a movie together.
10.00 pm: My boyfriend brings the dogs out while I make us some decaf coffee and tea.
11.30 pm: Movie finished, spend some more time catching up before it’s time to go to bed.
Today’s total: €0.00
8.00 am: Start working earlier today. I’m lucky to have my boyfriend still here to help me to walk the dogs before he goes to work today.
10.30 pm: Breakfast is ready, we are having mini steamed Chinese dim sum. Easy and delicious.
12.30 pm: Get ready to go to the office. I’m driving to the office today, and I drop my boyfriend to his workplace as well.
1.00 pm: Have lunch in the office with my colleague to catch up. Today I have spicy tofu minced pork with rice for lunch that my boyfriend made for me yesterday afternoon.
6.00 pm: Super busy day, but the traffic is lighter now so I take the chance to drive home at this time.
6.45 pm: I have a friend who helps to walk my dogs some evenings so I can do something else. Today, I go to Dunnes to do some grocery shopping. I buy some pork chops, free range chicken wings, a small whole chicken (for my dogs), hake fillet, cod fillet, free range eggs and some vegetables. (€51.13)
7.30 pm: Arrive home. I put the hake fillet in the oven together with some carrots and baby potatoes while I go to shower.
8.00 pm: I decide to eat and watch a movie in the background as I’m feeling a bit tired this week.
10.00 pm: Bring my dogs out.
11.00 pm: I don’t want to watch any more TV so I switch to playing some games on my phone and scrolling on social media just to do nothing.
11.30 pm: Time for bed.
Today’s total: €51.13
8.00 am: Get up and walk the dogs.
9.00 am: Start working.
10.30 am: Greek yoghurt, porridge + fruit for breakfast.
12.45 pm: Go out to do my 30-minute run.
1.30 pm: Do some stretching after my run. I have some tofu minced pork left over for lunch, so I just need to microwave it.
4.30 pm: Sign out from work. Take three dogs out on a walk.
5.30 pm: Back home and prepare food for doggies then have a shower.
6.00 pm: Back to work and sign out at 6.30 pm before I go out to meet my friend
7.15 pm: We meet to have some ramen at Day and Night in Dublin. It was delicious. My friend paid for the meal.
9.00 pm: We move to a pub nearby called The Big Romance. They serve craft beer which I don’t like, but I love to try something new. They have unusual cider which was amazing. I pay for the drinks – it costs €15 for two bottles of cider, a bit expensive but this is the cost nowadays.
11.00 pm: Arrive home and take the dogs out then watch a drama on Netflix.
12.30 am: I wait for my boyfriend to finish work then we have a call to catch up.
1.00 am: Time for bed
Today’s total: €15.00
9.30 am: Weekend sleep in. Bring the dogs out for a walk.
10.30 am: Back home and prepare food for my dogs.
11.00 am: I go to the gym this morning for a spin class.
12.30 pm: Arrive home and make lunch. I wanted to have chicken wings today together with broccoli, carrot and pepper. I use the oven a lot when I’m alone as it’s easy and time-saving. All I have to do is marinate the meat I want then put it in the oven while I can do something else.
2.00 pm: After relaxing a bit, I do my weekly routine which is to put the laundry on and start cleaning the house. It usually takes about two hours to do basic cleaning such as hoovering and mopping the floor, taking the bin out etc.
4.30 pm: Take the dogs out for a relaxing full hour-long walk.
6.00 pm: After feeding the dogs and having a shower myself, I get myself ready to go out to meet friends from college.
7.00 pm: We go to La Maison to have dinner tonight. It is Saturday so no set menu or early bird but this is a lovely restaurant so we don’t mind. I have turbot fish and a dessert, and one glass of white wine with dinner as I am driving so I can’t have more than that.
10.45 pm: Lovely three-hour catch-up. We don’t go to the pub after as we all have some plans tomorrow, so I head home.
11.15 pm: Bought the dogs out and then relax a bit for the movie.
1.00 am: Catch up a bit with my boyfriend before I go to bed.
Today’s total: €75.00 including tips
8.30 am: Get up and bring the dogs out for a walk.
9.30 am: Feed the dogs and get ready to go out.
10.30 am: Meeting my boyfriend for breakfast. We go to Murphy Bistro in the city centre and enjoy a lovely mocha there. My boyfriend insists it is on him so I didn’t spend any money.
12.00 pm: We attend church Sunday service. I make my monthly contribution of €300 today.
2.00 pm: Catch up with some Church friends after Sunday service. We go to Yamamori to have lunch. I have their lunch bento and a dessert after.
4.15 pm: We go to Dunnes after lunch. I see a lovely fresh whole salmon so I decide to buy it together with some fruit.
4.30 pm: Put petrol in my car.
5.00 pm: Arrive home and take the dogs out.
6.00 pm: Feed the dogs and get ready to run my 5km.
7.00 pm: I end up running 6km today instead because I feel like I have some energy. Home after stretching then prepare the salmon for dinner.
8.00 pm: All the salmon has been well packed for the week. Shower is done so I can have some dinner myself.
10.00 pm: Bring the dogs out and watch a movie when I get home.
11.00 pm: Go to bed earlier today as Monday is always busy.
Today’s total: €395.45
***
What I learned –
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For individuals on a €109k salary, a net income of €69k (equivalent to a 38% tax rate approx) represents a significant deduction. While pension contributions provide some alleviation, this level of taxation is challenging, considering the quality of public services available. (Transport, health, infrastructure, energy).
There remains an urgent need to address inefficiencies within public sector procurement in Ireland. Many public bodies currently suffer from under-resourced and under-skilled procurement functions, leading to missed opportunities for optimising public expenditure. Investment in procurement talent and systems is essential to ensure public funds are managed effectively, maximizing both operational and capital spending to benefit public services.
Spinach with a mini irish breakfast ???
Very discipline !
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