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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 public relations manager on €42K living in Dublin. This week, a production manager on €78K living and working in Co Meath.
I’m a production manager currently living and working in Meath. I was lucky enough to build my own house back in 2008/2009 when there was still value for money, which allowed me to have a manageable mortgage.
Roll on 17 years later, having been married and now legally separated, I had to get a new mortgage on the house for the separation and all my savings are gone. I’m now starting from scratch again. I was always a good saver and have now started to put away €1,450 in savings each month.
I started about 18 months ago renting rooms out in my house to help pay the new mortgage. I also rent out the granny flat attached to the house. This gives me an additional income of €2,050 in total after tax each month on top of my salary.
I’m very lucky to have this as it allows me a bit more financial freedom to enjoy my hobbies, one of which costs about €100 a weekly.
At the end of each month, any monies left over I split into two more savings accounts – the first account for extra mortgage payment, the second account for any extras which might pop up over the year, such as holidays, weddings and birthdays.
Occupation: Production manager
Age: 48
Location: Meath
Salary: €78,000
Monthly pay (net): €3,890 + €2,050 = €5,940
Transport: €0 (company van)
Mortgage: €1,112
Bins: €325 per year
Electricity monthly: €165
Broadband: €55
Hobby: €400
Pension: €550 work, also contribute €550
Phone bill: Work covers this
Health insurance (weekly): €21.75 BIK rest covered by work
Insurance policies: €165
Groceries: Varies a lot but about €370
Subscriptions: Netflix and Spotify – €27
Cleaner: €150 ***
5.45 am: I get up to go to work. I let the dogs out and get ready for work then I’m out the door. I drive to work, which takes about five minutes.
6.30 am: Get to work. Once in the office, the coffee machine goes on and I have a banana and one hard boiled egg.
10.30 am: Emails answered, I head home for 20 minutes. Grab a cup of tea and two slices of brown bread with cheese.
11.00 am: Back in the office for more paperwork.
1.30 pm: Another coffee and I head out of the office for a 10/15 minute walk around the area. I find this clears the head and gives me a break from the computer screen. I would very seldom take a 30-minute lunch break.
1.45 pm: Start planning out the rest of my week. This time of year is always very busy for me with planning PM schedules/stock takes and meeting suppliers.
4.00 pm: Computer off and head home. It’s a miserable evening with light misty rain. Neither myself or the dogs are in the mood for a walk, but we get ready and head down the fields.
5.20 pm: Back from the walk. Dry myself off and feed the dogs.
5.45 pm: Head down to the local pub and meet a few of the lads. Have a bit of a laugh and get three pints.
7.20 pm: Back home. Have dinner, which is leftover from Sunday – a bit of roast beef, spuds and vegs. Stick on some boiled eggs for tomorrow. I try to always have an extra dinner cooked for myself when I do my cooking. Pour myself a glass of wine then Netflix and chill.
10.45 pm: Let the dogs out for a run, change their water and off to bed for 11 pm.
Today’s total: €16.50
5.45 am: I like routines and I do my best to stick by them as much as I can. I get up to go to work, let the dogs out and then get ready for work before heading out the door.
6.30 am: In work. Coffee and two hard-boiled eggs.
10.00 am: I head home for a cup of tea and two slices of brown bread with smoked salmon.
10.25 am: Back in the office to finish off some notes for some scheduled meetings.
11.00 am: Line managers meeting.
1.15 pm: Meeting over. Grab a coffee and head out for a bit of fresh air.
1.30 pm: Start working on budgets for my department. Get a WhatsApp from a cousin with a tip for a horse in Dundalk. I have a look at him and invest €25 with Paddy Power.
4.00 pm: Out the door and head to the shops and pick up some groceries and two bottles of wine.
4.30 pm: Start my dinner, which is mince meat gravy with spuds and vegs. I do two portions, so Wednesday’s dinner is also sorted along with two boiled eggs for the morning. Dogs don’t get their walk this evening as I have a removal to go to this evening. They’re not happy.
5.45 pm: Pick up one of the lads and head to the removal.
6.30 pm: An executive decision is made on the way home and we pop into the local for a few pints!
8.30 pm: Get home. I watch Cocaine Bear on Netflix and finish the bottle of wine from last night.
10.30 pm: Let the dogs out for a run, change their water and off to bed for 11pm.
Today’s total: €52.50
5.00 am: I wake up a bit earlier this morning and stick on a clothes wash. I have always been a morning person and find it very easy to get up. I would normally wake before the alarm goes off. The rest of my morning is the same before leaving to head to the office.
6.30 am: In the office. Get a coffee, two boiled eggs and an apple. Check my emails and do some prep work for meeting.
9.00 am: My assistant manager is in for our weekly meeting and catch up.
10.30 am: I head home for a cup of tea and two slices of brown bread with cheese.
10.55 am: Pop up to the church for the funeral.
12.30 pm: Back to the office. Working on my budget and check Paddy Power. Happy days – my investment paid off in profit with a nice 11/2 winner.
2.00 pm: A few Zoom calls with sub-contractors for the rest of the evening.
4.00 pm: Head home and go down the fields with the dogs. On the walk, they find some fox poo and decide to have a roll around in it. Great. It’s a bit cold for washing the dogs and they’re not happy either, but they stink!
7.00 pm: Hang out my washing from this morning and have the dinner that I cooked last night. Open a bottle of wine and chill out for the evening.
10.45 pm: Same routine – let the dogs out for a run, change their water and off to bed for 11pm.
Today’s total: Profit of €137.50 from my bet :)
5.30 am: Same routine with myself and the dogs.
6.30 am: In the office. Get a coffee and two boiled eggs. Check my emails and do some more working on my budget.
9.00 am: Planned meeting with the general manager and financial director. It goes very well and I’m given a substantial budget this year for a new line and warehouse. Unfortunately, it will increase my workload quite a bit. I’ve been working for the same family-owned company for about 20 years. When I joined, there were only five employees. It has now grown to over 100 and they have assisted me throughout this time with my own personal development with further education and courses.
10.00 am: I head home for a cup of tea and two slices of brown bread with jam.
10.30 am: Off to another funeral.
1.00 pm: Back in the office for the rest of the day, still working on my budget.
4.00 pm: Call into my parents’ house on the way home to check in on them and have a quick catch up. Both of them are in their 80s now and still relatively good health for their age. It turns out to be a well-planned visit as I get my dinner as well while I’m here!
5.30 pm: Back to the house. No walk again for the doggies this evening as I have another removal to go to. Quick shower and call back to the folks’ house and pick up the father to bring him to the removal. He still drives himself and is quite independent, but does not like driving at night anymore.
8.00 pm: Home and tired after being at the removal. Goddaughters’ birthday is next week, so I buy a present online and I finish off the bottle of wine from last night while watching TV.
10.30 pm: Same routine – let the dogs out for a run, change their water and off to bed for 11pm.
Today’s total: €45.99
5.45 am: Same routine with myself and the dogs.
6.30 am: In the office. Get a coffee and two boiled eggs. Check my emails and do some more paperwork.
9.00 am: Out on the floor for weekly checks with the maintenance team. I still enjoy this as it was part of my original role when I started in the company. Some items spotted in the weekly preventative maintenance, which will need to be followed up next week.
11.45 am: Two interviews for a tradesperson position within the company. Very hard to get good tradespeople these days and the good ones are making big money out on site due to the shortage and less young people doing apprenticeships nowadays.
12.55 pm: Head out for lunch with three colleagues from the office. I pick up the bill (€74.50) as one of the girls is leaving to go to Australia with her partner. They can’t see a future here at the moment with the cost of living. There have been six young adults that I know of who have left Ireland since Christmas to travel and possibly start a better life for themselves.
3.00 pm: Home and get the dogs ready for a walk.
3.45 pm: Home from our walk. I hop into the shower as there’s a few drinks happening in the local pub for the girl heading off.
5.00 pm: Pub, pints and some craic for the evening.
10.30 pm: One of the barmen drops me home and I attempt to make myself a sandwich to the dogs’ delight.
11.30 pm: Bed and badly needed.
Today’s total: €183.50
7.15 am: Up, but feeling the worst for wear from last night. Let the dogs out and have some scrambled eggs and toast and start scrolling on my phone. I only recently downloaded TikTok and I find myself starting to scroll a lot more than I used to. Make a note to myself that I need to delete it.
9.15 am: Driving down to Kildare to pick up some parts, bits and pieces for my hobby. Some of the other lads gave me a bit of a shopping list for them, which I also pick up. (€1,520)
1.40 pm: Back home and unload the van. Have a cup of tea and a sandwich, clean the kitchen counter top after last nights attempt to make a sandwich. I head out to my garage to do a service on the ride-on lawnmower which is long overdue (I had the parts sitting out in the garage the last two months!).
4.30 pm: Hop into the shower. I have a date night with a lovely lady I’ve been seeing for the past few months.
6.00 pm: Herself and her sister call over, her sister drops us to the restaurant. Have a good evening in the restaurant and with it not being too busy, we don’t need to give the table back until 8.30 pm, so we get another bottle of wine and stay there instead of going to the pub for a few drinks. (€194.65)
10.00 pm: Uber and home. Not even a 4km journey home with a cost of €20.60 - it’s not a cheap night out anymore if you need to get taxis as well. Open another bottle of wine and Netflix and chill.
Today’s total: €1,735.20 (€1,140 will be paid back to me over the next couple of days when the lads call and pick up their parts, so it won’t count towards the weekly spend)
7.00 am: Up let the dogs out and make a cup of tea. I head back to bed for an hour or so, then get back up to make a Sunday morning fry up and give the kitchen a clean.
10.00 am: Load up the dogs and drop herself home on the way to the beach. With my hobby, I would normally leave the house around 7am on a Sunday morning, but I’m a bit out of sorts as I very seldom go out on a Saturday night.
1.00 pm: Back to the van feeling a lot better after a good walk on the beach with the dogs. Stop off and get coffee on the way home. (€3.80)
1.45 pm: My favourite part of the week: ironing my shirts for work next week. I turn the telly on to look at the senior club finals in between doing some bits around the house.
4.10 pm: Head down to the pub to look at the second half of the Cuala/Errigal game.
6.20 pm: Back home and stick on some baked potatoes and any other bits available in the fridge. Dinner over, I stick on the TV for a while and the two dogs pop up onto couch with me. We’re all tired after a long walk today.
10.45 pm: Let the dogs out for a run, change their water and off to bed for 11pm.
Today’s total: €36.80
*** What I learned –
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