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 escalation manager on €120K living in Dublin. This week, a finance manager on €60K living in Dublin. 

I’m a finance manager in my 20s living in Dublin on €60,000 per year. My partner and I hope to buy a house in Dublin in the next two to four years. However, what we thought was a great budget (€450-€475k) seems to be a struggle to get a two-bed apartment remotely close to our two jobs on the Southside.

My short-term savings goal is to save a minimum of €500 every month. I’m conscious of not overly prioritising saving for a deposit, though. I’ve been abroad four or five times a year for the past three years, and while I know reducing this would enable me to save more, I’m in no rush to buy a house. I’ve been back and over to the UK for football games almost once a month. This has cost on average €400-€600 per trip.

Occupation: Finance manager

Age: 20s

Location: Dublin

Salary: €60,000

Monthly pay (net): €3,550

Monthly expenses

Rent: €575

Bills: €40

Car expenses: Covered by work, including fuel

Phone: €60

Gym: €40

Amazon: €15

Savings: €600

Student loan: €150

Monthly lotto in work: €24

Other: €8.99

***

Monday

7.30 am: Up for work.

7.50 am: Grab a coffee en route to work. (€3.80)

10.30 am: Buy a new book from Amazon. (€10.50) 

1.00 pm: Spend €15.50 on a very nice lunch that will keep me going for the day. 

7.00 pm: Do a bit of shopping. (€43.20) 

7.30 pm: Dinner of a ham and cheese roll and a bag of crisps after my big lunch. 

8.00 pm: Out for a run. It was meant to be a recovery run, but quickly turned into a 5k personal best attempt. 9k done and home by 9pm. 

9.30 pm: Showered, I get two episodes of a Netflix show in, and I’m in bed at 11.

Today’s total: €73.00

Tuesday

7.30 am: Alarm goes off. I have an early meeting, so I need to be in the office a bit sooner.

7.45 am: Toll. (€2.30)

1.00 pm: Out for a quick walk at lunch and grab a coffee before heading back to the office. (€4.40)

5.50 pm: Time to go home. Google Maps tells me the toll will save 10 minutes, so I begrudgingly take the hit. (€2.30)

Today’s total: €10.00

Wednesday

8.00 am: Running slightly late for work this morning, so I’ll take the toll to make sure I get in on time. (€2.30)

9.00 am: Get a new blind and some running gels on Amazon. (€19)

1.00 pm: Lunch consists of meal-prepped chicken, rice and veg. 

6.15 pm: Get home and head straight out for a run. I have a half marathon coming up, so get out for 9k at a steady pace.

8.30 pm: Dinner today is chicken goujons, air fried wedges and veg. I eat it on the couch.

10.00 pm: A bit of Netflix before heading into bed to read a chapter of my book.

Today’s total: €21.30

Thursday

6.30 am: Up early this morning to head to the gym before work.

7.00 am: Pick up a can of Monster upon arrival. (€3.50)

8.30 am: Get into work and feeling much better than everyone else on account of training before work. 

1.00 pm: Bit of pasta for lunch, batch cooked by the other half. Meet one of the lads on lunch for coffee and a pastry. He just graduated so I cover it. (€16.20)

6.00 pm: En route back home and get a text to go for midweek pints. I take the toll (€2.30) in an effort to get home the 10 minutes earlier to ensure ample time at the pub.

8.00 pm: Walk down to a pub along the quays. Plenty of pints later and we’ve also somehow ended up with tickets to a gig next week. Total spend including a ham and cheese sandwich (€19) was €120.40. Not great for ‘a few beers’. 

Related Reads

Money Diaries: An escalation manager on €120K living in Dublin

Money Diaries: A public servant on €55K living in Co Westmeath

Money Diaries: A legal secretary on €39K living in Dublin

Today’s total: €138.90

Friday

7.00 am: Get a text from a lad at work who had the same idea as me last night. Send him €8 for the inevitable breakfast roll.

7.45 am: Grab a coffee on the way to work. (€3.70)

10.30 am: Hangover is hitting. Head down to the shop for a can of Monster.

6.00 pm: Stop into the barbers for a haircut on the way home. (€29)

7.00 pm: Group chat is hopping as the lads slowly gather at my house. I have beers left over from what they left here last weekend, so counting them as free.

8.00 pm: Head to town for pints. The total spend for the night comes to €110.92.

4.00 am: Home. Seem to forget I’m no longer a student!

Today’s total: €151.6

Saturday

9.00 am: Up as I’ve to get home to a communion with herself.

10.30 am: Stop at a service station on the way down. Grab a coffee and water (€9.45) and also hit a toll. (€3.50)

12.00 pm: Take €50 out at the cash machine for the communion card.

3.00 pm: Back en route to Dublin. Another pit stop (€7.65) and another toll (€3.50).

5.00 pm: Home. Throw on the golf and don’t move for the rest of the day.

Today’s total: €74.10

Sunday

9.30 am: Get up and head to the shop to get some bits to make an extra effort breakfast. (€4.83)

11.00 am: After breakfast, I turn the PlayStation on for an hour and realise my membership has expired. I renew it. (€13.99)

1.00 pm: Head to fancy Dunnes for some ‘essentials’ such as hydration tablets and suncream. (€10.56)

2.00 pm: Chill out for a few hours. I have my long run this evening, so I get some carbs (oats) and fruit on board. Chill out watching Super Sunday for the rest of the afternoon.

7.00 pm: Stretches done, I head out for my longest run to date. I always used to run early, but I’ve recently changed to late runs as the traffic dies off and there are fewer people in the way in the evenings.

8.40 pm: Finish my 16K in a time of 1:35 — my longest run to date, and still plenty in the tank at the end. I’m very happy with that, considering I couldn’t do 2k about 10 weeks ago.

9.00 pm: Pop to the shop to get a reward — a Coke Zero multipack and an Avonmore protein milk. (€13.01)

Today’s total: €42.39

Weekly subtotal: €511.29

What I learned -

• The tolls are a bane of my life, however, they have gone down following a recent move of house.
• We’re blessed with the rent we have. I spent long enough renting rooms at €800 and €900, it’s great to get something a little bit fairer.
• This week was a bit of an odd one — €250 spent on nights out wouldn’t be a normal occurrence, as I’d only really have a night out once a week at most.
• I try to stick to spending €400 per week, which enables me to save between €600 and €1,000, depending on the month.