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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.
Are you a spender, a saver or a splurger? 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. 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 assistant lecturer on €46K living in the Midwest of the country. This week, a family support worker on €26K living in Dublin.
I’m a young man in my 20s currently living at home with my mam, her partner and my siblings. I work as a family support worker in Dublin four days a week, mostly working with those experiencing homelessness. In my spare time, I do boxing and go to the gym. Most months, I try to put between €400 and €500 into my savings, but this varies depending on costs that crop up. I try not to save less than €300 a month.
I had moved out about a year-and-a-half ago, renting a studio apartment with HAP, but after about seven months the landlord went to put it up for sale and I was not able to find anywhere else in my price range, so I moved back home. I really love my job and all of the people I work with, but I feel it is impossible to start a life of your own these days without a really high wage, especially if you’re single. I pay my mam’s partner €500 a month, not because he is scabby but because they find it really difficult to cover bills and the mortgage. I would love to move out again and have my own room. I am currently on a pull-out bed in the living room.
Occupation: Family support worker
Age: 20s
Location: Dublin
Salary: €26,500
Monthly pay (net): €1,764
Transport: €240 (diesel)
Rent: €400
Household bills: €100
Phone bill: €15
Health insurance: N/a
Groceries: €200
Subscriptions: Gym – €35, boxing – €60, Spotify – €10
Credit union loan: €80
Car insurance: €65
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7.15 am: My alarm goes off for work. I scroll mindlessly on my phone for 15 minutes and get up to have a shower. Every morning I have two Weetabix and I bring my dog out for a walk. I aim to leave the house by 8.30am every day. I live in the same town I work in, which is handy. With traffic, it takes me about 20 minutes to get to work but only five to get home.
8.50 am: Arrive at work. I get in before 9am every day to have a coffee with my manager and talk about the day ahead. I usually start off the day with some admin for the first hour, and then service users drop in to the office to see me. I could be doing anything from helping fill out forms, contacting electricity companies when someone has fallen into arrears and their electric is cut off (I hate doing this, as you usually are on hold for at least half an hour) or writing letters for service users to send to different organisations depending on their needs.
11.00 am: I head out doing outreach – calling out to people I know who are rough sleeping or that are in insecure living circumstances. I get very down about my own housing situation, but seeing the realities of so many people makes me feel grateful that I have a roof over my head.
1.30 pm: I get back to the office and sit down with staff and service users to have my lunch. I’m on a diet at the moment for the gym, so have the same meal more or less every day (chicken, one potato and some veg). After this it’s back to admin for a few hours.
4.55 pm: Time to head on home. I call into the shops on the way to get food for the next few days, just basics and some meat. It comes to €26.50.
5.35 pm: Get home and put the food away in the fridge. Bring the dog out for a walk until it starts raining and I head back home.
6.15 pm: I drive out to the gym for a workout, then jump in the sauna for 15 mins, have a shower and head home.
7.30 pm: Get back home, cook myself a dinner and sit down to watch Netflix with my mam. I bring the dog out one more time for the night and head to bed at about 10pm.
Today’s total: €26.50
7.15 am: Alarm goes off. I bring the dog out and I’m out the door for 8.50am, which is a nightmare because for some reason traffic, is always awful on a Tuesday.
9.15 am: Get to the office. We have training in work today and tomorrow, which I often find boring but we always get a nice lunch which makes up for it.
4.00 pm: Nice lunch aside, training finally ends and I have admin and emails to get back to.
5.20 pm: Leave the office. I have to get diesel on the way home and always put €30 in, because someone on TikTok said that is the most economical (not sure how true this is). I bump into one of the service users who is tapping outside the shop and grab her a few bits (€17.50). I call into my dad on the way home, who lives with my auntie. I always collect his medication for him and drop it up. Stay there for about an hour and have a few cups of coffee and a laugh with my auntie. She is an angel.
7.00 pm: I get home, get changed and head out to boxing for 7.30pm. It’s one of the highlights of my day just having a laugh with the lads and getting a good sweat.
8.45 pm: I get back home. The dog gets a short walk because I’m tired, and I set myself up for bed. My mam hates when I let the dog sleep with me, but I let him jump up beside me while I scroll on my phone for what felt like 10 minutes. All of a sudden it’s half ten. I stick on a podcast and go to sleep.
Today’s total: €47.50
5.30 am: I wake up early and cannot get back to sleep. I have a look at rentals around me but put the phone away before I drive myself mad. I’m up and showered before my alarm goes off at 7.15am. Do the usual morning routine of Weetabix and dog walking and leave the house at 8.30am.
9.00 am: Another day of training ahead.
12.00 pm: I had a few service users call into me, which broke up a bit the training a bit. I find it hard to stay sitting down for hours on end. We get pizza delivered for lunch which cheers me up, but I feel guilty not eating well when I’m trying to lose weight. A few slices won’t hurt.
3.30 pm: We finish the training early today and my (very sound) manager tells us to head home early. I bump into my friend and his two children and we head down to the playground with the kids. I grab coffees and two hot chocolates for the little ones (€14.60). I go straight to the gym after this, realise I forgot my shorts, so train in my jeans feeling very out of place. It’s a good excuse not to do legs, I tell myself.
6.15 pm: I get home and have a shower. My sister is off work this evening so we head out to the shops together and she gets a few bits for a holiday she is going on soon. We spend a lot of time together and get on great, but I love when she goes away so I can get her bed with the good mattress.
8.00 pm: Me and my mam bring the dog out together and have a good chat. I am up and down with my mental health and find the winters harder than the rest of the year, but I am lucky to have a great family around me.
10.00 pm: Time for TikTok and eventually I nod off to sleep.
Today’s total: €14.60
4.00 am: Alarm goes off. Today is an early start as we head out for a rough sleeper count. We do this once every three months to get a count of how many people are sleeping rough. It’s sad but important to get a count of these numbers.
4.45 am: I get to the meeting point. It’s miserable out, which is always a bad day to do the count because a lot of the rough sleepers find somewhere to stay or move from their usual places. I hate this because it looks like the numbers are going down and the council is delighted with themselves, when in reality they just are not where they usually are and it does not give a fair reflection. We have a coffee together afterwards and I head into work at 8am.
12.00 pm: It’s a fairly quiet day in work because of the weather, which gives me a chance to catch up on my admin work. I really hate the admin, but it has to be done.
1.00 pm: I forgot to bring in my lunch to work today, so head out to get a chicken fillet wrap (taco sauce, cheese, onion and spicy chicken, if you are wondering) and grab a can of Coke as well (€6). Not the healthiest week, but sure look.
5.30 pm: I finish work after getting a good bit of stuff done – I always try to do a bit of overtime before Christmas to build up my time in lieu so I can have two weeks off over Christmas. I was tired today from the early start.
6.00 pm: I get home and collapse onto the sofa watching Gogglebox. I doze off with the dog beside me and my mam wakes me at 8pm to say she cooked a roast dinner.
10.00 pm: I head off to bed and after some scrolling, fall asleep.
Today’s total: €6.00
8.00 am: I usually don’t work Fridays, so have no alarm which is lovely. I stay in the bed until 9am and get up then to bring the dog out as he won’t leave me alone, wondering why I am late bringing him for his walk.
10.00 pm: I try and use the day to get things done while shops and that are open. I have to call to the pharmacy to get my own medication (€9.50), and then head out to the gym for about 11am.
12.30 pm: I call into the credit union to pay off my loan from when I had to get my car fixed (€80). I have savings of about €12,000 but can’t bring myself to withdraw them, so got a loan to pay for a new gearbox in the car. The loan will be paid off next February and I pray to God nothing else happens to the car before Christmas.
1.00 pm: I get a call from a former staff member asking would I cover her shift from 4pm-8pm in the youth centre where I used to work. I still do some relief work here for the extra money. So I go home to eat and get myself ready, and then head out to work the few hours.
9.00 pm: My friends are going out tonight but I pretend I’m working the next morning so I can’t go. I love a night out, but I know I’ll have a few over the Christmas and want to make sure I have the money and can still get some savings in, as well as the cost of Christmas presents. I have serious FOMO, but put the phone away and get an early night.
Today’s total: €89.50
8.00 am: I wake up feeling very smug that I am not hungover like my friends, but hope they had a good night.
9.00 am: I head out to the boxing gym where they do a fitness class on a Saturday mornings. To be honest, I hate the fitness class but I like seeing all of the lads and feel good about myself after the hour of exercise. We head down to the café after to grab a coffee together and have a laugh. (€4.20)
12.00 pm: I didn’t have breakfast before, so cook myself a good big lunch. Saturdays are my chill day, and I spend a few hours watching the telly. My siblings are usually working weekends, so I have the house mostly to myself.
2.00 pm: I scroll through rentals and apply for a few different ones, but know I won’t get a response when I mention HAP.
11.00 pm: After a chill day, a few walks with the dog and cooking myself a Thai green curry, I head to bed.
Today’s total: €4.20
8.00 am: I wake up and have a lazy morning, staying in bed until 10am. Sundays are my cleaning day and I get up to hoover, wash floors and give the place a scrub.
12.00 pm: I head out to the shops to get food for my meal prep for the week. I get some diesel on the way (€30). Shopping costs me €37.79. I usually use the slow cooker to cook all the chicken and portion everything out for the week, more so just out of laziness so I don’t have to do it during the week. I call up to the supplement shop to get a bag of protein as well, which is another €45.
2.00 pm: Get home and spend a few hours doing the batch cooking and blaring the speaker, until my mam’s partner comes home at 5pm. He is nice, but we don’t really have much of a relationship, so I turn the music off.
6.00 pm: I call up to a friend’s house with a few others where he lives with his partner and their children. I love getting out and spending time with them.
9.00 pm: Get home and eat one of my lunches for the week (which I love doing so I can pretend I ran out on a Thursday and get a chicken fillet roll).
10.15 pm: Head to bed, ready to start the week again.
Today’s total: €112.79
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What I learned –
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