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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 a civil technician on €60K living in the east of the country. This week, a medical administrator working part-time in Co Kildare.
I’m a single mam to a two-year-old little girl. I work as a part-time medical administrator approximately 24 hours per week. I save €50 every week – €40 goes into my credit union and €10 into savings for my little girl. I try not to touch this money at all. I love Revolut and use the pockets feature to manage my finances, setting money aside for things like Christmas, holidays, car insurance and a rainy-day fund. Revolut is my day-to-day spending account, while I leave my current account alone and let direct debits take care of themselves.
Before anyone annihilates me, I know I’m extremely lucky to get support through HAP, social welfare and subsidised childcare. This is just one small snapshot of a week in my life. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Occupation: Medical administrator
Age: 35
Location: Kildare
Salary: €20,592
Monthly pay (net): €1,584
Weekly take-home pay: €373.04
Social welfare supports: One-Parent Family Payment + Working Family Payment = €284.50 per week
Rent: €120 per month to landlord plus €120 per week to HAP
Bills: Around €200 (higher in winter due to storage heaters)
Transport (petrol): €30-€40
Phone: €14.99
Groceries: €250
Subscriptions: €44.96 (Spotify, Netflix, Prime and Disney+)
Car finance: €278
Health insurance: None
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8.00 am: Wake up. Porridge for my little girl and coffee for me. Monday my little one goes to crèche for a half day (9am to 2.30pm) and I’m off work, so I like to see a friend if I can. Crèche fees vary slightly as they are paid monthly, so sometimes it’s four weeks, and sometimes it’s five (€175.50). It’s non-negotiable and gives me peace of mind while I’m working. As well as that, the girls are literal Earth angels and they are my village. After I drop her off, I stick on a wash and the dishwasher and then hop in the car to meet one of the girls.
11.00 am: Brunch with my friend. I have pancakes with bacon and maple syrup (my favourite!) We have a good catch up and the café isn’t too busy, so we stay until 1pm yapping. (€20.45)
1.30 pm: Get home and hang the clothes up from my wash earlier and then collect my little girl.
5.00 pm: Bit of a freezer dinner today. Burger and chips. Frozen chips in the air fryer are so handy and we both enjoy them. She has a little yoghurt afterwards too.
8.00 pm: Bath and bed for little one. By the time I get her down and get a shower and tidy up, it’s time for bed myself.
Today’s total: €196.95
8.00 am: Wake up and make porridge for the two of us. I mix in a spoon of Nutella with it – basically cake for breakfast, and it’s sooo good! Get little one ready for crèche when we’re both full.
9.30 am: Get home and stick on a podcast while I tidy up. Honestly I don’t know how the place gets so messy. She’s like a tornado.
11.00 am: Sit down with a coffee and have a scroll on TikTok. Lose an hour very easily! I notice some of my subscriptions come out today too. Spotify (€11.99), Netflix (€10.99), Clear Mobile (€14.99), and my daily €1 into my Revolut rainy day account.
1.00 pm: Make some homemade soup to bring for lunch for the next two days. I like to batch when I can. Most days we have the same meal two days in a row, but we don’t mind. Today and tomorrow we’ll have chicken curry, which I make a start on now. I’ll do the rice later.
3.00 pm: Pick up little one and decide to go outside to play for a bit. I think I need to get her into football: she’s seriously good with a ball. I’m terrible.
5.00 pm: Dinner is the chicken curry. Cooked some rice and a few more chips in the air fryer to go with it. Delicious!
6.00 pm: It’s my turn for the telly, so bye bye Gabby’s Dollhouse.
8.00 pm: After some playtime, it’s bath and bedtime again before I head to bed myself.
Today’s total: €38.97
7.00 am: Wake up and get ready for work. It’s a mission to get us both out the door for 8am, so we usually don’t have breakfast. She gets breakfast in crèche and I’ll have coffee.
8.30 am: The work day begins. I usually bring lunch from home and a bottle of water – keeps me on track financially and health-wise.
1.00 pm: Have my soup and bread that I made yesterday. Pop to the pharmacy on my break to pick up monthly medication and toiletries. (€18.33)
5.30 pm: Collect my daughter and stop to get petrol (€20). We get home and I stick on the heat. Electricity is always a bit painful, especially in an apartment with storage heaters. I pay weekly onto the Bord Gáis app with my debit card so I don’t get a big bill (or if I do, it’s small). During the summer it can be as cheap as €20 a week, but winter is usually €50 to €60. Today, it’s €60.
6.15 pm: Heat up the chicken curry for us and chill out with a bit of telly. New Year’s resolution was to read more, but it’s not going very well!
8.30 pm: Bath and bed for both of us. I’d say I was asleep by 10pm!
Today’s total: €99.33
7.00 am: Wake up and get ready for work and get her ready to be out the door for 8am. Wednesday to Friday is like Groundhog Day.
1.00 pm: Have my soup for lunch again and work till 5pm before going to get my little one. My parking ticket is up, so I buy a new one. €15 covers one week.
6,00 pm: Today’s dinner is spaghetti bolognese. I’m lucky that my daughter is a good little eater and we have the same dinner most days. I made enough for tomorrow too, so one less thing on tomorrow’s to-do list.
7.00 pm: Let her watch one of her little programmes while I do some financial organising. Thursday is my ‘get organised’ day. I move €200 into my Revolut account, where I split it into different pockets:
I use Revolut for all my day-to-day spending and groceries, so this system really helps me stay on track. The rainy day fund is my dipping fund – if I need anything a little extra during the week, this is where I reach for it.
8.00 pm: The bedtime routine begins for the two of us and ends with me asleep by 10pm.
Today’s total: €66.00 (including savings to Revolut)
7.00 am: Happy Friday! We’re out the door for 8am once again.
11.00 am: The boss treats us to some coffee and pastries today, which is always nice!
1.00 pm: Grab some lunch out today with one of the girls from work. We go to Bagel Factory and it’s delicious. (€11.14)
5.00 pm: Head home and heat up spaghetti bolognese. Friday is bill-and-savings heavy. I pay my weekly HAP contribution (€120) and put money into savings – €40 for me and €10 for my little girl.
8.00 pm: Early night for little one I stay up to watch Grey’s Anatomy, one of my comfort shows. I’m about three seasons behind, but the old episodes are the best!
Today’s total: €182.14
8.00 am: Have a tiny lie-on today compared to work days. It’s a lazy morning until I remember I actually booked cinema tickets for us at 10am! The cinema was a cheap treat, only €1 each for the kids screening — the Odeon must be having a sale! We finish up our scrambled eggs and toast.
9.00 am: Chop up some veggies, throw them into slow cooker with beef and a Knorr beef casserole mix and then get ready to head off. I usually do grocery shopping at the weekend, so I remember to put bags in the car, but I don’t remember to bring the bag of empty bottles and cans to return (The bane of my life!). I get some popcorn and snacks for the film (€10.75) after bringing some crisps with me for her that I know she likes. It’s her first time at the cinema. We see Smurfs – and it wasn’t great, to be honest. She was fed up after 45 minutes, but it was only €2 so I’m happy we got to try it! Paid for parking as well (€2).
12.00 pm: Head to Aldi for groceries (€53.62). I usually buy two or three meats and plan dinners around those. Didn’t need any cleaning products or washing pods today thankfully as that makes the shop expensive. Pop into Lidl across the road too. There’s ice pops that we like and Lidl’s bakery is my weakness. (€11.14)
2.00 pm: Get home and pack everything away. Have our pastries and then we go to visit some family for the rest of the afternoon.
6.00 pm: Get home and stick on a pizza. Little one has been grazing all day in nanny’s, so she’s not too fussed with dinner.
7.00 pm: Catch up on some housework then bathe little one. Watch some telly and play for the evening.
9.00 pm: Bed for both of us. I actually read some of my book before bed. I really need to make it a habit!
Today’s total: €80.51
8.45 am: Nice little lie-on today. Breakfast is cereal.
10.30 am: My friend texts me to see if I’m interested in going to a play centre to meet her and her daughter, so we get dressed and head out.
11.30 am: Play centre entry is €10.50. She loves it and I get to see my friend, so its worth it. We catch up over coffee (€3.40) and I get juice for little one (€1.80). Very surprised she didn’t ask for any sweets, but she was too busy playing.
1.00 pm: Lunch is a ham and cheese toastie for me. I got these little toastie bags in Dealz a while ago and they are so good. You pop your sandwich in the bag and place it in your toaster. Little one wants scrambled eggs and toast, so I make that for her.
2.00 pm: More playing and more cleaning for the afternoon. One of my friends calls over for a coffee and I don’t know why I bothered cleaning because little one wants to show her every toy she owns!
5.00 pm: Try out a viral kebab recipe from TikTok. It actually turned out really nice! Little one was not keen, so opted for sausage and mash. I don’t mind doing a separate dinner the odd time.
8.00 pm: Bath and bedtime once again. It’s an early night for us both tonight. Had the best intentions of staying up, but once I lie down with my little one, I fell asleep quickly.
Today’s total: €16.70
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What I learned -
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