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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 quality and compliance officer on €42K, saving for a mortgage. This week, a self-employed illustrator living in the west of the country.
I’m a 27-year-old, self-employed illustrator living in the west of the country. I share a four-bed house with my boyfriend and two other people. We all split the rent and bills four ways, and I use one room as an office.
I have been self-employed for three years, and in that time, I haven’t made any routine around my savings. But I have about €8,000 put away. I am very careful with how I spend my money: I buy most things second-hand, cook from scratch and repair my stuff as much as possible. I’m starting to think about putting money away in a pension or potentially investing it, but I haven’t a notion of where to begin with the latter.
My boyfriend and I like to spend our time outdoors, and we both prefer to do things ourselves to save a bit of cash. Other than rent, our main expense is the two vehicles we share – a 15-year-old car and a 21-year-old van. He does all the maintenance and repairs, saving us a significant amount in garage costs. Our landlord is also happy for us to carry out repairs on the house. We like to see this as ‘’practice’’ for when we have our own home.
Eventually, we would like to buy in Co Clare, and look forward to either building our own home or renovating an older property. But for now, we’re doing our best to live our twenties to the fullest before getting bogged down in mortgages and bank loans.
Occupation: Illustrator
Age: 27
Location: Midwest
Salary: €34,000
Monthly pay (net): Changes drastically from month to month – sometimes €1,500, other months €4,500
Transport: €120 diesel
Rent: €440
Household bills: €90
Phone bill: €15.00
Health insurance: N/a
Groceries: €240
Subscriptions: Spotify – €11, Community Action Tenants Union membership – €5
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9.30 am: Wake up. I was working all day Saturday, so I’m taking it easy this morning. Snooze in bed for the next hour.
10.30 am: Scrounge around for some breakfast. We do the ‘big shop’ on Monday evenings, so the cupboards are bare. Make a coffee and read my book til 12 pm.
12.00 pm: Admin work in my home office.
3.00 pm: Finish up admin work. I take my lunch to the local park. It’s a homemade quiche that I made yesterday with odds and ends of last week’s veg. My boyfriend is working from home today and has made me a coffee when I get downstairs.
5.00 pm: Back at my desk after a lovely sunny walk. I will spend the next hour focusing on marketing and making content for my website and social media.
6.00 pm: Work done for the day, I head off to the shops to buy food for the week ahead.
I don’t have a list for the shop, I buy lots of veg and stock up on pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and all the other essentials. Eggs are cleared out, so I’ll buy them tomorrow. It’s my turn to pay for the shop this week (€54.57). I also pick up some gardening supplies in the middle aisle (€9.98).
7.00 pm: Cook dinner. I’ll cook enough for three days. Today is lentil pie. We eat mostly veggie food and sometimes meat on the weekends.
8.30 pm: Dinner is cleaned up and put away. He’s out in the garage tinkering, so I practice music and scroll on my phone. We sit down to watch some telly before heading off to bed.
11.00 pm: In bed with my book.
Today’s total: €64.55
9.00 am: The same morning routine – breakfast, read my book, make a coffee to bring to my desk.
1.50 pm: Get ready to go to the dentist. I would usually walk, but it’s threatening to rain. I drive the van instead.
4.00 pm: Home from the dentist. My dentist was 40 mins late for the appointment, but he threw in a free polishing as an apology (€250). I picked up eggs and a few other bits while I was near the shops (€5.49) as well as a sink strainer (€3.95). I’m tempted to put this into the Revolut group and split the cost. I buy all the cleaning supplies for the house and it adds up!! But adding a small bill feels petty.
8.00 pm: I was wiped out after the dentist, so I watched Netflix, waiting for the anaesthetic to wear off. I’m ravenous now. Dinner is the same as last night.
11.00 pm: In bed with a book after the usual routine of a bit of telly and a cup of sleepy tea.
Today’s total: €259.44
9.00 am: Wake up, usual routine and eggs for breakfast! My doctor has told me to eat more garlic, so I have my prescribed clove with breakfast.
11.45 am: At my desk. I skip my coffee this morning. I have jobs to do in town, so I’ll treat myself to fancy coffee there instead.
12.30 pm: I head into town to get some paperwork sorted. I also need to buy shoes for an upcoming trip. I’m going on a walking holiday with my mam, and I had found the perfect shoes online, but my size was out of stock everywhere. I go to all the small shops in town, but can’t find a shoe I like. I buy some re-proofer for my rain jacket that is no longer waterproof. (€12.99)
2.00 pm: After having no luck in the shoe search, I sit down in my favourite café for an oat milk cappuccino and a brownie. I put it on the work card. I read my book and draw in my sketchbook.
2.30 pm: I call into the solicitors’ office to have a signature witnessed (€10). I thought this would be a work expense, but when I ask for a receipt, he just winks at me?? Sometimes it feels like it’s my first day on earth.
3.00 pm: After exhausting my search in the local shops, I head out to a shopping centre. I nearly buy a pair of shoes that I don’t particularly like for €130, but I put them back. Finally, find a reasonably priced, comfortable shoe. They’re not really my style, but beggars can’t be choosers. (€92)
4.00 pm: I go into a discount brand shop to buy hair conditioner (€7.99). I also browse around the other items. I see a Patagonia fleece for €30, but it’s not in my size. On reflection, I don’t really need another fleece anyway.
5.00 pm: Home now. Wear my new shoes around the house, but I’m still not sold on them. Help my housemate replace the headlight bulbs in her car, they keep blowing. There are some exposed wires that might be causing the problem, so I wrap those up in electrical tape.
8.00 pm: Sit down for dinner. Last of the lentils with rice and peas.
9.00 pm: Go for a walk, still not convinced on my new shoes. Same routine as always, in bed by 11.20pm.
Today’s total: €122.98
9.30 am: Wake up with a sense of dread. I’m due my period in a few days and this is the worst part of my cycle. Continue with my usual morning routine. I see my new shoes at the bottom of the stairs and decide I definitely hate them.
10.00 am: I decide to clean the shoes and return them. As I didn’t buy them from a small local business, I don’t feel particularly guilty (okay, maybe just a little) I use a toothpick to scrape first out of the thread on the sole.
1.00 pm: The lady at the till inspects my shoes. Thankfully my thorough cleaning worked and she accepts the return. I forgot to buy tech wash to re-proof my jacket, so I buy that while I’m out (€9.00).
2.00 pm: I spend the rest of the day working away at my desk and planning a hike for the weekend.
8.00 pm: Quick dinner from the freezer. I can’t be arsed cooking tonight. Telly dinner watching my favourite reality TV show.
11.00 pm: In bed with my book, lights out by midnight.
Today’s total: €9.00 (+€92.00 for returned shoes)
9.30 am: Wake up and the usual morning routine. I don’t have much work to do today, so I hang around the house for the day. I’m going home for the weekend to go hill-walking with my mam.
1.00 pm: Start packing my bags for the weekend and put a load of washing on.
2.00 pm: Washing done, I put my jacket and my boyfriend’s jacket into the wash to re-proof them. This is a bit of a pain, as I have to wash the detergent drawer of the washing machine first.
3.00 pm: I spray both our jackets with re-proofer, then put them into the dryer on a gentle cycle. I’m excited to have a waterproof jacket again. I’ve been soaked the last few times I’ve gone out in the rain.
5.00 pm: My jacket looks brand new!! I splash water on it, and it soaks right in – bummer. I don’t understand why it didn’t work. I have the end of a bottle of wash-in re-proofer, so I wet the jackets again and give that a go.
7.00 pm: Jackets re-re-proofed and dried. I do the splash test and again, it hasn’t worked?! I’m all out of re-proofer now. Hopefully it doesn’t rain too much this weekend.
8.00 pm: It’s ‘Pizza Friday’. My boyfriend runs to the shop to buy an oven pizza and a few beers for dinner. I make blueberry muffins from whatever is in the cupboards for the weekend.
9.00 pm: Muffins are finished baking. They taste very ‘’healthy’’…
11.00 pm: Finish packing the last of my stuff for the trip home. In bed, I have an early start in the morning.
Today’s total: €0.00
7.40 am: Wake up and have a super quick breakfast. I make a coffee to take with me, then put all my stuff into the car and drive to the petrol station.
8.30 am: The first petrol station I pull into is all out of diesel, which is a shame because they were selling it for less than €2 a litre. I drive to the next one and wince when I see the price, €2.07/L. Gross. I put €60 of diesel into the car (thank God I’m not driving the van, it guzzles fuel) and also buy a roll in the deli, a 2L bottle of water and a lighter (€8.80).
11.30 am: I reach the trail head and meet my mam. She has brought lots of yummy snacks and the sun is shining! I realise I left the muffins at home – dammit.
2.00 pm: We eat our lunch in the sun watching two kestrels hovering in the wind.
4.00 pm: It starts to rain and I put on my waterproofs – despite their lack of waterproof-ness.
6.40 pm: Finish our walking for the day. We’ve walked 21km.
7.00 pm: We’re staying with my brother tonight, and he’s cooked a tasty dinner and dessert for us.
8.00 pm: My brother drives us back to the trail head to pick up our cars, and we drive back to his house in convoy.
10.30 pm: I’m in bed and very tired after a long day of walking and driving.
Today’s total: €68.80
8.30 am: Wake up. Today is Mother’s Day. My brother has prepared breakfast for everyone. My nephew is excited to give a card to his mam, cute!
9.30 am: Mam and I shuttle the cars to the end of the trail. On the way to the trailhead for day two, we stop in the shop to pick up lunch. I realise I forgot my walking boots, so drive back to my brother’s house while she buys the food.
11.00 am: Later start then planned for day two, but the sun is shining and there isn’t too much wind.
2.30 pm: We stop for lunch and I make us a fresh coffee. It’s such a novelty having a tasty drink on trail. We fuel up, as the last part of today’s walk is a steep climb.
4.00 pm: The weather takes a turn for the worst and we’re being blown around on the top of a hill. I’m super proud of my mam, this is her first proper long hike and she’s flying it up the hill.
6.00 pm: Finished our long walk! 19km walked today. We’re both very happy and very hungry.
7.00 pm: We stop in the shop to buy some treats, and a bottle of fizz to continue celebrating Mother’s Day (€18.30). When we get back to my brother’s house, no one is home and we’re locked out. Oops. Should have planned this better. Mam and I sit in the car for an hour-and-a-half eating said-treats and listening to the radio.
9.00 pm: Inside, showered and fed. We relax by the stove and rub anti-inflammatory gel on our joints. We’re both in bed by 10pm.
Today’s total: €18.30
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What I learned –
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