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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 sales executive on €47K living with her husband in Dublin. This week, a 23-year-old legal secretary on €36K living and working in Dublin.
I am a 23-year-old legal secretary living with my boyfriend and working in Dublin. Although I have a degree, a Master’s and a Diploma, I found it very hard to get a job in Dublin over the last two years. But thankfully, I landed on my feet in a solicitor’s firm a few months ago. I’m fairly new to commercial law, so I’m taking a course in professional legal studies to help me to move up the ranks, as I don’t like being at the ‘bottom of the pile’, so to speak. My goal is to hopefully one day work in human rights law (my master’s is in human rights) so I guess it all ended up ok.
With the housing market being the way it is, myself and my boyfriend are planning on emigrating to Australia in a few years. So, we are saving for that as well as hoping to get away a few times beforehand. I’m not too good at saving, as I am very much of the opinion that I’m young and I would rather see the world and experience things than have money sitting in my account. Maybe I’ll regret that in a few years when I’m trying to buy a house – but something tells me I won’t!
We are extremely lucky in that at the moment we are renting via a friend of mine who has moved to Mexico, so he is charging us very little rent and is just happy we are keeping the place clean for him! We are so lucky to be in this situation, as with the rental crisis, so many people are being forced into homelessness or moving back home and losing job opportunities. We definitely don’t take it for granted.
Occupation: Legal secretary
Age: 23
Location: Dublin
Salary: €36,000
Monthly income (net): €2,667
Rent: €275 (my half)
Transport: Leap card – €100
Insurance: I don’t have any
Mobile: €35
Groceries: €400 (including the odd takeaway)
Savings: €500 into savings account, €300 into credit union
Subscriptions: Amazon Prime – €10, 3fe coffee service – €24, my dad pays for our family Spotify account, my boyfriend pays for Netflix, my brother pays for Disney Plus and he scrounges off my Prime and my boyfriend’s Netflix!
Donations: Dogs Trust – €12, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre – €16
***
6.45 am: Alarm goes off. Another day, another dollar.
7.00 am: Manage to peel myself out of bed and quickly get ready for work. I pack up a lunch box of yoghurt, granola and fruit for breakfast so I can eat it once I get to the office. I’m not really a breakfast person so I find waiting until I’m at work to eat is usually easier. I’m out the door for the bus which is at 7.51 am. It only comes once every few hours, so I can’t miss it!
8.20 am: Arrive at work. I’m not supposed to start until 9 am every day, but seeing as there’s only one bus that gets me here, I have to deal with it. I sit at my desk and eat my breakfast while going through my emails.
1.00 pm: Such a fast morning. I had one too many beers last night and forgot to make lunch, so I head off to the café next door. I get a roll and a packet of crisps, and thanks to my staff discount, it comes to €6.20, which I still consider pretty expensive for lunch, but sure you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. We have a Nespresso machine at work so I have one of those with my lunch. My two direct debits to DRCC (€16) and Dogs Trust (€12) come out today.
5.15 pm: Another Monday done, straight out the door of work. I leave 15 minutes early every day to get the bus (which, again, only goes once every hour so I can’t miss it!). I tap on with my Leap card and then switch over to another bus which will bring me home.
6.30 pm: Finally home! Straight away I make lunch for tomorrow and dinner for tonight before the tiredness will inevitably hit. Veggie spag bol tonight and rice with Quorn chicken and avocado for lunch tomorrow (got all the ingredients in our Big Shop yesterday).
7.00 pm: Shower, quick clean of the kitchen and retire in front of the TV with the fella to binge watch Hell’s Kitchen. I do a little bit of study while I watch Gordon curse and scream away.
10.30 pm: After a nice relaxing evening, we head off to bed. I like to fall asleep to talking so we pop on a true crime podcast on Spotify and off to sleep.
Today’s total: €34.20
6.45 am: Exact same as yesterday. Up, get ready, make brekkie (granola, yoghurt and fruit), put a wash on, head out for the bus. Getting used to seeing the same people get on the bus every day – knitting girl, cool trousers girl, watches TikToks out loud girl. It’s become a nice morning routine waiting for them all to make an appearance.
8.20 am: Eat my brekkie at my desk. A couple of the solicitors are in court this morning so it’s a quiet morning in the office. I’m able to catch up on a lot of admin stuff that usually can’t get done when it’s busier in the office.
11.00 am: I go into my 11 am meeting that very easily could have been an email… anyway, I am four Nespresso coffees deep and I’m thanking the heavens that the office has free coffee.
1.00 pm: Lunchtime!! I cover my lunch I made yesterday in BBQ sauce and inhale it as I watch Criminal Minds on my phone at my desk. I often get bored having an hour-long lunch, but I’m not complaining… when I worked in service, I was lucky to have time to run to the bathroom, so it’s a nice change.
5.10 pm: Such a long day today, so I sprint out the door a few minutes early just because I can and start to prepare myself for my hour-long journey home. Some days I don’t mind it, as I can re-listen to my lectures from college on the bus and try to be productive, but other days it’s dreadful. It’s bizarre to me how by car it’s a 13-minute drive from where I live to where I work, but by bus, it’s over an hour. My boyfriend is learning to drive and hopefully will be able to help me out with getting home sometimes in the future, but until then, I just have to grin and bear it.
6.00 pm: I’ve been listening to a lecture about civil litigation and it has put me right to sleep on the bus (no surprises there) so I have missed my stop and had to walk for a while. I top up my Leap card while I stroll. (€10)
6.50 pm: In the door to a nice warm house (joy!) and my boyfriend making dinner, so I grab the biggest glass I can find and fill it with wine and plop myself in front of the TV. My boyfriend has made a veggie carbonara with bits from our Sunday shop. We eat away and chat while watching Hell’s Kitchen (notice a pattern here?). Afterwards, I make lunch for work tomorrow (rice, Quorn chicken fillets, and avocado) clean up a bit and have a shower.
9.30 pm: I head to bed nice and early. Little bit of watching YouTube with my boyfriend and I doze off.
Today’s total: €10.00
6.45 am: Yes, you guessed it: Up, dressed, get ready, make breakfast, run for the bus. I drift in and out of sleep on the bus this morning while listening to Dermot Kennedy, and so I’m a tad groggy starting my day.
8.20 am: Arrive at work. It’s a good day today, a big case we had gone the way we wanted, so everyone is in good spirits. One of the girls runs down to the café and gets a big plate of pastries for everyone. I have a pain au chocolat. Our office manager is organising a fundraiser for Ukraine this week and there is an envelope for cash in the kitchen, so I run to my purse and pop €50 into it. It’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but I’d like to think every little bit helps. It’s horrible watching everything going on in the world and feeling like you can’t help.
1.00 pm: I sit at my desk and eat my lunch I made last night. I do a bit of reading of legal articles to prepare for my lecture tonight. My boss has come in and brought everyone in the office a bunch of daffodils and a candle. Such a kind gesture. It’s been a hectic last few weeks preparing for trial which has been tough but it’s all wrapped up now, and we will all be happy when we see that overtime on our payslips.
3.00 pm: I’m about four coffees in today. I’m quite tired but it has been a nice day. We sit around for a bit and chat about maybe going out next week to celebrate. Think we all need a bit of a boogie.
5.15 pm: I’m straight out the door. Ever since I’ve started my college course, I’ve had to start getting taxis home on a Wednesday in order to make it home in time for lectures. When I get the bus, I tend to miss the first 15/20 minutes of my lectures. So, I hop in a taxi (€16.60) and I’m home by 5.30 pm. So quick! Me and the fella pop over to Tesco to get some mid-week top-ups. I love an evening Tesco stroll. It comes to €17.28.
6.00 pm: My lecture starts in half an hour, so I quickly pop on stuff for lunch tomorrow (rice, Quorn chicken fillets and avocado… I’m sorry I’m so predictable!) and get cosy on the sofa with my laptop.
6.30 pm: And here we go… three-hour lecture on judicial precedent. Although it is definitely really interesting, I find it so hard to concentrate after a long day’s work. I listen to my lecture with my earphones in while my boyfriend sits beside me watching the TV. He gets up periodically to make dinner and I scoff down a rice and veggie dish while trying to concentrate on what my lecturer is saying. I also down a freezing cold Diet Coke that was in the fridge. Nothing better.
8.45 pm: It’s the break from lecture. We get 20 minutes, so I minimise the screen and open up another program. On Wednesdays, I do the payroll for my dad’s company. I learned payroll years ago in a different company so when my dad needed a hand doing payroll, I offered. It’s pretty straightforward once you get the gist of it and only takes 20/30 minutes once a week. I try to decline his offer of payment, as he is my dad and it’s no hassle, but every few weeks he throws me some money to say thank you. I tend to keep that aside so I have a bit of spending money whenever I manage to get away. Plus, it’s handy to have some cash floating about for things like tips or charity donations. Once I’m done, I send the lads off their payslips and open up my lecture again.
9.35 pm: Lecture is finally finished. My eyes are stinging and I can’t wait to crawl into bed. I clean up from dinner a little bit and I’m off to bed. Pop on a podcast in the background, but it’s barely beginning and I’m KO’d.
Today’s total: €83.88
6.45 am: Up, dressed, get ready, make breakfast blah blah blah blah. I swear my life is more interesting than it sounds. Run for the bus. Tap on. All the usual suspects get on at their stops.
8.15 am: Eat my breakfast at my desk, scroll through the obnoxious number of emails I have. I have a good bit of work to do today and a deadline at 3 pm, so I tip away at it all morning.
11.30 am: I’m trying to cut down on caffeine, but I am very much a coffee lover, so I bought a few boxes of herbal tea a few weeks ago that I keep in my desk drawers. I opt for a ‘relax’ tea this afternoon. It doesn’t exactly do the trick of instant relaxation, but it’s tasty and I suppose that’ll do.
1.00 pm: Lunchtime. I’ve had a bit of an intense day and I feel the need to get out of the office, so I go for a stroll in the freezing cold, and I grab a Diet Coke and a chocolate bar while I’m out (€5). The fresh air does the trick and I head back to work feeling better.
5.15 pm: Head out the door for the bus. Tap on again, ride a few stops before I have to swap over to another bus that’ll take me home. I’m swapping between music and listening to yesterday’s lecture again. Myself and my boyfriend have decided to go out tonight to our local to watch an open mic night, so I’m really looking forward to it. As much as I love relaxing and doing nothing in the evenings, making an effort to go out mid-week really makes me feel happy and like work isn’t my whole existence!
6.35 pm: In the door and a quick change later, I am back out. Me and the fella walk down to the pub and cosy ourselves at the bar. The night is great fun, it’s so nice to see the entertainment industry is back up and running and people can finally enjoy live music again. We buy a couple of rounds each – my lot for the night costs €54 including tips and everything. My boyfriend and I aren’t super strict when it comes to splitting costs 50/50. We split it down the middle when it comes to renting, but everything else we don’t mind. I figure somewhere along the line it probably evens out. We also make different money and he tends to fork out a couple of extra treats a month as he earns quite a bit more than me. We figure in the course of our relationship, they’ll always be differing salaries and we don’t want to always be stressing about splitting things evenly.
11.00 pm: We walk home, cold and a tad tipsy, but a great night was had. Down a few pints of water and off to bed.
Today’s total: €59.00
6.45 am: Up we get! Finally Friday – I feel like this week has really dragged on so I’m delighted to see the back of it. I get ready, put a wash on, make my brekkie (same as usual.. yoghurt, granola, fruit) and head out the door.
8.00 am: Bus is a bit late this morning and I’m now soaked from waiting in the rain.
8.40 am: Eat my brekkie at my desk and prepare myself for a (hopefully) lovely Friday. A lot of the people in the office work from home on Fridays, so it’s nice and relaxing and quiet most of the day.
1.00 pm: Lunchtime. I treat myself on a Friday so I bait over to the cafe and get myself a roll, a packet of crisps and a can of Diet Coke which comes to €5.55 after my staff discount. Scoff that down while watching Criminal Minds. It’s my fourth time rewatching it but I have a terrible memory so it’s as if every time is the first time… ideal.
3.30 pm: Myself and the office manager head out to Lidl. We have managed to raise over €500 in our office to buy supplies for Ukraine.
4.40 pm: Back from Lidl, we have dropped off all the supplies to the closest drop-off point. It’s at this point it’s not that busy, which is a relief.
5.15 pm: Out the door and onto the bus. As soon as I leave the office, I realise I have left my AirPods at my desk. Heartbreak.
7.30 pm: Myself and my boyfriend decide to go meet a few friends in town. We hop on the bus and off we go. We have a good few rounds and manage to stumble out of the pub around 12… (maybe?). My boyfriend orders us a taxi and I check my Revolut to see how much I’ve spent. €22… don’t know how I managed that, but sure look, I’m not complaining!
Today’s total: €27.55
10.00 am: A slow start to the morning, that’s for sure. Shower and get ready and me and the fella head out for some brekkie. On our way for breakfast, we stop for coffee to help cure our sore heads. Two coffees and a caramel square to share come to €8.60.
12.00 pm: Eggs on toast and apple juice is an instant hangover cure. I foot the bill. (€35.10)
2.30 pm: I have a dentist appointment this afternoon so I walk down, and thankfully it’s just a quick check-in for my Invisalign, so it doesn’t cost me anything.
3.00 pm: My boyfriend meets me from the dentist’s office and we walk home, and I grab a coffee on the way. (€3.10)
5.00 pm: We have a quiet night in and decide to order some Indian, I get a saag paneer and it is incredible, to say the least. The fella pays for the lot. We watch a bit of Hell’s Kitchen and then watch No Exit. Very good movie, 8/10.
11.00 pm: Off to bed. Nothing too exciting.
Today’s total: €46.80
9.30 am: Up nice and early. We give the house a quick clean, pop on a few washes and hoover while we bop along to a few morning tunes. Although the weather is bad this morning, we decide to go for a walk up in Marley Park.
12.40 pm: On our way up to Marley Park, we stop to get coffee and we share a cheese toastie (€13.50). We walk for about two hours, stopping for ages to watch the dogs run around in the dog park.
3.30 pm: On our way back from the park we decide to run into Dundrum Shopping Centre, as I need a few bits for work. I hate shopping so I am determined to get in and out of there as fast as humanly possible. I spend €7.99 in Boots, and €47.98 in H&M.
6.00 pm: After putting away my new bits, me and my boyfriend walk over to Lidl to do our weekly shop. It comes to €72, which my boyfriend covers. There are a few bits that we can’t get in Lidl, so we zip over to Tesco and it comes to €15.84, which I pay for.
7.00 pm: We get home, put everything away, and start getting ready for the week ahead. Sunday dread, amirite? I make lunch for the two of us for tomorrow (rice, Quorn chicken fillets, avocado) and my boyfriend cooks dinner – mushroom risotto. Maybe we are learning something from watching all this Gordon Ramsay after all! I shower and then relax on the sofa and study a little bit before heading to bed.
11.30 pm: Podcast and bed. G’nite.
Today’s total: €85.31
***
What I learned -
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How about an irish minister for corruption
@Stephen Kennedy:
Michael Lowry?
@Stephen Kennedy: Mick Wallace?
@Stephen Kennedy: would most likely be installed or captured by the elites within a week
@FrankDapavia: he would be a front runner for the job would Lowry but he has lots of competition
@William Bright: Mick wallace never took brown envelopes? he fights the good fight. he’s not part of that insider FF/FG lot!!
@Stephen Kennedy: Their is a hole opposition for that. How about a minister for the environment, too radical?
Mass migration divides and destroys traditional communities leaving lots of natives isolated and alone as their own neighbourhoods are transformed.
@William Bright: Most of us live in a country famed for mass emigration – am I to understand you feel Irish people flocking to and taking over boroughs of London or New York or Boston would be to blame for members of those original communities feeling isolated and alone as a result?
@Ciaran Ó Fallúin: perhaps that argument could be made certainly although Irish people and American people have far more in common culutrally and linguistically so it would not have as drastic an effect.
@William Bright: you have a one track mind. What about the massive problem in Ireland of rural isolation? Lonlieness is not a modern problem it’s been around forever and fair play to the brits for this initiative.
@Dermot Lane: this article is not about isolation in rural Ireland. The situations and causes of loneliness are very different in British society and directly related to the massive inward migration they’ve suffered.
@William Bright: Mass migration divides and destroys traditional communities”
USA should be doomed centuries ago…
@William: Very true. I witnessed that for myself in the last years of my mother’s life over there. All her immediate neighbours died off and were replaced by an incoming culture that doesn’t do integration, or even want to speak the language. It was pretty sad.
@William Bright: I’m Irish. I spent 12 years living in Dublin, if I’m brutally honest, I didn’t get a chance to get to know my neighbours. Looking back, I could say a lot of them may have been lonely and I probably didn’t get involved in so much as I possibly could. Was it my culture? Was it a linguistic barrier? …Am I Muslim and I’ve just not known up to now or am I misinterpreting your point?
Go away out of it with your nonsense! Society is changing with or without migration. Half the elderly folks I know would rather spend an hour moaning on facebook than chatting with the youth of today. The half that want to chat, just like the generations before them, can’t really find anyone to talk to and are lonely. This article isn’t anything new other than perhaps a step forward from society recognising the importance of helping the lonely and trying to establish how big the problem is and what measures help.
Or maybe I’m wrong and you’re right and “mass migration” is to blame!
@Ciaran Ó Fallúin: Sometimes the lonely need to talk before being able to listen to what someone else has to say. This could also be because their hearing is awful and they are embarrassed to admit it. Best solution keep trying.
@William Bright: The minute you resorted to name-calling, you lost your argument.
@William Bright: With rising rents and life changes and college, like most, I lived in 7 or 8 places over the 12 years, so getting to know anyone that well in a maximum of 2 years isn’t easy.
I’d love to argue the true likely sources and solutions to loneliness with you further but I’m not sure if you’re committed to getting to the bottom of things.
@William Bright: Do not blame mass migration. If traditions (especially Catholic traditions) were truly strong in Ireland, then nothing would be a threat. The issue behind this is growing secularism and not migration. When you have secularism, it becomes easy for other religions to influence.
@William Bright:
If you are truly Irish, and you want Ireland to be traditional, you would be Catholic. And if you are Catholic, you should understand that something unites Ireland and certain other countries – Christianity. If Christianity was strong enough, then people of other religions would look to up us. They don’t, because we are not strong enough due to widespread secularism everywhere in the west.
Nothing to do with the divided society created by heartless Tory economic policy I suppose.
Fine Gael are implementing similar policies here. Leo’s probably lining up Frances Fitzgerald as we speak.
@FrankDapavia: No nothing todo with political parties in either country.
People caring less for others and more about themselves maybe or less time for others.
A solution might be to say hello more and pop into see an older relation or neighbour.
If you can do this there is no need for a minister for lonely people….. and not just older people.
@Gillian Scully:
Sound advice there Gillian. Neo liberal capitalism results in a dog eat dog society where social infrastructure upon which older people are so reliant is privatised out and community spirit is broken apart.
@Gillian Scully: Gotta say tho… there are a lot of people who do make efforts already. The rise in poverty has also brought a rise in the number of people volunteering to help out. Some people work tirelessly to try and quell the damage. Granted, that’s always been the way but I think some of the millennials that get so much stick for many things deserve a particular nod in that regard. I think mindfulness of this kind of thing is on the increase. The trouble is, so is extremism in all forms.
Fair idea, but loneliness has its origins in the industrial revolution and the individualism that ensued. Family members and old friends taking off in different directions for their personal pursuit of happiness. But often because they have little choice and simply have to make a living. So sure, patch the symptoms of the disease, but its causes will need to be recognized.
@Mick Tobin: There is certainly something in what you say.
Tracy grouch?
What a name!I’m depressed already.
@gerry fallon:
Not to worry you can always contact the minister for hugs and kisses at the department of cheer the fcuk up.
@Tweed Cap: or the minister for “get your bleeding act together!
@gerry fallon: except that’s not her name
@Dermot Lane: Doh, really Dermot?
Did you not get the joke or are you another one of these boring tools that troll on the journal?
Get a life.
Fine Gael have a minister that causes loneliness more or less the same thing none of them do anything.
Lonliness is a product of neo liberal economics and cultural marxist. Less social solidarity and fewer services.
@Al Coholic: no one was lonely or depressed in East Germany thank God for the Stasi
@Fergus Sheahan: not seeing the relevance of your reply. You might grace me with an explanation.
Loneliness is a series problem and one created to a large extent from the rigid social structures we have adopted where we have the single family unit as the foundation for everything. In our modern society, where neighbours are strangers, relatives are spread across the country or even the world, it is so easy to become isolated, particularly when the single person who you relied on as your sole partner, dies. We should look at more communal arrangements and greater sharing opportunities. Something like hippy communes for the middle-aged. Just a thought!
For most visitors and emigrant workers England Is London. They can’t/wouldn’t get to see Newcastle-Upon-Tyne any more than they’d get to see and enjoy the far reaches of Cornwall. London was a lonely concrete jungle in the late 1970s. There will be even more (lonely) people by now. Liam Neeson was interviewed yesterday about his role in “The Commuter.” He described when you start to see “familiar faces” in the tube or on the train…and you might (just) nod or smile. Really…Hardly. I sometimes think Londoners wear their standoffishness like a bizarre badge of honour. Like we/they are in the trenches – still in the war. Unless of course there is a terrorist attack – or a towering inferno. Then, and only then may they come together. Go to a northern town, there you’ll witness real warmth..
@Paul Jennings: or should that read “London is England?” Minister for Loneliness. I’d rather fancy my chances as Minister for Suicide/Mental illness/Human Chaos and Dysfunction. Does the position come with a generous benefits and sick leave package? She’ll need it…
@Paul Jennings: Careful there Paul. Gawking at the non-locals with their horseless carriages and magic hand boxes isn’t the same as ‘warmth’.
I live in a rural area where there is a very good awareness of the needs of the elderly. We have in the general area two day care centers where people can go to socialize and have a midday meal , transport is provided to pick them up at their own home ,Also meals on wheels are delivered to their homes if required. Sheltered Housing is also available at the Centres.
Several Parish Halls and Community Centres run Bingo and Card Games which are very popular. Also the GAA play a huge role in the community far beyond sport.
Christmas Parties for Senior Citizens are held every year in every Parish.
Another initiative is the Rural Bus which enables non drivers to go to town to shop each week.
Most of these services are run by volunteers .
I moved from a large city to rural life. I find community spirit and support is alive and well there.
That’s sad
Party at Tracey House !!!!….
It really is a poor show on modernity when the people expect the government to look after every aspect of their lives.
That will be a quiet job!
Nothing to be said about Tory neo-liberalism policies causing loneliness in the first place? Let’s see how in-effective this minister is.
““the sad reality of modern life””
You couldn’t make this sh**t up. Can’t they just get a cat?
@Rear Admiral: The new minister will supply government issue cats to all lonely people.
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Just the one?
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