A project manager on €35K living in Dublin with her boyfriend and their baby

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 IT technician living in Dublin on €55K. This week, a project manager on €35K in Dublin with a small family.

I am a 36-year-old project manager working in the public sector, living and working in Dublin city. Myself, my boyfriend, our baby and our dog recently made the move back into my mother’s house as we need to save for a deposit and she offered us low rent – the classic, modern city tale. I work four days a week at the moment and my partner works four days also with some evening and weekend shifts.

Between the two of us, we will only need one day of childcare a week, which is great for cost, but difficult to find someone. Working in the public sector means I have good flexibility with my job. I’d prefer not to go back to full-time work, but I have no choice if we ever want to get a mortgage.

I find saving quite stressful, I’m bad at budgeting and I never know if I’m doing anything right about it. We will (hopefully) apply for a mortgage next year and I am really looking forward to having a professional tell me what to do! I have a direct debit of €200 a month into a savings account, and I then usually add a few hundred more towards the end of the month. This month I have a dentist appointment that I expect to set me back a bit, so I will wait until that’s done. I’ve been averaging about €800 a month for the last few months, so I hope to keep at it.

I can’t say I have many hobbies at the moment as the baby takes up a lot of time, but we’re just sort of getting back to going out and our lives back. I do enjoy a few glasses of wine a week, does this count as a hobby?

Occupation: Project manager
Age: 36
Location: Dublin City
Salary: €35,300
Monthly pay (net): €2,390

Monthly expenses

Transport: We live quite close to town and I tend to cycle, or take public transport if we go anywhere
Rent: €750 total, €375 each
Household bills: Included in rent
Phone bill: €10 data and texts deal
Health insurance: €0
Groceries: About €300 each a month including some takeaways
Subscriptions: Spotify – €13.99, Amazon Prime – €5.99, Google Storage – €1.99, I leech off my mum’s Netflix account
Savings: €200 direct debit to mortgage saver, €10 to credit union account for the wee man, and €140 child benefit also goes to credit union account. I usually try to put another few hundred into the mortgage saver account toward the end of the month.

***

Monday

7.00 am: I wake up and attempt to drag myself out of bed. Lucky me got the bed to myself tonight as my partner is staying up with the baby while we are attempting to sleep train. I have a shower, throw some clothes not covered in baby food on and get on the bike to work.

8.00 am: Emails and a huge to-do list for me today as I am just kicking off quite a large project for work. I make coffee on the coffee machine which is free and have some porridge. I buy a big bag of fancy oats about once a month so I feel like I’m posh when really, I am poor.

10.00 am: Meeting in my office with a few other staff members about budget stuff.

11.00 am: More free coffee and I go for a wander to say hello to some friends around the office before coming back to tackle more on the to-do list.

12.30 pm: I decide to be good to myself today and get something from the canteen at work. I go all out and get myself a ham and cheese roll and leave my change as a tip (€4.50 roll, 50c tip)

1.00 pm: I don’t take a huge lunch break, so I’m off for another short meeting about some requests in a different team.

1.30 pm: Back at the desk and back at the emails, interspersed with some water, which I fill up from our filter tap at work. I regret not having a stash of biscuits in my office but a pack a day is a hard habit to break once you get into it.

4.00 pm: Home to the carnage of baby and dog! Catch up with my partner on how they’re doing and any interesting developments. I also confirm with a childminder that we will meet her on Thursday to see if she will be able to mind the wee lad starting from next week.

4.30 pm: My brother and his wife called over to say hi as they were passing by. We sit out in the garden (one of the luxuries of living back at home!) and have some beers I had left in the fridge from a birthday party last week.

7.00 pm: My partner goes out and purchases the bits I forgot to get for dinner yesterday. We tend to take turns buying the food shop, but don’t keep great tabs on who pays what and when. I hang out with the wee man and we discuss the finer points of not poking the dog directly in the eyes before he gets his dinner.

9.00 pm: We have our dinner quite late a lot of the time. I’d like to say we’re Spanish and it’s normal but we’re not, we just live on the edge. Delicious risotto using stuff from yesterday, supplemented with additional bits from today.

10.00 pm: The wee man is in bed and the two parents enjoy some quality time watching TV and drinking tea.

Today’s total: €5.00

Tuesday

7.00 am: Payday! Money how I have missed you. Unfortunately, you leave me as soon as you arrive in the immediate form of rent (€375), mortgage savings (€200) and credit union savings (€10). I transfer €100 to my Revolut, which I try to use for day-to-day spending and just to keep an eye on my spending.

8.00 am: I work from home today so free coffee, and more porridge.

10.00 am: I take a break and go say hello to the baby and boyfriend downstairs, make another coffee and then back up to the home office, which is also our bedroom.

1.00 pm: The baby is down for his first nap of the day, so I take the quiet moment to shove a sandwich and a cup of tea into myself from our kitchen.

1.30 pm: Back at document reviews and emails.

4.30 pm: I finish up for the day and feel like my brain is a bit melted, so I take the baby out to do some shopping. I have to get some food for the week and also formula and some baby food as he is starting on solids. I also got a new hoodie for my boyfriend for his birthday which is tomorrow. (€66.80)

5.30 pm: A friend drops by on her way home from work for a beer in the garden (making good use of leftover birthday beer!) and we hang out with the baby and catch up. We eat some leftover dinner from yesterday and some of the crisps I got for the baby with a glass of wine, also leftover from the birthday party.

9.30 pm: The baby is in bed and my boyfriend comes home from his evening shift to a very quiet house. We have some tea and watch some Time Team on YouTube while he eats some leftover dinner.

Today’s total: €651.80

Wednesday

7.00 am: Slow roll into emails today and some more document review and now also excel spreadsheets. I make myself a coffee and head back to my computer. I work from home Wednesday mornings as my partner has one mid-morning meeting, then I usually go into the office.

10.00 am: My boyfriend has his online meeting for an hour so I make the wee lad his breakfast and we discuss the finer points of not rubbing porridge into our hair. I also have some porridge, but I do not rub it into my hair.

11.00 am: On the bike and into work. I get another coffee from the free machine and get prepared for a meeting.

12.30 pm: My manager stops by my office and asks me if I would like some free food left over from one of his meetings. I absolutely do want the free food so I get a nice sandwich and eat it at my desk. After this, another meeting and more excel and testing out some new project management software.

4.00 pm: I’m off home. I have a piece of toast when I get back and discuss plans for tonight as we’re going out for my boyfriend’s birthday. My mum has nicely offered to babysit!

6.30 pm: We’ve landed in the local and I pay for two pints of Guinness each, which comes to €22.80.

7.30 pm: We make it to dinner and it comes to a total of €38.50. My mum very generously gave us €50 for dinner, so no cost there.

9.00 pm: We stop at the shop on the way home and my boyfriend gets some crisps and a chocolate bar. He pays for this snack run and I will pay for the next one.

Today’s total: €22.80

Thursday

9.00 am: Today is my day off, which is nice but also busy as my other half has a very long day at work. I get myself and the wee lad up and we get straight into some porridge and toast, followed by a ramble around the house.

11.00 am: We take the dog out for a walk. I contemplate getting a nice coffee while we’re out, but I feel like I don’t want it enough to justify the cost.

12.30 pm: Naptime, and I make use of the time to eat some food. I have some noodles I got from the asian market recently.

2.00 pm: I’ve realised we are running low on nappies, so we’re back out again. We stop by the park on the way to the shops, do some playing on things and run around in the grass for a while. We stop by Dunnes and get some nappies and some snacks which come to €6.34. I also stick my head into Zara as I have a family party coming up and nothing to wear. I spot a dress that fits my criteria (and my post-baby body!), which comes to €49.90.

4.00 pm: Back at home and I make me and the lad some lunch to share: tinned mackerel and quinoa salad because I have notions and he really likes quinoa. We then do some exhausting hide and seek and general running around until my mum comes home and I can have a breather.

7.30 pm: My mum makes me dinner today. We take turns cooking for each other, which is great for me as herself and my boyfriend are excellent cooks. We have spaghetti and meatballs and watch some Netflix together.

9.15 pm: Bedtime for the small man and tea time for me! My boyfriend is due home around 10pm. Time for a debrief then I am straight to bed as I am exhausted.

Today’s total: €55.34

Friday

7.30 am: Friday! It’s very cold this morning on the bike to work. I get into work and straight into a catch-up with some fellow early staffers and a free coffee. I message one of my co-workers to see if they are free for lunch today as we haven’t had a chance to catch up recently.

10.00 am: Free machine coffee, where would I be without it?

1.00 pm: I head to the canteen to meet my friend and I buy us both a sandwich, which comes to €9.00.

2.00 pm: More free machine coffee and a message from my boyfriend asking if I can pick up something to go with dinner.

4.00 pm: Out of work and into Lidl where I get us some dinner stuff, and some snacks for everyone. It comes to €14.67.

7.00 pm: We have dinner and I locate that bottle of wine from earlier in the week and help myself. I used to enjoy getting fancy wine, but now that I’m saving, I will do with any old plonk. We play with the baby and hang out until bedtime. I watch a few episodes of Bridgerton while my boyfriend laughs at it beside me.

Today’s total: €23.67

Saturday

8.10 am: Unfortunately, having a baby means the days of lie-ins are gone, but it’s also nice to be up and about early once you get over the initial horror. I make everyone breakfast of porridge and bananas and get my first coffee of the day.

11.30 am: Time to go out for a walk with the gang. My boyfriend offers to get us coffee and pastries while I chat to one of our neighbours. I possibly should have paid for this, but I will let it slide…

1.00 pm: I make us some lunch using some things I got during the week – sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches.

4.00 pm: I try to have a bath once a week as it’s nice to be able to lie down with a book for an hour and listen to the radio. I still have a fantastic stockpile of bath bombs left from Christmas gifts, so I make use of one of these also.

7.00 pm: We have dinner using more bits from shopping. Salmon and potato bake thing, and I have more wine. A bottle of wine lasts me a really long time these days which is good I guess.

10.00 pm: We watch a few more episodes of Bridgerton as well as some random documentaries on YouTube and it’s a bit of an ordeal to get the baby down to sleep. I am in bed not far behind him!

Today’s total: €0.00

Sunday

9.00 am: Today the baby gods have blessed me and the wee lad has slept in until 9am, which is great! My boyfriend works today so it’s just the two of us. We do our usual morning routine of breakfast, followed by harassing the dog into playing with us.

11.00 am: Walk time for the gang. It’s a nice day out which is great as we are off into town later.

12.00 pm: Back at home and the baby and dog are having a nap. I put on some laundry while I have some time and eat some toast and have more coffee.

2.00 pm: We’re up and waiting for one of my friends to call over as we are going out to a samba gig in Dublin. We stop by Tesco on the way in to get some snacks, which come to €4.73.

4.00 pm: Gig is over. It was the first gig for the wee man and he enjoyed himself. We go to a pub close by and I buy my two friends with us a drink to say thanks for helping to run around after him. It comes to €22.50.

5.30 pm: On the way home, I realise we have no bread or cheese and I have a hankering for a toastie, so we stop by Tesco on the way back. (€4.09)

7.00 pm: I get a message from my mum to say some family are in the local pub and want us to come down to say hello, so we throw our shoes on and head down. One of my cousins buys me a gin and tonic and the wee man gets passed around the group.

8.00 pm: We’re back at home and have a freezer pizza for dinner. My boyfriend is back from work, so I lightly defer childcare and bedtime duties to him for the moment. I watch another episode of Bridgerton and between that and some tea, the evening passes quite quickly!

Today’s total: €31.32

Weekly subtotal: €789.93

***

What I learned –

• I have spent a lot more than I expected this week, but it was an unusual week for me as I had to buy a birthday present, and a dress to wear and I even went to the pub! Also it’s rent week and savings week too I guess.
• I would like to be better planned with food so I can take stuff to work. All my lovely work food does add up, as well as repeat shopping trips.
• I really need to try to get a handle on spending as from next week, I start paying for childcare.
• Keeping this diary has been quite hard and the week looks really long when I read back over it, but it passed by in about a second.
• I am going to return the Zara dress. It’s nice, but I won’t get much wear out of it other than one party!