This week, our reader is focusing on saving money in order to travel more with her husband and renovate their home that they bought from her parents last year.
WELCOME TO HOW I Spend My Money, a series on The Journal that looks at how people in Ireland really handle their finances.
Last time around, we heard from a business operations manager on €45K living in Cork. This week, a 32-year-old admin assistant on €39K living in Dublin. I learned a lot from them on budgeting, saving for unforeseen events while also living and enjoying life. While I admit that sometimes I am living paycheck to paycheck, I try to remind myself that once the bills are all paid and there’s food in the fridge that it’s ok to splurge sometimes. I realise that I can spend money sometimes on items I really don’t need and have recently made an effort to stop this.
12.30 pm: Lunch time could not have come fast enough today as I am starving. Didn’t make lunch to bring in so I grab some sambos and water for hubby and I. Pay €13 and swear that it’s homemade lunches from now on. We eat lunch together and chat about an upcoming holiday. We are both feeling the need for a break from work and are really looking forward to getting away for a few days.
7.25 am: Arrive at work and head straight to the staff kitchen to make myself some tea. Take one sip and realise that maybe I shouldn’t have put the travel cup in the dishwasher as all I can taste is the dishwasher tab. Throw out the tea and decide to sit and eat my breakfast. I usually eat at my desk while I start up the computer and see what I have on for the day. I’ve found recently that granola pots from either Lidl or Dunnes and this week it’s pods from Dunnes that I found on offer.
6.00 pm: Home and showered hubby suggests watching an episode of a new TV show he found. We curl up on the couch and battle with the dog as he is in our faces tonight and can’t decide if he needs to be inside the house or outside and ends up staring at us during the entire show. 4.00 pm: Leave a little earlier today as it was a stressful day and my manager lets me head out early. Straight home and cook something easy for dinner as hubby isn’t feeling too great. Quick tacos and chips.
7.20 am: Arrive at work and hubby offers to buy coffee. I realise that we buy coffee way too much and we agree that next week will be no more coffees. 4.25 pm: Finally, home time. This week in work has been overwhelming and I’m glad that both hubby and I have tomorrow off. We do this every now and again to make our weekends longer and get a good rest. We decide to treat ourselves to a takeaway as it’s payday. I pay this time . Get home to feed a hungry dog and change into our PJs. Dinner arrives and we chill out watching a movie.
10.00 am: Hubby wakes and I make us a coffee. He takes a quick shower and we head to Lidl to do the shop. He hates doing the shopping and I normally don’t mind going by myself but today I’m grateful for the company as the trolley and bags are heavy! Shopping comes in just under budget at €99. I allow about €200 per month on groceries and only do a shop once every two weeks. I pick up bread and milk, etc. as we need it but buy the bulk of stuff we need once in a big shop.
6.00 pm: I head for a long shower as I’ve got a migraine coming on. Get out and make myself some tea and take a Nurofen. I hate having to take them but I’d rather not be incapacitated tonight and sit watching some TV waiting for the tea and Nurofen to kick in. Hubby comes down and we watch a few episodes of a documentary.
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