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 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 chemist on €52K living in Munster. This week, a governance assistant manager on €71K living in Munster.

I live at home on a dairy and beef farm in Munster with my parents and my brother. My parents are still both actively farming whilst my brother is serving what seems like the longest apprenticeship in history, patiently waiting (for the most part!) to take over the family farm and put his own stamp on it. I work for a bank, remotely four days a week and commute to the office in Dublin once a week. In January, this will be going up to two days a week in Dublin, one in a regional office (which is about 10 mins from home) and the other two days will remain remote.

Pre-Covid, I lived in Dublin and was in the office every day and was working towards buying an apartment in the city until the pandemic hit and working remotely became the norm. I moved home during the pandemic as the apartment I was sharing at the time was a two-bed and space was at a premium in terms of setting up a desk in the living room. At home, in the countryside, there was a bit more space and you could go about your normal routine, getting out for walks, etc with a bit more pleasure.

After living down home again for the last five years and working the majority of the time remotely, I was lucky enough to inherit my grandparents’ old house which is a stone’s throw away from my parent’s house. I’m just at the beginning of trying to renovate and extend this house currently and have finally gotten a builder’s quote that I can (somewhat) afford and have been approved for the derelict homes grant. I’m trying to get the mortgage sorted now so work can hopefully start before the end of the year. It’s an old farm cottage that isn’t really liveable anymore and hasn’t had anything done to it since the 70’s so it requires a good bit of work.

I have a five-year-old border collie dog who, as you’ll see, features heavily in this Money Diary. She was a lockdown pup and spent the first two years of Covid working in my home office with me every single day. To say she is obsessed with me would be an understatement, but the feeling is very much mutual.

I’m in the very lucky position that my parents refuse to take any rent from me, and this has allowed me to focus on building up my savings as much as possible to go towards the renovation. I’m aware that this is not the norm and I’m not really living in the real world in that respect, but I’m really trying to make the most of it whilst it lasts by heavily investing in my pension, saving aggressively month-on-month and investing a bit in an investment portfolio to try and build up a bit of a nest egg for post-house renovation.

Occupation: Governance assistant manager

Age: 35

Location: Munster

Salary: €71,000 overtime which varies month to month

Monthly pay (net): Approx. €3,890 per month – it can be higher or lower depending on overtime, but for the first nine months of the year, that’s the average figure

Pension contribution: €1,180 per month (20% of salary) €710 employer contribution

Transport: Approx. €230 (train to Dublin once a week plus diesel for day-to-day)

Rent: €0 (my parents refuse to take any rent from me or my brother)

Household bills: €0 (same as above)

Phone bill: €35

Health insurance: N/a – paid by work

Groceries: €0 (my mum does the shopping for the house and loves it, would go to town for a few bits every day if she could get away with it)

Subscriptions:

Investment: €545 per month invested into a 60:40 portfolio

House savings: €1,750 per month which is a lot but only possible as I’m living at home

Other savings: €200 per month, split into a rainy-day fund (used for bigger items like car insurance, car repairs, etc) and a fun-day fund (used for gigs, travel, hotel stays, etc)

Specified Illness Cover: €60 per month

Charity: €20 per month to our local animal rescue centre

***

7.15 am: I wake up before my alarm and decide to bring the dog for a quick walk before getting ready for the day. I’ve been trying to break the habit of reaching for my phone first thing in the morning and have found that the best way to do this is to get out of bed as soon as I wake up or else I’ll be scrolling on TikTok for half an hour before I know where I am.

8.00 am: Facetime with my sister and my two nieces. They’re currently the only nieces/nephews I have and the first grandchildren on our side of the family, so everyone is all about them and we Facetime pretty much every day.

9.00 am: Log into work remotely and start going through emails that have come in since Friday. I’m a big believer in making a list (really, I just love the buzz of checking things off the list) so that is the first order of business for the day.

11.00 am: Fix myself an at-home iced latte (I’ve started buying decent coffee beans from my local coffee shop in order to make cold brew at home instead of buying coffee out multiple times a week). Play ball with the dog for 10 mins before getting back to work. She spends the day at the desk with me, so I like to get her out for a bit of fresh air during the day.

1.00 pm: Lunch every day is at 1pm sharp (much........

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