Welcome to Money Diaries, where we ask real people how they spend and save their money during a seven-day period, tracking every last dollar. Anyone can write a Money Diary! Want to see yours here? Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n
Today: an assistant director in public service who makes $125,000 a year and spends some of her money this week on medicine, and records for a DJing gig.<\/p>\n
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On Money Diaries this week, a public servant who makes $125,000 a year and spends some of her money this week on records for a DJing gig.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Refinery29 Australia<\/cite><\/p>\n Occupation:<\/strong> Assistant Director. I also have a couple of side hustles in Depop, DJing, and writing. Rent: <\/strong>$2000. I rent by myself in the most beautiful old apartment in Braddon. It\u2019s close to the city, work, trendy eating spots and you can see the mountains from my balcony. As I initially relocated to Canberra temporarily, I was happy to spend a bit more to get something nice (it\u2019s twice the size of my old apartment in Sydney!) It has a cute study nook that\u2019s perfect for working from home, as well as a gym downstairs I can use for free. I\u2019m super happy here. I did a double bachelor\u2019s degree (communications and international studies) and paid for all of it on HECS\/HELP. I also took out two HELP loans (which were about $10,000) to study twice overseas. This is why my HELP is at a higher level \u2013 it\u2019s currently at $38,000 down from the original $44,000.<\/p>\n I was fortunate in that my dad started his career as an accountant and worked his way up to being a CFO of a small company. My brother was also a financial planner and my grandmother invested in property. They had very different views on money though, so I had a wide range of discussions and opinions about money to hear. I could always ask questions about tax or super. Then at about 12, my dad taught me how to trade on the ASX \u2013 although I didn\u2019t buy my own shares until I was 29. I feel very fortunate because I feel relatively financially literate and have a great base of people to ask questions when I need them.<\/p>\n McDonald\u2019s when I was 14 and 9 months old. I wanted a job so bad. I thought my friends who had one were so cool and I wanted to save money for myself \u2013 although my parents encouraged me not to rush and told me I\u2019d have the rest of my life to work!<\/p>\n No. My parents didn\u2019t buy a house until I was about 12, so we moved through rentals heaps growing up. So we weren\u2019t flush with money, but it was never an issue.<\/p>\n No. I am very comfortable and grateful for my situation.<\/p>\n Even from 15, I have always tried to pay my way, but realistically I wasn\u2019t truly financially responsible for myself until I was about 23, when I was working my first \u201cproper\u201d job and finishing uni. Throughout uni, Mum would give me a few hundred dollars a month to help with living out of home costs. I lived in a share house and still worked 20-hour weeks in bottle shops and did about 20 hours of uni, so the extra money really helped me live a little and cover costs.<\/p>\n I absolutely know if I ever needed it, I could ask my folks for money, or even my siblings, which is fantastic. But I don\u2019t need to and like the feeling of being responsible and mature.<\/p>\n I get some minor dividends on my investments that I reinvest. My interest is pretty good right now \u2013 I\u2019m getting about $110 a month.<\/p>\n 8:15am<\/strong> \u2013 I wake up in Sydney as I\u2019m here visiting my partner and I have the day off (it\u2019s a public holiday back in the ACT). I laze in bed and check my emails. I see I have a $20 voucher for the new MILKRUN app (bought out by Woolies) which they don\u2019t have back in the Bush Capital. My partner is working long hours at the moment and has no groceries and I want some for the week ahead. Oh, and as you\u2019ll come to learn about me, I love a bargain.<\/p>\n 8:47am<\/strong> \u2013 I buy us $33.10 worth of groceries ($13.10 after the voucher), including a bunch of vegies I can take home for the week and bacon for breakfast which we can cook with eggs and bread we bought at the farmer\u2019s market on the weekend. Full list: bacon, milk, two tins of tomatoes, spaghetti, spinach, zucchini, broccoli, capsicum, cauliflower, sweet potato and two mandarins. $13.10<\/strong><\/p>\n 10:00am<\/strong> \u2013 I head to my sister-in-law\u2019s place for a belated birthday massage (she\u2019s a massage therapist). We catch up bec ause it has been ages.<\/p>\n 11:30am<\/strong> \u2013 Afterwards, we head to the cafe around the corner and I buy her a tea and myself a coffee ($10.50). We talk about her plans for going to Dark Mofo. $10.50<\/strong><\/p>\n 12:35pm<\/strong> \u2013 I head to my favourite Sydney op-shop and have a poke around but don\u2019t end up buying anything. I head to the bookshop close by where I buy The Saturday Paper <\/em>($4.80). I head back to the boy\u2019s house and lie around in his loungeroom reading the paper while he works. We sadly don\u2019t get to hang out much as he has a huge workday. Then, before I know it, I have to head back to Canberra at 4:40pm. $4.80<\/strong><\/p>\n 6:00pm<\/strong> \u2013 I stop and buy an ice cream and snacks! It\u2019s unusual for me, but I\u2019ve been stuck in a traffic jam and I\u2019m grumpy. $10.50<\/strong><\/p>\n 7:55pm<\/strong> \u2013 I crawl into Canberra with five litres left in the tank. I fill up at my local before heading home. $73.46<\/strong><\/p>\n 8:20pm<\/strong> \u2013 At least I have leftover lamb curry! It\u2019s all I could think about while driving home. It\u2019s frozen so I reheat it and read the paper before getting an early night.<\/p>\n Daily Total: $101.86<\/strong><\/p>\n 6:00am<\/strong> \u2013 Wake up to the alarm, have a shower, read The Guardian<\/em> and The New York Times <\/em>on my couch while drinking black coffee. Oh, how bohemian. Then I get ready for work.<\/p>\n 8:20am<\/strong> \u2013 Eat toast for breakfast before walking to work, On the way, I stop and get a soy flat white ($0 with a loyalty card, hooray for freebies!).<\/p>\n 12:37pm<\/strong> \u2013 Work away until lunch. I\u2019ve brought my own lunch from home (vegetable soup).<\/p>\n 2:09pm<\/strong> \u2013 Time for an arvo pick-me-up. My boss and I walk to the nice cafe around the corner and I buy us a coffee ($11). He\u2019ll get me back later \u2013 this is part of our weekly tradition. I catch up on the goss, and it\u2019s well worth it. $11<\/strong><\/p>\n 3:40pm<\/strong> \u2013 Leave work a bit early to head to the dentist for my post-wisdom teeth check-up. It\u2019s been two weeks since the operation and it\u2019s flared up a bit these last few days. He says it\u2019s not healing great, so I walk out with a huge script to fill.<\/p>\n 5:02pm<\/strong> \u2013 Fill the script, which includes two types of antibiotics, a probiotic and Panadeine Forte. Eep. $91.10<\/strong><\/p>\n 5:48pm<\/strong> \u2013 Head home and heat up some batch leftovers from the freezer (bolognese) and watch MasterChef<\/em>. Then I take all of my new prescription drugs, read and go to bed at about 10pm.<\/p>\n Daily Total: $102.10<\/strong><\/p>\n 6:10am<\/strong> \u2013 Let my alarm go off for ten minutes before eventually pulling myself out of bed and into the shower. I scroll through the news while I make myself a black coffee and get dressed.<\/p>\n 8:41am<\/strong> \u2013 Eat toast for breakfast before getting the tram to work ($3.22, prepaid). As usual, I stop and get a soy flat white ($5.30). $5.30<\/strong><\/p>\n 10:52am<\/strong> \u2013 I\u2019m feeling a bit queasy from all the antibiotics, so I feel like I need to eat more food. I head downstairs to the cafe in my building and buy a piece of banana bread ($7). Luckily, the feeling subsides after eating, and I get back to work. $7<\/strong><\/p>\n 1:42pm<\/strong> \u2013 Brought my own lunch from home. It\u2019s soup \u2026 again! I\u2019m working my way through all my frozen batch meals. I eat it at my desk because I\u2019ve got a busy day of meetings.<\/p>\n 4:59pm<\/strong> \u2013 Having left the office a little early, I stop at the convenience store to buy some oat milk ($3.73) so I can make porridge for breakfast. It\u2019s been getting really cold in Canberra, and this is such a nice way to start the morning. $3.73<\/strong><\/p>\n 5:04pm<\/strong> \u2013 I walk to the tram stop and top up my card with $20 before tapping on and going three stops to head home ($3.22, prepaid). $20<\/strong><\/p>\n 5:48pm<\/strong> \u2013 I heat up some more batch leftovers from the freezer (bolognese again) and watch MasterChef<\/em> before reading and going to bed. I\u2019m a bit of a routine creature and during the early part of my work week, I love my introverted nights. My work requires a lot of stakeholder engagement and negotiations, so I\u2019m pretty much a hermit during the week in order to recover. And cold Canberra is great for that too!<\/p>\n I am also a seller on Depop. This year, I expect to make $5000. Last financial year, I made $20,000 off the back of lockdown. But this year\u2019s been harder and I don\u2019t need the money as badly, so I\u2019m slowly trying to get rid of all my stock and get my time back. I get two notifications for sales \u2013 a bag (+$18.45) and a skirt (+$22.50). Rent also comes out today ($1000) and monthly payment for a time-management app I use ($30.82) \u2013 both covered under my monthly expenses.<\/p>\n Daily Total: $36.03<\/strong><\/p>\n 8:32am<\/strong> \u2013 I snooze my alarm from 6am. Eventually, I get up and into the shower.<\/p>\n 9:07am<\/strong> \u2013 I work from home on Thursdays and Fridays so I make coffee at home today (black). I also make some porridge with frozen raspberries for sweetness.<\/p>\n 12:33pm<\/strong> \u2013 During my lunch break, I pack my two Depop packages ready for drop off on Saturday. I also make a fried egg focaccia sandwich for lunch.<\/p>\n 5:16pm<\/strong> \u2013 After work, I go to the gym downstairs and do a weight workout. I listen to the latest Imperfects<\/em> podcast and take it easy because my face is still healing.<\/p>\n 6:55pm<\/strong> \u2013 I head to the shops. I go to BWS to buy an alcohol-free wine to drink at a friend\u2019s dinner tomorrow night ($15). I\u2019m still trying to find a good one and haven\u2019t had any luck. $15<\/strong><\/p>\n 7:12pm<\/strong> \u2013 Off to Woolies to buy groceries. Tomorrow night, I\u2019m making some Mexican tacos for a group of about eight. I also need to pick up some other things, including canned chipotle, two soy milk cartons, floor cleaner, olive oil, tomato relish, tortillas, pork sausages, beef mince, coriander, Turkish bread, and a mop. $59.91<\/strong><\/p>\n
Industry:<\/strong> Public Service
Age:<\/strong> 30
Location:<\/strong> Braddon, Canberra
Salary:<\/strong> $125,000
Net Worth:<\/strong> $79,340 ($20,000 in investments, $80,000 in super, and a car worth $20,000)
Debt:<\/strong> $2660 in credit card debt (but I\u2019ll pay this off this month) and $38,000 in HECS.
Paycheque Amount (Fortnightly):<\/strong> $2984
Pronouns:<\/strong> She\/Her<\/p>\nMonthly Expenses<\/h3>\n
Debt<\/strong>: My HECS repayments are automatically deducted from my pre-tax salary, which is about 8 per cent, or $183 a week. My credit card expense is a one-off (it\u2019s a brand-new card to get those Qantas Frequent Flyer points. I put my wisdom teeth surgery on it, which was $4000).
Fun Money & Groceries: <\/strong>$1290
Savings Contributions: <\/strong>$600 for short-term things like holidays, $605 into long-term savings, $420 into my \u201cmojo account\u201d, and $450 towards investments.
Internet: <\/strong>$69
Phone: <\/strong>$30
Donations: <\/strong>$40
Health Insurance Extras Only<\/strong>: $50
Health & Productivity Apps: <\/strong>$64
Gas: <\/strong>$30
Electricity: <\/strong>$70
Transport (petrol, taxis and parking):<\/strong> $160<\/p>\nDid you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?<\/h3>\n
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent\/guardian(s) educate you about finances?<\/h3>\n
What was your first job and why did you get it?<\/h3>\n
Did you worry about money growing up?<\/h3>\n
Do you worry about money now?<\/h3>\n
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself, and do you have a financial safety net?<\/h3>\n
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.<\/h3>\n
Day 1<\/h3>\n
Day 2<\/h3>\n
Day 3<\/h3>\n
Day 4<\/h3>\n