Money Diaries: A factory worker on €38K living in the west of the country

14 Dec 2025, 20:00 by The Journal reader, https://www.thejournal.ie/author/the-journal-reader/ · TheJournal.ie

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 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. 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 payroll specialist on €55K living in Leinster. This week, a factory worker on €38K living in the west of the country.

I am a 43-year-old widowed mother of five children living in the West of Ireland. I work in a pharmaceutical factory working shift work. I bought my house four years ago and while it needs many improvements, it’s home.

Occupation: Factory worker

Age: 43

Location: West of the country

Salary: €38,000

Monthly pay (net): €2,600 but €3,000 with overtime

Monthly expenses

Phone bills: €12.99 for three phones

Mortgage: €400

ESB: €100

Car Insurance: €41

Credit Union loan: €240

Car payment: €250

Food: €150 per week

Subscriptions: Netflix – €10

Pocket money/lunch money: €25

Home help: €150 per week

Diesel: €50

***

Monday

4.00 am: Alarm goes off. Ahhh… I’m working at 6am so I need to get up, sort some laundry, clean up the house and light my range so I can have hot water. I don’t have an electric shower, so my solid fuel stove heats my house and the water. I’m very fortunate to own a bog so my fuel costs to heat my house are very minimal, approx €5 per week.

4.45 am: Jump in the shower, make sure the alarms are still set for the teenagers to get up to walk to bus for school.

5.15 am: I leave after sticking the washing machine on and putting dinner in the slow cooker.

5.50 am: Arrive to work. I bring breakfast and a snack for later (we don’t have a canteen at work).

9.30 am: Check my bank account on my break. It’s three more days until payday and I’m really hoping nothing goes wrong as I have €23.

11.00 am: Work is busy but I love it. It offers me the flexibility I need for family commitments.

2.30 pm: Arrive home, relight the fire and tidy up before I go to collect my youngest from his bus. It’s only a 20-minute walk and he doesn’t mind, but it’s lashing.

5.00 pm: Dinner, homework and housework is done before I collect one of my other children from work. We live rurally and don’t have public transport and due to medical reasons, he can’t drive.

10.00 pm: Fall into bed. The 4am alarm will be here in no time.

Today’s total: €0.00 (not by choice)

Tuesday

4.00 am: The alarm sounds. I light the fire before doing a bit of tidying and getting in the shower. I would love a cappuccino, but my little coffee machine broke two months ago. The kids are buying me a new one for Christmas.

6.00 am: The work day begins. I do the usual checking of my bank account in case someone has dropped a spare couple of thousand into it. Alas, not today.

2.00 pm: Finish work, and Child 3 texts needing ingredients for cooking on Thursday. Please let them be ingredients I have at home, I say in my head. But no. I take a trip to Lidl (€12). €11 to go until payday.

4.00 pm: Home. Dinner is leftover lasagna from yesterday.

6.00 pm: I watch an episode of Stranger Things with the teenagers before I go for a walk. I’m feeling the financial struggle today. Everything is so expensive, but my children don’t need to see this, so I abandon the housework and have a 30-minute walk.

6.45 pm: Home and they have cleaned up and have taken something out of freezer for tomorrow’s dinner.

10.00 pm: Bedtime.

Today’s total: €11.00

Wednesday

4.00 am: I hear the dreaded sound of the alarm and it’s time to get up. The usual routine applies before I head to work for 6am.

2.00 pm: Once I’m finished, I travel for an hour to collect my dad. He has Alzheimer’s so I take him every second week. He loves being here and the kids love him being here. He’s their world.

4.00 pm: They have dinner made when I get home. It’s questionable what it is due to it being extra cremated, but I’m grateful to them. I’m so tired.

7.00 pm: My private home help calls over to get dad ready for bed. One of the older kids isn’t in college until 11am tomorrow so he will get Grandad up and sit with him until the home help arrives. His home help is an angel sent from above, but realistically I need to work extra hours this week to pay her. I just don’t have it, but I love my dad and his life is pure quality when he is here.

11.00 pm: I fall into bed for the fourth day without scrolling on my phone cos I’m knackered.

Today’s total: €0.00

Thursday

3.00 am: Alarm going off slightly earlier today because I’m in work for 4am. I need the money and work are so accommodating to the weeks I have home help in that I need to work extra hours. Breakfast is the usual porridge and coffee.

2.00 pm: I’m supposed to finish at this time, but home help texts to let me know she’s taking Dad for a drive and a stroll to beach. This means I can work an extra two hours.

4.30 pm: I get home. Dinner today is stew. Light the fire, have a shower, clean up, do the laundry, the usual. It’s also payday, which means it’s time to pay some bills:

Mortgage - €400
ESB - €25
Loan – €60
Shopping – this will be €80
Diesel – €50
Put €250 in all the baskets for Christmas presents for kids
Put €50 in my Revolut savings (which I know, come next Wednesday, will be gone)

I have €67 left until my next payday!

10.00 pm: I fall into bed once Dad gets settled in bed. The kids have chopped some wood from a tree that fell during one of the last storms we had, so I need to sort storage for this…

Friday

4.00 am: My alarm goes off, but I’m too tired to go in early, so I decide I’ll do my normal hours of 6am to 12.30pm.

12.30 pm: The morning flies and I see there is overtime for tomorrow, so I pop my name down before I head home to my real job.

2.00 pm: I make dinner before sitting down to watch a movie with Dad. He loves a good country and western.

3.00 pm: The kids start coming home. One arrives with flowers for me, another arrives with new PJs and the other with chocolates. They randomly surprise me every few weeks and I really do appreciate them so much.

5.00 pm: After dinner we sit down to watch a bit of telly before the evening routine kicks in. I’m in bed before 10pm tonight.

Today’s total: €0.00

Saturday

2.30 am: Alarm goes off. If I’m doing overtime, I need eight hours to keep my head above water and have some money for next week.

3.30 am: I arrive in work.

11.30 am: I finish. Home help has been there since 7am and she lets me know she’s taking Dad away for a few hours, so I text all the kids and suggest we do something. They decide on a trip to the cinema but they will pay for themselves.

1.30 pm: We stop on the way for treats and I smuggle them in. Along with the ticket, it comes to €22. We see Wicked: For Good, and I try not to remind the kids that I haven’t seen the first one.

5.00 pm: Dinner is homemade burgers and chips. Afterwards, we have a good clean of the house before the Christmas decorations go up tomorrow.

Today’s total: €22.00

Sunday

Finally a lie in…

2.30 am: Or not. Guess who forgot to turn off her alarm? I lie in bed and watch some Netflix before eventually dozing off.

7.00 am: I get up with dad and make breakfast for everyone, though they don’t surface until 9am.

10.00 am: Home help pops over and spends some time with dad. She’s like family to us now.

11.30 am: Dad decides he wants an ice cream so we go the shop for an ice cream and of course I have one (€9). This is a luxury for me, but my dad won’t be here forever and I just want him to be happy and safe.

1.00 pm: I’m not working until 2pm tomorrow, so I take the time to batch cook for next week.

3.00 pm: After collecting my food shopping, I do click and collect to save time and to mind my budget. The children who are working put their rent in. Between the three of them, it’s €120. They don’t work full-time but they are very clever with their money. I automatically transfer this money to my car finance.

11.00 pm: I live dangerously and stay up until 11pm before heading to bed.

Today’s total: €9.00

Weekly subtotal: €657.00

***

What I learned -

I know my life seems really depressing, but I have a home filled with love, memories and kindness. I do struggle financially a lot, but we make it work and don’t go without. I could be in a better-paying job but I love my job and have no stress there and can leave at a moment’s notice and it’s not an issue. My dad won’t be with us forever and he adores the simple things with us. Money won’t give us our memories.
I know I need to make more time for myself and need to stop being so hard on myself. I have had to work my socks off to get to where I am with our own home with a low mortgage. We rented for years before my husband died and didn’t have much life insurance, so I value time with my loved ones over money.
Things will get better when I get my loans paid off, but for now, I’m focusing on the positives.

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