Mamamia’s What My Salary Gets Me asks Australians to record a week in their financial lives. Kind of like a sex diary but with money. So not like a sex diary at all. We still find out the best kept secrets though. We discover what women are really spending their hard-earned cash on. Nothing is too outrageous or too sacred. This week, a 21-year-old uni student and full-time worker from Marsfield, NSW shares her story.
Age: 21
Job: University Student and Client Services Executive
Salary: $66,000 (inc Super)
Housing: Renting with flatmates.
Regular expenses (monthly):
Rent: $648
Phone: $70
Transport: $300 approx ($220 public transport, petrol varies)
Utilities: Included in rent
Stan: $17 (family log in) Dad covers Netflix and I pay Stan, it’s somewhat a trade.
Spotify: $5.99 – student discount
Debt: HECS – comes out of my pay – I feel it :(
Savings: $3.5k. My goal is to save for a big Europe trip like most my age but my dad thinks I should save for a house deposit. We will see.
Assets: Car
Coffee: This is a regular everyday purchase that I cannot ignore- $200 approx (writing this makes me feel guilty).
MM Confessions: The fashion items we’ve blown too much money on. Post continues after video.
Monday – Day One
On Mondays, I wake up a little bit earlier because I have to leave work earlier to get to my evening uni classes. I get a train at 7:50am.
Once I get to work I settle in and then at 10ish I get a large long black and some breaky which costs about $10
Then I grab rice paper rolls from the place down the road for lunch ($7.00) and go back to work because I need to leave early. I leave at 4pm to get to class and then get home at 7ish.
For dinner I just make a sandwich with bread, cheese and tomato… whatever is in my fridge. I don’t cook much. The train cost me $10.30 to and from work.
Daily Total: $27.30
Tuesday – Day Two
I get to work a little earlier than normal and settle in. At 10am, I grab a coffee which costs $3.50.
At lunch, I go for a walk. I find a bookstore and decided to look around and end up buying a new book for $45. I was meant to be trying to save, oops!
I’m on a roll now, so on the way back I grab an Acai bowl for $16.00. Once I get home I just make myself a salad with halloumi, I didn’t have to go to the shops because I bought the ingredients on the weekend. The train costs me $10.40.
Daily Total: $74.90
Wednesday – Day Three
I have uni again today so I get up earlier and arrive at work at 8.30am. On the way, I buy some blueberries for $2.50 and grab a juice from the cafe next to work, $7.
At lunch, I splurge a bit because I’m so hungry. I buy a mega cookie for $4 and a salad for $11. On the way back to the office I get an ice block, $3.20.
Lunch is brief and then I leave work at 4pm. I have a presentation at uni today so I grab some lollies on the way to the station to give out at the end, $10. I finish my presentation at 6pm and stop by the library for a coffee ($3.50) then go home. I drink coffee at night but I can still sleep. Train, as usual, $10.30.
Daily Total: $51.50
Thursday – Day Four
An Afterpay payment came out this morning. It was $27.80 :(
On the way to work, I grab a coffee and sandwich which costs $10. Then I get another coffee at 11am, $3.50. For lunch I get rice paper rolls $7.00 and go for a walk.
I grab a pack of gum on the way back to the office, $2.50. I get another coffee in the arvo (it was needed) $3.50.
I leave work and on the way back home I stop by Woolies and get stuff for dinner. I buy the ingredients for a pasta dish which costs me $18 (I snuck biscuits in). Train to and from work: $10.30.
Daily Total: $72.10
Friday – Day Five
I get to work and grab a coffee at 9.30am for $3.50. Then for lunch, I grab a salad and a cold brew at a cafe with a friend, $19.
I pay the rent today, which is $324.
For dinner, I just eat leftover pasta. I get ready to go out and get an Uber to the station $12. I meet my friends in the city and spent just over $100 on drinks… I got my boyfriend to pick me up from the city at 12.30am – free!
Daily Total: $439.50
Saturday – Day six
I sleep in and then my boyfriend and I drive to a cafe to get breaky, hangover food = $25 (we split the cost). Then I fill up on petrol on the way back $30, drop my boyfriend home and go to uni to do an assignment.
I get a coffee for $3.50 while I am there and print off some readings: $5.
For dinner, we get Thai food. My dish was $12.
Daily Total: $70.50
Sunday – Day seven
Me and my boyfriend go to the city to have a picnic. We spend around $40 on food and drinks, including lots of cheese.
For dinner, we just eat sandwiches – I already have the bread and fillings at home. I also make some quesadilla (tortilla, cheese and leftover pasta sauce).
Daily Total: $40
Weekly Total: $775.80
Reflection.
If I’m being honest, most weeks I have more splurges. I tend to go to the shops and buy clothes. I also eat out and go for drinks more than once a week. This week was quieter simply because I had a lot of assignments due. I do definitely think if I could cut down on the coffee I could save a lot of money, but it’s so hard – I always want morning coffee! I definitely recognise that I need to save more of my money but at the moment I struggle with that.
I think I need to find a better way to keep track of my spending but I am happy at the end of the day with what I buy.
Please note: The feature image used is a stock photo.
Mamamia’s What My Salary Gets Me series drops every Thursday. Want to share a week in the life of your bank account with us (anonymously of course, no judgement here)? Send us your Money Diary to submissions@mamamia.com.au
For more What My Salary Gets Me:
What My Salary Gets Me: A 29-year-old business analyst with a $100,000 salary.
What My Salary Gets Me: A 22-year-old disability worker who spends $1117.75 on pay day alone.
What My Salary Gets Me: A 29-year-old on $108,000 a year, with $455,000 in savings.
What My Salary Gets Me: The 36-year-old project manager who spent $3,795 in one week.
What My Salary Gets Me: A Sales Director on $120,000 a year, who refuses to cook.
What My Salary Gets Me: A 34-year-old on $21,400 a year, who has hardly any daily expenses.
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Top Comments
I'm mostly intrigued by the rental payments of only $150 per week with flatmates - that must be a lot of flatmates
That's a lot of money going on take away food. Teaching us how to cook was the best thing my parents ever did for me and my brothers. Go online, have a look on YouTube. Find Delia Smith's How To Cook series, she shows you all the basics. There are a million tutorials out there, all it takes is a little bit of time and patience. You can easily learn to make rice paper rolls at home, and the more you cook at home, the sooner you'll save money for that trip overseas!
Yeah - but she’s a 21 year old student. Yes, she could stay home and cook, but she wants to be out and about. I would blow most of my pay check at her age on eating out and drinks - and would dine out at least 4 nights a week and eat sandwiches or pasta the others.
Now I’ve got kids, a mortgage and I have to cook - it’s only a finite time of your life to live like this, I say go for it.
I'm not saying she can't have a life too. Even eating breakfast at home and making her own lunch would save her a fair bit.