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 22-year-old disability worker from Young, NSW, shares her money diary.
Age: 22
Job: Disability worker
Salary: $38,000
Housing: Renting with my mother
Savings: $2000
Car: $5000
Household content: $5000
Regular expenses (monthly):
Rent – $600
Phone – $170
Fuel – $100
Anytime Fitness – $59
Utilities – $100
Internet – $60
Netflix – $15.99
Foxtel – $50
Spotify – $5.99
Consolidated loan: $260 repayment
Monday – Day one
I finish work at 6am after doing a sleepover so I drive home, shower and lie on the lounge binge-watching Netflix for the rest of the day. Mum shouts me a coffee from McDonald’s. I snack on food in the fridge during the day. I look at Sephora and Mecca online but talk myself out of buying anything. I love online shopping.
Mamamia staff confess what their debt is. Post continues after video.
Daily total – $0
Tuesday – Day two
Fortnightly pay day! Yes! I am a causal so my pay relies on how much I work. I worked quite a bit this fortnight so my pay is surprisingly good. I pay all my bills and expenses this week so next week is what I call “poor week”. Poor week includes eating 2 minute noodles and toasted cheese sandwiches, but I don’t have to worry about any bills or rent due. I enjoy travelling around so I am saving for my next trip in October. The first thing to come out of my account is my monthly gym membership ($59.00), which I should cancel because I don’t use. I started work at 6.30am and finished at 11.00am. After work, I fill my car up with premium fuel, ($41, joys of a small hatchback car). I go to the chemist and collect my monthly prescription ($6.50). Since the weather is getting nicer I’m getting out into the backyard more, so I duck into Big W to buy some garden tools and some half-price NapiSan. I also get cash out at the register to pay my dog groomer for clipping my dog’s nails ($51.50). I remember that I need some body wash and a new shower puff so I go into The Reject Shop. I also pick up a new lip balm there ($4.75). As I walk towards my car, the overwhelming smell of the bakery where I parked my car attracts me and I buy lunch and a coffee ($15.00).
I get home and pay my fortnightly rent ($300), car insurance ($26.00), half my phone bill ($85.00) and some Afterpay payments for Sephora purchases ($29.00). I transfer $500 to my savings account and plan to transfer more next week.
Top Comments
Why do people keep omitting food from their regular monthly expenses list?
What's going on with the comments at the moment? I commented on this article a few hours ago, my comment hasn't shown up, but another comment posted only 1 hour ago has?
That happens literally all the time. I've got a comment pending right now, yet two I posted after that one (and not very long after it either) have both gone up.