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 26-year-old medical student from Richmond, Vic, shares her money diary.
Age: 26
Job: Medical student (final year), working part time as a netball umpire and in hospitality.
Overall Income: $30,477
Centrelink ‘Youth Allowance’: $11,477 a year
Part time work: $14,000 a year
Scholarships: This year I received $5000 from my university.
Housing: $610 a month – I have recently moved in with my partner who is a law graduate, which is nice because we are both very busy so I get to see more of him and our rent is cheaper. I live 3km from the hospital I’m based at and 2km from one of my jobs, so I also save money by walking a lot.
Assets: Car worth about $2000, it’s very old but does the job.
Designer Clothes: $10,000 (probably more… oops) I have a slight obsession with Gorman and like to treat myself to ‘investment pieces’ after exams and for birthdays etc.
Debt:
HECS: $64,125.85
Student Start Up Loans: $5,333.25
Regular expenses:
Apple music: $6 a month (student price).
Phone bill: $50 a month, I recently paid out my plan and swapped to a prepaid option.
Groceries: $100 a week, I share this with my partner and we have a Splitwise account to make it easy to keep track of our spending.
Amazon Prime Membership: $7 a month (I’ll cancel my subscription once I have finished watching House, though.)
Netflix and Stan: $0, I use other people’s accounts.
Fuel and Tolls: $30 a week.
Gym: $0, I go for runs outside and make up my own workouts in the park or on my bedroom floor.
Other expenses:
MCC Membership: $670 a year.
Car Rego and Insurance and Services: $1,500 a year.
Holidays and weekend activities: variable.
Wine: $200 a year. I buy it by the box when I get sent vouchers and discounts.
Watch: The optimal salary for happiness. Post continues after video.
Monday – Day one
I have the same breakfast everyday I have placement; an instant coffee and a smoothie. I prepare it the night before, blend it in the morning and drink it on the tram on the way to the hospital. I walk the 3km home because it’s cheaper and counts as exercise right? I buy a loaf of fresh sourdough ($7) and make avocado toast for my lunch. I play mixed netball that night ($10) and for dinner reheat soup leftover from the weekend. I transfer a friend $404 that I owe her for booking an Airbnb in Byron Bay for a trip at the end of the year.
Daily total- $421
Tuesday – Day two
Smoothie and instant coffee for breakfast and tram to the hospital. I take risotto from the freezer and have that for lunch. I always try to have a few frozen meals ready to go, I cook big batches of bolognese or curry or risotto on weekends. I top up my Myki card on the walk home ($30). I have dinner with two friends at a steak night, we all have the steak special and share a bottle of wine. We split it evenly so I transfer my friend ($31).
Daily total: $61
Wednesday – Day three
I have a breakfast function at my partner’s law firm, tickets are paid for by the firm. I pay for the Uber there ($17). I don’t go to hospital today and spend the afternoon running errands and studying. I go to the supermarket and do a big shop at Coles, including a HUGE jar of instant coffee because it’s on special and I get extra flybuys points if I spend $90 in one shop this week. I put the shop on our joint account so my portion is $48. That afternoon I do some meal prep and make enough chicken and pesto pasta to get us through the week. At night I work umpiring social netball and when I get home my partner has made salmon and vegetables for a late dinner.
Daily total: $65
Thursday – Day four
Smoothie, instant coffee and tram… again. For lunch I have the pesto chicken pasta. I get an email about graduation from uni and have to pay for tickets ($235). I have defrosted bolognese for dinner after umpiring netball.
Daily total: $235
Friday – Day five
Normal morning routine. After rounds my supervising doctor buys me a coffee. I also sell two textbooks online for $50. I have recently put a lot of clothes and things I don’t use any more on Gumtree and Ebay as a #sidehustle. Lunch is pesto and chicken pasta again. I work in a bar tonight, walk there and get picked up by my partner.
Daily total: $0
Saturday – Day six
For breakfast my partner and I have homemade smashed avocado (we think we make it better than any café). I go to Coles and get a roast chicken and bread rolls and other groceries ($38). I go to the MCG to watch the AFL, my membership gets me in. Usually I would have a beer or two but I don’t drink because I have to work after. I take a chicken roll for lunch, food at the football is not great and EXPENSIVE. I go from the footy to work. After work I walk home past the pub my partner is at and we walk home together via a kebab shop where I grab a halal snack pack for dinner ($15) because I didn’t get a chance to eat at work.
Daily total: $53
Sunday – Day seven
Another homemade smashed avo breakfast. I walk to work, have a roast chicken roll I brought from home for lunch and eat leftovers from service for dinner – a perk of hospitality. Walk home and end my weekend with a movie in bed.
Daily total: $0
Weekly total: $835
Reflection: I’ve been a ‘poor’ uni student living out of home for seven years now and keeping this spending diary made me realise how many ‘hacks’ I have picked up on saving. I skimp on some things so I can still have nice clothes and a good social life. I like buying things in bulk (especially wine) and I try to buy things when they are discounted. Meal prepping also saves me heaps. Upon reflection, I feel pride in myself realising how hard I work. The money I get from Centrelink for being a full-time student living away from home covers rent and basic living expenses, so other ‘optional’ expenses come out of my casual work. I find my budget each week is very different but so is my income.
This week was particularly expensive as I was stung with the graduation expense and I am making holiday bookings, but I also worked a lot. The good thing about casual work and having multiple jobs is I can pick up extra shifts when I want to buy something or pay for something. I don’t have a credit card, so if I want to do something fun or buy new clothes, I have to have the money in my account. I find working casually gives me a strong sense of the worth of every dollar I make and spend. I motivate myself to do a six hour shift in a bar after a full day of placement thinking ‘this shift will pay for for my flight to Queensland’ or ‘do I really need to buy that coffee, it’s 15 minutes of running up and down a netball court’.
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 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.
What My Salary Gets Me: A 54-year-old community worker who lives in public housing.
What My Salary Gets Me: A part-time physiotherapist who spent almost $2000 in a day.
Top Comments
The value of the clothing collection is not relevant to regular expenses and income. It sounds as though the author has accumulated this over time, when she can afford it, which is her choice.
since when is gorman considered designer lol