A Week In Braddon, Canberra, As An Assistant Director On $125,000

Occupation: Assistant Director. I also have a couple of side hustles in Depop, DJing, and writing.
Industry: Public Service
Age: 30
Location: Braddon, Canberra
Salary: $125,000
Net Worth: $79,340 ($20,000 in investments, $80,000 in super, and a car worth $20,000 car)
Debt: $2,660 in credit card debt (but I'll pay this off this month) and $38,000 in HECS.
Paycheque Amount (Fortnightly): $2,984
Pronouns: She/Her

Rent: $2,000. I rent by myself in the most beautiful old apartment in Braddon. It's 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's twice the size of my old apartment in Sydney!). It has a cute study nook that's perfect for working from home, as well as a gym downstairs I can use for free. I'm super happy here.
Debt: My HECS repayments are automatically deducted from my pre-tax salary, which is about 8% or $183 a week. My credit card expense is a one-off (it's a brand new card to get those Qantas Frequent Flyer points. I put my wisdom teeth surgery on it, which was $4,000.).
Fun Money & Groceries: $1,290
Savings Contributions: $600 for short-term things like holidays, $605 into long-term savings, $420 into my mojo account, and $450 towards investments.
Internet: $69
Phone: $30
Donations: $40
Health Insurance Extras Only: $50
Health & Productivity Apps: $64
Gas: $30
Electricity: $70
Transport (Petrol, Taxis and Parking): $160

I did a double Bachelor's 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 — it's currently at $38,000 down from the original $44,000.

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 — although I didn't 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.

McDonald's 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 — although my parents encouraged me not to rush and told me I'd have the rest of my life to work!

No. My parents didn't buy a house until I was about 12 so we moved through rentals heaps growing up. So we weren't flush with money, but it was never an issue.

No. I was very comfortable and grateful for my situation.

Even from 15, I have always tried to pay my way, but realistically I wasn't truly financially responsible for myself until I was about 23, when I was working my first 'proper' 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 sharehouse and still worked 20-hour weeks in bottleshops and did about 20 hours of uni, so the extra money really helped me live a little and cover costs.

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't need to and like the feeling of being responsible and mature.

I get some minor dividends on my investments that I reinvest. My interest is pretty good right now — I'm getting about $110 a month.

8:15am — I wake up in Sydney as I'm here visiting my partner and I have the day off as it's 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't 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'll come to learn about me, I love a bargain.

8:47am — I buy us $33.10 worth of groceries ($13.10 after the voucher), including a bunch of veggies I can take home for the week and bacon for breakfast which we can cook with eggs and bread we bought at the farmer's 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

10:00am — I head to my sister-in-law's place for a belated birthday massage (she's a massage therapist). We catch up as it has been ages.

11:30am — 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

12:35pm — I head to my favourite Sydney op shop and have a poke around but don't end up buying anything. I head to the bookshop close by where I buy The Saturday Paper ($4.80). I head back to the boy's house and lie around in his loungeroom reading the paper while he works. We sadly don't 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

6:00pm — I stop and buy an ice cream and snacks! It's unusual for me, but I've been stuck in a traffic jam and I'm grumpy. $10.50

7:55pm — I crawl into Canberra with 5L left in the tank. I fill up at my local before heading home. $73.46

8:20pm — At least I have leftover lamb curry! It's all I could think about while driving home. It's frozen so I reheat it and read the paper before getting an early night.

6:00am — Wake up to the alarm, have a shower, read The Guardian and The New York Times on my couch while drinking black coffee. Oh, how bohemian. Then I get ready for work.

8:20am — 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!) .

12:37pm — Work away until lunch. I've brought my own lunch from home (vegetable soup).

2:09pm — 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'll get me back later — this is part of our weekly tradition. I catch up on the goss, and it's well worth it. $11

3:40pm — Leave work a bit early to head to the dentist for my post-wisdom teeth check-up. It's been two weeks since the operation and it's flared up a bit these last few days. He says it's not healing great, so I walk out with a huge script to fill.

5:02pm — Fill the script, which includes two antibiotics, a probiotic and Panadeine Forte. Eep. $91.10

5:48pm — Head home and heat up some batch leftovers from the freezer (bolognese) and watch Masterchef. Then I take all of my new prescription drugs, reading and going to bed at about 10pm.

6:10am — 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.

8:41am — Eat toast for breakfast before getting the tram to work ($3.22, pre-paid). As usual, I stop and get a soy flat white ($5.30). $5.30

10:52am — I'm 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

1:42pm — Brought my own lunch from home. It's soup... again! I'm working my way through all my frozen batch meals. I eat it at my desk because I've got a busy day of meetings.

4:59pm — 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's been getting really cold in Canberra, and this is such a nice way to start the morning. $3.73

5:04pm — 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, pre-paid). $20

5:48pm — I heat up some more batch leftovers from the freezer (bolognese again) and watch Masterchef before reading and going to bed. I'm 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'm pretty much a hermit during the week in order to recover. And cold Canberra is great for that too!

I am also a seller on Depop. This year, I expect to make $5,000. Last financial year, I made $20,000 off the back of lockdown. But this year's been harder and I don't need the money as bad, so I'm slowly trying to get rid of all my stock and get my time back. I get two notifications for sales — a bag (+$18.45) and a skirt (+$22.50). Rent also comes out today ($1,000) and monthly payment for a time management app I use ($30.82) — both covered under my monthly expenses.

8:32am — I snooze my alarm from 6am. Eventually, I get up and into the shower.

9:07am — I work from home Thursdays and Fridays so I make coffee at home today. Black. I also make some porridge with frozen raspberries for sweetness.

12:33pm — 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.

5:16pm — After work, I go to the gym downstairs and do a weight workout. I listen to the latest Imperfects podcast and take it easy because my face is still healing!

6:55pm — I head to the shops. I go to BWS to buy an alcohol-free wine to drink at a friend's dinner tomorrow night ($15). I'm still trying to find a good one and haven't had any luck. $15

7:12pm — Off to Woolies to buy groceries. Tomorrow night, I'm 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

7:35pm — Recently, I've been buying lots of end-of-day discount meats from Woolies and freezing them, which is absolutely not glamorous but as I mentioned earlier, I am a sucker for a bargain. So tonight, I pull out a piece of salmon and make a delish salmon filet with mashed potato and peas for dinner while— you guessed it — I watch Masterchef. From memory, it was about $3 for four filets. I pour a glass of that wine, and as expected, it's not great, but not terrible.

10:00pm — Sleep time!

8:47am — Today isn't starting off great and I accidentally turn my alarm off. The winter really is making me more sleepy.

9:16am — Another work-from-home day today. After a quick shower, I make a black coffee while starting up my computer. I put all the ingredients for Mexican beans in my slow cooker and turn it on. In between work, I also mop my floors and put on a few loads of washing.

1:23pm — During my lunch break, I go down to the gym for another workout. I'm mid-workout when the fire alarm in my building suddenly goes off. I go outside and walk around the building a few times until the firefighters come and let us know it's a false alarm, then I go back inside and finish my workout. Afterwards, I make an onion and sausage sandwich with tomato relish for lunch.

3:47pm — I am selling a bunch of stuff on Facebook Marketplace as I am going travelling soon, then relocating back to Sydney. I've sold some plant pots for $20, so a woman comes to pick them up. I also sell a jacket on Depop for $72.

5:49pm — I end up finishing work late today but manage to get everything done, which is a nice feeling. I get up and get ready for dinner, getting dressed and packing my bags.

6:48pm — As the alcohol-free wine was rubbish, I head to the local bottle-o and buy some alcohol-free beers and a can of alcohol-free prosecco to try. $20.98

6:59pm — I arrive at my friends' house and get busy heating up the tortillas and beans, trying my different beverages (the prosecco was weird, the beer is much better) and set the table. People roll in and we eat.

10:07pm — After a dessert of sticky date pudding, I head home as everyone slowly starts getting ready to go to the club. Normally, I'd be right there with them but as I'm still on those antibiotics, I need to be good. I go home and go to bed like a sweet, well-behaved angel.

10:23am — Ahhh, weekend. Even though I'm pretty well-stocked from my two shops this week, there is nothing I love more in the world than waking up early on a Saturday morning and going to the north Canberra farmer's markets. I make it a quick one today and buy three apples, two bunches of kale and a giant leek ($6). Even though I have veggies, these last ages as they're so fresh. $6

10.46am — I pop into my local newsagent to buy the paper ($4.80) and drop off my Depop packages for the courier. Then I head to the cafe next door for, you guessed it, a soy flat white ($5.50). $10.30

11:03am — I head home, put everything in the fridge and do a final cleanup of my house. The realtor is coming at 12pm because they are selling my place, so I make it look super clean (hence the moping yesterday). Then I duck out so they can do the showing.

12:44pm — I head around the corner to my favourite church op shop and buy a jacket, a pair of pants and a vest for $32. I'm planning on selling the vest on Depop. If op shopping was an Olympic sport, I'd be a gold medalist. I get a message from a guy who wants to buy my coffee table off Facebook Marketplace, so I head home. $32

3:30pm — The guy comes and picks up my coffee table, so I make $50. Otherwise, I have a bit of a migraine so I lie in bed most of the day watching TV and chilling out.

5:40pm — I make udon noodle soup and eat my antibiotics before going to sleep.

7:38am — Wake up early without an alarm this morning, so I make a coffee and some oatmeal. As I eat breakfast, I play some records. I DJ the occasional gig and I have one next week, so I mess around trying to figure out what to play. I play around with lots of dub and a bunch of old techno records I haven't played in ten years. I dance around my living room and go out on my balcony to water my plants. It is a perfect Sunday morning and I am beaming.

12:35pm — After a hectic few weeks, I feel like a treat. I head down to the mall (very unlike me). I go to a few makeup places and ask specialists to help me find a foundation as I haven't worn one in ten years. Instead of buying one, I get a sample from each shop to take home and try.

1:37pm — After looking at a few expensive clothes stores like Cos, I pop into the Red Cross and, instead of paying hundreds for new ones in store, pick up a brand new wool Cos skirt and a deadstock Cos jacket for $55.20.

2:38pm — I head to my mate's record shop to look for a few new records for my gig. I spend an hour going through the $5 to $8 dollar record bin, listening to a bunch of terrible house and electro records. After an hour or so, I find eight decent enough records. $42

3:09pm — I duck into Goodbyes which is a clothing consignment store where I sell clothes that aren't selling on Depop. It's the best for all kinds of slow and vintage fashion. I find a Pacsafe bag exactly like what I have been looking for online for my upcoming travels and buy it with store credit from my accumulated sales ($44). I have about $90 credit left and have probably made about $700 in the past six months.

3:33pm — Not that hungry, but I make some toast.

5:56pm — During the evening, I tidy up a bit, chill and get my life in order for the week ahead. Later that night, I make some sales on Depop — a belt and a book (+$40.95) and a dress (+$36). I make another udon noodle soup with veggies for dinner and watch Rake. After, I get into a show on ABC which is about muster dogs. I stay up until 11pm then head to bed.