A Week In Bayside, Melbourne, As A Strategy Director On $185,000
Welcome to Money Diaries, where we tackle the ever-present taboo that is money. We ask real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we track every last dollar.
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Today, a strategy director goes bowling with her daughter, plays pickleball and treats herself to some champagne.
Occupation: Strategy Director
Industry: Health
Age: 43
Location: Bayside, Melbourne (Bunurong, Kulin Nation)
Pronouns: She/Her
Salary: $185,000 (works part-time, 4 days per week)
Net Worth: $2,170,000. $10,000 emergency savings, $5,000 in shares, $540,000 in superannuation, $15,000 car, $1,600,000 in property (equity $700,000). Separated, no shared finances
Debt: $909,000. $9,000 owing on student loan, $900,000 mortgage
Paycheque Amount (Fortnightly): $5,900
Industry: Health
Age: 43
Location: Bayside, Melbourne (Bunurong, Kulin Nation)
Pronouns: She/Her
Salary: $185,000 (works part-time, 4 days per week)
Net Worth: $2,170,000. $10,000 emergency savings, $5,000 in shares, $540,000 in superannuation, $15,000 car, $1,600,000 in property (equity $700,000). Separated, no shared finances
Debt: $909,000. $9,000 owing on student loan, $900,000 mortgage
Paycheque Amount (Fortnightly): $5,900
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Monthly Expenses
Mortgage: $5,540
Rates: $250
House and contents insurance: $140
Car insurance: $118
Gas and electricity: $160
Water: $90
Internet: $103
Newspaper subscription: $43
Charity donations: $80
TV subscriptions: $12
iCloud and Spotify: $20
Health insurance for my child and I: $190
Mobile phone: $55
House cleaning: $150
Gym membership: $54
Food shopping: $480
Car expenses: $116.66
Toilet paper, tissues and paper towel subscription: $25
Child's school uniform and materials: $66.67
Professional associations: $10
Hair, nails and skin treatments: $300
Child's activities and holiday programs: $216.67
Savings contributions: $1,000
Rates: $250
House and contents insurance: $140
Car insurance: $118
Gas and electricity: $160
Water: $90
Internet: $103
Newspaper subscription: $43
Charity donations: $80
TV subscriptions: $12
iCloud and Spotify: $20
Health insurance for my child and I: $190
Mobile phone: $55
House cleaning: $150
Gym membership: $54
Food shopping: $480
Car expenses: $116.66
Toilet paper, tissues and paper towel subscription: $25
Child's school uniform and materials: $66.67
Professional associations: $10
Hair, nails and skin treatments: $300
Child's activities and holiday programs: $216.67
Savings contributions: $1,000
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, I have multiple undergraduate qualifications that I paid for many years ago through HECS. I am currently undertaking postgraduate study and I have paid some of this upfront and am also incurring FEE-HELP debt.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
My parents divorced when I was young and money was a source of major conflict between them. It was also a source of conflict in their subsequent marriages with new partners. I am fortunate in that they had consistent incomes, were knowledgeable about budgeting and investing and shared tips with my sibling and I from an early age. They did this through newspaper clippings, books and discussions. I was privileged to be in a family that was upper-middle class.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I worked at the local supermarket with many of my friends throughout secondary school to fund going out and buying clothes, as well as my first car. My parents gave me very little pocket money or spending money (compared to peers), so this income was very fortunate and useful!
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Did you worry about money growing up?
I’m grateful to have grown up with access to stable housing, education, healthcare, and opportunities many children go without. At the same time, money was used as a form of control in my family, and support wasn’t shared in the way it often is in other affluent households. I left home at 18 to create distance from a challenging emotional environment and supported myself entirely through the first four years of university such as covering rent, food, books, and other essentials. It was a difficult period, both financially and psychologically, but I stayed focused, knowing that studying and working part-time could lead to a better future.
Do you worry about money now?
Yes, the cost of living in Melbourne is high relative to income, and taking on full responsibility for a mortgage and household bills previously shared with a partner has increased financial pressure. That said, maintaining a stable home for my child remains a top priority for her well-being. I’m also preparing for a significant career transition. Once I complete postgraduate study, I’ll be moving from a high-earning profession into a lower-paid, early-stage role, which may mean selling my home and downsizing to ensure my living costs remain sustainable.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
18. I could sell my house if required.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
I have received passive income from my self-funded shares and HISA accounts in the past; however, I now have limited money in these, as I needed to use it to buy out my ex-partner, as I decided to take on sole ownership of the house. My parents' assets may be shared with me in an inheritance, but this may not occur.
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Day 1
5.30am – I wake up naturally on Saturday. I’m one of those people who the minute I am awake I am at 100% energy. My daughter is the same. I have never used a snooze feature on an alarm, and can’t recall the last time I used an alarm to be honest. Read The Age and New York Times on my mobile. Pay my mobile bill (captured in monthly expenses already). Book online for dog grooming for $105 for 1pm. $105
7am – Get out of bed, brush teeth and shower before walking to the gym.
9.15 – Get home from gym, shower, have a coffee from my home machine, cereal, yoghurt and fruit (paid in monthly expenses) and into the study for my online exam and working on an assignment. Candle and quiet music on and I get stuck into uni until breaking to make lunch.
12.30pm – Make wrap with veggie filling options (paid in monthly expenses). Drive to groomer to drop dog off.
1pm – 30 min nap for me. Drink a large glass of warm water with lemon. Handful of almonds (paid in monthly expenses). Shower, get dressed, do makeup. Clean house.
3pm – Drive to meet co-parent, pick up daughter and pick up dog from groomer and drop him home.
3.30pm – Catch tram to city to go bowling with friends (Myki transport tickets $16). Drink a spicy margarita (paid for by a friend) and perform very poorly at bowling ($36), but the kids love it, as well as a few of the parents who are ultra competitive. Go to a Chinese restaurant close by and have an early dinner with friends and kids in a private room with a lazy Susan (massive hit with the kids, but rice everywhere). Pay for my share of drinks and food for my daughter and I ($70). Stop at an ice cream shop and get my daughter a scoop and a cone ($7). Catch tram home (Myki ticket already paid). $129
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7pm – Watch Puss In Boots movie on the couch with my daughter. 20 mins Reading Eggs on the ipad with my daughter. Put paper out on my daughter’s desk in her room so she can craft if she wakes up early tomorrow.
8pm – Bed routine with my daughter of bath, teeth, kiss, cuddles and chats about what she is most proud of that day and any worries she has. Read a book and lights out. Let the dog out in the yard. Drink a camomile tea. Reading the boy who was raised as a dog on my kindle. It’s an upsetting read yet insightful. Melatonin and sleep at 10.30pm.
Daily Total: $234
Day 2
6.30am – Naturally wake up and let dog out in yard. Quick flick through Facebook, Instagram and New York Times online. See my daughter's light on at 6.45am and hear busy crafting underway. Pop in to her room once it’s 7am and let her know it’s morning and marvel at her creations. She gets in my bed with an iPad and watches ABC kids. I make pancakes (paid for in monthly expenses). Back to bed with her and we both eat them!
8.30am – I have a glass of warm water and lemon, followed by a coffee from the home machine. Bath for my daughter, shower and make up for me. 20 mins Reading Eggs on the iPad with my daughter. I take the dog for a walk around the block and have a fruit strap snack (paid for in monthly expenses).
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12.30pm – Prepare and eat lunch at the dining table of olives, pesto pasta with tomatoes and mozzarella, fruit and water (paid for in monthly expenses).
1.30pm – Food prep for the week while my daughter naps. Breakfast overnight oats with chia seeds, yogurt, goji berries, cinnamon, maple syrup. Roast sweet potatoes for salads. Roast chicken peas with paprika for salads. Roast pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds for salads (paid for in monthly expenses). I take a 30 min nap.
3.30pm – Drive with daughter to meet a friend with her son at a pub with a fire. A great weekly conversation with my bestie fills my cup. Order vodka lime and soda for me, bowl of chips and lemonade for my daughter ($30). We stop off at the supermarket on way home and buy a few essentials ($90) including dog food, oats, porridge, salad mix, loaf of bread, milk, yogurt, chickpeas, ham, juice, tonic water, mozzarella, and parmesan. Eat a protein bar. Also, I buy a tuna and cucumber sushi roll for my daughter, as there is no getting through a shop with a kid without some kind of purchase for them. $120
6:30pm – iPad time for my daughter, bath time and reading a Kindle for me. Research school holiday programs and message a few of my daughter’s friends' mums to coordinate dates and activities.
7.30pm – Eat a bag of microwave popcorn with my daughter. She also eats a yogurt pouch and a pear. Word Search time with my daughter, then bed routine at 8.00pm.
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8.30pm – Watch an episode of Australian Story on iView. Make a banana smoothie (paid for in monthly expenses). Read a hard copy of the book The Work by Bri Lee ($27). Drink a lemon and ginger tea, a few almonds and an apple. Melatonin and sleep at 10pm. $27
Daily Total: $147
Day 3
6am – Naturally wake up on Monday. I stay in bed awake reading online news and reply to messages from friends overseas (where there’s a time difference, so messaging this early isn’t weird). See my daughter pop out of her room for the toilet at 6.30am. Wait until 7am and then go in and say good morning. It’s a public holiday – yay!
7.15am – Let dog out in yard. Porridge breakfast with my daughter at kitchen island discussing the day ahead. Glass of warm water with lemon. Have a shower and get dressed.
8.30am – A walk around the block with my dog and daughter. We stop at our favourite spot (sitting on a neighbour's low brick fence) to have a snack and chat. Popular topics include bugs, unicorns, dogs and cats, driven by my daughter’s curiosities of course.
9.30am – I cut up some sliced watermelon to bring to a play date. Stop at bakery to buy a bag of Vegemite scrolls for play date ($12). Drive to a friends new house with my daughter. Kids play, parents chat. $12
12pm – We drive home. Have a lounge room dance off to the same five songs, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Amy Shark feature heavily. Lunch is prepared by me in parallel, consisting of avocado, cheese and egg toasties. My daughter has a “sometimes food” of a choc chip cookie to follow (paid in monthly expenses). I take a 30 min nap, before changing towels, bath mats, hand towels and cleaning the bathrooms.
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4pm – We drive to Holly Molly at Chadstone shopping centre to meet friends for a play date ($55). Young kids attempting to swing a stick and hit balls is very entertaining. A glass of champagne for me and lemonade and potato on a stick for daughter ($28). Daughter snacks on seaweed and muesli bar in car on way home (paid in monthly expenses). $83
6.30pm – Drive home, make dinner of veggie risotto (paid in monthly expenses). Lay out school and work clothes ready for tomorrow.
8pm – Bedtime routine with daughter. Into the study to work on uni assessment.
10pm – I take my vitamins and melatonin before going to sleep.
Daily Total: $95
Day 4
6am – Wake up naturally on Tuesday and read online. Daughter is getting busy in her room crafting at 6.30am. Pop into her room at 7am and she shows me the beautiful card she has made for me!
7am – A breakfast of overnight oats with fruit and coffee for me and cereal for my daughter at the kitchen island. Turn on laptop and check emails, respond to urgent items. Make daughter's snack box, brain food and lunch box (paid for in monthly expenses). Shower, make up and get dressed.
8.20am – Leave the house to walk to school. Good chats with my daughter running through a new song she’s created, because apparently, she’s going to be a singer when she grows up.
9am – Walk home and work from study. Respond to emails. Review a strategy document and capture feedback. Seek feedback from a few executives, and set up a meeting to discuss and consolidate feedback for next week. Green tea and snack of carrot sticks, cucumber, blue cheese, crackers (paid in monthly expenses). Draft an external consultancy brief.
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12.30pm – Use food prepped items for lunch. Calls with colleagues, virtual meeting with a technology vendor and emails for afternoon. Let dog out to yard. Call with CEO. Weekly WIP with my team.
5.30pm – My mum drops my daughter off at my house after having picked her up from school at 3.30pm. The lyrics from this morning's song seem forgotten when I ask. Rice cracker snack eating seems to be the priority focus.
6pm – Glass of gin, soda and lime. Prepare dinner of noodles and veggies with peanut-based sauce (paid in monthly expenses). Dinner with daughter at the dining table.
7pm – Walk dog around the block in the dark with my daughter and a torch. Makes picking up dog poo in autumn leaves a real challenge.
7.30pm – Reading Eggs with my daughter. Bed routine at 8.00pm.
8.00pm – Camomile tea, wash face, moisturise. Read on Kindle and message friends organising social life until lights out at 10pm.
Daily Total: $0
Day 5
6am – Wake up on Wednesday, naturally of course! Read online newspapers. Check school app. Register for upcoming parent and teacher conversations. Review uni grade and lecturer feedback on latest assignment.
7am – Breakfast at kitchen island with my daughter. Overnight oats, fruit and yoghurt for me. Weetbix bites for my daughter. Telling jokes from my daughter’s joke book brings a jovial start to the day. Anything with farts or poo results in her being in hysterics. Warm water and lemon drink and coffee. Make my daughter’s snack, brain food and lunch ready for school. Shower and get us dressed.
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8am – Check work emails and meetings for the day. Update the online team Kanban.
8.40am – School drop off. Put petrol ($60) in the car. $60
9am – Resume work at home in the study. Review document and provide feedback. Make video calls to stakeholder manage.
11am – Green tea, mini banana cupcake at desk. Continue working.
1pm – Egg and avocado sandwich with Kewpie mayo for lunch at desk. Continue working. Video call with external consultancy to answer clarifying questions. Call with a team member so they can sounding board their approach to a project.
5pm – Prepare baked potato dinner with veggies. Daughter is now with co-parent for next few days as we share 50/50.
6pm – Online lecture for uni. Buy an acupuncture voucher online ($120) for friends birthday. $120
8.30pm – Camomile tea, continue reading The Work novel.
10.30pm – Ear plugs, sleeping pill, lights out.
Daily Total: $180
Day 6
6am – Wake up on Thursday. The usual online reading and personal admin tasks. Plan what to cook for dinner that night.
7am – Warm water and lemon drink and coffee. I have some cereal, yogurt and fruit.
8am – I walk to train station and catch train to city ($11). Walk to office. Listen to a podcast on the way. $11
8.45am – Log in at office. Spend time connecting with colleagues.
10.30am – Have coffee downstairs ($5.50) with a peer to soundboard challenges and solutions. Have face to face and virtual meetings. Salad lunch with colleagues in food court ($16). More face to face and virtual meetings. $21.50
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6pm – Walk to station, catch train home.
6.45pm – Prepare family dinner with brother who has come over. Baked barramundi, pearl couscous and veggie salad, blue cheese, peas and broccoli risotto (paid for in monthly expenses). Gin and tonics! Brother has brought ice-cream from from Bianco Latte.
8.30pm – Camomile tea, wash face, moisturise. Read on Kindle and respond to my Mother's endless stream of messages and photos of her holiday in Europe. Lights out at 10.30pm.
Daily Total: $32.50
Day 7
6am – Natural wake up on Friday. Clean house, shower and walk to gym.
8am – Get home from gym and shower. Breakfast of cloudy apple juice, oat latte and overnight oats with fruit and yogurt. Glass of warm water with lemon.
9am – I start up my laptop for a study day. I work four days a week, study on the non-work day and on weekends and evenings. This is the last week for this study unit so the pressure is on. I have an assignment due in 2 days. I’m pretty resilient under pressure and know I can be disciplined and get it done, having done it many times before, so that keeps me motivated. I do struggle with sitting still however, so regularly get up for short bursts and do other tasks e.g. make a tea, walk dog, put away dishes.
11am – Mandarin and tea at my desk. B12 spray. Study, study, study.
12pm – Egg, beetroot, grated carrot, cheese, baby spinach, Kewpie mayo and avocado toastie on whole meal bread for lunch. Take iron and vitamins, I do this everyday just forgot to mention it!
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1pm – Drive to do fortnightly shopping at fruit and veg shop, Coles, Bottle Shop, fish shop and bakery.
2.30pm – Online supervisor session. Study, study, study!
6.00pm – Drive to pickleball and play ($25). $25
7.30pm – Drive home and hot shower as frozen! Warm up food prepped from the fridge.
8.30pm – More study.
10.30pm – Skin care routine, sleeping tablet and sleep.
Daily Total: $25
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