A Week In Manly, Sydney As A Registered Nurse On $101,000

Occupation: Registered Nurse
Industry: Healthcare
Age: 32
Location: Manly, Sydney
Pronouns: She/Her
Salary: $100,952
Net Worth: $2,500 in savings, $162,360 in super
Debt:  $2,850 on a credit card
Paycheque Amount (Fortnightly): $3,056

Rent: $1,960 per month
Loan Payments: I pay off what I can from my credit card throughout the month, but I don't have a structured repayment plan.
Car Insurance: $115
Health Insurance: $120
Mobile and WiFi: $125
Gym: $60
Electricity: $65

Yes, I studied a Bachelors, completed a Post Grad Cert and put both of these on HECS. I also studied a few short courses, and paid these off outright.

We had a Dollarmites account as kids, and were sometimes given money for our birthdays or Christmas, and our parents would tell us to save it, but it wasn't something they discussed with us in detail. My father was sensible with money and quietly handled the budget, whereas my mother is quite spontaneous and didn't have a lot of financial foresight. I learned the basics: get a job, save for a car, buy a car, but ultimately, I feel like I grew up with a very limited knowledge of personal finances and absolutely no idea about things like investing.

I was a check-out girl at the local shops to save money for a car once I got my license.

No.

Yes!

I moved out of home after uni, and made some poor financial decisions in my 20s. I do feel very thankful to know that if I do need a safety net, my parents would be able to help in small amounts — but I would never ever ever feel right asking.

No.

I stayed at a girlfriend's house for an event last night, we woke up feeling relatively fresh.

9am – We walked down to grab breakfast ($36) and a coffee (chive scrambled eggs, bacon, avo, long black) and added on a cookie for us to take away. We split the cost. $36

10am – We went for a walk along the beach and a gossip before going our separate ways. I drove home, had tolls ($10) taken via auto top up. $10

1:40pm – I get a little burst of motivation and start to clean my flat, pop some laundry on, meal plan for the rest of the week. I'm trying to use up my groceries before I need to replenish, so the plan looks a bit sparse. $0

2pm – Lunchtime! I toast some sourdough and top it with avo and a tin of smoked mackerel.
I follow this up with a Sunday afternoon nap. $0

4:50pm – I'm woken up by a text from a friend. She's in the neighbourhood and wants to catch up, so we go for a quick dip at the beach. It's cold and a bit grey so we don't last long. She comes back to mine for a shower and a dry off, and decides to stay for dinner. $0

6:45pm – We share dinner at home, red curry fish fillets (from the freezer, incredible quick dinner choice, highly recommend), rice and zucchini. After we've eaten and cleaned, my friend heads off and I shower and wind down before my 9.30pm bedtime. I'm an old lady. $0

Daily Total: $46

5am – My alarm goes off and I want to cry, as always. I work early mornings and get home late, it really takes the joy out of weekdays. I get up, brush my teeth, brush my hair, get dressed and make my bed. I pack my lunch and leave for work. $0

7am – My work day starts, and the first hour or so is always the busiest. I take my time setting up for the day, and getting myself organised. $0

9:30am – Hallelujah, breakfast. I buy a coffee ($5) and eat food I brought from home: yoghurt, blueberries, and ABC butter. I read a little bit of my book in the lunch room, The Dutch House. It's decent, and I'm getting through it, but it hasn't got me fully hooked for some reason. $5

1pm – I've worked through the morning and have returned for lunch. I have some leftovers, but I haven't been very hungry lately. I have sliced steak and charred corn with feta, but I eat it all cold because I don't want to wait for the microwave to be free. Then it's back to slave away for the afternoon. $0

6pm – I'm finished, I'm dressed, I'm out the door. I sit in traffic in my car for 45 minutes before I make it to the grocery shop to get supplies ($27). I buy beef mince, some veggies, cheese and more berries for tomorrow. $27

6:55pm – I walk in the door, immediately shower, and then I put some Perfect Match on TV while I make dinner: savoury mince, a side of sourdough and a light (heavy) grating of pecorino on top. Yum. $0

8:30pm – I have a Tim-tam, doom scroll and head to bed. $0

Daily Total: $32

5am – Here we are again!

7am – I start work, make a few phone calls and arrange my schedule for the day. I work largely from a desk, and my posture has been terrible so I try to do my stretches in between calls. I sneak away to buy a coffee ($5) when I can. $5

9:30am – Breakfast! Yoghurt and berries again, I'm a creature of habit at work. $0

11:15am – My car insurance has come out (included in the monthly expenses above). It's so stupidly expensive, but there's no way around it, short of selling my car. With the public transport options on the north shore, that's not an option for me right now, so I persevere. $0

1pm – I have leftover savoury mince for lunch, and use some cheese from home and bread from the staff room to make it into a toastie. $0

6pm – I'm out the door! I stop for fuel ($30) on the way home. $30

7pm – I'm home, I'm showered, I'm too tired to leave the house, and I'm bored. A lot of my friends have moved away recently, or are married with babies, so I'm on my own a lot of the time. I flick through a dating app or two but nothing really grabs me you know? $0

9pm – I read another chapter of my book in bed. Told you, old lady. $0

Daily Total: $35

9am – This is my coveted weekly day off and I honour it with a long sleep in. I wake up naturally, no alarm, bliss. I have a few appointments today, so I get up and get ready. Around 9:40, I make breakfast: a bowl of cereal from the back of the pantry and milk. $0

10:30am – I have an appt for underarm botox. I get this done quarterly. It hurts like crazy of course so I buy some numbing cream beforehand ($14). The bill is sent to me in the mail usually a month later, and as it's bulk billed it's quite cheap so I don't count it in my total for today. . The bill is sent to me in the mail usually a month later, and as it's bulk billed it's quite cheap so I don't count it in my total for today. $14

11:30am – I drive a few suburbs over for a skin check. I ask a few questions about anti-aging treatments (I'm in my 30s, people) and pay a very painful, very steep $350, with $85 refunded on Medicare. Paying this amount of money for an appt physically hurts me but melanoma hurts more so please book your skin check in! To cheer myself up, I drive home and walk to the beach. I'm not close by but it's a few kilometres, so I count it as exercise. I have a swim, read some of my book and head home when it starts to feel too warm. $265

2pm – Lunch at home, yoghurt with berries and 3 eggs, scrambled with pecorino. I start to passively job hunt, until I get bored and online window shop. $0

4:30pm – I walk to the gym, do a quick work out and head home. $0

7pm – I have some leftovers for dinner (same as last night), before showering, stretching, watching TV and heading to bed around 9pm. $0

Daily Total: $279

5am – Another freaking workday. Wake up, roll my eyes, begin my day.

9:30am – I'm feeling cranky and irritable today, everyone is bothering me, and the air con is too cold. I buy myself a hash brown with my coffee ($8) and curse the day I was born. $8

11am – Juicy department drama, a fistfight has broken out between co-workers. They were quickly separated but it has livened up my day dramatically. I take an early lunch. $0

12pm – Tin of tuna, avocado, clix crackers from the back of my pantry. I'm still hungry so I buy a banana as well ($1). And then a chocolate bar ($3.50). $4.50

6pm – I spent my day trying to find out the reason for the commotion. I'm unsuccessful. I leave work and head right for the shops, and buy some pork belly and salad ingredients ($28). I'm charged for YouTube premium which I don't remember signing up for ($17). Once I get home, I make dinner. I marinate the pork belly in dark soy, ginger, garlic, honey, sweet chilli and air fry it until it's crispy. The salad is a quick green salad with avo, radish, pickled red onions, cucumber and marinated feta. $45

7:30pm – I eat dinner in front of Perfect Match. $0

Daily Total: $57.50

5am – Please don't make me do this again. I roll out of bed and pack some leftovers for lunch. I get dressed and head in to work. $0

9:30am – I have a piece of toast and vegemite from the staff room and buy a coffee ($5). During my work day, I find some downtime to catch up on emails and start a new project. I'm trying to stay busy as my job is fairly boring, so I try to do some QI projects where I can. $5

1:30pm – Lunch! I have leftover salad with a tin of mackerel, and make a hot tea from the staff room. $0

5:30pm – I leave a bit early today - I have a date tonight and I want to have time to get ready. I drive home, shower, wash my hair, realise I forgot to fake tan, praise the lord for instant tan and by 7pm I'm ready to go. $0

7pm – This is a Bumble date and I have low low expectations but I am so pleasantly surprised. We had dinner (share plates: prawns, burrata, steak frites) and a few drinks (negroni, rose) and he paid (fantastic). We chat the whole time, it's comfy and easy, and when the place closes at 11pm, he walks me home and asks me for a second date. I go to sleep trying to manifest this into my future. $0

Daily Total: $5

8:30am – Wake up on my day off, and immediately FaceTime my group chat for date updates. They are mostly married mothers so this is their entertainment for the week. $0

10am – I get out of bed and walk out to my lounge room. Something about it is pissing me off and I feel impulsive so before I can change my mind I get in my car and drive to Ikea. I buy a bookcase, a hot dog and a gooey chocolate cake to put in my freezer at home. ($140) I also pay for tolls ($20) via auto top up. $160

12pm – I get home, spend an hour swearing and assembling the bookcase. I don't secure it to the wall because I live in a rental and the walls are concrete, so I just pray it doesn't fall over and kill me one day. It does look much better. $0

3:00pm – I have an afternoon snack, a mango and some cheese slices, and text Last Night. He replies, we make loose plans for next week and I get on Pinterest and plan our wedding. $0

6:30pm – I make dinner, fish from the freezer and rice with some leftover cucumber, and eat a slice of the IKEA cake, which is heaven. $0

7:40pm – I do some stretches then have a long hot shower, before jumping into bed to read the rest of my book. $0

Daily Total: $160