A Week In The Sunshine Coast, Queensland, As A Mum On A $69,400 Joint Income

Today: an administration officer and mum who makes $69,400 in a joint income and spends some of her money this week on TravaCalm travel sickness tablets for her morning sickness.

Occupation: Administration Officer / Mum
Industry: Aged Care
Age: 31
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Salary: $45,344 pro rata — I work two days a week.
Net Worth: $34,472 ($4,300 in savings, $37,800 in super. (Mothers often have far less in their super as they're out of full-time work a lot longer.) My husband and I also have a joint account that all our money goes in and out of. We've been married for two years, but together for 17.
Debt: $7,628 for a personal loan that was used to purchase a car in 2019.
My Paycheque Amount (Fortnightly): $872. I also earn an additional $120/week for a job I work about four hours each week for.
My Husband's Paycheque Amount: S. makes about $890 per week. He works remotely as a casual for $35/hour, and usually does 25-hour weeks.
Pronouns: She/Her

My husband, S., has recently been diagnosed with a major health issue. He's likely to be on medication for life and has regular GP and specialist hospital appointments. Before this, he was working full time and I was working two days a week, caring for C. the other days. He now works part-time, and I work the other two days in aged care, plus a couple of hours remotely for my old boss.

Rent: $0. We are in a unique (and lucky) situation at the moment as we're living in a home that my mother-in-law owns. My husband, child and I all live there. My husband had some extreme health issues at the end of 2020 (when our child was about 18 months old) and in early 2021, he was advised to take at least three months off work to allow himself the time to possibly get better and adjust to medications. His mother kindly offered a home to us, so we moved interstate. We have lived in the home for about 12 months now and I am hoping we can start renting a place of our own again soon. Prior to all of this, we were renting for around $500 per week.
Personal Loan: $240. This is slightly above the minimum repayments required.
Child Care: $178. We put C. into childcare two days each week, paying a gap of $23.25. Thank goodness for the Centrelink Childcare Payments as the full amount is $110 a day!
Swimming Lessons: $132
My Phone Bill: $55
Husband's Phone Credit: $30
Electricity: $100
Subscription Services: $0. We use my family's logins.
Gym: $40

No. After high school, I interned in the publishing industry, before getting a full-time job. I worked in various roles in the industry for about eight years before relocating and moving on. 

Growing up, my family was in the upper-middle class. My parents divorced and sold our home when I was in my early teens. My mother is not very good with money and I have since learnt of her struggles and addictions. My father is better with money, but is in a different stage of life now and doesn't work as much as he used to, preferring to spend time with family. There weren't many conversations around money when I was growing up as I got everything I wanted or needed. Money was not an issue for anyone in my family until I was much older and started working.

I was a waitress at a café. I got the job after doing a work placement for school and worked casually on weekends to earn extra spending money.

Not at all. But I definitely worried after turning 18. I started to understand how much things actually cost, especially living in Sydney. I was still able to ask for help from my dad from time to time, but paying rent and bills in a low-paying industry sure was (and still is) exxy! 

Yes. Our situation is very different now from what it was even two years ago when my husband and I were both working full time, paying rent and expenses. After our child was born, I stopped working for a couple of months. Covid hit a few months later which was actually a benefit for us in regards to the various parenting and Job Seeker payments I was able to obtain. 

We are in a great position in regards to having no housing expenses, having lots of time with our kid while they're young, and allowing my husband to get better. But our funds and savings have really taken a hit.

18 — I moved out of home and had my first full-time (and terrible paying) job. That being said, I was always able to ask my father for help with unexpected expenses.

We receive $171/fortnight from Centrelink as a parenting payment.

8:30am — After dropping my child, C., to daycare, I drive to work, stopping by the shops to pick up lunch. This is the first time I have bought lunch in months. I spend $32 on a juice, salad bowl and bag of sugar-free lollipops that we give to our child as a treat. $32

9:00am — I spend the rest of the day at work. I make numerous free teas in the breakroom and enjoy my overpriced, delicious lunch.

4:00pm — A cook from work gives me some food to take home! I'll probably have it for lunch tomorrow.

4:15pm — I collect C. from daycare and go home, where S. has started prepping our dinner — a HelloFresh meal from our delivery last week. I had an offer for 40% off the next two boxes — otherwise, I don't usually order from them.

5:00pm — We all eat together at 5pm, then it’s a bit of playtime, bathtime, books and laying with C. for an hour, trying to get her to sleep.

8:00pm — She eventually nods off and I treat myself to herbal tea and some chocolate before I get into bed to read a little bit. We go to bed verrry early in this household. 

2:00am — C. wakes me up two times tonight (midnight, and again at 2am). It's unusual for us, but she eventually goes back to sleep.

Daily Total: $32

5:15am — I hear C. stirring, but she goes back to sleep. Phew. I check our bank accounts and see some payments have come in, so I spend time moving things around to my ‘savings’ account. I use this term loosely as it's an account that we transfer a chunk of money into on paydays, but we inevitably move it into our normal account throughout the week whenever we need money. I see that next week's HelloFresh has been charged ($49.55). I go into my account to skip the following weeks that don’t have the discount price. I need to do it now because I'll forget otherwise! $49.95

6:00am — After putting C. off as long as possible, I admit defeat and head in to get her up. We all read some books together in bed, then get organised and make breakfast for C. We luckily have a great coffee machine at home, so I have that while getting ready for the day (I don't usually eat breakfast). I also squeeze in a general tidy-up, interspersed with calming C. down and playing with her. I check my account and see that our toilet paper subscription has come out — $44.

8:00am — I have a doctor's appointment this morning — C. will have to come with me. We hustle out the door quickly. I am in the early stages of pregnancy, so I'm having a quick check-up with my doctor. It ends up being bulk billed, which is a nice bonus. After the doctor, we go to the chemist for some basic vitamins — some TravaCalm travel sickness tablets and vitamin B6 supplements, as recommended by my GP ($19.49). Then I pick up some necessities at Woolworths, including milk, bread, green apples and Vita Brits ($26.43). Our last stop is Big W for a pair of bed socks for C. and I ($9.50). $55.42

11:00am — We head home to make lunch and wind down before a lovely midday sleep. I try to rest or sleep when C. is down. This is quite necessary when you have an early-bird child. S. continues to work from home during this time. He is working remotely for his previous employer which is great for us. A hard adjustment for us all having him home all the time though, that’s for sure! 

2:00pm — The afternoon is spent playing and reading (it's been raining nonstop!). We alternate between Lego, baby dolls, farm animals, felt boards, and playing chase. A new favourite is ‘doctors’ with a fake doctor kit. Because S. is home, he also plays and helps with C. quite a bit throughout the day. 

5:00pm — I have a quick phone call with my best friend to catch up. Then, we have dinner as a family. Since moving, S. has taken on a majority of the cooking duties as he initially wasn't working due to his illness. Before this, I was doing 80 — 90% of household-related work!

6:00pm — Bath and bedtime for C.

7:30pm — C. is down, so we unwind by watching How I Met Your Father (why is Hilary Duff so good?!). I, of course, have a herbal tea. I'm waiting for the pregnancy sickness to kick in as I had it really bad when I was pregnant with C., but I'm hoping it isn't as bad this time.

8:30am — I need to do some work for my second job this morning, so S. takes C. to swimming classes. I packed her bag last night, but we also pack a little lunchbox of snacks for her to eat in the car.

9:00am — After they leave, I get set up for work and jump in a Zoom meeting.

9:30am — S. buys more phone credit early this morning ($10), and goes to the bottle shop on the way home to get some beer ($45), both paid for on our joint account. He stopped drinking for 12+ months due to his health issue, but he was recently given the clearance to drink by his specialist. He doesn't have much though — maybe two drinks over the weekend. I'm not a huge drinker — before being pregnant, I only drank when we ate out or if we had visitors over. $55

11:00am — After lunch, it's the usual — playing, reading and relaxing before the midday nap. I am not feeling well, so I have a rest and nap too. I'd normally do more work today, but I'll have to do this later instead.

2:00pm — The sun is out this afternoon, so we take C. to a playground that's a 10-minute drive away. She has a lot of fun and it's nice to be outside and in the fresh air. We go to the pub on the way home for a drink — $19.70. 

3:00pm — We allow C. to watch TV for an hour so I can complete my work from earlier. Then it's time for dinner, bath and bed — the usual! Our evenings are basically always the same (parents of young kids know!) and follow a rough routine to ensure we're all in bed before 8pm.

6:45pm — We take turns putting C. to sleep each night. This can take anywhere between 30 minutes to 1.5 hours. Tonight, it's my turn. After an hour, I finally succeed. I leave her room and make my evening cup of tea. I head to bed and deal with a couple more wakeups throughout the night. I don't know how we're going to do this with another one on the way...

Daily Total: $74.70

6:00am — I check our account and see that our Woolworths unlimited monthly delivery fee has been charged ($15). I signed up when it was free in December and have kept it going as we usually have one or two home deliveries a week (mainly due to how much milk my husband and daughter go through!). I also find it really convenient not to have to waste my days off with C. at the supermarket. $15

8:00am — S. makes me a lovely cup of coffee. We usually make one every day using our coffee machine at home, it's so good.

9:00am — This morning, I head to a gym class, taking C. to her great-grandparent's place on the way. We try to do this every Friday. She stays for about two hours, and it's a win for everyone. Before collecting her, I duck into Aldi for some milk, cheese and wraps. $8.80

11:00am — We head home for the usual lunch, unwinding and nap time. Because we eat lunch quite early (11ish or so), it's easiest to do this at home. Compared to our previous full-time working lives, we definitely eat at home a lot more. Before having a child, S. would buy lunch daily, and I'd buy lunch one or two days a week. Now, we hardly ever buy lunch out, only having a takeaway dinner maybe once a week.

12:00pm — S. receives a large work payment of $2,000 for a four-day job he did last month (which was outside of his usual working arrangements). I move the majority of it to our 'savings' account. I also pay my phone bill while I'm at it ($55 — covered in my monthly expenses).

3:00pm — We play outside in our garden and blow some bubbles. I don't know what we do most afternoons, but it'll usually involve playing. Chasing and hide and seek is popular at the moment, as is a bit of Lego when we need to just sit for a while. C. is more independent when playing with those types of toys, so I usually use it as an opportunity to do some washing and tidying up. We also FaceTime with my mum.

5:00pm — Dinner time! C. doesn’t eat much tonight, so we have to remind her that there is nothing else to eat once dinner is over. 

6:00pm — Bath for C., showers for us, books and bedtime.

7:00pm — S.'s turn for the bedtime routine tonight, so I have my tea and watch some mindless TV until he comes to bed.

6:00am — It's another early morning but I don't mind as I like being able to relax and ease into the day as much as possible. The rain has also stopped, so I know we'll need to clean the outside areas of our home this weekend — a big task after three weeks of rain and mud. An Afterpay payment comes out of our account ($53.62). This was for a bunch of things from Target, including clothes for C. and PJs for me. $53.62

8:00am — We decide to head to the shopping centre for a big Woolworths shop. I also need some more vitamins from the chemist as I am not feeling 100% — the pregnancy sickness has officially started. We stop via Donut King first, grabbing some mini cinnamon donuts to get us through all the shopping ($5). I pick up my vitamins from the chemist ($32.49). Then, I head to Woolies. C. eats an apple at Woolworths, thanks to their free fruit for kids program. We do a fairly big restock of food and cleaning items, coming to $200.43. S. also spends $24 at the bottle shop on the way out. $261.92

10:00am — We head home as my in-laws want to come over for a little visit. They bring a spread of treats, including macaroons, pastries and cakes. C. has a macaroon and part of a donut. It's a real sugar-filled day for her! They head home so we can eat lunch and unwind before our naps.

5:00pm — It's movie night at home, so after dinner, we shower and get ready for bed. We set up a kid's movie on Netflix for us all to watch together and have some popcorn. We probably do this once every three weeks, it's a nice little family tradition I’m hoping to keep going for a while. C. ends up staying up a little later, so we give her a melatonin gummy to assist her sleep. My sister got me onto these and they're SO good.

8:00pm — Bed. I’m pretty exhausted (from hormones and just general life) and fall asleep quickly. I wake up to C. a fair few times during the night.

Daily Total: $315.54

6:00am — I'm still not feeling great. We decide to stay home for most of the day as it's a big cleaning day. C. also had a bad sleep last night — I think because of all that sugar yesterday! We decide to have a minimal sugar day, so there's no biscuits or anything for her today. 

8:00am — After our usual coffees and breakfast, S. decides that a Bunnings trip is in order. He wants to pick up some extra cleaning supplies, so he takes C. with him so I can rest a little bit. I’m starting to question this second pregnancy — the sickness is next level and it's only just started. The thought of it lasting another six months is a bit much to handle.

9:00am — They're gone for a while and spend $75.33 at Bunnings, as well as $2.50 at the sausage sizzle. I later learn that they took a while as C. was playing in the playground there. Good to know she likes it — it'll be the perfect place to go when the rain starts up again. S. and C. also stop at Officeworks on the way home, picking up a big pad of butcher's paper for C. to draw on ($5.97). As their last stop, C. gets into the car ride at the shopping centre ($3.32). S. is such a sucker for his sweet daughter. $87.12

10:00am — When everyone's home, we spend a bit of time cleaning the doors and windows, before lunch and nap time. I am surprised at how much C. is eating the last couple of days — I think she is having a growth spurt!

2:00pm — C. does some painting outside in the sunshine after her nap and we make a couple of FaceTime calls to family. We also snack on some of the corn chips and salsa that we bought yesterday.

4:00pm — Our next two days are the 'biggest' for us in regards to work and daycare, so I like to relax and get organised for this. We also have a huge pile of laundry to put away. Everyone pitches in. It's a bit of a slower process with C., but it's still a helpful, learning activity.

7:00pm — I place a supermarket home delivery for extra fruit, milk, other minimal items, and some things that are on special ($72.14). This should arrive on Tuesday morning. I read a bit more in bed. I read really tragic, easy-to-read books — I won’t go into detail as they are too embarrassing! But I figure at least I am reading something... $72.14

Daily Total: $159.26

6:00am — We're up and moving. I'm still feeling nauseous, so I immediately make some toast and share a green apple with C. We both eat the toast as a 'floor picnic' and chat about going to daycare today and what will likely happen. 

8:00am — It's time for our morning rush out the door as we all try to get ready for the day. I do a quick tidy-up of the house and explain to C. that we need to leave for daycare now, even though she wants to go later. She watches a bit of TV while I get ready. S. helps get her dressed and ready. Drop-off is always a bit hit and miss, but I know she enjoys the day once she is there.

9:00am — S. has a doctor's appointment to refill his prescriptions. The GP doesn't charge him, so he only has to spend $23.29 at the chemist for his actual medicine. Thank goodness for our regulated health care system. Some of these medications would be $200 without it! $23.29

10:00am — S. buys some phone credit ($30) and fills up the car with petrol, which is very exxy at the moment ($110). $140

12:00pm — The cook at my work allows me to have some of the lunch she's made. It's the perfect weather for a carb and protein-loaded meal — I'm grateful she is so kind! She also made a special gift for C. that she wants to give her when they come and collect me from work — a beautiful doll.

4:00pm — C. is so happy with her new dolly! She also takes a banana from the communal fruit bowl. Even though she's eaten all day at daycare, she is still hungry. Definitely having a growth spurt!

4:30pm — We decide on an easy dinner of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. We stop off at the fruit shop for some more sourdough bread and milk. I tell S. to only get a small one as more milk will arrive from the delivery in the morning. $14.58

5:00pm — C. surprises me and eats a lot of bacon and eggs as well as some blueberries. After her bath, she requests some more food — we tell her she can have an apple and a cup of milk. S. and I share some chocolate and I have a tea before bed, as usual.

I know that we have it pretty good in regards to our living situation, and it is so appreciated. Our circumstances are very different to what they were just two years ago, but health is very important. Our circumstances will also change early next year with a second baby and our plans to move. S. should also be able to take on more work. We need to focus on saving more to make this happen, and I will need to take on more work, as well as balance caring for C. as she can't get an extra day in daycare at the moment. That being said, I am hesitant to give up my special days with her. I'm also aware of how much we spend on groceries, especially milk!