A Week In Doncaster, Melbourne, As A Finance Associate On $90,000

Occupation: Finance Associate
Industry: Luxury FMCG / Fashion
Age: 20
Location: Doncaster, Melbourne
Salary: $90,000 ($82,800 from my primary job, and I've recently started a designer dress-hire business where I make approx. $600 a month).
Net Worth: $117,535 (An investment property currently worth $346,000, $14,225 in superannuation, $27,500 in shares and $25,000 in savings).
Debt: $295,190 (I have a HECS debt that's still growing and is currently sitting at $16,190. I also purchased my first investment property last year by borrowing $279,000. This is still the remaining balance as I have opted for fixed-rate interest-only payments for the current term, so I haven’t exactly started chipping away at the principal yet.)
Paycheque Amount (Monthly): $4,792.72
Pronouns: She/her

Rent: I am extremely fortunate to be in a position where I’m able to live at home to minimise my costs of living. Thanks to my parents’ generosity, this allows me to focus on my personal finance and life goals, as they have always made it a point to prioritise their children’s futures first. We live in a five-bed/five-bath double-storey home the majority of my childhood was spent, so this home holds a special place in our hearts. To maintain value appreciation, there’s been multiple renovations and re-modellings the house has undergone, and over time, I’ve contributed approx. $17,000 towards it.
Investment Property Mortgage: $1,400. The property is a gorgeous 1950’s country-home, out in the sticks of NSW. I’m able to pay the majority of the monthly repayments with the rental income I receive but I am still prepared to foot large bills as the rent doesn’t cover all of it. It’s a really tough time for renters and homeowners alike, so I’m looking to refinance this mortgage to decrease the monthly loan payment, without having to increase the rent for my tenants.
Home Insurance: $66 
Water Rates: $77
Spotify Premium: $3. I’m on a family plan with five of my friends, which makes this so affordable; great little hack for ya!
Netflix: $0 (My cousin makes it very easy to mooch off her)
Car Costs: $0 (I don’t own a car, so no rego, insurance or petrol costs for me, but if I ever need it, my parents kindly let me borrow theirs)
Travel: $80 top-up for my Myki Card (Mainly used to catch the train into work two or three times a week) 
Emergency Fund Contributions: Before I built it up to its balance now, I used to put in $2,500 a month (mostly to play catch-up as I had drained all my savings last year to purchase my property). 
Investment Contributions: $1,500 (diversified between index funds, blue-chip stocks, ETFs & REITs)
Groceries: $300

I’m currently studying a Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Merchandise & Business Management. I’ve got a HECS/HELP loan for it.

Looking back, I am super fortunate to have grown up with ‘dinner-table’ conversations about money, where my parents and older siblings would actively converse about current affairs and any economic concerns from the family. We'd also throw around innovative business ideas (none of them ever being taken seriously, thank god!).

Of course, when I was younger, money, and all that business mumbo-jumbo, was a topic that wouldn’t be of much interest to me. I would easily zone out due to boredom and my lack of contribution to the discussion.

However nowadays, especially after I left school, our financial future is a large point of discussion in my family. I would say my parents are pretty high up the list for who I would go to for financial advice! 

Even with having parents that didn’t shy away from shop-talk, most, if not all the financial literacy I’ve acquired till now is from Google and working in finance. I didn’t know how to file taxes, how exactly interest and credit cards worked, how to save, budget and invest, and how to prepare myself for the property-purchase journey. I just threw myself in the deep end and learnt through first-hand experience. It’s quite disappointing that financial literacy isn’t taken more seriously and embedded in the schooling curriculum because I believe a lot of students would have a genuine interest in it. It's also incredibly important to learn it, especially if there isn't an accessible resource at home.

My first job was a tutoring gig when I was 15. I jumped on the job hunt as soon as I turned the legal working age, not out of necessity to make money or contribute to the household, but more so to build experience, and to leverage between schoolwork and other extracurriculars. I was really excited about it!

Mum had really emphasised the point of getting a part-time job in my teens as it would help kickstart the building of my resumé and said it would only get harder to find my first job if I left it for later in life. I’m so glad I listened to her back then! The experience and life skills I was able to pick up at an early age definitely helped with guiding me through the start of my career now, and still continue to assist me in navigating ‘adult’ situations.

I especially loved the social aspect of it too — making new friends and getting to kick back with them for a couple of hours after school, all while getting paid for it. I couldn’t complain!

I am extremely grateful to not have had to worry about where my next meal would come from, or not having a roof over our heads, but my parents did try to lead a household that lived below their means and would spend frugally while saving vigilantly. 

There would have been periods of time where Dad was in between jobs due to redundancies or early stages when business wasn’t picking up which would cause a bit of financial strain on the family, but it was nothing we couldn’t come out of. Looking back, I’m thankful that my parents were still honest about the situation and did a good job of explaining their financial plan. I’m glad that they had those hard conversations with my siblings and I. 

Being second-generation immigrants, my parents really vouched for our main focus to be on school, hobbies and extracurriculars. They really emphasised the importance of our education, so most of their expenses would be towards giving us access to the best of it.

A lot more than I would like to. I found that once I started to earn a stable full-time income, I had become more frugal and worrisome about my spending compared to when I was earning less than minimum wage, ironically.

I guess with all the talk about inflation, the rising interest rates, a cost-of-living crisis, and the impending recession and job layoffs, it’s hard not to start disaster planning, as well as planning for my future. A main goal of mine is to support family members and eventually have the opportunity to retire my parents.

I’m not entirely financially independent yet as I still live at home and am in a very privileged position that I don’t have major bills or expenses to cover, but I have been paying for my ‘wants’ since my first job, and now more-so since I got my ‘big-girl job’ straight out of high school.

My parents have always taught me to lead an independent life, but I always know I would be able to rely on them as a last resort. I also have it instilled within me to try to pave my own way as much as possible, so I have prepared to have the ability to fall back on myself, with my emergency fund acting as my financial safety net. 

I haven’t received any inherited income or anticipate coming into any, but I do receive passive income through dividend payouts from my invested stocks (quarterly), and rental income from my property. From this, I receive $1,520 a month which covers most of my mortgage, but from time to time, I’ll cover the costs out-of-pocket.

7:00am — The days I get to work from home, you can trust me to usually roll out of bed two minutes before I have to log on. But today, I've promised my friend I'd join her on a HGW™ (hot girl walk), which has me regret it by the time my alarm starts ringing. I throw on my signature WFH outfit, a pair of Lululemon Groove Pants and a black Alo tank, and make two hot chocolates in two KeepCups (with a marshmallow on top), which I bring over to our bay trail where I meet said friend and her adorable Goldendoodle. 

8:30am — I make it back home after too much gossiping which caused us to go overtime by just a tad, but I wouldn’t want to start my Monday off any other way. I’ve recently been on a massive meal-prepping craze, so I grab my yummy berry overnight oats and situate myself at my desk.

3:00pm — Today’s been a total whirlwind with too many meetings that could’ve easily been an email and back-to-back casework that didn’t give me any time to breathe. I get hit by the 3pm slump, so I head to the kitchen to make an instant iced coffee. I also grab a chicken burrito bowl that I meal-prepped over the weekend. I'm so glad I’ve got something in the fridge that I can just heat up and have ready to go — I was way too hungry to be spending another 30 minutes in the kitchen whipping something up (not to mention how much money I’ve also been saving doing this!).

4:00pm — My workday’s done, so I shut my laptop and start preparing my outfit for tomorrow. I’ve got a work gala tomorrow evening and have to get to the office really early in order to save myself a seat as it’s a mandatory office day and over 300 colleagues will also be heading down. To save myself from having a fashion disaster in the morning, I Facetime my friends to go over my dress choices, finally settling on a Rat and Boa maxi. 

9:00pm — For most of the evening, I recoup and do some cleaning up around the place. I take a shower (it’s hair wash day), make a start on my textiles merchandising assignment, and watch Succession for the rest of the night before eventually drifting off. I’ve got an early day tomorrow!

5:20am — I wake up 20 minutes later than I should’ve and rush to the bathroom to start on my hair and makeup. I don’t think I’ll have too much time to get ready for the gala after work, so I give myself a head start now.

6:02am — I grab my overnight oats from the fridge (today’s flavour: tiramisu!), and drive over to the station. I tap my Myki card ($4.60), which will cover me to Melbourne CBD. $4.60

7:00am — I head to the office — it’s a ghost town! Looks like I’ve overestimated how early everybody else would get here. I find my best friend’s scored one of the best views in the office, and she's saved me a seat! She reminds me that it’s Tuesday — free brekkie in the office! We head up to the terrace and grab a latte each, plates of pastries, berry danishes, mini choc-chip pancakes and a fruit bowl to share. 

9:00am — I attend a forecast meeting with the rest of the finance department. There are some new system implementations occurring this month so a training session is held. This takes me right through to lunchtime. 

12:30pm — I grab my meal-prepped salmon poke bowl I kept in the fridge earlier and eat it at my desk. Usually, we would all head out for lunch, but I have too many emails to catch up on, so I keep at it for the rest of the arvo. 

4:30pm — In preparation for the gala this evening, the office’s caterers have arranged drinks for everybody! I grab a glass of vino, mingle with the rest of the team and prepare to head out for the gala. 

5:00pm —The venue is about 20 minutes from the office, and the company has provided a $200 travel voucher for us to get there and back. At the gala, there’s an executive presentation, followed by a three-course dinner. Then we head straight to the dance floor! 

8:30pm — The night ends, but we decide against going out for the night as we have to remind ourselves it’s still a work day, and we’d definitely regret it tomorrow morning!

7:59am —I telepathically wake up a minute before my alarm goes off, so I consider that a win already! It’s freezing in Melbourne today, so I go easy and allow myself to work from bed for the morning. 

11:00am — I’ve been smashing out some emails and reports for the past three hours, so I think this warrants a big stretch, and a warm, hearty breakfast for myself. Of course, I make yet another Nescafe instant coffee and cook up some chilli oil eggs on toast (thought I’d give the overnight oats a rest today).

12:30pm — Not too soon after, I flag a lunch break at work to focus on some admin for my dress-rental business. Wednesdays are the cut-off day when all my rentals for the weekend are to be returned, so on a spreadsheet, I input all of the orders that are to be shipped out for the coming weekend, as well as the rentals that are still being shipped/have already been returned to me.

I open an AusPost package of a Bec + Bridge dress that was hired last weekend and can see some dirt marks and stains on the bottom, but it’s not the worst I’ve seen. I round up all the outfits and head to the dry cleaners, costing me $236.80 for the lot, which comes out of my business bank account.  $236.80

3:00pm — Today’s another one of those days with a late lunch, so I head down to my local Hungry Jack's and snag my free (!!) birthday Whopper I completely forgot to redeem. Nothing tastes more delicious than free food. 

3:50pm — I make it to the post office just in time for the mass orders of hired outfits to be shipped out so they arrive in time for the weekend for my customers. These shipments have been pre-paid through my business portal, so I'm able to drop them off and rush back home.

5:00pm — I finally close my work laptop and get straight to logging in on my personal one. I have to work on some marketing material and upload them to my business socials. I also update the website with some new stock that’s been ordered. 

Then I get a notification that my boyfriend’s flight is arriving soon, so I start heading off to the airport. My boyfriend and his mates had gone on a week-long bender in Bali, so I’m super keen to hear all about his antics, as much as I was getting FOMO from his drunken Facetime updates and Instagram stories. Airport parking sets me back $12. $12

8:00pm — The poor darl has caught food poisoning on the last leg home, so we decide to opt for a wholesome home-cooked dinner instead of eating out. I make some delicious honey-glazed chicken with sweet potato mash and roasted broccolini, then immediately crash from a food coma. Today's been a hectic day!

6:30am — It’s another busy day that requires me to head into the office, so I quickly shower, do my skincare, pour coffee into my keep cup, grab my coat & scarf and I’m out the door! I tap on and pay $4.60 for transport. $4.60

8:09am — I’m a bit late to log in, so I get straight to action. My caseload’s been getting increasingly large as I tackle simultaneously working on an ad-hoc accounts payable ledger project which takes me right through lunch and keeps me busy for the entire day. By the end of it, my back hurts (maybe this one’s my fault for always slouching in my chair) and I’m starving. 

6:30pm — I catch the train home ($4.60) and pick up some Domino's pizzas for my parents and I ($39.96). We catch up about our week, then I get to helping my parents with planning their itinerary for a business trip in Sydney they’re going on next month, which they’ve kindly allowed me to happily tag along for. $44.56

8:30pm — After dinner, I change into some sweats and head back into the city to stay over at my boyfriend’s. I love treating myself to the amenities in his apartment building, so I do a quick workout in the building gym and end the night with a session in the sauna and hot tub!

9:30pm — We head back up for dinner. My boyfriend has cooked delicious braised lamb shanks in a red wine sauce that I can't resist, so I have a plate with him. 

1:00am — I can't fall asleep (probably due to all the office coffee I drank today), so of course, in true insomniac style, I resort to some late-night online shopping. I’ve actually been really good these last couple of months and have not made any unnecessary purchases, but I’ve been running low on my face wash and moisturisers recently, so I bite and bullet and check out my Amazon cart that I’ve been loading up. I purchase the COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence ($19.60), La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume ($22.95), the COSRX Low-PH Good Morning Gel Cleanser ($14.50) and a Rimmel London lip liner ($6.47), which had been a fan favourite amongst all my friends, so I had been dying to try it out! Then it's bedtime (again). $63.52

8:00am — I’m working from home with my partner at his apartment today. We don’t get to do this very often, but these are one of the moments I love spending with him. We treat it like a WFH date! He also makes me some scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and avo toast for breakfast even though he's still not feeling better. Bless his heart! I help tidy up the place and clean the dishes, and our work day begins.

12:30pm — We've been in back-to-back meetings so we decide to head down to our favourite joint, Captain Baxter for lunch and a cheeky mid-day swim in St Kilda afterwards. It's a rare sunny day in Melbourne today, so we don't want to take any chances and waste the golden opportunity. The restaurant is having a one-week-only ‘banquet on the beachfront’ deal for $42 pp. It's all-you-can-eat, so we fill up quickly and go to swim it off. Then we head back home to work. $42

4:30pm — The girl's group chat has started going off, and on a Friday night, that can only mean one thing — girl's night! I opt to be the designated driver tonight, so no drinks for me, but honestly surrounding yourself with the best people on a night out guarantees you an even better night than one that’s filled with overpriced drinks from the bar! The excitement of this highly-needed fun gives me the energy I need to finish up at work. 

5:30pm — I start getting ready to meet the girls in town and listen to the boys on The Inspired Unemployed podcast. This week’s one was such a great episode. My phone pings with a message from my bank saying that the direct debit for my investment property insurance had overdrawn my account. I can see it was due to receiving only one week’s worth of rent from my tenants. I make up the balance ($55.92) and transfer the funds over. I’m still trying to navigate my way of being a landlord (still feel queasy about that word) so this is all a whole new learning experience for me. $55.92

3:33am — We go bar hopping along Chapel Street and eventually end up back at my boyfriend’s place since he lives closest to the city, where he graciously lets us all stay here for the night. Apparently ending the night at 3am isn't enough for us, so a few more friends staying at a nearby building make their way over. We curate a makeshift cheese platter from scraps, and all gather on the couch, chatting til 5am. That's the last of what we remember from the night.

11:00am — The best part about going out the night before is the hungover brunch that follows the next morning. All while wearing the same clothes from last night, with messy hair and sunnies to hide the raccoon eyes, we debrief the happenings and best highlights of the night out. From unlikely hook-ups to funny drunken actions, we discuss it all! As I can't empathise with everybody’s painful hangovers this morning, I get to play catch up with a few mimosas and bottomless brunch at Flour Child for $45 pp. $45

3:00pm — After spending the whole morning with my friends, I round my things up from my boyfriend’s, and rush back home as I have a couple of loyal clients of my dress-hire business coming over to pick up their outfits last-minute for events/parties they have tonight. I love meeting these girls, and have even made some amazing new friends through this small side hustle! 

I have about an hour til the designer-wear is being picked up, so I get straight to packing orders! For tonight, one lovely customer is going to be wearing the ‘Vivienne Set’ from Arcina Ori`, and two friends are coming together to pick up their outfits from Miaou and Sir the Label. 

5:15pm — It's a quiet Saturday night for me as I have to finish off my university assignment, which is due at 11:59pm on Sunday. I've cleared out most of my weekend to work on this. With a Red Bull by my side, I expect it to hold me over for at least the next few hours while I smash out the textiles project I’ve barely done any research on (whoops!). I start off by catching up on some lectures and using the tutorial recording to assist me on this assignment that I totally did not expect to be so time-consuming!

6:45pm — After working at it for I while, I get distracted and open up the Coles Online website on a new tab. I stock up on a few meal-prepping ingredients such as veggies and frozen foods but don’t need too much as I still have some leftover from last week. I select the option to click & collect tomorrow morning. $31.70

7:30pm — My brother just tells me he’s booked movie tickets for all the siblings to see the new John Wick movie — it’s his shout as he’s a huge John Wick fanatic and has been waiting weeks for it to come out. We catch the 8pm show. 

8:00am — Any time before 10am is way too early for me to be waking up on a lazy Sunday, but I have to pick up my Coles Online order this morning. Still, I stay in bed for a while, scroll on Tiktok and view everyone’s Instagram stories from their Saturday nights (I can't help it, I’m a nosey nelly). I finally get the text that my groceries are ready to be picked up, so I put on my puffer jacket and leggings, brush my teeth, slap on some SPF and grab my keys. On the way home, I can’t resist going through the Macca's drive through because at this point, I need a McCafe Chai Latte ($3.90) running through an IV drip, stat! (sorry, I’ve been watching too much Grey's Anatomy). $3.90

8:30am — I get home and put my groceries away. Mum is already in the kitchen, cooking up her Sunday special — pancakes! There has always been an enforced rule in this house that the entire family is to come together for Sunday breakfast, especially since as we’ve gotten older, it’s really hard to find time that we’re all available together. Although it’s a very gloomy day today, the fam breakfast definitely brings a very wholesome touch to it.

10:00am — For the next couple of hours, I settle on the couch with my big fluffy blanket and finish off my uni assignment. After proofreading and final referencing, I can finally submit it after a week of working on it. For some strange reason which doesn’t happen very often, I have a random surge of adrenalin remaining and a long attention span still running in me, so I get started on writing notes for my upcoming lectures. 

2:30pm — I finish off my leftovers for lunch, and Mum’s happy that there’s finally some space in the fridge after I clear out my meal-prep Tupperware. She knows this isn’t about to last very long, so she savours the moment. 

6:00pm — Nothing constitutes a lazy Sunday without hours of Netflix binging. On today’s watch history: Wednesday. After feeling accomplished for finishing the last few episodes of the season, I get up to start cooking masses of food for the upcoming work week. On the menu, we have chicken teriyaki rice bowls, mixed berry overnight oats and spaghetti bolognese. To occupy myself for the hours of cooking I have ahead of me, I hop on a group Facetime with my friends and evidently have too much fun, that Mum may or may not have scolded us for being too loud!

9:00pm — After more laying in bed and more scrolling through Tiktok, I drag myself to the bathroom to have my Sunday ritual #everythingshower: exfoliate, shave, hair mask and moisturise. I feel like a brand new person!

The Sunday Scaries inevitably rush over me, and that’s how we know the weekend is slowly coming to an end. I vacuum my room, tidy up my desk and make a chamomile tea to settle in bed and watch Netflix till my eyelids feel heavy.