A Week In Lockyer Valley, Queensland, On A $127,000 Joint Income

Occupation: Freelance Editor
Industry: Publishing
Age: 32
Location: Lockyer Valley, Queensland
My Salary: $55,000
My Partner's Salary: $72,000
Net Worth: $141,754 (Made up of our combined assets: $35,000 in joint savings, $3,000 in joint access account, $1,200 in a travel fund, $1,500 in a tax fund (I won’t owe this much though, maybe $1,000), $17,000 in car value, $39,150 in Super (combined), and about £35,000 GBP ($60,778 AUD) in our UK pension account.)
Debt: R. has about $14,000 owing on his HECS. We also owe $1,874 in quarantine fees (interest-free, thankfully).
Paycheque Amount (Fortnightly): $1,600 roughly, but this varies. R. puts $2,000 a fortnight into our joint accounts.
Pronouns: She/Her

Rent: $120. We’re house-sitting R.'s parent's place for at least six months. It's a lovely small house on a very big block in the country. We don't pay rent per se, but we do pay a token $30/week so R. can stay with his brother two nights a week as it's near his office.
Quarantine Fees: $208.34 (We're on a payment plan and are paying this as we moved home from the UK last year.)
Electricity: $60
Dog Food: $56 
Phone and Internet: $0. R.’s parents pay for internet in return for us buying dog food (the dog is theirs). We both bought upfront annual phone packages so we don't need to pay anything extra.
Spotify: $14.99 for a family plan for R., his brother and I.
Kayo: $10
Other Streaming Services: $0. We use a family plan with my parents. I buy them coffees in return when we’re home.

I have a bachelor’s degree. My grandparents and parents helped put my brother and I through university, but I also worked part-time throughout most of my degree. My parents helped me with basic living expenses such as rent and food. I was incredibly lucky. They’re not rich, but prioritised our education and were financially comfortable enough during that period to afford me a stress-free uni experience.

Not a lot. My parents’ approach was to ensure I was comfortable. I only recently learned their full financial picture, and I was thrown in the deep end when I was forced to become financially independent at age 20 after their business was hit by the GFC. My mum encouraged me not to take on debt, but I still found that out the hard way, although I haven't had any consumer debt in some time.

When I was 14, I worked at a pizza place for about $6 an hour. My parents begged me to quit, especially after my manager yelled at me and punched a table, and I moved on to a more lucrative role at Macca's after six months. I wanted to be able to do little things without having to ask my parents for money, like buy clothes.

My parents shielded me from this. We went to a private school and were definitely near the bottom of the financial ladder there, so at times, I could see the strain on my mum’s face when I’d ask her for anything extra. I usually tried not to, which would often lead to me fighting with my friends, who didn’t understand why I wouldn’t ask. The success of my parents' business went up and down and sometimes we lived much better than others, but in general, we were always comfortable.

It varies. I know that we'll always have a roof over our heads and that we have comfortable savings, but since moving back to Australia, there's a lot more talk around me about how much money people make. In the UK, I was surrounded by people on lower salaries like mine — we all lived good, comfortable, but not extravagant lives, and loved our jobs. Here, I think there's more of a grind mentality (in our circle) and it's hard not to feel worried that we make a lot less than friends and family. It's just a comparison though, and I know it's not really logical, and not something I actually want.

At 20. I even helped my parents with the odd loan as their business was struggling. We now keep solid savings in place and don’t dip into them. We’re aiming to buy a house eventually, but will always keep a blanket of savings underneath us. Having said that, we’re also lucky enough to have two solid families, so we know we’ll never be homeless.

As a child, I won some money which was put into a savings bond. My great-aunts had also put small amounts of money into this when I was a baby. Added together, it was about GBP £2000 ($3,473 AUD). I put it towards travel when I was 20. I also received a voluntary redundancy payment when I left my job in the UK, about £15,000 GBP ($26,047 AUD) which contributed towards the exorbitant cost of flights home during the pandemic and moving costs, and buying our two used cars when we arrived.

6:00am — Wake up and the bed is empty. I realise that my football-addicted partner (R.) got up at 5am to watch the Champion’s League final. This man told me when we were first dating that he didn’t really like sport. He lied. Send him a text demanding a cuddle. He obliges for about 15 seconds before going back to the football. I get up and put on a lot of layers because it’s v. cold, then make a pot of coffee. Put on a load of washing, feed the dog, and sit out front of the house watching the ducks on the dam.

8.30am — We say goodbye to the dog and get in the car, heading for Toowoomba. It’s about a 40-minute drive but I need various things I can’t buy in this small town and I’m keen to have a change of scene for a few hours. 

9.15am — Arrive, park, and am immediately blown away by how freezing it is. My leather jacket is not enough. Head straight for JB Hi-Fi where I buy a keyboard for my home office set-up and an adaptor for my new iPhone charger ($46.95). My old phone finally died and I'm annoyed that I have to buy a new one. But I'm perhaps even more annoyed that I also need to buy an adaptor for the charger. $46.95

9:30am — Next, Chemist Warehouse. I get foot cream, hand cream, an exfoliating body brush, two bottles of body lotion (it was on special), shampoo and conditioner for R. so he stops using mine, and a big tub of protein, which we’ll both use. $123.21

10:00am — We amble around the corner looking for coffee, and get sucked into a vintage store full of the most beautiful furniture. We’re not in the market, so we just admire and move on. Finally, get coffee at a café. Flat white for him, oat latte for me, and we split a piece of pecan pie. $19.23

10:30am — Stop by Dymocks, where I buy a card to send to my best friend in the UK who just gave birth. I also get a new book I’ve wanted to read, The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-Mo. Korean thrillers are my niche book obsession. $36.49

11:00am — Head to Officeworks. I have to get the shop assistant to get the cheapest footrest (for my desk — I am a shorty) down for me, but I’ll be damned if I’m paying $79 for the footrest I could reach. I also get a lightbulb and a notebook. I should be able to claim all of these at tax time. $40.78

11:20am — Next, Dan Murphy’s to investigate the scotch offerings. We’ve just moved back from Scotland and with this cold weather, we’re keen for a wee dram in the evening every now and then. We debate for a while between buying a slightly cheaper bottle or just going for the Lagavulin 16, which is baller. We get chatting with the shop assistant and she manages to find a deal to give us $10 off. Wasn’t hard to convince us from there. This will last us months, anyway. $129.95

12:00pm — Arrive home and make sandwiches for lunch, watch an episode of The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel. Eat a Mint Slice. Spend the afternoon tending the garden and cleaning the house, then I make a fridge-raid rice bowl for dinner, feed the dog, and we watch more Maisel while I have a glass of wine and R. has a home-brew beer. 

10:00pm — We get ready for bed after I take the dog out in the dark for the last toilet break. She doesn’t go and just scratches every time we stop. R. thinks I don’t take her far enough out but I’m not wandering into the bush at 10pm so she can pee. Manage about three pages of my book (Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka) before its lights out, although I do lie awake for an hour listening to R. snore before I actually fall asleep. 

5:00am — Monday. We’re up early so R. can head off for his three-day office stint. This house is about two hours from his work, so on Mondays, he leaves at 5:30am, and then spends two nights at his brother’s house near the office. He works Thursdays and Fridays at home, so gets back on Wednesday night. It’s taken a bit of getting used to, being on my own in the middle of the country two nights a week, but I’m getting there. Plus, it’s worth it so we can save money toward a house deposit. Rent in South East Queensland is insane. 

I get up to make him a coffee for the road and pack his lunch while he gets ready, and he’s gone by 5:40am. The dog and I wave him off into the darkness. It’s freezing so we hurry back inside. We both go back to our beds but I can’t sleep, so I read. I leap out of bed at 6 remembering the bins need to go out and roll them up the long driveway as the dog barks at me. The sunrise on the way back down is stunning, and I take a moment to bask in it. 

6.30am — News on the TV, coffee pot brewing, I do my skincare and get dressed. Morning skincare is an oil cleanser, ice cube to de-puff, vitamin C eye cream, moisturiser and SPF. Clothes are baggy men’s cords, chunky fisherman’s sweater and slippers, because working from home in winter has turned me into my father.

7.30am — At my desk with coffee, I open my emails and deal with correspondence. I’m a freelance editor since returning to Australia (having been in-house in the UK), and am currently balancing a number of different projects, which means tackling a lot of emails and queries from my authors. I’m still very much building my roster, but I’ve had steady momentum for months now, and am hopeful that I will be able to make a reasonable living out of this. 

8.30am — I take the dog for her post-lunch walk around the property. She was desexed last week, so she’s a little conehead and needs to stay tethered at the moment. She has scratching issues due to allergies we’re trying to address and when we tried letting her off the leash a couple of days post-surgery, she immediately ran for the grass and started dragging her belly on it. It’s been a lot of work to keep an eye on her and make sure she’s not damaging her stitches, but we’re getting there. It would have been great to wait until the scratching was fixed to get her desexed, but a complicated plot led to it being necessary to do now. 

Postie arrives as I’m out with the dog. He has a parcel from me with new bras from Le Buns. I mostly said goodbye to underwire during the pandemic and Le Buns are my fave. I only had one and was wearing it daily, so I bought… six more. Look, it was a sample sale plus 30% off. Bring the dog inside and give her one of her toys. Back to my desk with more coffee and spend the morning editing a memoir.

12:00pm — Make Mi Goreng with a fried egg and spring onion for lunch (the food situation is getting serious) and half-watch a little Netflix while I eat. R. calls during lunch. I get changed into jeans, a sweater and some boots and hop in the car to go into town. It’s a 15-minute drive and I listen to This American Life. 

12:20pm — Stop at the bank to deposit money from R.’s parents for the dog’s surgery and medication ($500 in, but it was just replacing money we’d spent last week), then head to the library. I borrow three books, light fare for my nights home alone. 

12:45pm — Next, supermarket. Onions, rocket, frozen spinach, frozen veggie burgers, sourdough loaf, raisin toast, mayonnaise, mustard pickles, chocolate, Tim Tams, Sunbites, hot chocolate, cheese, and fresh pasta ($55.98). I notice R. has also been to the supermarket ($11.52). I bet it was cereal, which he basically lives on. $67.50

1:30pm — I get home, take the pup for a walk (she seems very happy), and put her in her bed. As I'm about to walk away, I pat her head and she nips me. Wtf. I need to research what’s going on. Put groceries away, freeze both loaves of bread, and wash the rocket. 

2:00pm — Research why the dog is cranky with me and decide on a new technique of calling her out of bed before I touch her. It seems a lot of dogs don’t like to be touched or approached in their beds. I can understand that. I work through the afternoon. 

4:00pm — Email my mum about Wordle. She emails back straightaway so I Skype her. I sign off when it’s getting dark so I can feed the pup and take her for a walk. 

5:00pm — After the dog is fed and walked, I video call two of my best pals in the UK. We chat for two hours before I sign off because my dinner is ready. I reheated a slice of amazing lentil lasagne R. made on Saturday. Pile rocket on the side and put on a cheesy Netflix romance.

8:00pm — Wash the dishes, quick dog walk and then shower. Evening skincare is a bit more of a process than it used to be. I'm battling a little hormonal acne after going off the pill combined with hitting my thirties, so fine lines are beginning to appear. It took me a while to get there, but I think my skin is looking great. Face wash with salicylic acid, toner, retinol eye cream, alternate retinol and BHA each night, moisturiser and jojoba or rosehip oil. 

9:00pm — There’s a gale blowing outside. In my dressing gown, I walk around the house checking nothing is loose, and take the dog very close to the house for a toilet break. There are dangerous wind warnings for the area on my phone app. I close all the windows, settle the dog in her bed, and get into bed with my book (The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, from the library). R. calls me and we chat until I start falling asleep just after 10. Lights out. 

6.30am — Wake up, still blowing a gale. Pup is up and bashing her cone into things so I haul myself out of bed, put on the closest giant sweater and pants, and take her for a walk. I’m so sleepy. News on, coffee pot on. I decide to make lemons out of the gale and put the first load of washing on for the day. Skincare, teeth, clothes, fire up the computer. 

8:00am — Work, procrastinate, refill coffee, work, feed pup, walk her, work, procrastinate, eat chocolate. Put out about three more loads of washing. Eat some raisin toast and make a vanilla latte from a sachet. Work. Procrastinate. 

12:00pm — Make my mum’s tuna salad for lunch. It’s my first time making it unsupervised and I make it FAR too oniony. Eat it with brown pita from the freezer and watch the first episode of Chesapeake Shores. I’m at a loss after finishing Minx, which I loved. Hang out more washing. The dog is very unsettled so I try putting her outside on a long rope again. 

1:00pm — Postie arrives! I’ve been waiting for this delivery! Unfortunately, I have to run to the top of the driveway to get my numerous heavy parcels from her, but it’s exercise. Dog barks at me again. 

Postie brings antiallergenic pet food for the dog, plus worming tablets, the former being the vet’s recommendation as they think the scratching may be food allergies. I also got her some post-recovery toys. Also, a couple of heavy wool shirts and another pair of my favourite men’s trousers from Uniqlo, plus my mum sent me a mop! The dream! I know this sounds insane but it’s one of those easy squirty mops which I love using. I was too cheap to buy one so she sent it as a gift. The postie is amused by my excitement over a mop. It feels oddly heavy. I have to cart the parcels down the drive in two stages. 

2:00pm — Hang out one more load of washing, do the composting, R. calls on his lunch break, clean up the kitchen and head back to my desk. 

3:15pm — Why can’t I focus today? I have so much work to do!

4:55pm — Managed to get my basic goals ticked off, send the day’s chapters to a client and update another client, and sign off for the day. Feed the pup the new food with a little of the old. She devours it. Take her for a walk around the property as it gets dark. She barks madly at the neighbours across the road who are… driving their car into their driveway. Egregious. 

Bring in the last of the laundry and spend about an hour watching Frasier while I put away all the laundry. If you’re wondering how I have so much laundry, our clothes just arrived from the UK, and they smell musty from months in storage so I’m washing everything. Open the mop package. Mum has sent me not just a mop, but a whole package of Koh cleaning products! I Skype her to thank her. 

6:30pm — Sign off to put more leftover lasagne in the oven. While it heats, I light a candle and take a shower, then get into R.’s cosy robe and try out the mop. Ooooh, it’s good. I see R. played tennis with his brother ($16) and they stopped for Red Rooster on their way home ($14.95). $30.95

7:00pm Lasagne and a pile of rocket for dinner, Chesapeake Shores, couch. Hydrating mask and a chocolate mochi after dinner. 

9:00pm — Walk the dog and turn out the lights outside, put her in bed. Read in my own bed. R. calls for half an hour and then lights out around 10pm. I hear helicopters overhead and try not to think about escaped convicts. 

1:00am — The dog is crying. She never does this in the middle of the night so I go to check on her, worrying she may finally have pulled her stitches open. She’s just being sooky. Tuck her back in, tell her I’m right next door and then go back to bed. Listen to her whines decreasing for the next half hour before I nod off. 

6:00am — Awoken by whining. Try to ignore her since we’re trying not to respond to whining, but then I hear a different noise. She’s got a roll of toilet paper and torn it all over the room. Classic. After leaving her alone for 10 minutes, I take her for a walk around the block and then put her on the long rope outside with some toys. Maybe a change of scene will help. 

7:00am — Try to put coffee on but the stove won’t light. R. forgot to show me how to change the gas so I call him and have him talk me through it. Raisin toast, a cup of coffee and an episode of Chesapeake Shores for a slow start to the day. Put on a load of washing. Remember the 10 loads of washing yesterday are probably how I used up all the gas. Feed the dog. 

10:00am — I end up walking the dog, vacuuming and mopping the house, washing all the dog’s things, putting the house in order and then doing my teeth and skincare and making another pot of coffee. It’s 10am when I sit down at my desk with more coffee and raisin toast. I really need to burn through some work this morning. 

11:00am — Get distracted by a job ad — a rare sighting of an interesting job in my industry that’s within a somewhat reasonable (depending on who you ask) commute. Start doing the mental battle about freelance versus in-house work. They both have pros and cons (freedom versus regular paycheque is the main one) but I also struggle with not feeling like I have a ‘real’ job a lot of the time, just because I don’t go to an office anymore. I have a full roster of work and I enjoy it, but I worry about ‘losing touch’ in some way. Sigh. Maybe I'll give them a call about the role to see if it sounds good. 

12:00pm — Work is coming along well. Eat a mandarin. 

12:30pm — Attention wayning, lunchtime. Yesterday’s tuna salad (picking out many chunks of onion) with brown pita, a pear, two squares of dark mint chocolate, and an episode of Chesapeake Shores.

Take the dog for a walk. Spot an axe and a hatchet lying out casually at the bottom of the driveway. Have seen enough horror movies to think it’s best to lock them away in the shed. If someone wants to murder me I will not be providing weapon suggestions. 

1:30pm — Do the dishes and back to work. 

2:00pm — Get distracted by the restock of a beautiful top from Seamstress of Bloomsbury. I love it, I LOVE IT! I try to resist it! I have SO MANY CLOTHES. Close the page. Back to work. 

3.30pm — Finish my chapters and send them to the client. Quick dog walk and then change into jeans, boots and big earrings to head to the supermarket. It’s the only place I dress up for these days. This is a huge shop as we have a lot of things to stock up on since moving into R.’s parents’ house. New can opener, maze treat toy for the dog (I’m really trying to amuse her!), milk, a roast chicken, almond caramel latte sachets, Caramilk Twirl, bag of ‘odd ones’ capsicums, R.’s favourite cereal, loaf of Burgen, tortillas, kale, Sunchips, raspberries, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, coriander, spinach, mandarins, bananas, a chilli, Harvest Snaps, a jar of jalapenos, Castile hand soap, yoghurt, ground coffee, a block of cheese, two blocks of chocolate, a big bag of bird seed and a tub of heavy face cream for my dry winter skin ($173.39). I also grab some wrapping paper for the gifts I’m sending for my friend’s new baby at the dollar store next door ($2). $175.39

Drive home and find a parcel in the mailbox — the new Mieko Kawakami. Exciting! Walk the dog, feed her, unpack groceries while eating the Twirl, bring dog inside and give her the maze treat with a bit of her antiallergenic kibble. She’s quietly working away at it! Yes!

5:15pm — I go outside to work out with our home gym equipment we recently cobbled together from Facebook marketplace and Kmart. The dog nips me three times as I try to change her leash over. She then barks at me through the entire workout. 

6:00pm — Shower and get dinner on. I have the end of a tub of cream and half a jar of passata to use up, so it’s creamy tomato pasta with capsicums, celery, mushroom, onions and spinach. R. gets home as I’m cooking and pup and I are very excited to see him. We watch the last two eps of Mrs. Maisel. I’m Team Lenny to the end and I hope they make him not die in this. I can’t wait for the next season. R. refuelled the car on the way home ($72.71) and our Linkt toll account automatically tops up as it’s dropped below $10 ($25). $97.71

10:00pm — Bedtime routine and book.

6:30am — Wake up, stay in bed with R. for an hour, then he deals with the dog and I lie in bed reading New Yorker articles. When I get up I put on a pot of coffee for us both, fill the bird feeders, feed the dog and peruse some cookbooks for recipe inspiration for the week ahead. It’s seven degrees! I’d worried I wouldn’t be able to put my extensive knitwear collection to good use in Queensland, but the Lockyer Valley has got my back.

8:30am — Desk with raisin toast and coffee, Wordle. 

8:45am — Scheduling and finance tracking. One client has cancelled. We were due to commence in a month, and I was looking forward to working on it, so it’s a bummer. I’ll have to fill that hole in my schedule but I had a new request come in this morning, so hopefully, that will slot in to place if I can land it. 

10:00am — Spill coffee all over my keyboard. R. helps me clear up in between his meetings and I pull the keyboard apart and dry it.

10:15am — Back to work. Dive into one project, hoping to bash out a good chunk of it today. 

12:00pm — Finish the tuna salad on a piece of toast for lunch and try taking the dog on an off-leash walk with R. It goes alright!

2:00pm — Work. Do a little desperate Googling for takeout of some shape or form in this tiny town and discover a very nondescript café I’d long since dismissed is actually a KOREAN RESTAURANT!

4:30pm — Ask R. to help me with my finance spreadsheet and he goes into full Excel nerd mode and spends the next 2.5 hours building me the perfect way to project and manage my income. I gaze at him lovingly. 

6:00pm — Feed the dog, take her for another ramble, and get our dinner on. We have avocados from a neighbour’s tree and a couple ripened at the same time, so it’s black beans and sweet potato tortillas with spicy veggies, guacamole, cheese and coriander. We split a homebrew beer and watch a few episodes of the new season of Barry. 

9:00pm — I do the composting and some training with the dog, shower and we get into bed. Read a chapter of my book and lights out. 

7:00am — Wake up in a bit of a funk. Was having dreams about being back in my old life, travelling, doing interesting things with my friends... The stark reality of being alone in this small town and working remotely is hitting me a little hard this morning. I know it’s towards a better future, but sometimes it’s difficult. 

7:30am — Get up and get on with it. Skincare, get dressed, make the bed, feed the dog, check the bird seed, and fire up the computer while R. makes coffee. 

8:30am — Okay, time to actually work. I write down three goals for the day, open yesterday’s project and dive in. 

10:30am — Finish the first chapter for the day and take the dog for an off-leash walk around the dam with R. Fill bird feeders as I go. Take a small bowl of Harvest Snaps and a glass of water back to my desk. Crack on with the next chapter. 

12:15pm — Lunch. R. has leftovers from last night and I reheat pasta from two days ago. I stir in some rocket and strips of roast chicken. I put on an episode of Chesapeake Shores as today is hard and I need to clear my mind. Do a little yoga stretching and eat a Tim Tam. We walk the dog off-leash again.

1:30pm — I took a long lunch because I hate today. Back to work. One client’s work is a real slog and I end up letting him know he needs to do some work on one section of the manuscript before I can work with it. He takes it well. 

2:30pm — I move to the couch to edit on my lap. I have no energy. Open up a new project. It's a short one so it should be a bit lighter and easier. 

3:00pm — I overhear R. on the phone being offered the promotion he just interviewed for. I go to congratulate him. It’s a substantial pay bump and will help a lot towards our savings.

4:30pm — Take the dog for a walk before it gets dark and feed her, go back to my desk and work until 6:30. 

6:30pm — It’s Korean fried chicken night from the restaurant I just found! We order two small boneless portions, one sweet chilli and one garlic ($28). They’re out of Tteokbokki. Put rice on in the cooker before we drive in to pick it up, passing a possum, a rock wallaby, and a hare on the road on the way in. Grab a bottle of Pinot Noir from BWS ($13 on sale) before driving back home. $41

7:00pm — Top Gun, chicken and rice, and a glass of wine. Afterwards, we finally crack the Lagavulin and have a small dram each before showering, cleaning up, and doing the dog walk before bed. 

7:00am — Saturday! Get up and take the dog out. Back to bed for an hour with R. Up for coffee and a New Yorker article. Eat a bowl of muesli, raspberries, coconut yoghurt and oat milk for fuel as I’m determined to go for a run today — my exercise routine has been very off lately — then feed the dog and spend the morning working while washing bed sheets and towels.

12:00pm — R. and I drive into town and he drops me at the lake where I run laps while he gets groceries. I am way out of shape. He gets milk, laundry detergent, flour, bamboo skewers, brown rice, muesli bars, mango chutney, soya snacks, ground chilli, parsnips, sour cream, parsley, turmeric, cumin, light bulbs for the range hood which blew yesterday, raspberries, chives, onions, garlic, mandarins, bananas, and salmon fillets ($95.29). He meets me after and we grab a coffee and split a piece of carrot cake from the café beside the lake ($17). $112.29

2:00pm — After we drive home, I get a hankering to go to my favourite plant nursery nearby so I head out on my own. It’s cash only which always helps restrict me, and I only have $35 cash in my wallet. They have so much great stuff, and after battling my way through the spiderwebs (this place is a real jungle), I come home with a big spotted begonia and a foxtail fern. $28.50

3:00pm — Clean the house, water the houseplants, R. mows the lawn. 

5:00pm — Get dinner on. R. was going to cook but we switched shifts so he could workout, and he’ll cook tomorrow instead. He usually cooks a lot, but this week has not been representative of that. I make spiced salmon skewers with parsley-lemon oil, a batch of my favourite yoghurt flatbreads, and salad. Have a glass of Pinot from the bottle I opened last night. 

7:00pm — We FaceTime a good friend in the UK, then watch some Last Week Tonight with John Oliver as it’s too late for a movie by the time we're done on the call. Let the dog out (off-leash!). Teeth, skin, tuck dog in, bed, book.