Follow-Up Diary: A Week On The Gold Coast, As A Graphic Designer On Maternity Leave

Occupation: Graphic Designer 
Industry: Health & Wellbeing
Age: 32
Location: Gold Coast 
Salary: My annual salary is normally $110,000 – $100,000 from my full-time job, plus about $10,000 per year from freelance work. I’m currently on maternity leave and getting government-paid parental leave, which is $176.55 per day before tax (equivalent to approximately $45,900 per year).
Net Worth: $303,000. Approximately $270,000 in home equity, $6,000 in my personal savings account and $27,000 in my super. 
Debt: $586,000 on a home loan on a variable rate which is oh-so-stressful. I’m an idiot for not fixing for longer! 
Paycheque Amount (Monthly): $3,300 
Pronouns: She/Her 

Mortgage: $3,359. I pay this in full and my partner E puts the equivalent in a joint account, which covers our monthly electricity, gas, water, internet and rate bills, along with costs for groceries/eating out/things we need around the house. It now also pays for baby wipes, nappies and other baby essentials. 
Spotify Family: $19 
Phone: $35
Contact Lenses: $60
Pet Expenses: $150. This covers the dog’s food and insurance — I’ve started grooming him myself. 
Body Corporate: $160 

I had a baby! I was four months pregnant at the time of my last Money Diary and he is now four months old. I was induced a week before my due date, and worked right up until induction. This was probably a good thing as I didn't have much time to dwell on what was coming!

I went from being quite comfortable and saving a fair bit of cash from each paycheck — plus my side hustles — to making minimum wage and feeling slightly unwell about every purchase I make, whether it's a small one or a big one. With interest rates so high, the government's Paid Parental Leave is just not enough to cover all my regular expenses, let alone anything fun. My savings are dwindling faster than expected and I'll be going back to work sooner than planned (more on that in this diary).

Thank you! It's been a very strange adjustment. This is the most time I've ever had to wander around the shops, or go to cafés, and yet, I have nowhere near the amount of disposable income I used to have. So, reigning myself in has been tough, especially when newborn life feels like you deserve a little treat for getting through most hours of the day. 

I thought I'd love being off work, but I'm looking forward to going back in at least a part-time capacity. I like working hard and being rewarded for it with money. I like seeing my savings grow. I like having a level of financial freedom, especially as life continues to get more expensive.

Having a baby, if anything, has made me more ambitious because I want him to have every opportunity in this life, but opportunities cost money. So I've spent a lot of my maternity leave thinking of how to work less while still earning more. I'm trying to upskill with some free courses, keep up to date with industry news and investigate passive income streams (without getting swept up in any MLMs...).

CONSTANTLY. Cost of living is higher than ever, we’re mortgaged up to our eyeballs and I’m earning the least I’ve ever earned (plus not getting any superannuation while on maternity leave). I don’t want to be ungrateful for the paid parental leave I do get from the government, but it’s tough seeing my savings dwindle so quickly. 

8am: Life’s a bit different these days! My four-month-old baby got up at 4am for a feed and has been asleep ever since. My partner, E, snuck out to work around 7am. My alarm goes off and the baby seems content in the bassinet, so I get up and take advantage of the peace and quiet to shower, get dressed, and do my morning skincare. Then I eat an apple and pump a bottle of milk for my freezer stash. 

9am: The baby is up! I feed and change him into an adorable romper and shorts set. We were lucky to get gifted a lot of clothes, both new and hand-me-downs, which saved us a lot of money but is the tiniest bit annoying as I have no excuse to buy him any of the cute things I see in the shops! 

10am: I pack the baby and the dog into the car and get moving. Maternity leave is just finding different people to have coffee with, over and over again, somehow without spending too much money! I didn’t expect to become such an expert on my favourite coffee shops on the Gold Coast, but here we are. Today’s mum meet-up is at the cafe that, in my opinion, does the best hot chocolate. I get one and then add a double chocolate muffin at the last minute when I see it in the pastry cabinet. The baby feeds while we’re out. — $11.28 

12pm: I have some non-mum friends who took the day off work after a music festival, so I meet up with them next. They’re lying under a tree in the park, talking about how much their backs hurt after a full day of standing. Ah, the perils of doing activities in your 30s! I change the baby’s nappy while I’m there. 

2.30pm: After dropping the dog home, it’s time for swimming lessons! Can you tell I jam-pack my day with activities so I don’t lose my mind before E gets home after his long-ass work days? Also, swimming lessons are free in Queensland until babies are six months old and we are taking full advantage. We’re in the water with three other babies and their respective parents today. 

3.30pm: The baby is always starving after a swim and so am I, so after feeding him and getting him dressed, we head to a nearby shopping centre. I buy a Cheesymite scroll ($4) then accidentally fall into Seed, where I take advantage of the last of the Black Friday sales. I have a $200 voucher from my partner, thanks to having a meltdown over nothing fitting my postpartum body — so I buy a dress, a button-up shirt and several claw clips. I pay $43.80 extra on top of the voucher. — $43.80 

4.30pm: I go into David Jones to try on a Une Piece one-piece swimming costume and fall in love before I see the price tag is $249. I leave immediately. 

5pm: I head into Woolies to grab some groceries for the week. We’re currently shopping the pantry and freezer before buying anything new, but I pick up a variety of veggies, fruit and cheese just to top up. — $84.50 

5.30pm: We drive home in a thunderstorm, the baby screams the whole way. After 40 minutes of my cortisol levels being through the roof, we get home where I change him, feed him and put him down for a nap before getting dinner started (couscous with roasted halloumi and veggies). 

7.30pm: E is home, much to the delight of the small boys (i.e. the baby and the dog). I take this opportunity to catch up on the washing and tidying while he entertains them. At some point, we eat dinner and I feed the bub again.

9pm: While E does the bath routine, I talk to my mum and ask her how generous she’s feeling with her Christmas present to me this year (we do Secret Santa but she not-so-secretly assigns herself to me every year). Is she feeling $249 swimsuit generous? She tells me I’m insane but will give me money towards buying it. I find the one piece on sale online for $186.75 with 1.5% cashback via Shopback. She sends me $100, so it ends up costing me $86.75, with $2.54 eventually landing in my account from Shopback. I have already massively blown out my budget for the week but it will be worth it to maybe feel a bit better in my own body. — $86.75 

10pm: Bed time! With one last feed for the baby before we all fall asleep.

5am: Baby up to feed. 

7am: Up and at ‘em! E goes to work, T goes to his dog bowl to stare forlornly at the kibble he hates, and I go to the shower to get ready before the baby wakes. Once he is up, I do the usual pump/change/feed/eat apple routine.

9am: We’re touring three childcare centres today. I can’t believe the shortage of spots in my area and they all act like we’re lucky to even be spoken to, let alone considered for the centre. I put the baby down on a bunch of waitlists when he was about a month old but apparently, I should have done it while he was still in utero. While we’re out, I get a custard tart from the cafe with the best custard tarts to cheer me up. — $4.50 

11.30am: I go home quickly to play with the dog, feed and change the baby, and have avocado and cheese on toast. 

1pm: We go to a weekly mums' group run by the local child health nurses. This is a fab group but it’s the last week, so I hope we continue to meet independently when not forced together by the nurses. We meet for an hour in the clinic and then go to a local café for another hour, where we’ve all worked out that the pastries go on sale for half-price when it’s 15 minutes before closing time. I get a hot chocolate and a croissant for $8.41, then the cashier gives me another two strawberry tarts for free. While we’re at the cafe, I feed and change the baby again. — $8.41 

3.30pm: Back home to do a bunch of tummy time and walk the dog. I talk to Mum again on the phone and we do a Dinner Ladies order together for Christmas lunch, as no one wants to cook this year. She pays. 

6.45pm: E is home from work and walks through the front door just as I’m feeding again. I throw the baby at him and dash to yoga. This is free because I’m still working off a 50-class pack that I got in exchange for doing some work for them. My anxiety is high throughout the class, I think from the daycare experience today, and also because Mum brought up some birth trauma during our chat that I really didn’t need back in my head. 

8pm: I arrive back home and E has heated up a spaghetti bolognese sauce that we had in the freezer and made penne to go with it. I demolish it, along with a few squares of Lindt hazelnut milk chocolate, and then I feed the baby yet again.

10pm: The baby does not want to go to sleep and is cluster-feeding a bit. We juggle him between ourselves and E does bath time, while I attempt to get a few more moments to myself. I think we all eventually fall asleep just before midnight. 

10am: The baby, pup and I dash out the door to meet with my old boss, who wants to talk about my return to work plan. I was supposed to have 11 months off but I think I’ll go back three months early due to the rising costs of everything. My savings are dwindling quickly, the mortgage is going to continue to go up, and work is busy enough that they have plenty for me to do. My boss buys me a hot chocolate and I feed the baby again while I’m there. I leave with some level of excitement about going back to work, along with some serious mum guilt and stress about how on earth we’re going to sort childcare and if we can even afford childcare. It’s just one more thing to worry about! 

12pm: I arrive home, feed and change the baby, while I leave the dog on the garage floor to cool down. It’s very, very warm outside. 

2pm: The baby and I get into the car and head to Baby Bunting. I bought a high chair during the Black Friday sales but the package deal was a bit misleading and left out a key accessory, so now I have to grab it. I’m constantly trying to think of a baby product to sell that can make me lots of money somehow — it’s such a lucrative market and everyone relies on mum guilt to upsell you to something safer/better/will make your baby the happiest baby in history! Thankfully, Baby Bunting price matches, so I find the cheapest deal online for the high chair accessory, then also grab some socks, a sleep suit and a puffer jacket for next winter on clearance for $7 down from $47! It comes to $82.87 and I pay on the joint account. — $41.43

3pm: We head to TK Maxx, where I buy Christmas crackers for the dinner table. These are the only ones I’ve been able to find that only have paper products in them and no cheap plastic crap. I also pick up some more bibs for the drool monster and pay for them on the joint account ($22.98). — $11.49

3.30pm: We go to Officeworks next — you’ve got to love an errand day for killing time — and get printer ink. They price match to Kmart, so it’s $24.70 from the joint account. — $12.35

4.30pm: I stop off in a parent’s room of a shopping centre to feed and change the baby, then we do a ‘danger lap’ of Kmart. I end up with a baby toy, balloon decorations for a friend’s hen party, some Christmas decorations, card stock and Christmas jars for the cookie-in-a-jar gifts I’m making everyone this Christmas. — $52.00 (from my account because I feel bad spending more money from the joint account today) 

5.30pm: It’s good to be home and not in a shop, just so I can’t spend any more money! A huge storm rolls past, so the baby, the dog and I sit out on the balcony to watch it. Then we do the whole feed/change/play routine over again. He likes the new Kmart toy!

6.30pm: E is home early by his usual standards. He gets onto dinner — some roasted potato wedges and salmon, also from a stash we’ve had in the freezer for a while. Meanwhile, I try to get a few more childcare centre tours booked on the computer. 

10pm: Bath time is done, the baby has fed a bunch more times, and we all go to sleep. Or at least all the boys do (including the dog) while I stay up too late scrolling through stupid reels. 

5am: The baby is up for a feed.

8am: Time for me to get up! E left at some point, around 7am. I go downstairs for my apple and to pump a bottle. A close friend texts to say she has a last-minute RDO and asks whether I’d like her to help out for the day. Neither of our families lives nearby, so we have been leaning on mates to help out where they can. I ask if she can possibly drop over and watch the bubba while I dash to Pilates and she very kindly agrees. 

9am: My friend arrives. The baby is somehow still asleep, so I leave her with the pumped bottle and the Fisher Price Kick and Play Gym that’s worth its weight in baby-entertainment gold. I try to toss up if I have time to fill the car with petrol before Pilates starts, as I don’t like to do it with the baby in the car, and decide I’ll go for it. Petrol is wildly expensive at $2.15 per litre and I don’t have enough time or energy to go to a fuel-price-locked 7/11 station, so I cop it and fill up $86 worth of fuel. – $86 

9.30am: As it turns out, I shouldn’t have put petrol in the car before Pilates. I’ve never been to a 9.30am session on a weekday before and every single car park I know of is packed to the rafters. I show up six minutes late and slink into class, deeply ashamed of myself and sweating up a storm thanks to running from the car. You can tell the instructor is off me. At least class is free thanks to that 50-pack I'm still milking. 

10.20am: The class finishes and I slink out after thanking the instructor profusely. I check my phone to find two annoying emails — one from my body corp, one from a furniture shop I’m trying to process a warranty claim with — and neither has good outcomes. I want to cry, but I go to the bread shop and buy a loaf of rosemary and sea salt sourdough to give to my friend to say thanks for babysitting ($10 from the joint account). She won’t accept money, so I always buy her baked goods instead. — $5

11am: I arrive home and my friend leaves to go grocery shopping for items to go with the bread. I feed and change the baby, then get a last-minute message from a mums' group Instagram chat asking if anyone is free for a coffee around the corner, so we get back in the car. I’m relatively unfamiliar with this cafe and order an iced chocolate, not knowing that it’s a ‘healthy’ cafe and it does not come with ice cream or cream or syrup or anything delicious. The price tag probably should have given that away. — $5.50

1pm: We drop by the house to pick up our swimsuits and then head to a pool in a friend’s apartment complex. It’s still hovering around the 33-degree mark (my car actually says it’s 41 degrees but I think it’s being dramatic). After another feed, the baby and I spend an hour in the water practising what he’s learned in his swimming lessons — he loves it! 

3pm: We arrive home just in time for another feed, change and nap for the baby. I tell the dog we’ll go for a walk when the temperature drops (spoiler alert: this does not happen for hours and hours). I hang out a load of washing, put another one on, eat avocado and cheese on toast plus a bunch of crackers and look at my phone for a while. 

4pm: Oh shit, the baby is awake before I’ve had a chance to shower and change. I quickly do so between trying to settle him. He clings like a little koala for the next two hours, I think because it’s so hot and breast milk is his only source of water. 

6.30pm: E is home. It’s still 26 degrees but I’m ready for a break, so I pass the baby to E and take the dog for a walk around the neighbourhood. 

7.10pm: Melted and sweaty, we arrive home to another dinner of spag bol. I have to eat mine while sitting on the floor under the fan. 

8pm: E jumps online for some kind of networking event for work via Google Meet. I agree to hide upstairs with the baby, who is VERY awake. We read about sixteen books, and then I feed him and put his pyjamas on just to kill time. 

9pm: E logs off and takes over for bathtime. This means I have 20 minutes of total freedom — bliss! I use that time to write this Money Diary and send an email to the hospital where I gave birth. My mum is hounding me to chase up some answers that I never got, in case I need them for the next birth. Smart, but again, it does bring up things I’ve been trying to forget. 

10.30pm: Bedtime for all after one last feed for the day. Our baby thermometer says it’s 27.5 degrees in the bedroom. Faaaaaark. 

2am: The baby is up — I’m guessing due to dehydration from the heat. I feed him and E changes his nappy and puts him back to bed.

5am: The baby is up again but E sorts it out with a bottle of pumped milk from the fridge. 

7am: The baby is up once more, and E’s leaving for work, so I get back up for another feed. He goes back to sleep but I’m awake now and may as well get started on the day. I should shower and pump, but I get distracted making these Christmas cookie jars from a RecipeTin Eats recipe. With our grocery budget so tight on maternity leave, these are a cheap gifting option and I’m hoping my friends will appreciate the homemade touch. The jars were only $7 per pack of three and I've been gradually buying ingredients over grocery shops for the last month or so to spread out the costs. 

8.30am: The jars look so cute! The baby is still asleep, so I eat an apple and a peach, drink a whole lot of water, then shower and get dressed for the day. He squawks eventually, which is my cue to get him up and dressed. 

9.30am: We leave the house to drive to rhyme time at the library. This is free and they have these industrial bubble machines that the baby just loves. It goes for 30 minutes, then we stick around for 30 more minutes to chat to the other mums. The baby feeds while we’re there. 

11am: Shops! Again! I go to Woolies and buy some white choc chips and dried cranberry for my Christmas cookie jars, plus stock up on half-price Tim Tams and pay $16.25 on the joint account. — $8.13

11.30am: The word in the mums' groups is that the B-Box brand is on sale in Coles. I go there next and get some items to start the baby's solid food journey over the next few weeks ($23.50 from the joint account). — $11.75

12pm: We have a few Christmas parties over the weekend and have to bring a Stealing Santa present to the value of $20. I go to Sushi Train and get a voucher because who wouldn’t want a voucher for Sushi Train? I almost want to try to steal it myself. — $20

12.30pm: I go home to pick up the dog and feed/change the baby. We’re heading to meet a friend at a dog-friendly cafee for lunch. I don’t really want to eat while out due to $$$, so I pack myself a bunch of car snacks to eat on the way (some rice cakes with cheese and Vegemite, sliced cucumber, Harvest Snap pea crisps and Maltesers). 

1pm: Oh no, we’re at lunch and a halloumi breakfast burger fell onto the table for me. This is why I really need a job/income. I just don’t see the point of living without these little things to enjoy, and little things cost money, more than government-paid parental leave. – $19.35

2.30pm: My friend invites us back to her place for a swim and we happily agree. We spend the rest of the afternoon paddling around in the pool with the baby, feeding, swimming and sleeping on and off, while my dog plays with her golden retriever.

5.30pm: I arrive home just in time for a huge storm to hit and the thunder literally shakes the house! E is already home as he finishes earlier on Fridays and he takes over baby duty while I hang up our wet stuff from the pool, shower and get started on a lasagne using the last of the bolognese mince from the freezer. My friend drops in to borrow the dog for a sleepover (a lot of people use him as a therapy dog and I’m more than happy to loan him out). 

7.30pm: Dinner is done. E hangs out on the couch with the baby and the dog while I pay our electricity bill ($143.96 from the joint account). My rushed lasagne reminds me to put in a Dinner Ladies order for dinners next week. We have a voucher and I combine it with a 10% off code, so we get six small meals for $54.10 (from the joint account). Their dinners have honestly got me through postpartum — buy these for your pregnant/stressed/overwhelmed friends! – $99.03

8.30pm: I catch up on some other admin on the computer and eat Tim Tams while E does bath time, then I feed the baby. 

10.30pm: Bedtime! I love that it’s Saturday tomorrow and E takes over as primary parent. 

4am: The baby is up.

9am: We all have a big sleep-in, we clearly needed it! E makes a breakfast of avocado and halloumi on toast, while I feed and change the baby. 

11am: We pack the car with our swim gear and a bunch of snacks and head to my friend’s pool for a few hours to paddle around and enjoy the sunshine. 

1pm: We arrive home to shower, feed and change. My friend drops the dog back and I give him some lunch. We’re heading to E’s work Christmas party and the rule for this present exchange is that it has to be a regifted present. I have a present drawer full of body scrubs and bath bombs that I’ll never use, so we fill up a couple of gift bags with items. I throw a Go-To face mask in one of them as I feel a bit bad about such a sub-par gift. 

3pm: We head to E’s work Christmas party. It’s a pretty low-key affair and still very, very hot. We eat the pizza and cauliflower wings provided and I drink a pink lemonade. I have a long conversation with a lady who has seven children and tells me not to go back to work next year because “they’re only young once!”. Oh yes, and our mortgage, which has gone up by $700 per month since I last wrote a Money Diary eight months ago, and will only continue to go up with the most recent interest rate rise, will pay itself? I don’t feel comfortable feeding the baby around E’s workmates, so I go out the back of the restaurant and sit among the bins on a milk crate. Glam! 

6pm: Home via the IGA, where I get a bag of salad, ice cream and cheese ($25.50 from the joint account). — $12.75 

7pm: E makes us soup with a side of salad and grilled cheese. When we’re done with dinner, I get started on a potato bake for tomorrow’s Friendsmas lunch. It’s yet another RecipeTin Eats recipe, she has great bake-ahead instructions, so I don’t have to hog my friend’s oven tomorrow. 

9pm: Potato bake is done. E does bath time, then we put on The Wolf of Wall Street. We’re on a DiCaprio binge since seeing Flowers of the Killer Moon a few weeks ago on a (rare) date night. 

11.30pm: Bedtime! 

3am: The baby is up for a feed.

5.30am: The baby is up again. 

8am: We’re all properly up! While I feed, E goes to the bakery to get some breakfast for us. He pays and returns with a chocolate croissant for me. 

9am: It’s a big whirlwind of packing the car for Friendsmas lunch. We take swimmers and a towel for everyone, the baby’s giant pool floatie, my Christmas cookie jar gifts, Stealing Santa presents, the potato bake, drinks, the baby bag, the pram…the list goes on. When everyone (including the dog) is dressed in their nicest Christmas outfits, and the car is packed to the rafters, we head over. 

10am: In the car, E and I discuss how he assumed I would be driving today. I haven’t worked out how to drink and breastfeed safely yet and don’t mind driving so he can drink. But I also don’t like how he started loading up my car without checking if I was okay to drive, and therefore, be the primary parent for the day. 

10.30am: We arrive at our friend’s place. It’s total chaos with humans and dogs running everywhere and in and out of the pool. E, thankfully, ends up being 99 per cent in charge of the baby (and not drinking after all, probably after our chat in the car) while I mostly watch out for the dog. We swim, eat way too much food, swim again, play Stealing Santa, and go around the table saying what we loved about 2023 and what we’re excited about in 2024. 

5pm: We head back home. It really felt like Christmas to me! While I had the best time, I’m now exhausted, quite dehydrated and my tummy is confused. I shower and settle down on the couch to feed the baby while E goes to the gym (how does he have the energy?). 

7pm: E arrives home. I haven’t moved off the couch. He makes fries in the air fryer while I mourn all the times my stomach didn’t hurt and I didn’t fully appreciate it. We put Four Christmases on and enjoy our first Christmas movie of the season. 

10pm: After baby bathtime and one last feed, we hobble into bed, me feeling very worse for wear. E gives me Panadol before we drift off.