A Week In Brisbane As A Learning & Development Planner On $101k

Occupation: Learning and Development Officer
Industry: Residential Youth Care
Age: 32
Location: Brisbane, Queensland  
Salary: $101,870
Net Worth: Approximately $300,000. My husband and I completely share finances. While we both have cars, these really aren’t worth anything anymore (a few years ago in the Brisbane flood there may or may not have been some well-wishing for these to float away). We both have super ($78,000 for me, $108,000 for my husband). We also have currently $6000 in an investment bond we started at the end of last year. We add to it each month but have no plans to access it any time soon. Currently have about $5000 in savings. A lot of this estimate is around our house market value. Both salaries go into our joint accounts. We give ourselves $100 each per week which is our burn money (I'm guilty of buying too much coffee out!). Everything else is worked into the budget from essentials to date nights.
Debt: Approximately $700,000 – we have a mortgage ($648,000), and our combined HECS debts sit close to $40,000.
Paycheque Amount (Weekly): I’m paid weekly and it works out to be $1,326 ($966 take-home pay + $360 which goes into salary sacrifice). My husband is paid monthly, a little over $9,000 per month.
Pronouns: She/Her 

Mortgage: We have an offset account we pay $4,000 a month into – current mortgage payment sits around $3,980 My husband and I were lucky enough to be in a position to purchase our first home last year. The whole process was very stressful and Brisbane house prices had jumped an insane amount from even two years ago! We took advantage of the First Home Guarantee which capped the house value we could purchase. While we could have borrowed more, we now have a mortgage we’re comfortable paying each month, even with the interest rate increases lurking. We compromised on land size and house age for proximity to CBD.  We’re within 10kms of the CBD which gives us a 25-minute work commute. We’re hoping we made a smart choice financially as we see this property as a stepping stone rather than a “forever” home. We utilised a Buyers Agent throughout the process – an expensive choice, but man was she worth every cent! She was a bulldog!
Monthly loan payments: HECs: Approximately $400 a month.

Council & Water Rates: $130
Electricity: $200
Home & Contents Insurance: $284
Car Insurance: $110 (for one car only, the other car is covered under a novated lease structure)
Internet: $90
Health Insurance: $787 (combined). Yes, I know this is wild! We would like to decrease this but currently, we’re paying for top tier Hospital and Extra coverage. We want to start a family towards the end of the year so it’s hard to drop this down.
Netflix/Prime/Disney: $70 combined (we just can’t decide which one to get rid of!)
Stan: $0 – my best friend lets us use their account.
Phone: $141 combined
Gym Membership: $66
Investment Bond: $1,350
Savings: $1,700
Public Transport/Fuel: $500

Yes, following high school I jumped straight into university. I always felt there was pressure to attend. Being the only daughter, my mum particularly wanted me to be able to stand on my own two feet with a career of my own. 

My dad became really ill at the end of my first year, and things snowballed from there. After five years, a degree change, working almost full-time hours and ultimately, my dad passing away, I dropped out. I’m still paying off my HEC’s debt, I hope for it to be all paid off by next year. Sometimes I beat myself up as I was so close to finishing my degree, but I’ve made my peace with it – life, right?

Growing up, my parents did talk about money. The general gist of it was “It doesn’t matter what you do but make it an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.” 

When I was older, there were conversations about putting a portion of each pay aside for savings. When my brother and I graduated high school, my mum made us pay weekly board while living at home. What I knew (but not my brother – saving wasn’t a strong suit for him), was that this money would be given back whenever we decided to move out of home to help cover costs or purchase furniture.

My first job at 15 was at Woolworths. My mum ambushed my brother and I eating lunch in the shopping centre food court by sliding the applications across the table and saying “Fill these out and then we’ll drop them in.” Talk about sending a clear message!

Sometimes... My parents' divorce put pressure on both my mum and dad separately for different reasons. My dad was in the Defence Force so accommodation was a non-issue when together, but separated my mum had to go back to work.

\That being said, in hindsight, my parents were firmly middle class. There was always a pantry full of food and family outings, and my brothers and I were encouraged to pursue extracurricular activities that would've ben costly.

Yes – I jokingly blame my husband for this worry! He is methodical with his expense/budget spreadsheet and he will check this nearly daily and talk about overspending or how we are tracking. He does tend to overestimate to avoid nasty surprises. I know being financially stable and keeping us on track alleviates his own anxiety around this. But we’ve had a financial adviser for a few years now and so I feel confident that we are making all the right moves.

I moved out of home at 19 years old and became financially responsible. I moved four hours away from my family to attend university with my best friend and her boyfriend. I remember being low-key jealous of how my best friend's mum paid her car rego and insurance all through university.

I received $2,000 from my grandparent's estate when they passed away. The same was given to each grandchild when we turned 21. 

Two years ago, I received $7,000 from my mum and stepdad. I got into some real trouble with a credit card I had to fly back and forth last minute as needed when my dad was getting to the end of his terminal illness. After years of scraping together the minimum payments, ultimately it went to debt collectors and after five years of sinking in debt, I reached a breaking point and asked for help. I am so grateful they were in a position to help me. There is no expectation to pay this back.

Lastly, at the start of last year, my mum and stepdad loaned $9,000 to my husband and I to bulk out our home deposit so we could take advantage of the First Home Guarantee. We were on a tight time frame due to my husband’s salary increase making us no longer eligible if it ticked into the new financial year. It got us across the line, we purchased our first property and we paid this back in full exactly a year later.

8:30am: Alarm goes off despite it being a Saturday. Lately, I've been feeling run down and if I don't set the alarm, I will sleep half the day away! I grumble and roll out of bed. My dog bounces down the hallway to wait by the back door to be let out the moment he hears me sit up. At least someone's happy this early.

8:50am: Coffee. All the coffee. We recently upgraded from a Nespresso machine to a proper espresso machine. I make coffee for my husband C and I and then get to work making egg and bacon muffins for breakfast.

9:30am: We finish breakfast and are interrupted by the rain outside. There goes my plan to get the yard work done, I guess. I take this as a literal sign from above to use today to be a chill-out day instead. I nest on the couch binge-watching Schitt's Creek and play Animal Crossing. My dog cuddles up on the couch next to me. C puts on a load of laundry and heads to his computer to play games.

12:30pm: C is foraging in the kitchen for lunch and more coffee. I opt out as I'm still full from breakfast. I checked our account and saw that our latest Humm payment ($55) has come out. At the end of last year, we made the leap and purchased new living and dining furniture as our previous rental was significantly smaller and didn't have room for anything but a basic two-seater couch and no dining table. We decided to finance through Humm rather than wait to save and purchase outright as we were just ready to feel settled in our space — I am so ready for a dining table again! Due to back orders, we're still waiting for our new couch and dining table to arrive — I'm so impatient! $55

2:30pm: We complete a Coles shop online for click and collect ($142.90). We grab fresh produce, milk, bread and other staples only as we purchase meat in bulk to reduce the cost. We're normally a Woolworths household but shamelessly have swapped to Coles for the joy of the Pokémon collectable promotion they have going. I love when supermarkets have these promotions. In all honesty, I will eventually get tired of the clutter and throw them all away, but I love the thrill of opening them. $142.90

3:30pm: C reactivates his LinkedIn premium account ($54.99) as he's not feeling super satisfied with work lately and wants to keep his options open, he spends time playing with the budget spreadsheet to see how differences in salary would affect us long term. $54.99

6:00pm: After moving the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer, it's more Animal Crossing and Schitt's Creek. C is cooking dinner tonight as we have allocated days. He makes Pork Katsu Sando's with homemade milk bread, he is definitely the cook in the house! We eat while watching an episode of The Bear which is our new obsession. 

8:00pm: I go for an everything shower and am feeling drained. The one thing our rental had going for it was an incredible bathtub, I miss it and dream of the day we can renovate!

8:30pm: Wind down the night by doing the Wordle.  C and I are in a friendly competition with this, annoyingly he gets it in two guesses (I mean c'mon!), I get it in four. C heads for a shower while I put away the laundry.

10:00pm: We let the dog out for the last time, and settle into bed. I scroll TikTok for 30 minutes and then fall immediately asleep.

Daily Total: $252.89

7:30am: I'm awake and can't get back to sleep, so up I get. I do the usual routine of letting the dog out. I resist the urge to make coffee as I'm worried the noise will wake C and he rarely sleeps in longer than me.

9:00am: C is awake! He makes us both a coffee and the dog cuddles up on the couch with us.

10:00am: I decide that today is lawn day! Usually, C will handle the yard work and I will clean the house, but he's been having issues with his foot so today we've decided to swap! I get dressed in gym wear, lather on some sunscreen and find my hat. I decide to be efficient and take the towels downstairs to wash as I'm heading downstairs anyway. 

10:30am: I'm so proud I remembered how to use the lawnmower without C's help! I grew up with brothers and so yard work was never expected of me. But I get it done and feel accomplished. I tidy up and move the towels into the dryer before heading back upstairs to find C has just about finished inside as well.

1:00 pm:  I've showered the grass away and am feeling fresh. We settle down with leftover Pork Katsu for lunch and watch another episode of The Bear. In this episode, a character and her dad meet up and light a candle in a piece of cake in remembrance of her mother's birthday as she had passed away — I fight the urge to cry. C clocks this and pulls me in for a cuddle. It's been seven years now since my dad passed away. For the most part, I'm fine, but there are still things that trigger me. 

2:00pm: After a cry, I book an appointment with my psychologist. Last year I decided to go back to a psychologist for help. I've been working through a lot of anxieties that developed not only with my dad's illness but in my previous role. I worked directly with young people with high-risk behaviours. I think for a long time there I was so used to being calm in a crisis, for my family, for my job, I told myself that my feelings weren't a priority. Now I'm in a different role, it's time to start prioritising them, but it's hard.

3:00pm: C and I spend some time playing board games together and the afternoon flies by!

5:00pm: We've realised we forgot to buy pita bread for tonight's dinner. I pop to the shops to purchase the required pita and some popcorn, chocolate clinkers (my craving) and a bottle of Coke C requested ($9.85). We're often guilty of doing a "healthy" food shop and then buying snacks later in the week. $9.85

6:00pm: C makes spiced chicken, cucumber and tomato salad, tzatziki and pita bread for dinner.

7:00pm: I head for a shower while C tidies the kitchen. We have the routine of whoever cooks, also cleans so the other person has a full night off duty (I'm also hopeless at cleaning as I go, whereas C is pretty good at it so fairs fair).

9:00pm: Wind down before bed hanging out on the couch with C and the pup. Tonight the Wordle takes us both four goes. 

10:00pm: We head to bed, 30 minutes of scrolling and then lights out!

Daily Total: $9.85

6:15am: Alarm goes off. I hit snooze, the second alarm goes off and my dog gets up and stares at me until I'm up. Let the dog out, and then get ready for my shower while C grabs a bit of extra sleep.

6:45am: Jump in the shower and immediately regret not washing my hair the day before after mowing the lawn. I determine that there's no way I can pass off my greasy hair, so wash it. 

7:00am: Out of the shower and into our room to blow dry my hair. Our house was built in the '70s before there were certain safety standards around power points. The power point used to be located directly above the bathroom sink (why??!). It's since been removed but now also means there's no power point in the bathroom. Thankfully C is up so I don't disturb him. 

7:40am: I took way too long to get my hair sorted so no breakfast for me! We grab our leftovers for lunch (packed by C the night before) and make the four minute walk from home to the train station. We get there just as the train is arriving, so I rush down the stairs and get to the platform, I tap my phone to pay ($8.90 for both of us). The train is quiet and we manage to get seats without any trouble. I've noticed I'm in a bit of a weird mood and C notices. I shrug it off, sometimes the sense of being rushed throws me off. $8.90

8:30am: Arrive at the office and clock in. Last week I was delivering training to a group of new employees coming on board as youth workers at one of our offices. I love my job, while I no longer work directly with the kids, I love guiding new workers as I remember what it felt like when I started out. This week I'm at my office in the city catching up on tasks that piled up over the last week.

10:00am: Not having breakfast comes back to haunt me. I'm hungry and debate running down to the coffee shop. But then I remembered I have a blood test I need to get done from last week which requires fasting beforehand. I pop down the street to get it done. The lady that works at this location is magic and gets it first go it every time. 

10:30am: Blood test done and I celebrate with an iced latte and toasted banana bread from the café near my building ($11). I'm lucky and beat the midday rush. $11

10.45am: Back at my desk and start checking things off my to-do list. 

12.30pm: Jump into a team meeting with my supervisor to give some feedback on the new training program we tried last week. I give my thoughts on how to best restructure some of the content and he agrees to trial it with the training running this week.

2:30pm: I realise I haven't had lunch so grab it from the fridge and heat it up in the microwave. Once I start eating I realise I'm not overly hungry and pick at it. Most of it ends up in the bin, I feel guilty for wasting it.

3:00pm: I work through a lot of admin work for the rest of the afternoon.

4:15pm: I clock off and head downstairs to wait for C outside my building. On the weeks I'm not off delivering training, we're able to commute to and from work together on the train. The journey home is a breezy 20 minutes on the train, we tap our phones again ($8.90). $8.90

6:00pm: Home now and we get the best message ever — our couch is being delivered on Wednesday! 

6:30pm: I start dinner while C finishes up some work, Mongolian beef with rice.

7:00pm: Dinner is done so I pack up the leftovers for lunches for C and I, and tidy the kitchen being pleased I didn't make too much of a mess tonight!

8:00pm: Time to unwind. I take a loooong shower and attempt a bit of skincare. I feel like at 32 I'm late to the skincare game, but I tell myself that it's better late than never! I'm loving the Rationale Night Moisturiser C's mum gave me for Christmas.

8:30pm: Spend time scrolling through the skincare products to expand my routine. I take a quiz for my perfect routine and add the products to my cart. The final total is alarming so I abandon it and tell myself to do some more research before pulling the trigger. C is supportive and reminds me that self-care items are all worked into the budget and to buy them if I want to. 

10:00pm: C and I head to bed. My dog stares at me until I get up and then he moves and stares at the bunched-up blanket fallen out of his bed. I fix the blanket and he snuggles right in. I find this both confusing and adorable. I crash shortly after.

6:15am: My alarm goes off and today I don't hit snooze. The usual routine of out of bed and letting my dog out. He spends time running excitedly up and down the yard as he can see our neighbours out on their balcony. I hear them call out good morning to him.

6:30am: I jump in the shower and when I'm done, I find C emerging slightly sleepy from the bedroom as he heads for the shower.

7.15am: We're out the door and headed to the train station, no rushing required this morning. C and I tap on ($8.90). $8.90

8:15am: We get off at our stop and walk to my building. I kiss C goodbye and head up to my office. There are a lot of people out at a conference today and so the office is deathly quiet. I can already tell this is not going to help with my motivation. So I jam my headphones on and find a Spotify playlist to fit my mood. I deal with the ads as I can't justify the premium fee.

10:50am: I'm mildly surprised by how much I've gotten through. Realising that tomorrow is Valentine's Day I head downstairs to the newsagency to purchase a card. We agreed that we wouldn't do gifts this year as we have a few large expenses coming up, but we said that last year and C still got me flowers and last week he gave me a huge heart-shaped chocolate "just because". I'm suspicious and know not to be caught unawares this time! The newsagency is closed for renovations, so I walk the extra block to Woolworths. 

11:00am: Oh man is this bleak. The card selection has been slammed and so all that is left is a few crumpled cards in the stand. I head into Big W instead and find a slightly less sad selection. I grab a card, some snacks for my desk and a small can of Coke ($17). $17

12:00pm: I'm back at the office, I heat up my lunch and eat at my desk. 

1:00pm: C messages me and asks if we want a lottery ticket. A guilty habit of C's. We message a few times and decide to buy a few chances ($85). Got to be in it to win it I guess! $85

2:00pm: Headphones back on and I keep working through my to-do list. 

3:00pm: I have a Teams meeting with my supervisor for my next major task allocation and get stuck in.

4:10pm: I pack up for the day. C meets me downstairs and we head to the train station ($8.90). $8.90

5:00pm: Somewhere between leaving work and arriving home I have this overwhelmed feeling creep up on me. I snap at C, immediately apologise and we spend 30 minutes chatting about how I'm feeling on the couch. He's pretty good, we both get stressed and don't respond well to feeling like the other person is snapping at them. We talk it through and make a plan for the rest of the night.

6:00pm: I'm in the kitchen cooking oven-baked fish and steamed veg. This is despite my overwhelming urge to veto cooking and suggest takeout. I call my best friend and chat about our weeks to make cooking less painful. She is currently eight months pregnant with a 2-year-old and so we chat about her crazy life. They're visiting us in May so we talk logistics while I wait for the fish to cook.

6:30pm: Dinners ready and it's just okay. I assumed everything was done without checking properly which resulted in the potatoes being slightly undercooked (okay fine... really undercooked).

7:30pm: Quick tidy-up after dinner and we get to work preparing for the arrival of our new couch tomorrow! We moved the old couch out of the way, as well as some other furniture. We vacuum everywhere twice due to dog hair while said dog supervises from the comfort of the old couch. We mop the floorboards with a hardwood cleaner to give it all a bit of a shine.

9:00pm: Usual shower, skincare and early to bed. I spend way too much time scrolling and doing the Wordle which means we only actually turn off the light around the usual time.

Daily Total: $119.80

6:30am: Morning alarm goes off, and I hit snooze. Today we're both working from home. C's work is pretty flexible with this and he can choose to work from home as he wishes for the most part. My company is not as flexible however my supervisor is happy to approve on occasion as long we can show the work getting done. 

7:00am: Time to get up. Make my way down the hallway to find the dog waiting to be let out. I set about making coffee for C and I. I decided to make a Valentine's Day treat by making us something more exciting than toast for breakfast. I quickly defrost some bacon, and make us each a bacon and egg muffin with the stuff we had left in the fridge from the weekend. We eat and chat about how today will work.

7:15am: I pull out my Valentine's Day card and surprise C. He looks a bit crestfallen and reminds me we said we weren't getting anything. I remind him that just because he chose to give me a heart-shaped chocolate last week instead of today doesn't make it less of a Valentine's gift! We end up laughing and playing tag around the coffee table as he refuses to take the card off me. 

8:30am: I hop in the shower so I'm ready for the day. Our delivery window is 10am to 1pm so want to be ready as I'll handle the delivery while C keeps the dog out of the way in the study.

9:00am: Ready for the day so I grab my laptop and jump into work mode.

12:00pm: No sign of the couch. I run over to the supermarket and grab some fresh bread, milk, ham and some other pantry items. It totals $45 but at least I got two Pokémon collectables. $45

12:30pm: Back at home I make C and I ham sandwiches for lunch and we talk logistics for getting to the P!nk concert this weekend. I check the bank account and see our health insurance has come out ($786). $786

1:30pm: The delivery truck pulls up! C guides the pup to the study while I open the door. I find two slightly hot and bothered delivery guys. They ask me why we didn't tell them about the stairs when we purchased the couch. I tell them that we did (we even had to circle an example of what our stairs most resembled). They shake their heads, sigh and start moving.

1:45pm: After a few minutes of thinking and nearly backing the truck into our front balcony, the couch starts coming in. They look relieved once it's up and start unwrapping it, I offer cold water which they both look happy to accept. It is super muggy in Brisbane today and I do not envy their work. I pay the delivery fee ($97). $97

2:30pm: It's all done. C and I are happy with how it'll fit the space! We measured carefully and taped it out on the floor, but you never really know until it's there in person. We tackle the mountain of plastic wrapping and cardboard and do a quick vacuum.

3:30pm: Back to work, now from the comfort of our new couch. 

5:30pm: I cook dinner — steak, mashed potatoes and veg. I take the time to cut the carrots into heart shapes. I dish it all up and we eat dinner on the old couch (the dining table is hopefully due to arrive in a few weeks!) as we're not willing to risk eating on the new one.

7:00pm: We have waffles with vanilla ice cream for dessert, shower and settle in to watch more episodes of The Bear.

10:00pm: We let the pup out for the last time of the night and settle into bed. We race to do the Wordle. I get it the fastest, but C gets it in fewer guesses. Lights out.

Daily Total: $928

8:30am: I wake up late as I'm off work today for a hair appointment. I use appointments such as this as a reason to use some leave. My company supports work/life balance by giving us five to six weeks of annual leave per year. It means I have two more weeks than C, so my leave tends to pile up. C is working from the office today so we say goodbye and he heads to the train ($4.30).

10:30am: I shower and wash my hair ready for my hair appointment. 

11.45am: I say goodbye to the pup and turn on the ring camera for while I'm out. We set it up to see what our dog gets up to while we're out. So far all we've learnt his he immediately gets onto the couch and barely moves from there. 

12.30pm: I arrive at the hair salon. I started dying my hair a few years ago when the white hairs truly became out of control, I have dark hair, and pretty much the front left section of my hair is all white. With avoidance on my part, it's been six months since I last went to the hairdresser! Yikes...

1:30pm: Colour is on! I check the account to make sure there's enough for my appointment and see C grabbed some sushi for lunch ($11.70). $11.70

2.30pm: My hair is looking amazing! I book in for six weeks time and pay $328, and make a small donation to the women's legal fund ($2.00). $330

2.40pm: I'm craving something sugary so I buy a bottle of Vanilla Coke ($4.20) from the IGA next door. $4.20

3.15pm: I arrive home and find the dog stretching as he hops down from the old couch.

4:10 pm: I settle on the couch to do some life admin. I turn on P!nk for background noise in preparation for the weekend.

4:30pm: C is home! Thursdays we do the groceries. We determinedly make a list and head out. Just some produce, pantry and cleaning items but we still overspent! ($220.30). We do walk out with 10 collectibles though. $220.30

6:00pm: We're home and a friend calls to chat. We catch up while I unpack the groceries. She moved away a few months ago and I miss her dearly. 

8:00pm: C and I are on the couch watching The Bear. We open our Pokémon and C chats to me about some work concerns he has, it's hard not knowing if you should stay or take a leap. 

11:00pm: We get caught up talking, so it's late showers and off to bed.

Daily Total: $566.20

3:30am: I wake up to torrential rain outside and an upset stomach. I rush to the bathroom and then head back to bed.

4:00am: I determine that my stomach is not going to get any better, so I get up. My dog looks at me, but I think between the time and the heavy rain, even he's not too keen to be up and goes back to sleep. I head to the lounge closing the bedroom door behind me.

4:15am: I figure I might as well be productive and do some extra work on a report I need to get done for work. All through high school and uni, I was a notorious "do it all the night before it's due" kind of girl. I smash out the majority of the report before the sun even rises. Some habits never die.

7:00am: I start getting ready for the day, I strategically choose when to let my dog out as the rain has subsided briefly. 

7:45 am: I'm showered and heading out the door. I kiss C goodbye and jump in my car. I'm working from the office I'll be training in next week. It's about a 40-minute commute with morning traffic. I stop and grab a coffee and banana bread ($12.15) from the McDonalds around the corner from the office. $12.15

8:35am: I manage to get out of my car with all my bags, coffee and umbrella without getting too damp or spilling my coffee which I count as a win.

10:00am: I spend time chatting with the other people at the office, it's been a long time since I was last out here, so it's good to touch base.

12:30pm: I was meant to have a worker turn up today for a make-up session but they have yet to appear. I keep moving through my to-do list. The office air-conditioning is freezing so I make a mental note to pack a jumper for next week while I'm here.

1:00pm: I check our bank account and see that this month's payment to our investment bond has come out ($1,350). This was a big decision we made with our financial planner and I don't think I could explain it very well even if I tried. I advocated for a financial planner a few years ago after C voiced he felt like he was pushing us both uphill financially as I never wanted to talk about money things. The truth was that I was really struggling to understand the things he wanted to explore to grow our money and felt out of my depth, which only made me push back at him. Our financial advisor is amazing, she was there all through our wedding budgeting and when we were gearing up to buy our first home. She's great at giving C the answers he's looking for, and she takes the time to make sure I understand everything and therefore feel like I'm making active decisions rather than being financially passive. $1,350

3:00pm: The rest of the afternoon flies by with lots of prep for next week.

4:30pm: I clock out and head home, traffic actually wasn't awful today!

5:30pm: I make honey soy chicken wings with rice and veg for dinner. While we eat we start watching How I Met Your Mother, it's been a while since we watched it.

8:00pm: I've showered and settled on the couch. C is playing games so I sit and watch for a while.

10:00pm: I'm exhausted, C looks wide awake. He notices I'm fading fast and reminds me that as an adult woman, I can decide to go to bed. I kiss him goodnight, brush my teeth and hop into bed. I immediately fall asleep. 

Daily Total: $1,362.15

P!nk was amazing! It was the first concert C and I have ever been together. And yes, I did purchase us matching merch shirts!