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IT’S FEBRUARY, AND while some people may have made some financial New Year’s resolution to try and put more money into their savings or stick to a budget, these can be tough to keep – particularly with the cost of energy and groceries still rising. 

With this in mind, we thought people might like to consider keeping one of our money diaries to keep track of their spending and saving.

Readers here at The Journal will be familiar with our popular How I Spend My Money series, which looks at how people in Ireland really handle their finances. Over the years, the series has chronicled the lives and financial ups and downs of hundreds of readers.

We are asking readers to get in touch and write a Money Diary to help us understand how they are handling their finances right now and how they plan to for the year ahead. 

Absolutely. Everyone is in a different place when it comes to money and will have different incomes and outgoings.

Everyone also has different approaches to finances. For instance, are you a good saver, or does money burn a hole in your pocket? Can you afford a pension? What about mortgages, are you confident you could qualify for one, are you meeting your mortgage payments?

If none of the above even seems remotely possible right now, then we also want to hear from you. It’s not an easy time and we get that, so you might just feel like saying ‘I can’t make ends meet’ and that’s ok too.

Over the course of a week, we ask you to keep a record of how much you earn, how much you save (if anything) and what you spend your money on.

Our Money Diaries readers also love to hear about your day, what kind of routine you have, what you had for dinner – all of it. Woven into that is a note through the day about how much you spent on groceries, incidentals and other expenses.

Related Reads Money Diaries: A civil technician on €60K living in the east of the country Money Diaries: A 28-year-old advertising account manager who has just moved to Australia Money Diaries: A part-time writer in Cork, living alone on a pension

Readers often get helpful information and tips from reading the diaries, so include details about batch-cooking, Revolut vaults or any other handy savings tips you might have.

If you’re interested in keeping a diary for a week, send an email to money@thejournal.ie and we’ll get in touch. We would love to hear from you.

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