My Refinery29-style money diary

How much I spent this week.

Hi everyone,

I’m doing something a little different this week and posting a Refinery29-inspired Money Diary for the past week. For those not familiar with Money Diaries, basically you detail your entire week and account for all of your spending. There are a few tropes of the genre I tried to stay true to: Everyone lists out what they eat and what groceries they buy (commenters are always curious), they also usually detail things like their skincare routines.

I didn’t answer the intro questions here, but I have answered them on my own before, and I think they can be enlightening on a personal level if you want to get to know a little bit more about your relationship to money. They are:

• Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?

• Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances?

• What was your first job and why did you get it?

• Did you worry about money growing up?

• Do you worry about money now?

• At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?

• Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.

I also didn’t include my net worth or my income…R29 diaries are anonymous and obviously this is not. Just know my savings and investments aren’t where they should be. :)

Overall I enjoyed the exercise! Knowing I was tracking everything for the past week definitely changed my spending behaviors a little bit. But this week was a tad unusual for me in other ways: I had more social engagements than I usually do, which increased my spending, especially in the transportation category (we rarely take Ubers/cabs anywhere) and eating out (though we do order in). Reducing my spending in those two categories will definitely be my focus this coming week.

In this week’s issue:
1. My Money Diary 3/2/2023 to 3/8/2023
2. Links

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A Week in New York City on a Journalist’s Salary

Occupation: Journalist
Age: 30
Location: New York, NY

Monthly Expenses
Rent: $888 (Total is $1,776 for a one-bed in Manhattan, split with my boyfriend Chris.)
Storage unit: $145 (Most of Chris's stuff is in a storage unit, which we split. Our apartment is rent stabilized, so we think this is worth it for now.)
Gym: $89 (Look, this is New York. That's a good deal.)
Subscriptions: $77.86 (Spotify, Netflix, HBO, NYTimes, Patreon, and Substack)
Electricity: $51 (Varies, but this was my half last month. This has gotten noticeably more expensive the past year or so.)
Internet: $40.50 ($81 total, split with Chris.)
Donations: $26 (NYC Food Bank, plus processing fee)
Renters Insurance: $7 ($14 total)

Monthly Savings/Investments
401(k): 7% of my salary pre-tax
Roth: $100 (Minimum.)
Brokerage: $50
Savings: $500 (I actually saved more than that in Jan and Feb, but that's my target. Building my emergency fund is my priority this year.)
"Happy" fund: $25 (this is for bigger discretionary purchases/vacations)

Day One

7am: Alarm goes off and I do not get out of bed. :)

8:20am: Finally get out of bed, have a glass of water, and make coffee. I use a Cometeer pod, which is not the most frugal purchase but I absolutely love them. I have that with vanilla Malk, which I impulse purchased because it was on sale and do not recommend. I also make toast with hummus and avocado, do some skincare, and get ready for the day.

9am: Start work. I have a lot to do today!

11:30am: I sold a shirt and a pair of jeans on Poshmark, and head to the post office (less than a block from my apartment) to ship them. While there, I buy a sheet of Lunar New Year stamps ($12). Then I go home and make an egg wrap with meatless meat patties, cheese, and spinach for lunch. I have that with an apple, and then keep working for the rest of the afternoon.

5pm-7:30pm: I log off, eat a banana, and walk to the gym one block away for a 3.5 mile run. I am training for a half marathon and really need to get my mileage up. Then I head home, shower, feed Sofia, and get ready for the Big Thief concert my boyfriend and I are attending tonight. There isn’t time to cook so we order falafel pitas and split the cost ($21).

7:30pm: We hop on the subway to Radio City Music Hall ($2.75). I love Radio City, and tonight I love being around all of the people who are also attending the show. I'm having a ~New York City~ moment. Tickets to this concert were a gift to my boyfriend for his birthday in October, so in that spirit, I buy us White Claws ($20). A sign says if I pay with a Chase credit card I’ll get 20% back, we’ll see. I try to resist but ultimately buy a t-shirt before the show starts ($40).

10:45pm: The show was so good and the crowd had a blast. We head back to the subway to go home ($2.75), where I pet my cat, do my skincare/brush my teeth, and then scroll on TikTok for a bit before going to bed around midnight.
Today's Total: $98.50

Day Two

7am-7:30am: Alarm goes off at 7 and I get out of bed at 7:30 today. Progress! I drink a glass of water, make (drip) coffee, play Wordle, and finish some work I procrastinated doing yesterday. Then I do my skincare/get ready for the day.

9am: Work!

10:30am: Make breakfast for Chris and me: Egg wraps with spinach, cheese, and avocado.

11am: Today is pay day! I transfer some money to savings and pay off my credit card statements for last month. I use a variety of cards for different purposes, but the Capital One Savor card is my default for most purchases. It gives 4% cashback on dining out expenses and streaming services, 3% back on groceries, and 1% back on other purchases. I pretty much use a card to pay for everything throughout the month, and have never carried a balance. I receive a text with my balance every day so that I can ensure I'm not overspending, and I also track all of my spending, savings, and investments in a Google spreadsheet.

11:05am-5:15pm: Work! I have a few interviews in the afternoon and work on a story due Tuesday. Around 2pm I have leftover pita and baba ghanoush from last night, along with some baby carrots. I also eat some Calbee honey butter chips.

5:15pm to 10pm: Get ready and eat some pizza (I have a plain and broccoli slice) ($12). We are going to a house show Chris's brother, a musician, is playing in Brooklyn with Jules Olson, whom he produces. Highly recommend her music, this is my favorite. Chris pays for the Uber there and, since it's BYOB, buys us seltzer and gummy worms. The show is fun in an extremely Brooklyn way; I pay for the Uber home ($28).

10:30pm: We watch the anime Monster on Netflix until I fall asleep. Chris wakes me, I do my skincare and brush my teeth and go to actual bed around 12:30.
Today's Total: $40

Day Three

10:30am: Saturday! We wake up late, have our coffee, I play Wordle (my mom and I still send our results every day—today I get "Trend" in 3), and get ready for the day. I start reading through all of the newsletters and articles I didn't get to during the week, my favorite weekend ritual. Eventually we make berry oatmeal with sliced banana on top for breakfast.

1pm: I review my to-do list and decide to list some clothes on Poshmark. This takes…much longer than I anticipated.

3:30pm: Chris leaves for New Jersey to see some friends, so it's just the girls tonight, and I'm excited for a quiet night in. I make some pasta with broccoli and spinach because I'm starving, and then I look at some recipes for dinner and clean up the kitchen.

4:30pm: I go to Whole Foods and buy: Beans for a vegetarian chili tomorrow, cilantro, avocados, spinach, onion, yogurt, chips, oatmeal, cumin seeds, canned tomatoes, broth, a frozen pizza, and frozen veggie dumplings. The total is $39, which I add to Splitwise to share with Chris ($19.50). (People who live outside of NYC: Is this a crazy total? I feel like it's not so bad but my brain may be broken after living here for nine years.) On the walk back to my apartment, I stop and buy a bottle of white wine ($19).

5:30pm-7:15pm: Home and put the groceries away. Recently HR told us that our health insurer will pay for a year of the Peloton app, which has a lot of good fitness classes, so I set that up. Then I do a 30-minute yoga class and a 10-minute arms class (I only have 8-pound weights so this is really hard). I shower, moisturize, etc.

7:15pm: I'm already hungry again so I make dinner: this dish, with extra-firm tofu subbed in for the paneer, and rice. There are few things better than a glass of wine while cooking, so I open the bottle, pour a glass, and prepare my dinner while listening to Poog.

8:15pm: The recipe says it takes half an hour to cook, but in true NYT Cooking fashion, it takes me double that. I eat on the couch and watch Party Down with Sofia. I go to bed around 11, but don't fall asleep until after 1am. This is why I can't wake up early!
Today's Total: $38.50

Day Four

9:30am: I am extremely tired but get out of bed around 9:30, have some coffee, and attempt to do Morning Pages. I see that I have sold two pieces of clothing on Poshmark, including one of my more expensive listings—yay! Then I play Wordle (get it in five today) and get ready.

11am: I leave for brunch in Harlem with my friends Trey and Grace and Grace's aunt. I walk to the bus stop, but it's delayed, so I panic about being late and flag a taxi ($18). We have a great time and Trey and Grace cover brunch which is very nice. Trey and I walk for a bit, and then I take the subway back home ($2.75).

2:30pm: Once home I get ready to go on a run. Chris did the laundry and got some lightbulbs (because it seems like every single one burned out at the same time) while I was at brunch, which he puts in Splitwise ($15.50). I try a Gu for the first time, stretch, and walk over to Central Park.

4:10pm: I don’t know if it was the Gu, the weather, or that I've built up my endurance, but I have a great run! I am using the Hal Higdon half marathon plan, and today was 7 miles—I run the full loop around the park plus a little extra, and my average pace is 9’59”, which is good for me. My cool down is the 10-minute walk back to my apartment, and I do a stretching video with the Peloton app.

5pm: Shower, get ready, and do some chores, including cleaning Sofia's litter box. I order more litter and wet food off of Chewy ($56.33), an every-few-months expense. I'll get 1% back with the Savor card, and another 1% back by using the Rakuten Chrome extension. Then I heat up some leftovers from last night and make a new to-do list for the week while listening to Who? Weekly. I've kept my weekly to-do lists in OneNote since 2018 and sometimes I like to go back and see what I was doing this time one/two/three/four and now five(!) years ago.

7pm: I make the vegetarian chili (thanks Kristen!) and we eat while watching Monster until the new episode of The Last of Us starts at 9pm (another brutal one tonight). Then I prep coffee for the morning, get ready for bed, and listen to an audiobook of "The Ambition Decisions" for an article I'm working on until I fall asleep.
Today's Total: $92.58

Day Five

6:55am: Monday. I wake up before my alarm (!), have coffee, play Wordle, make an egg wrap for breakfast, and keep listening to the audiobook.

9am-5pm: I take my Poshmark sales to the post office and then go home and work. I have five interviews scheduled, which take up most of the day. At some point I eat the rest of my leftovers from Saturday with some pita bread and have a yogurt.

5pm-8pm: I’m supposed to do cross-training today but my body is tired so I decide to stretch and walk on the treadmill for 45 minutes while listening to Poog and the audiobook "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone." I pick up a prescription and buy a Gatorade at CVS ($2.50), which makes me think about a comment I read recently stating Americans in particular like to waste money on beverages (is this true?).

8pm: Back at home, we eat this Brussels sprouts pasta (it would be soo good with bacon/pancetta, alas) with ice cream for dessert while watching Daisy Jones and the Six. I truly cannot tell if Riley Keough is good at singing or not, which happens with most shows/movies about music. Eventually I do the dishes and prep coffee and overnight oats with chia seeds, almond butter, and frozen berries for the morning before doing skincare and going to bed around 11:30.
Today's Total: $2.50

Day Six

7:30am: Alarm goes off and I lay in bed for a bit before getting up, having some coffee, playing Wordle, eating the overnight oats, and working on a story based on one of the interviews from yesterday.

9:30am to 5pm: I get dressed and take another Poshmark sale to the Post Office (woohoo!). My balance in the app is now over $100. Then I head back to work for the day. After having so many interviews over the past week or so, today is primarily a writing day, my favorite.

5pm to 10:45pm: We get ready and around 6:15 take the subway to Brooklyn ($2.75), where we're seeing the premiere of Lucy Dacus's Night Shift music video at Nitehawk in Park Slope, followed by a Q+A and a screening of We're All Going to the World's Fair. Lucy is there for the Q+A! I paid for the tickets last week, but we decide to break our vegetarian streak at the theater: I order a chicken sandwich, wine, and a cider, and Chris orders a burger, old fashioned, and beer, which we split at the end of movie ($53 including tip). We head home around 9:30pm and it takes forever ($2.75).
Today's Total: $58.50

Day Seven

7am: It's my in-office day, so I actually get up when my alarm rings, have coffee, get ready, play Wordle, and take the subway downtown ($2.75). I’m rediscovering my fashion sense post-the-past-three-years, and after a few changes I like what I put together. I reload my Starbucks card ($25, not all spent today obv) and order a pistachio cold brew and Impossible breakfast sandwich from the train (there are somehow three Alicias picking up mobile orders this morning?!) as a little treat and arrive at the office around 8:45am.

9am-2:45pm: Work! I have meetings and interviews, and we get a free lunch around noon every Wednesday which is so nice (Chipotle today).

2:45pm-6pm: I walk to a PR coffee at La Colombe with a Credit Karma rep (she pays!) and then take the subway back home ($2.75). A console table Chris ordered for our record player and vinyl records arrived, and I put it together while he finishes work. It looks great!

6:45pm-9pm: My friend KC lives in my neighborhood, and we decide to try out a new Chinese restaurant nearby. I order spring rolls, Massaman curry with tofu, and a glass of wine ($36). We catch up and chat for a while and agree this is a great spot!

9pm-11pm: Chris and I watch “Love Trip: Paris” on KC’s recommendation. Then I get ready and go to bed. I’m exhausted after a full week!
Today's Total: $66.50

Weekly Total: $397.08

The Breakdown
Food + Drink: $188
Entertainment: $60
Home + Health: $15.50
Clothes + Beauty: $0
Transport: $65.25
Sofia: $56.33
Other: $12

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Links

• SoFi is suing to end the federal student loan payment pause. Honestly a bold move when there are only a few months left until payments resume, but okay.

• This tracks to me! Remote work is “making it easier for couples to become parents—and for parents to have more children.”

• “Lean In” turns 10. And things are….maybe worse for women than they were a decade ago :)

• Nice.

• An aspiration of the American middle class used to be owning a home. Now, even renting an apartment feels impossible.

• “Excuseflation” is keeping prices high.

That’s it for now. Have a great week,
A

P.S. If you know someone who would like this newsletter, please forward it along!
P.S.S. Thanks Christopher Skinner for the illustrations!