The INSIDER Summary:
• A woman in fashion development makes $81,500 a year and pays $1,375 a month for rent.
• Costs of groceries and travel are split with her boyfriend, but she pays more for rent.
• A tattoo at the end of the week costs $270.
Welcome to Money Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar. (Thanks, New York mag, for the inspiration.)
Today, a woman in fashion development getting a tattoo and paying more in rent than her boyfriend.
Industry: Fashion. I work on Trend and Concept development. It's a very narrow field, so I feel super thankful for the position that I have, especially as someone working in fashion, but coming from a fine arts background.
Age: 33
Location: Flatbush, Brooklyn
Salary: $81,500. My boyfriend and I keep our finances mostly separate, though we share a credit card account (gotta get those airline miles!). His salary is around half of mine so we tend to split most things by percentages.
Paycheck Amount (2x a month): $3,115, minus taxes, health care, 401(k), and commuter benefits.
# of roommates: 1
Monthly Expenses
Rent: $1,875 total. I pay $1,375. We got super lucky and found a beautiful two-bedroom apartment in a turn-of-the-century brownstone. It's the nicest place either of us has ever lived.
Loan Payments: ~$375/month. Though I try to throw a couple of extra bucks in at the end of the month if I can. I currently still owe $28,000 from my time in grad school. Thankfully my undergrad degree was paid for my by grandmother, who paid for all 7 of her grandkids' college educations.
Utilities: $0. I pay a larger part of the rent, so my boyfriend pays all of our utilities, including my cellphone bill.
Transportation: $116.50 per month unlimited subway card. Comes out of my paycheck pre-tax.
Health Insurance: Medical $140, Vision $6, (Thankfully my teeth and eyes are in good health so I tend to switch out Dental and Vision coverage each year. This is a Vision year.)
Savings: $19,000 in my 401k, from having it about 5 years. Right now I contribute ~$100 a month into it. Unfortunately, my current company does not do matching. I also have some stocks that I bought when I was 10 (Thanks again, Grandma!) and that's currently worth about $12,000, though stock stuff confuses me and I don't know what to "do" with it hence why it's just been sitting there for two-plus decades. I also use a budgeting app daily and try to save at least $500 a month.
Netflix: $10 per month
Gym: $96 per month
Graze Snackbox: $11.99
Day 1
9:05 a.m. — Arrive at work and fill up my desk water bottle. I'm a freak who doesn't like coffee so it's filtered water and a Luna bar (Peppermint Stick for life!) for breakfast.
11:05 a.m. — I'm the queen of office snacks so I eat a few handfuls of whole-grain Goldfish crackers and start thinking about lunch and remember that since we've been out of town the past few weekends we don't have any food at home and decide to stop by Whole Foods for groceries and lunch from the hot bar.
12:30 p.m. — Pop out to Whole Foods and get: frozen broccoli and stir-fry veggies, two frozen vegan pizzas, four boxes of flavored rice mixes, two containers of hummus, tofu, two apples, applesauce, coconut milk, two boxes of cookies, and Indian food from the hot bar. Thankfully it's early in the week and the office freezer is pretty empty so I store all the cold stuff in there until the end of the day. $67.68
3:30 p.m. — A large group of friends and I are planning an end-of-October trip and I book a cottage for the weekend. Everyone will pay me back once we figure out exactly how many people can go. The total is $817.50, but I'll pick up the portion for me and my boyfriend which will be $109.
6 p.m. — Head home on the train and I'm starting to get a migraine feeling, but I'm hoping I'm just hungry. Was planning on making tofu stir-fry tonight, but by the time I get home I feel so bad I just eat a PB&J and am in bed by 7:30 p.m.
Total: $176.68
Day 2
9:30 a.m. — Wake up with a headache hangover and can't decide if I should go into work, all my waffling gets me there a bit late. Have the usual Luna bar, crackers, and water for breakfast, plus my migraine meds.
11:30 a.m. — BF texts me to see if I want to have a date night tonight. Um, yes please. He tells me which subway stop to meet at once I get off work. Ooh, fun surprise. Hope I feel better by then.
1:30 p.m. — Still feeling a bit queasy and the only thing that seems appetizing is soup. I get the Tuscan white bean from Hale & Hearty. Too lazy to get out my wallet to pay so I use LevelUp and have a surprise $2 credit. $4.84
4 p.m. — Need an afternoon pick-me-up, and since I saved two dollars on lunch I decide on the "fancy" chai latte from Toby's Estate. While in line I make note of the concentrate they use and add it to my Amazon cart for later purchase. $4.75 + $1 tip.
6 p.m. — Meet my boyfriend for dinner and a movie. We eat at a decent vegan spot with too-high prices and go see the new Werner Herzog film about the internet. Date night so he pays.
Total: $10.59
Day 3
8 a.m. — Go to a Pilates Reformer class at my gym before work. It's not part of the membership, so it costs extra. A pre-paid package of 16 classes is only $260, which is pretty much a steal compared to other group reformer classes around the city. This is the last week of my package and although I love the classes I haven't decided if I want to continue with the expense for another 8-week session.
9:30 a.m. — Breakfast of Luna bar, crackers, water. I think I've had a similar breakfast every weekday for the past 10 years.
11:05 a.m. — I order a custom salad from Sweetgreen for pick up since I refuse to ever wait in their crazy long lines. $9.36
12:15 p.m. — On the way to salad pick-up I stop by the grocery store and grab two liter bottles of seltzer (lime and grapefruit). I've been craving chocolate pudding lately, so I get that too. $6.55
1:15 p.m. — Damn, this pudding is delicious.
4 p.m. — A pair of shoes I ordered last week from ASOS for a wedding I'm attending arrived today and they are just what I was looking for...which means I can go return the other three (!) pairs I got as back-ups in a run to Zara. Also gives me a chance to do some comp-shopping for work and see what's new in stores this week.
6 p.m. — Head home and finally make tofu stir-fry. Once or twice a week I try to make a meal large enough to bring leftovers to work the next day.
Total: $15.91
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