Welcome to Money Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennial women 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, an Angeleno celebrating a friend's birthday and going on a promising first date.
Industry: Media
Age: 28
Location: Los Angeles
Salary: $75,000 a year
Paycheck (every 2 weeks): ~$2,266
Number of roommates: 2
Monthly Expenses
Rent: $1,025/month
Loan payments: $435/month
Utilities: $100/month
Transportation: $60/month (gas), $50/month (Ubers)
Car payment: $300/month
Phone bill: $145/month
Health insurance: $120/month
Website hosting: $10/month
Adobe Creative Cloud subscription: $29/month
Day 1
10 a.m. — Coffee: $3.27
2:30 p.m. — Go to lunch in Pasadena with my friend (and ex-boyfriend). Poké bowl and coconut water cost $11.50; his treat.
3:30 p.m. — Fill up the tank for a 2015 Honda Fit. $22.34
Daily Total: $25.61
Day 2
10 a.m. — I'm planning to write at my favorite coffee shop, but I hate their food and I'm hungry. I stop by Starbucks first to eat — a sausage breakfast sandwich and a new bagel hole thing — a French toast Bantam. $5.20
10:15 a.m. — Cold brew from Found Coffee in Eagle Rock: $4
6:30 p.m. — Eat a Trader Joe’s pizza for dinner from my freezer.
8:30 p.m. — Meet up for a first date at a wine-and-beer bar. Sierra Nevada, $6, but he pays.
9:30 p.m. — We go to another bar close by, Little Joy, for a stand-up show. I buy two whiskey gingers, my treat. Then we run into friends and have another round, his treat. $16
11:20 p.m. — Go to another bar, down the road, The Lost Knight. We have another round (it's fuzzy). He pays.
12:30 a.m. — Tipsy, and riding down Sunset Boulevard to my house in an Uber: $5.55
Daily Total: $30.75
Day 3
11 a.m. — I go to a doctor's appointment and pay for parking. $6. Co-pay: $15. Total: $21
12 p.m. — Party City for some balloons for my roommate's birthday party. $9.99 each for two huge Mylar "8" balloons, because he was born in 1988. Get it? Yeah, no one did either, but it looked cute. $21.78
1:15 p.m. — Lunch. Big Mac and French fries from McDonald’s: $5.48
1:30 p.m. — I buy a special introductory package at Pop Physique, five classes for $45. I book my first class for Sunday at 11 a.m. (Note: I slept through it.) $45
8:30 p.m. — Cupcake mix and frosting (on sale). I make these at home and crush up some near stale Oreos that I had in the pantry to put on top. It's really good, promise. $3.62
9 p.m. — Roommate orders Thai food, $16.58, his treat. We both haven't eaten and people are coming over, and I am still baking cupcakes, so we get a chicken pad Thai to split and an appetizer.
Daily Total: $96.88
See the rest of the story at Business Insider