I have been watching a ton of “what I spend in a week as a…” videos on youtube. They have been tredning the last few weeks. Most of the people who create them are young people living in cities (What I send in a week in NYC as a 20 year old college student, or What I spend in a week as a 24 year old in LA…) . I thought it would be interesting to post my own version of this: What I spend in a week as a 40 year old home owner with a full time job in Asbury Park, NJ.
There are a few ways to go about this post. I’ve seen people include their monthly expenses divided by 4 weeks, I’ve seen people only include what they spent money on without any monthly expenses or charges, or just with those that came up during the month.
Something to keep in mind for all these videos and posts are that each person’s situation is different and they are not intended to make anyone feel bad about what they spend. They are just to see a slice of life of individual people and various lifestyles in different cities or towns. What our differences are and how we are all similar. Another thing to think about is that for most people each week of spending will differ. Unless people budget to an extreme degree there are always unexpected expenses.
I tracked my expenses for the week of Dec 9th-15th and I only included monthly expenses if I paid them within the week. I share all expenses with my husband (household expenses, shopping, food, bills, groceries, etc…) but I have only included what I paid this week which includes bills, subscriptions, food and random expenses. I have rounded up any change to the nearest dollar.
Monday Dec 9th - $81
I had our electric bill ($81) earlier but the money was actually deducted on this Monday.
Tuesday Dec 10th - $5
I stopped and got a tofu taco ($4 +$1 tip) at Mogo Tacos after work as a snack.
Wednesday Dec 11th - $20
My husband and I went to an Indian Buffet with my mom for lunch. My mom and husband bought lunch ($40 total) and I paid the tip ($10). That was nice of them! We stopped at the only local art shop on our way home and bought a few paints and an ink pen ($10).
Thursday Dec 12th - $5
I really wanted to try the new soup we had at work and bought a cup ($5).
Friday Dec 13th - $12
I rarely get my Mightfix ($12) subscription box any more, but I chose to get it this month and this is when the automatic fee was deducted from my account.
Saturday Dec 14th - $2
My husband and I went out to breakfast, walked around town and hit the thrift. Chirs paid for breakfast and some thrift items this day, I ended up only spending $2 on one thrift item ($2).
Sunday Dec 15th - $25
Another good morning for eating out for breakfast and walking around the neighborhood. I bought breakfast ($19 + $5 tip), this time.
The Week Total- $150
To be totally transparent, I was bummed that the bill came thru on Monday as I was hoping this would be a really low week for spending. I was also disappointed that I spent money every day. But this is a true account of all that I spent and I would say pretty typical for me.
Talking about finances, budgeting and money can always be a tricky thing. While I do believe that some things should be shared, like techniques, ideas for budgeting, and personal experiences, I wouldn’t share my salary or many more details of my financial life than you see here. Obviously, I also wouldn’t share my husband or friends info, either. What are you thoughts on Monday discussions?
This was as an interesting experiment as everyone said it would be. For something like me, who tracks their daily and monthly expenses all the time, seeing it in this format was still very interesting and surprising. I would like to do a few more weeks like this, not only to see how weeks differ but to see where I could be budget better and save. If anyone else out there is experimenting with this kind of post, please leave a link in the comments!