The Money Diaries: The spoiled 20-something used to living beyond his means

November 12 67 Comments latest by Doctor S

Here’s another post in the Money Diaries series, which is based off New York Magazine’s Sex Diaries. We’ve collected stories from real people about their spending habits over seven days, anonymized them, and posted them here.

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Note from the author: I graduated from college about a year ago and was lucky enough to land the job of my dreams. I moved into my parent’s house so I could get out of credit card debt and start saving for a house of my own.

I have a penchant for the good life, but after a year of living it up, I found myself with $12,000 in credit card debt! In addition to that, I just got myself into some legal trouble and need to come up with about $6,000 for my lawyer.

I make $1200 every two weeks after taxes and 401(k) contributions. The only real bills I have are my phone and student loan payments ($150) and paying down debt ($600), after which I end up with about $450 per paycheck.

For the past year, I’ve been going out about 5 nights a week , and I don’t know if I’ve ever not gone over that $450 per paycheck. I realize I need a serious lifestyle change. I may die of boredom, but at least I’ll be closer to getting out of debt. Let’s see if I can do it.

DAY 1:
2:20pm: I heard that I’d be featured in The Money Diaries while at work. I’m excited but nervous because it’s Friday night. I start brainstorming drastic ways to pay off my debt and actually considered cashing out my 401(k). I started it 10 months ago and have about $7,000 already in it. I know cashing out is probably the stupidest thing I could ever do. I need to suck it up and change how I spend my money.
6:30pm: I’m excited to get off of work and meet a group of friends at one of my favorite restaurants downtown. After all, it is Friday and I worked a hellish week.
7:14pm: Fuck. I can’t afford that restaurant. I shouldn’t eat out at all. I have an obscene amount of food at home. I call my friends and tell them to go without me. That may be dick (to arrange it and then ditch), but I know from experience that they’ll have fun anyway and it’s not like they are going to pay my bills for me! I call other friends and decide to meet up at their house. I’ll bring some leftover Belvedere from last weekend so I don’t have to buy tonight!

DAY 2:
1:00pm: I’m hung over and hungry. My friends and I decide to go somewhere to eat. I insist on cheap. This brings us to Taco Bell. I spend $3.50 and don’t even eat everything I order. I love this place!
2:00pm: I forgot to mention- I smoke. I spend $7 on a pack of cigarettes and lottery tickets. Both are my guilty pleasure.
8:00pm: I’m invited to go out to eat but I decline and decide to try to choke down some of my step dad’s cooking… If I die, at least I’ll know it was in effort to make a good financial decision.
9:00pm: I decide to hang out at a friend’s house instead of going to the bar with other friends. This whole financial responsibility thing is getting old… But at least I’m sticking to it. On my way, I see some really cheap gas and decide to fill up even though I don’t need it, $16.

DAY 3:
3:00pm: It’s Sunday = football. Instead of going to the bars with friends, I decide to go to work and get some stuff done. I stop at Starbucks- $3.50. I’m getting antsy - I need to go out sometime soon! At least tomorrow starts off a busy workweek.

DAY 4:
8:30am: I need cigarettes. I’m too late to work to care about the fact I’m spending money. Without these, my day would not be too great. I spend $4.

DAY 5:
12:30pm: I need cigarettes again. This time, the gas station has one of those buy 2, get 1 free offers. Even though I still pay sin tax for the 3rd pack, it’s still cheaper than buying 3 individual packs. I also throw in a Powerball and state lotto ticket. I spend $13. I probably won’t need to buy cigarettes for another 4 days, thank God. Even though I’m doing surprising well at not spending money, I was reminded today that I have a trip to Chicago this weekend and a family wedding in LA to attend the weekend after. How can I stick to a minimal budget when I’m jet setting across the country every weekend?
2:35pm: I figured it out! Since my whole family is going to the wedding, I’m going to save myself $50 by not buying a present in my name and piggybacking on my mom’s gift. I don’t know how I feel about this because now that I have a “big kid job,” I feel responsible for my own gift. I’ll think about it for a minute.
7:50pm: $13 on gas. I’m not normally a serial tank filler but gas has been at it’s cheapest, and from what I’ve read, prices are supposed to drastically rise. I thought I’d take advantage one last time.

DAY 6:
12:00pm: Ok, I broke down today. I couldn’t resist going to lunch with coworkers. Pizza buffet costs $9. I don’t feel so horrible because I consider this my first poor financial decision of the week.

DAY 7:
8:00pm: Haven’t spent any money… Yet. But I did cancel my Chicago trip so I could save money. It doesn’t seem like the end of the world, either. I get paid tomorrow and I know I would have spent at least $300 over the weekend.
8:30pm: I’m still at work and need to eat. I won’t feel so guilty buying dinner considering I just canceled my trip.
1:00am: I’m stupid. I decided to go out to eat and drink with buddies. I spent $40. I’m shocked at how one bad financial decision can ruin a week of serious efforts. I regret this because I realize that it is moments like this that get me in financial trouble.

In sum:
I only spent $114 this week! That’s amazing. I’m also kicking myself… Almost HALF of the money I spent this week could have been saved! Still, thanks to this, I have an extra $200 that I can throw at my debt. It feels great. Just seeing my frustrations written out has helped me realize how debt is affecting my life. I look forward to continuing this on my own. Let’s hope I can keep it up!

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To be featured anonymously in a future Money Diary, click here. To see other Money Diaries, click here.

(26 votes, average: 4.46 out of 5)

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67 Comments latest by Doctor S

The Money Diaries: The Slightly Lovedrunk, Bar Hopping New Yorker

October 16 64 Comments latest by Maureen

Today is another post in the Money Diaries series, which is based off New York Magazine’s Sex Diaries. We’ve collected stories from real people about their spending habits over seven days, anonymized them, and posted them here.

Today’s post is by a 28-year old woman who’s keeping an eye on her account balance while living up the nightlife in New York City.

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DAY ONE

10:15 a.m: Decide to forgo breakfast this morning as part of a weight- and finance-maintenance plan. Instead I select a cup of company-subsidized Lipton hot tea from the kitchen.
1 p.m: Intended to hit the street cart for lunch today, but my boss’ boss comes over to my cube and wants to go to a deli downstairs. I have a review coming up, and I suppose I need all the brown-nosing points I can get. I get a buffet assortment of three chicken salads, green beans, and other random greens. Grand total: $7.75. I sigh.
3:30: Work BFF comes over to my cube and says she wants to go get some froyo. I can’t resist the lure of cold, whipped ice-sugar, so I shell out $2.75 for a small double-dutch chocolate in a cup.
7 p.m: Date at a Midtown lounge with a former lawyer.
7:45 p.m: Get so tired of trying to sell myself as a competent, beautiful, and Fun (with a capital F!) woman that I order a second Ketel One and tonic to his one rum and Coke.
8 p.m: Decide he looks a little like Erik Estrada and doesn’t seem terribly focused, even though he’s a nice guy. He picks up the tab, which is also nice.
8:05 p.m: Start missing my ex-boyfriend. A lot.
8:20 p.m: Hug my date goodbye and thank him.
8:30 p.m: Wander down 55th Street depressed as hell. Decide there is only one cure for my heartache and enter a karaoke bar perched on the top floor of a Japanese restaurant.
9:45 p.m: Two $5 Kirin Lights and four $1.50 song cards later, I notice I’m getting teary as the woman sitting beside me sings Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” It’s definitely time to go home.
10 p.m: I convince myself I’m too sad and buzzed to take the subway, so I blow $10.50 on a cab ride.
10:15 p.m: A bit irritated with myself for spending so pointlessly this evening, I try and make up the difference by eating leftover kung pao chicken takeout from my fridge instead of ordering dinner.

DAY TWO

9:45 a.m: WebMD.com has convinced me that I have strep throat, so I make a pit stop at my doctor’s office on the way in to work. Copay: $20. He writes me two prescriptions: One for an antibiotic and one for Allegra, even though I don’t have allergies.
11:45 a.m: The drugstore pharmacist tells me it’ll be $10 for the antibiotics and $35 for the Allegra. I decline the Allegra, because I think I have a few tablets of Claritin in my desk drawer. Pharmacist seems annoyed at my frugality.
1:35 p.m: Nothing will stop me from going to the gyro cart today. I pick up a $4 lamb-stuffed pita and a 75-cent Diet Coke and consider lunch a financial success.
2:40 p.m: I am terrified of logging in to my bank’s website and viewing my checking-account balance, but I do anyway. Because I live in New York City and because I pay half of my monthly salary to live alone in a studio apartment, I really shouldn’t spend more than $63.85 until next month.
2:46 p.m: I think hard. I SHOULD have a $250 check for a freelance article I wrote in March coming in the mail soon. But until it comes through, I need to seriously cut back.
4:59 p.m: Like any good, cliche New Yorker, I see a therapist every week, and today I had my first appointment with a psychiatrist about, ahem, chemically stabilizing my moods. Copay: $20.
6:45 p.m: I grab a slice before going out. I do a double-take as I pay: My pizza place raised its prices from $2.75 for a slice of one-topping pizza to $3. This makes me infinitely sad for some reason.
7:30 p.m: A coworker of mine won a free keg of beer from a shoddy Irish pub. I somehow get away with drinking for several hours and paying only a dollar for a tip.
12:30 a.m: As I stumble back to my apartment, a cute former coworker of mine texts me that he wishes he were single…because of me. It’s a damn shame, because I happen to know for a fact that this guy is fiscally responsible, even though he doesn’t make a ton of money.

DAY THREE

10:30 a.m: Oh, holy God, I am so hung over that it feels like I’ve eaten a ball of yarn. I come up with 71 cents for a whole-wheat bagel with butter on it, hoping that it will somehow soak up the excess alcohol in my stomach. Ow.
1 p.m: Lunch at a Midtown diner with a friend. We switch off on paying the check each time we eat together, so today my grilled cheese was free. Nice.
3:28 p.m: Somehow I’ve gotten a reputation at work for being the woman who always has quarters for the chocolate-covered-almond machine. I give one to my boss and one to the features editor. I’m trying to make nice with the editor so he’ll give me some writing assignments. Is it wrong to try and buy respect? And with quarters, at that?
4 p.m: I pick up a prescription at Duane Reade, and because my doc gave me a $35 promotional coupon for the medication, it’s totally free. That has never happened to me in my entire life.
7:15 p.m: I grab a $3 slice before yet another date that I’m dreading.
9 p.m: Date at an Upper East Side lounge with a guy who works in finance. He tells me he works for a private equity fund and explains it to me. I still don’t totally understand what that is, but it’s nice to know he’s good with numbers. He also picks up the check, which is very nice.
1:15 a.m: My ex-boyfriend texts me and says he misses me. We text each other until 2.

DAY FOUR

10:30 a.m: I need coffee. No free tea today – only java will do. I spend $3.69 on a small black coffee and yogurt/granola parfait at a deli downstairs from my office.
2 p.m: Half-day Friday! I decide to go to lunch with my boss and my work BFF. I shell out $10 for a delicious pork curry over ramen noodles.
5:45 p.m: I am running on barely any sleep (had a hard time falling asleep last night after trading texts with the ex), so I grab two Red Bulls from the deli. Those things are expensive. Grand total: $5.
7:30 p.m: I’m running around my apartment in a Red Bull-fueled frenzy getting ready for dinner at a steakhouse with said ex-boyfriend. We haven’t spoken or seen each other in two weeks – a break that was my idea. I certainly don’t want to walk all the way to the subway in three-and-a-half-inch heels, so I blow a cool $20 on a cab way down to the Meatpacking District.
10 p.m: Steaks were had, a wine bottle was uncorked, after-dinner drinks were consumed and a relationship was rekindled. My no-longer-ex-boyfriend picks up the three-digit check. I feel spoiled, grateful, and incredulous at the same time.
12 p.m: After dinner, boyfriend and I grab a couple of beers at a Greenwich Village haunt. I figure that I should pay for at least something tonight, so I spend $13 on our tab, which consisted of a Pilsner Urquell and a Bud Light.
12:30 p.m: Boyfriend pays for the cab home.

DAY FIVE

9:15 a.m: Time to hit the Jersey shore for a bit of beach time with three of my pals. Price for a PATH train ride to Jersey: $1.75
10:15 a.m: I’m so insanely tired that I buy a Diet Coke. I pick up a Poland Spring as an afterthought, as it’s probably not good to subsist solely on Diet Coke, Red Bull, and booze. Total: $2.50
3 p.m: Ahhhh, sun. We’re all hungry, so I grab a hot dog and a frozen Coke for $6.
5:15 p.m: We pile into the car and hit a seafood restaurant that looks out onto the water. I have a delicious meal of oysters, a cod sandwich, and chips. And a pina colada and a Corona, of course. We split the check four ways. My portion is $29.88.
7 p.m: We each pitch in $5 for gas money.
9:30 p.m: Hit up an Irish pub near Herald Square. I drink two Harp drafts and half a Bud Light, which costs me $20.
10:30 p.m: Boyfriend shows up and whisks me back uptown to drop my things off, and then to his ‘hood in Brooklyn. He pays for the cab rides.
12:30 a.m: We hit a taco joint for tacos, nachos, and one margarita each. I contribute $10 to the cause.
2 a.m: Cab back to boyfriend’s apartment. I throw in $5.
2:30 a.m: Boyfriend mentions offhand that the accountant he recommended for me this past tax season didn’t get my payment, even though he said they invoiced me. I get really flustered, because I’m normally so good at paying all of my bills on time. Boyfriend sweetly offers to pay for it, and I immediately say no. You can’t put a price on pride, y’all.

DAY SIX

1 p.m: Free concert at McCarren Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn! I contribute $5 for the cab ride there and realize I have zero cash left. I hold our place in line while boyfriend runs out for giant iced lattes and turkey sandwiches, which he pays for.
3 p.m: We’re standing in the rain with no umbrellas, still waiting for doors to open. I guess nothing really comes free.
4 p.m: Show is awesome, and the free people-watching is even better.
5:30 p.m: Boyfriend grabs us burgers, a bag of chips, and two Bud Lights. I’m embarrassed that I have no cash.
7:15 p.m: Boyfriend and I stop by a fancy cheese store for crackers, pate, and brie for tonight.
8:30 p.m: I’m cleaning the apartment for my two friends who are coming later, while the boyfriend offers to run to the grocery store for fruit, chips, and delicious French onion dip. He picks up the tab for it all, and I continue to feel bad that he’s paying for so much.

DAY SEVEN

10 a.m: I hit my bank’s ATM on my way to work and take out $100. I have $387.28 left in my checking account. That’s not as bad as I thought, but it has to last me another 17 days, and that includes two upcoming therapy sessions. I’m really starting to need those two freelance checks I’m owed. I really, really do not want to dip into my savings account for emergency cash.
1:45 p.m: I have GOT to eat something green and fresh after inhaling junk for the past few days, so I go with three of my coworkers to a deli around the corner and hit up the salad bar. Total comes to $6.
2:30: I recently got an ominous-sounding letter from my insurance provider saying that a procedure from my last vision checkup isn’t covered. With visions of $500 invoices dancing in my head, I call the doctor’s office to ask what the letter means. The nice receptionist tells me that the doctor chose to just write that procedure off rather than charging me for it. I fall all over myself thanking her.
2:58 p.m: I see that my gym has deducted $21.40 from my checking account for monthly dues. Perhaps I should consider actually going to the gym in order to get my money’s worth.
7:30 p.m: Slice of pizza, $3.
8:30 p.m: Boyfriend invites me over. We work separately, in silence, on different things: he on his taxes and me on my freelance assignment. We both complete our tasks.
10:30 p.m: Against our better Monday-night judgment, we grab a couple of drinks. My round of delicious Victory Hop Wallop draft beer costs $14. I look at him. Victory, indeed.

In sum: $347.11 spent, $71 of which was on booze; 8 unnecessary cab rides; 7 instances of alcoholic behavior; 6 dates; 2 financial freakouts; 1 CHiPs reference; 0 freelance checks received via mail.

Update: The anonymous poster, “Jane,” leaves a comment below.

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To be featured anonymously in a future Money Diary, click here.

(17 votes, average: 3.88 out of 5)

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64 Comments latest by Maureen

Major TV network is looking for Money Diaries people to feature on TV

October 13 1 Comment latest by Caleb Nelson

Cool news: A major TV network heard about the I Will Teach You To Be Rich Money Diaries, and they want to do a TV spot featuring some new ones. Translation: If you want to be on TV, here’s your chance!

We’re looking for a few people who would be willing to track their spending for 7 days. The network will send you a handheld video camera to film your spending. It would be just like The Money Diaries, except it would be a video journal (aka not anonymous).

We’re specifically looking for three ‘categories’ of participants:

• A 20-something with disposable income (can be a lot or a little). (Filled.)
• A parent that takes care of the household (does the grocery shopping, etc.). (Filled.)
• Someone retired, or of retirement age (65+).

Again, if you choose to do this, you will not be anonymous. So if you’re interested in being on TV, click here. If you want to give a big shout-out to your boy Ramit while on film, that would be acceptable.

If you’re interested in being in the the regular, anonymous Money Diaries on this blog, click here.

(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)

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1 Comment latest by Caleb Nelson

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