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

The Money Diaries: The 37 year-old homeowner who makes 6 figures

October 5 32 Comments latest by Anya

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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DAY 1

8am: Grab some cereal and sit down to a quiet house and pay some bills. My bills are a combination of automated and hand entered electronic bill payments. The fixed monthly costs are automated, everything else is set up where I just have to fill in the amounts. The breakdown:

Income:

Paycheck direct deposit: $8000 plus $475 expense reimbursement. This is after maxed out 401(k), benefits, and a ridiculous amount of taxes are taken out.

Fixed Costs:
IRA Contribution: $400
Transfer to Property Tax savings account: $500
Truck payment: $600
Mortgage: $3,200 (My house and land isn’t as big as this payment suggests).

Variable Costs:
Property Taxes: : $1300
Quarterly water bill: $80
Quarterly sewer bill: $50
House phone/internet: $111
Wife cellphone: $54
My cellphone: $108
Annual homeowners insurance: $991
Pay the minimum on my credit card bill: $250. Total bill is $17,584 right now (This needs explanation, but I’ll get to it later. Wife and I pay for everything on the shared credit card. My card limit is something like $40k. This amount has been lingering for 5 months now).

DAY 2

8:30am: Rode the bike to work. Ponder new jerseys for the cool mornings. $60/jersey. Crazy, decide to look at the Bike Nashbar specials when they’re on clearance.
12pm: Starving by lunch time, but I have a lunch meeting.
1:30pm: Lunch meeting over, still hungry, buy a $2 chocolate pudding at the company cafe.
5:30pm: Ride home.
6:30pm: Wife went food shopping, $159 in food. And she got gas, $85.
8pm: Check the mail, see a $43,000 tax bill adjustment from last year via “automated review”. Wtf? Call my accountant.

DAY 3

9am: Drive to work because I’m late.
12pm: Buy $8 lunch at company cafe.
8pm: At night, shop online for $1000 in parts for my project car. Decide to wait till I have the time to install them.
The project car is a car someone gave me for free if I could tow it out of their backyard. So hey, “free car” but just needs some fixing. It really only needs $500 in parts to repair and be drive-able. But it would want $1500 in parts to be slightly upgraded and make for an enjoyable, performing ride.

DAY 4

9am: Drive to work.
12pm: Buy $8 lunch at company cafe.
6:30pm: Meet with a financial advisor trying to sell me on his services. He buys fancy dinner, $150. He says his fee is ‘only’ 1.5%. Tell him I’ll consider it, but I’m lying. My ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) are doing fine in my IRA and 401k. 1.5%?! No wonder he drives a Maserati.

DAY 5

8:30am: Ride to work.
12pm: Buy $8 lunch at company cafe (feeling a trend?)
2pm: Later in the afternoon, still hungry. Buy a $2 chocolate pudding.
6:30pm: Family wants to go to Disneyland for vacation. Disneyland wants $4k for in-park hotel, park tickets, and flights. Jetblue wants $2100 for just-outside-park hotel, tickets, and flights. Make a note I should start a travel company that answers “When is the cheapest vacation possible for destination X?”
7:30pm: Spend an hour playing with dates and flight times to find a cheaper vacation on a bunch of websites. End up finding $2200 for in-park hotel, park tickets, and flights, but kid has standardized testing that week. Gah.
9pm: Accountant calls back. Says he sees IRS error and it should be at most under $5k in tax adjustments. I invested in a business a few years ago, which failed. I used some tax software to do the returns then, and now I’m continually harassed about what were legitimate business expenses, depreciation, etc. My accountant has saved my financial ass from the “tax software returns” a few times already. He’s worth his $250/hr rate.

DAY 6

5:30pm: Fill up truck with biodiesel. $100 for a full tank, which typically lasts 2 weeks if I ride the bike to work more than 2 days a week.
6:30pm: Wife doesn’t feel like cooking, suggests Japanese steak house. $70 dinner for the family.
10:30pm: Check the accounts after everyone else is in bed. As part of my 10b5-1 plan, I sell a fixed amount of options on the last Friday of the quarter. Look at the stock price, guesstimate the funds that should be wired to me Monday. Looks like $8500. Stupid markets (and me). Like everyone else, my company stock is down, way down. I was hoping to pay off mortgage with my options; now, maybe just the truck and put the rest in savings.

Last year, my options gave me $220k in extra income, so the credit card bill went up (clearly because you spend what you make). I figured the good markets would last for a bit longer, bought new toys, started a race car habit, paid off wife’s car, paid $20k/qtr in credit card bills, paid lots of taxes. Maybe the market will magically rebound and I’ll be a paper millionaire again.

What I should have done is stop racing cars last year and paid off my truck and mortgage by cashing my options out more aggressively. I have a fancy race car, trailer, and all the parts sitting in my garage, unused for all of 2008. Clearly my “faith in the markets” strategy didn’t work too well.

DAY 7

10am: Ponder buying a fancy Xbox Elite. Decide I lack the time to play games and the Gamecube is fine; besides, when was the last time I played it? Avoid spending $400+.
11am: Head to gun shop. Buy $300 in ammo. Ponder buying that target rifle I’ve been wanting. Store owner offers to knock it down to $700 from $800. Still too much for a toy; I tell him I’ll take it for $600 if no one else buys it in the next week.
2pm: After lunch, take kid to the saddlery to look at saddles, bridles, and clothing for riding lessons and competition. Mentally add up $3000 in stuff needed for first competition. Good thing it’s not until the spring.
4pm: Head to animal rescue league to look at horses and dogs. They have 2 real nice horses, which have to go together as a pair. Lots of dogs, none up for adoption yet. Need to find a stable to put the horses at, or need to move to a house with a barn and corrals.
7pm: Neither wife nor I feel like cooking, so we head out to eat at the Italian place we like, $110.

In sum: Monthly income received: $8,475, Expenses: $7,644 (including IRA and savings contributions), spending for the week: $552.

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To be featured anonymously in a future Money Diary, click here. To invite me to speak at your company, university, or organization, see my speaking page.

(19 votes, average: 4.05 out of 5)

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32 Comments latest by Anya

The Money Diaries: The 20-something who doesn’t make enough to cover her shopping habit

September 21 59 Comments latest by Misty

Today is the second 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 from a 25-year old woman who’s struggling between paying her bills and the irresistible urge to spend.

DAY ONE

9am: At work… Stressing because this check has to pay both my rent AND car payment, as I was completely irresponsible with my money in July. Plus my best friend is getting married and I’m trying to foot the bill for a bridal shower. Ouch. I will not spend any money. I will not spend any money. I will not spend any money.
10am: I have Gmail chat with my other best friend. She’s incredibly financially responsible. She’s telling me about her Excel spreadsheet that she uses to track her budget. She makes me a mock-up copy and talks about how watching every cent go in and out makes it like a game - how much can I save this month? I’m developing this odd excitement and new-found resolve to get my finances in order. I’m going to fix this. I’m sick to death of being broke all the time and having no idea where my money went.
1pm: I spent money. Some coworkers asked me if I’d like to join them for lunch. Why, of course I would! I spent $10.60 at the Mexican place. I was too lazy to make lunch last night, so I figure I was going to spend some money anyway. I still feel guilty.
3pm: I check my bank account online. My paycheck (due tomorrow) has already come through. $1,268.22 total. This has to cover my rent ($975), my car payment ($300) and my cable bill that’s due this weekend (about $60). This isn’t enough. I have to ask my mom for money. SHIT.
6pm: I went Bridal Shower shopping. I had $25 cash in my pocket from hawking my old crap on Craigslist, and had to stay under that amount. I go to K-mart to get a few things for a craft project. I get to the register and they ring up more expensive than the display said. I can’t believe I’m standing in K-mart haggling over $6 with a cashier who barely speaks English. He gives after some persuasion and I’m off to a craft store with $6 remaining. I end up spending $8.48 and running my debit card after I told myself I wasn’t going to. I have no self control. So I reward myself with a $2.10 cheeseburger from In-n-Out on the way home. After all I can’t spend money once I’m home, right?
8:30pm: Wrong! $6.99 is shelled out to buy print-from-home Bridal Shower Bingo cards. I need to go to bed.

DAY TWO

11am: I get an email from Amazon. One of my books sold! I’m dorkily excited as this is the first time I’ve tried this. The upside is that I just made about $32. The downside is that because it’s my first time selling, they have to wait 14 days to deposit the funds. Damn. Plus I have to figure out how I’m going to get the money to ship the thing.
2pm: I just got off the phone with my mom. She’s agreed to LEND me $150 which will pay my cable bill and put gas in my car. This can work. I’ll pay her back in September. She’s not happy, but sometimes I have to shut up and listen to a lecture to see any money, and I RARELY ask.
5pm: I’m supposed to go out with friends tonight….I’ve already informed them of my little “situation” so we’ll be pre-drinking and then I’ll most likely con some sucker at the bar to buy me drinks once we’re out. I can avoid a cab (who has $7?) by sleeping on a friend’s couch. I have a feeling this can end up in financial disaster for me, so I’ve already decided not to take my debit card out with me, so that I can’t cave and start swiping it without abandon. Wish me luck!

DAY THREE

11 am: Last night was a success in that I didn’t spend a penny. It sucked not having money for a cab home, and I was in a very unpleasant mood at the end of the night. It’s a really shitty feeling to not be able to sport $7 for a cab. Lucky for me a friend picked me up. I find out my mom deposited $200. I’m so SICK of being in this rut! It feels like it’s never going to end, and I’m constantly going to be fighting to keep my head above water. I’m pretty sure I went to college to avoid be some broke-ass loser.
3pm: A girlfriend picks me up and we were supposed to go to a BBQ, but it ends up being a wash. We’re both starving and go to the market and get sushi and soup. I spend $13.60, which I told myself I wasn’t going to do, but I’m hungry and cranky.
9pm: I also paid for the cab home and chalk the $10 up to being a lot better than a DUI.

DAY FOUR

3pm: So I actually MADE a little money today! I sold a few old things from my school days to a current student. $180! She made out because I just saved her over $250 and I made out because that’s $180 I didn’t have this morning. I owe my credit card company $123 for going over my limit. It’s due by the 12th, but I don’t get paid until the 15th and they were NOT budging on that, despite my charming persuasion. At least this way I can bring it current and try to get a lower interest rate.
7pm: I’m staring into my desolate refrigerator and feeling a little depressed. I have a little leftover pasta (boooooring) and not much else. Usually my trusty freezer holds all kinds of forgotten treasures and even that is failing me now. I may have to allot $40 from my sale money today for a Trader Joe’s trip. My smarter option would be Ralph’s with it’s plethora of cheap and easy food, but I tend to shy away from over-processed crap. But sometimes broke and desperate means eating as cheap as possible. I bake cookies instead.

DAY FIVE

1:30am: I’m currently going through a serious conscience battle with the cash from yesterday. There’s a little angel and a devil on my shoulders screaming obscenities at each other. I can go wild and buy a few more things for both the Bridal Shower and Bachelorette party (can we spell “new dress”?!) but I’ve vowed to not continue to screw with my credit cards. I need (and I do mean, NEED) to do the responsible thing and pay them. It’s just so hard to part with $125 and get “nothing” in return! But that’s what got me in this little debt to begin with. I need to view this as being blessed that I have this money and can now pay my cards without completely bankrupting my next paycheck. It’s a good thing that angel is a witty little bitch!
6pm: I put some expensive drinkware on my Macy’s credit card for the Bridal Shower. I fully intend to pull a fast one and return it next week. I know that’s sneaky and dishonest, but I don’t really have a slew of other options. I don’t want my best friend drinking from plastic red party cups at her Bridal Shower! So I’m taking a chance and hoping nothing gets broken. I’ll wash and return it and no one will be the wiser!

DAY SIX

1pm: I have a voicemail from a guy trying to buy more CL stuff. I haven’t spoken to him yet, but if he buys this stuff and the woman I’m meeting with tonight buys that, that’s an additional $45. I’d be setting the money aside to pay for a spa day that’s planned for right before the wedding. Fingers crossed!
7pm: One of the buyers flaked, but I did walk away with $25. I’m setting it aside. I also went grocery shopping and ended up spending around $33. It’ll get me through at least next week. I’m gone all weekend, and that means I’ll be fed elsewhere!

DAY SEVEN

2pm: I’m thinking about my next paycheck (already!) and it’s giving me stress. I have to set aside my rent money so I don’t have a repeat of this month, and pay for SO much wedding related activities/appointments. I’m getting my hair done, going with the bride for pedicures, AND going to Vegas. Man. Plus I have to pay bills AND a $212 car insurance installment. I’m so ready for this wedding to be over.
5pm: I just realized that in the whirlwind that has been this week, I haven’t touched the budget my friend made me. I feel terribly guilty and can’t even explain why, as the only person I’m letting down is myself. I still have resolve and hopefully I’ll have some time this weekend while I’m visiting my mom.

In sum: $1530 made, $1410 spent… over $100 of that being just food, one loan from my mom, 7 days of making-my-face-break-out stress, $0 in Credit Card debt paid off, and one dishonest department store scam. Whew.

* * *

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

(22 votes, average: 4.41 out of 5)

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59 Comments latest by Misty

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