Have you seen the article series by Refinery29 called Money Diaries? Two weeks ago, I hadn’t heard of it either until a fellow Portland “instagram friend” (@jennsweats - go follow her! She shares delicious food, sweaty selfies, and started her own fitness clothing brand @gymmatte) shared her love for these diary entries and her very own template she created. Being the finance geek that I am, I just HAD to do an entry for myself.

The past few years we have been in a unique money situation in the sense that I am the “bread winner” of our family while Colton is in grad school (June cannot come soon enough!), so this budget reflects one income supporting two individuals (and a cat). I hope you enjoy and left me know if you check out Refinery29’s Money Diary series!

Occupation: Fiscal Coordinator

Industry: Education / Finance

Years at Job: 1.5 years

Age: 26

Location: Portland, OR

Salary: $48,650

Paycheck Amount (1x / month): $3,102.50 (after taxes)

Monthly Expenses

Rent + Utilities + Netflix: $1,415 - We live in a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment about 2 miles from the heart of downtown Portland, in a cute little neighborhood. Rent is $1250 + the pet fee of $25. We also spend $55 on internet, $11 on Netflix, and an average of $75 on utilities.

Student Loans: $200 - Currently we are only consistently paying on my student loans since Colton is in school. This will unfortunately be going up in the next few months after he graduates. Our goal is to knock these out within 1-2 years. $31k ain’t got nothin’ on us!

Groceries + Entertainment: $320

Transportation: $130

Tithing + $$ to Bless Others: $441 - on top of paying our tithing, we like to set aside an additional 1% to use to bless others. This could be buying the homeless man a cup of coffee, paying for our friend’s meal when we go out, or donating to a specific cause. One of our top financial goals is to always be good stewards of the money that God has given us, and one way we do that is by blessing others.

Healthcare: $129.50 - This includes $75ish (I should probably be more responsible and know exactly what I am paying for health insurance) for health benefits (both of us) / short-term disability (only me) + $54.50 for our pre-tax FSA contribution.

Retirement: $262 - I honestly cannot remember what I elected to do, but I think I voluntarily contribute 7% on top of the 6% my employer contributes. Retirement stuff really confuses me, but I once had a Fidelity rep tell me that ideally you should be contributing at least 15% between the employer and employee. I definitely need to work on this “area” of my finances since I’m not even at 15%. ;)

Personal Money: $30 - This is what a tight budget looks like, ha! $15 for each of us, but we’ve gotten used to it.

Car + Renter’s Insurance + Colton’s Phone: $171 - My parents so kindly agreed to pay my monthly phone bill for the time being. I’m not looking forward to the day they change their minds. ;) Is it normal for folks in their upper twenties to still be on the same phone plan as their parents? When is that no longer acceptable?

Sinking Funds (Savings): $516.84 - This includes expenses that don’t occur on a regular basis. We save a specific amount each month so when this expense does happen, we have the money for it. Our sinking funds include: gifts, cat expenses, postage, haircuts, car / computer purchase, emergency fund, credit card fees, and the like.

Day 1 - Saturday - 4/6/2019

11:00 AM - Slept in really late, which felt AMAZING! While Colton played video games with his buddy from back home, I purchased the Invisibobble hair band from Amazon. I started following The Curly Girl Method a few weeks ago in hopes that I can get my curls maintained, naturally. One of the "rules" is to sleep with your hair on top of your head or sleep with a silk scarf / pillow case so your hair doesn't lose the curl and so you don't create a bunch of frizz. Long story, short, the Invisibobble is supposed to not leave a crease in your hair when you have it in a ponytail. I’m a little skeptical, but it was only $6.64. I also had a $5 Amazon gift card, which made this purchase even cheaper. Score!

1:30 PM - Drove to our friends’ daughters first birthday. It was nice to get some quality time with Colton and good friends. Bonus, the food was delicious! Also, why are baby clothes the cutest? I wanted to buy everything for the birthday girl, but settled on two cute summer outfits.

4:00 PM - Colton usually takes a sabbath from school on Friday evenings to Saturday around 5 PM. This is dedicated time that we get to spend together and occasionally that includes doing not-fun adult things, like going to the auto store. We are debating selling one of our cars due to some issues that are not worth fixing. We went to O'Reilly's to have them check the codes to see why our engine light was on (our normal mechanic charges to get your codes read, so shout out to O'Reilly's who did it for free!). We purchased this $11.99 gas cap to see if that fixes the issue.

5:00 PM - The rest of the evening was spent on homework for Colton and reading + watching The Office for me. I think I am the only person left on this planet who has not seen the office. Don’t judge me. 2019 is my year!

Daily Total: $18.63

Day 2 - Sunday - 4/7/2019

Daily Total: $0.00

Day 3 - Monday - 4/8/2019

6:15 AM - Wake up in the morning feelin’ like…SO TIRED! Need. Coffee!

8:15 AM - Work. Work. Work.

9:30 AM - Leave to take the max over to Fred Meyer to go shopping with one of the Public Health grad students for a research project they are working on. They like me because I hold all the money. ;) This $0.89 polar pop drink was a total impulse buy, but who cares. Cheaper than a $2 coffee, right? For the record, this drink was NOT purchased with company money. Just had to make that clear.

1:00 PM - Two words: Lunch Time. We call our lunch break “Book Club” because a few of us in the office all take our lunch at the same time, sit in the break room, and read our respective books. It is the best! Currently I am reading The Whole-Brain Child and The Rumor.

2: 55 PM - While I’m busy working away in my cubicle I decide that I should probably pay my $44.29 medical bill. I went to the OBGYN recently for “family planning” and they wanted to check if I had a certain vaccine already in my system. Gotta be prepared. ;)

7:00 PM - I received an e-mail informing me that my blog domain was going to be auto-renewed for $20.00. I’m not very consistent about putting things on my blog, but I still like having it.

Daily Total: $65.18

Day 4 - Tuesday - 4/9/2019

5:00 PM - I cannot wait for the day that we have our own washer and dryer. I am so tired of paying $7.50 a week on coin machines that don't even fully wash our clothes. Whenever I go to the bank to take out $75 worth of quarters, the tellers always comment that I must have a lot of laundry to do. Actually, I don't, I just like to stock up. Okay, rant over, but seriously, owning those machines is such a luxury!

7:00 PM - We firmly believe that our "first-fruits" of our earnings should be given to God, so we have an auto payment of $315.00 set up.. He has so richly blessed us because of our faithfulness in giving Him our best. Fun fact, my parents taught me to tithe from day one of receiving my $1 allowance. I had a specific tithing jar, a globe piggy bank where I gave a few pennies a week to a missionary friend, and the rest was mine to keep. Every Sunday before church, my dad would take me to the local gas station and I would spend my allowance on candy.

Daily Total: $322.50

Day 5 - Wednesday - 4/10/2019

6:15 AM - I’ve gotten into the very bad habit of snoozing my alarm (thanks Colton!), but I am up and ready to start my day. I begin my morning routine by washing my face, toning, and applying some homemade sunscreen (coconut oil + zinc oxide). So far I like it, but I am curious to see how it does during the summertime. Next I do a quick 20-30 minute workout and then make breakfast and read my Bible. I am currently reading my way through the Old Testament and have recently started reading the book of Ezra.

3:15 PM - I went downstairs to the local Starbucks to finish a little bit of work and meet up with a former PSU colleague for some coffee ($2.15) and catching up. These are my favorite kind of hang-outs; coffee and friends, what could be better? In case you weren't aware, if you're a Starbucks gold card member, you get free refills on drip coffee / tea if you stay in the store. To get my money's worth of coffee, I make sure to stay for at least one refill. Usually I save the second cup for the next work day. Two coffees for the price of one!

8:30 PM - Laid down in bed for my nightly reading to fall asleep. Colton should be home in the next hour and I’m excited to see him. Most days this term he hasn’t been getting home until after 8 PM, so the only time I get to see him is right before I go to bed.

9:40 PM - Colton is home!

10:10 PM - A few minutes after I turned my light off to go to sleep, Colton asked me if I wanted to go to the grocery store with him as he had to purchase something for school. Honestly, I kind of hate going grocery shopping by myself because the closest Walmart / Winco is about 15 minutes away and I just don’t like that. Despite it being my bedtime, it was still a better option than having to go by myself later in the week.

11:20 PM - What kind of Walmart gets rid of their produce section but keeps Subway? Seriously?! I now have to go to a second store to finish my shopping. Anyways, we spent $105.46 on non-produce groceries and $14.29 on pregnancy tests because you never know when you’re going to need one ;) (this is not an announcement). Also, I am that person who does multiple transactions at the grocery store. When you can use your pre-tax health insurance money, you make the transaction as simple as possible.

11:30 PM - Went to a “real” grocery store and finished the shopping, spending $51.60. Clearly I don’t function optimally this late at night because I tried to run my credit card and was declined 4 times at a store that only accepts debit cards. I do want to say that it was kind of glorious going shopping this late at night because the store was empty and I didn’t have to weave my way through people to get what I wanted. I highly recommend this, but waking up the next morning was not pleasant though.

Daily Total: $201.45

Day 6 - Thursday - 4/11/2019

11:05 AM - I am helping plan / host a baby shower for my cute friend later this month. The games are definitely cheesy, but who doesn't love a good baby shower game? I stopped at Starbucks to grab some goodies for the prizes and spent $14.00.I feel like I am winning because half of the items included in the prizes were things I already had saved in my "gift pile."

Daily Total: $14.00

Day 7 - Friday - 4/12/2019

7:50 AM - Hit snooze for the fifth time this morning and finally decided I should probably get up for work. I walked 14 steps to the living room, sat down on the couch, and logged on for work. Since today is my work from home day I usually just roll out of bed and get to work.

money diaries - my enneagram results.png

3:10 PM - Amidst inputting some numbers for our department’s fiscal year 20 personnel budget and organizing our faculty’s grant documents I purchased a code for $12.00 to take the legit Enneagram test. I’ve taken a few of these “free” personality quizzes on google and have received mixed results (9 and 6). This test typed me as a 9 (the peacemaker) with 6 (the loyalist) being not too far behind. I guess google wasn’t too far off. Have you heard of the 9 Enneagram types? If so, what is your type?

7:30 PM - Tonight we went to our friend’s house for our church small group. We meet twice a month to catch up, discuss what God is doing in our lives and share a meal. To avoid spending money at a more convenient (expensive) grocery store I tried my hand at making brownies from cake mix and homemade bread. Neither turned out super great, but at least they were edible.

11:55 PM - Watching a few episodes of The Office was a necessity before going to bed. As always, I fell asleep mid-episode, so I’ll have to start that one over tomorrow. The only thing missing was Colton’s homemade popcorn. So good!

1:15 AM - I am exhausted, but SO HAPPY that I have nothing planned for Saturday and I get to sleep in! Too bad Colton has to be up at the crack of dawn (sucker!). Goodnight!

Daily Total: $12.00

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Overall, I don’t think we did too bad. It was a “different” week in that we paid tithing and purchased groceries, which usually only occur once and twice a month, respectively. If any of you decide to do your own Money Diary, let me know. I’d love to check it out!

Let me know in the comments: