Cash Confessional: A week of spending in Charlotte on a pair of roommates’ combined $200,000 salary

To see the other installments of Cash Confessional, click here. This series is completely volunteer-based; if you’re interested in keeping track of your own spending and having it featured, email Kylie at [email protected]. This week, I spoke with a pair of 28- and 30-year-old roommates that make a combined $100,000 a year. Here’s how they spend their money. -Kylie

The basics:

*Names have been changed

Industry:

Craig – Automotive
Brian – Banking

Position:

Craig – Financial Analyst
Brian – Financial Consultant

Salary: 

Craig – $100,000
Brian – $100,000

Who do you bank with and why:

Craig – USAA. I have car and renters insurance through them and used to have a car loan with them and never saw a reason to change. Plus, they reimburse all ATM fees, so it’s all good if the casino ATM charges $8 per withdrawal.
Brian – Wells Fargo. I opened my first checking account with Wachovia in high school and have been with them ever since. They’ve taken good care of me. I have my savings with Ally because they offer slightly higher interest rates. My current credit card is with Chase, because they have outstanding travel rewards.

Savings: 

Craig – I put 10% into a 401(k) and regularly contribute to a Robinhood trading account.
Brian – I put 6% into a 401(k) with a 6% company match, $250 per month into HSA and $500 per month into an Ally savings account.

Ages:

Craig – 30
Brian – 28

Monthly expenses:

Rent: $720 ($360 each)
Neighborhood: Myers Park
Roommates: Two additional that pay a combined $780 and split utilities
Utilities: $180
Water/Gas/Electric: $200
Internet: $50
Phone bill:

Craig – $85 on a family plan
Brian – $50 on a family plan with a work discount

Student loans:

Craig – $300

Car payments:

Craig – $330

Car insurance:

Craig – $170 (I can’t wait for that wreck to fall off of my record)
Brian – $50 per month for my car, but I recently got my motorcycle insured for $9 per month. Thanks, Flo!

TV: $0. We cut the cable years ago, and now finagle our way into passwords – Netflix (our buddy Mike’s parents’ password), Hulu (old roommate’s password) and HBO Now (Brian’s ex-girlfriend’s sister’s password).

Uptown parking: 

Brian – $150

PGA Tour Live: $6

Three financial goals:

Brian –

• Buy a house within six months.
• Have $100,000 in savings within 24 months.
• Continue to live within my  means.

Craig –

• Pay my student loan balance in full. It comes out to $20,000 in the next two years.
• Save enough for a down payment on an investment property to generate an extra source of income.
• Continue to scheme my way into below-market rent. Brian better buy that house!

Money Diary: How we spent our money last week

Day one: Monday

Typical work day for both of us, Craig hit Trader Joe’s on the way in and grabbed bananas, breakfast burritos and yogurts for breakfast for the week as well as a salad and some soup for lunch ($13.56).

Brian ate lunch at the Y after working out ($9.28).

We bought tickets to the Waste Management Phoenix Open (PGA Golf Tournament) for the coming weekend for $88. After work, Brian picked up some salmon and spinach from Harris Teeter for dinner, as well as other groceries for the week ($32.07).

It was a low-key night with some free Netflix.

Total spent: $142.91 (Brian – $85.35, Craig – $57.56)

Day two: Tuesday

Craig had breakfast stashed away in his office fridge and brought lunch to work ($0) while Brian went to Vida uptown for lunch with his cousin and had a pick two special for $13.73 after tax and tip. He also dropped $31.33 on MCT oil from Amazon for morning bulletproof coffee.

We rallied back at the house after work and cruised up to the Harris Teeter on Queens & Queens, each had a beer ($3 each, what a deal) at the wine bar upstairs served by local celebrity Travis and grabbed some tuna medallions on VIC card special ($8.99/lb), some potatoes and some asparagus to grill ($24.82).

Total spent: $75.88 (Brian – $15.41, Craig – $60.47)

Day three: Wednesday

Craig scrounged around in the kitchen and found all the ingredients for a smoothie for breakfast and had a birthday lunch at Outback for work ($0). He made a bonus payment on his student loans for $600 to drop the balance under $20,000 (good progress!).

Brian also made a smoothie for breakfast and then worked out at the Y and got another wrap for lunch for .

Craig went on a Bumble date at RuRu’s where he had too many margaritas and not enough tacos ($106.44) while Brian chilled at home, made a lentil and brussels sprout bowl (via groceries bought on Monday), watched Clueless, did some travel research and ended up buying a plane ticket to Lake Tahoe for a bachelor party. The ticket was covered one way by miles, and he paid $281 for the other half.

Total spent: $996.72 (Brian – $290.28, Craig – $706.44)

Day four: Thursday

Brian got to work early and went with a coworker to Amélie’s for coffee and a croissant ($6.42) while Craig had breakfast at a friend’s apartment Uptown and then grabbed an Uber home ($6.00).

Brian worked out at the Y and then had a wrap for lunch ($9.28). Craig went to Reid’s in South Park to shake off the previous night’s margaritas, where he got a Salmon BLT and a bag of chips for $15.82.

Both made dinner at home using groceries they had and packed for their weekend trip to Phoenix.

Total spent: $37.52 (Brian – $15.70, Craig – $21.82)

Day five: Friday

We headed out to Phoenix for a PGA Tour event on Friday morning. We both tallied up the total damage done the following Monday, so instead of providing an expense amount for each activity, we’ll give you a full run down afterward, so you’re in the same suspense we were.

We took an Uber to the airport for our flight and ate breakfast at the Admiral’s lounge. When we arrived in Arizona, we grabbed another Uber to our hotel, dropped our bags off and then went to Whole Foods for some room snacks and beers.

Ate dinner at the hotel restaurant and then met up with the rest of our group in Old Town Scottsdale. Ended up having a late night bar hopping with the crew and then got late night fast food before returning to the hotel.

Day six: Saturday

We all had breakfast at the hotel restaurant the next morning before heading to the golf tournament where we all had too many bottles of Coors Light out there to count. Spent most of the day on the course and returned back to Old Town for the evening. We met some Arizona State students and threw back a few rounds of shots/drinks with them. Definitely browned out…

Day seven: Sunday

We went to breakfast back in the hotel restaurant and then hung out by the pool for a while before we went to Trader Joe’s to get some BBQ supplies to take to a friend’s house to grill out for the Super Bowl.

After grilling and having some beers, we headed to the airport where we made a quick stop in the Admirals Lounge for some snacks and a night cap, before catching our redeye home. Craig upgraded his seat for extra leg room to ensure for some quality zzz’s and Brian was already in the exit row due to his status.

We landed back at CLT early Monday morning red-eyed, exhausted and running on fumes.  What a weekend!

Weekend Damage: $1,518

• Uber: $214
• Meals: $306
• Hotel: $190
• Mini fridge charges: $86
• Golf course beer: $260
• Trader Joe’s BBQ: $78
• Old Town Scottsdale nightlife: $384

Total spent: $2,771.03
The breakdown:

Food and drink – $1,392.03
Travel and transportation – $779
Bills – $600

What we learned:

Brian – I could do a better job of preparing breakfast and lunch, but I enjoy eating out and it gives me more flexibility when I run out the door in the AM.  The discretionary spending got a little out of control in PHX, but I would not change a thing – I had a blast. Overall, I feel good about my day to day finances; although some of the disposable income purchases I had could be tapered back, in general I spend within my means.

Craig – I scrutinize my clothing and other goods purchases, but end up spending way more money on things like food and drink… and don’t think twice about it. I should do a better job at controlling spending in those areas, which would help me to be able to meet my goal of paying off my student loans much quicker.

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