Cash Confessional: A week of spending in Charlotte on a combined $156,000 salary
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Our Cash Confessional series, in partnership with Bank of America, takes a personal and anonymous look into how people of all ages and incomes spend their money in the span of seven days.
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 couple in their early thirties (with two children) that make a combined $156,000 per year. Here’s how they spend their money. -Kylie
The basics:
Industry:
Him – Technology
Her – Non-profit
Position:
Him – Application Manager
Her – Accountant
Yearly salary:
Him – $95,000
Her – $56,000 with a $5,000 bonus (which goes toward her debt)
Who you bank with and why: First Citizens Bank. We always choose banks that are small and local. We find that they have better customer service, better rates and, overall, a better experience should a problem arise.
Savings: $1,300 per month goes into savings. He has an IRA, into which $350 goes every month, while her 403(b) gets $300 per month.
Ages:
Him – 33
Her – 32
Monthly expenses:
Mortgage: $1,000.86. This includes property tax and home insurance.
Roommates: A 3-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter who have yet to contribute financially.
Neighborhood: Mint Hill. We both work in Uptown.
Daycare: $1,618 per month. Free public education is in sight!
Utilities:
Electric – $93 (average of 12 months)
Gas – $63 (average of 12 months)
Cable and Internet – $97
Water – $21
Car payments:
Him – $184
Her – $361
Car insurance: $522 every six months (paid in May and November)
Student loans:
Him – Paid off
Her – $166 per month
Transportation:
Him – $45 per month for gas. His work has their own parking garage, so no cost there.
Her – $60 for gas. Hers is the car we use when we travel, so her gas expense is a bit higher. She also works in Uptown, but work pays for her monthly parking.
Phone bill:
Him – Covered by work
Her – $43.50 for an AT&T Go-Phone
Netflix: $12
Gaming: $13, which is the monthly fee for his Final Fantasy MMO.
Gym membership: $10 for him
Swim lessons: $260. Our kids are both in private swim lessons, which we consider our only lavish monthly expense.
HVAC: $238. We bought an older house and had to buy two new HVACs. We’re still paying off the second one, but at least it’s 0% APR!
NC529: $170. This is the kids’ college fund.
Speech therapy: $200. It’s another cost of the kids, and even though it’s covered by insurance, it still requires a specialist co-pay of $50 per week.
Three financial goals:
Save for our new kitchen and floors. We are preparing to update our kitchen in the fall (cabinets, plumbing, electrical, gas range, backsplash… the whole nine) and also add bamboo flooring throughout our downstairs. Our goal is to save at least half of the cost of the project, and we will not proceed with any project if it puts us into a lot of debt.
Pay off her student loan. We were able to pay off his student loan this year (4 years ahead of schedule!), so our goal is to take his payment and add it to her student loan payment. If we are successful, her student loan will be paid off before the end of the year. She is almost 10 years out of college, so this loan has got to go!
Max out both of our IRAs. Our goal is to put the maximum contribution each year to his and her IRA. We really want to retire someday.
Money Diary: How we spent our money last week
Day one: Sunday
This is the day we stock up on our weekly groceries at Fresh Market ($98.65). She uses those groceries to make her breakfast and lunch for the whole week and create a menu for all the dinners in the week.
Her mother is in town, so we called a babysitter and went out for some afternoon coffee and chit-chat at Panera Bread ($0 – used a gift card). Her mother also cooked dinner, so that saved us money ($0).
Her cell phone and a professional fee were both auto-drafted from our account for $43.50 and $39, respectively.
Total spent: $181.15
Day two: Monday
The heavy rain last night wiped out our power, which was a fantastic start to the week. She heated up her breakfast on the gas range and stopped at McDonalds on the way to work for some coffee ($1.08). The power was back on by the time he woke up, so he made a protein shake and a slice of toast ($0).
She brought her lunch from home ($0) and he went to Wendy’s ($7.57). She stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts on the way home to get her medium iced coffee (cream only) ($1.07).
It was a swim night, so she made the kids a quick dinner and made honey mustard drumsticks for us. This was all purchased with the groceries on Sunday.
The second payment for our daughter’s soccer class at Soccer Shots was auto-drafted from our account. $56
Total spent: $65.72
Day three: Tuesday
The weekly daycare bill was due this morning. The $404.50 hurts. Every. Time.
She heated up her pre-made breakfast ($0) and he made another protein shake and toast ($0). The gas light came on in her car, so she figured she’d better fill up at Circle K ($28.04).
It was a co-worker’s birthday, so she went out to celebrate for lunch at 204 N. Tryon ($10.83). He went to Fortune Cookie because his co-worker has a crush on the waitress ($7.75).
She grabbed her daily coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts ($1.07) and took our son to speech therapy ($50). While they did that, he grabbed a milkshake and ice cream at Chick-fil-A with our daughter ($3.94) .
We ate dinner at home using our weekly groceries.
Total spent: $506.13
Day four: Wednesday
We both had the usual breakfast at home ($0) and while she brought hers, he let his co-worker decide where to eat and they ended up at Subway for lunch ($6.50).
She left early to bring our son to the doctor and had to pay the insurance co-pay ($25). Afterward, she stopped by to see her friends at Dunkin’ Donuts and get her afternoon liquid energy ($1.07).
Dinner was spent eating at home ($0) and the kids played outside until it was dark.
Total spent: $32.57
Day five: Thursday
Breakfast for us is a boring event, and we ate our normal ones at home ($0).
She brought her lunch and ate at work ($0) while he headed to Chipotle for a burrito ($8.98). It seemed like a good day for coffee, so she went to Dunkin’ Donuts for an iced coffee ($1.07).
It was a swim night, so he took our son to swim lessons. She and our daughter needed some food and household items, so they went to Target ($30.53).
She made a great broccoli and chicken stir-fry at home for dinner with this week’s groceries ($0).
Total spent: $40.58
Day six: Friday
She ate breakfast at home ($0) and headed out to Atlas Chiropractic before work ($50 – a small price to pay for the elimination of migraines).
She packed her lunch and ate at work ($0).
Friday is the day where he usually spends more on lunch. He and his co-workers went to Cabo Fish Taco and enjoyed some shark tacos ($15.10). He made a quick stop in Uptown on the way home and paid for parking ($1).
He stopped with the kids to get some ice cream on the way home ($2.76) while she made a long-awaited purchase at Point Blank Range ($426).
She was done cooking for the week, so we treated ourselves to sushi at Osaka’s Japanese Restaurant ($33.44). It never disappoints.
Total spent: $528.30
Day seven: Saturday
The week is finally over! Breakfast was made at home and we sat together as a family to eat ($0).
She brought our daughter to soccer practice and stopped at USPS to buy some stamps ($9.80). She grabbed some coffee and a treat on the way home at Dunkin Donuts ($2.14).
The kids played outside while we cleaned out the garage. She also watched a few episodes of Snapped and took a nap. When she woke up, she went to Harris Teeter to get some dinner and much-needed groceries. She used a gift card for most of the purchase ($4.99 after the gift card).
Total spent: $16.93
Total spent: $1,371.38
The breakdown:
Bills – $82.50
Transportation – $29.04
Food and drink – $208.01
Children – $535.5o
Miscellaneous – $516.33
What we learned:
Him – I learned that children cost more than I realized. I also could be more disciplined and bring my lunch to work, but it will never happen. My lunch hour is the only time I can see sunshine, pick where I want to eat and have conversations with other adults. That’s too important to give up. To be honest, I don’t see our spending changing after this exercise. Our bills are paid, we have an emergency fund and we are saving for the kids’ college educations and our retirement – so the rest of the money we should be able to have a little fun with. There is no point working all day long if we can’t enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Her – I obviously run on Dunkin’.