Cash Confessional: A week of spending in Charlotte on a $50,000 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 26 year old woman who makes $50,000 per year. Here’s how she spends her money.

The basics:

Industry: Manufacturing
Position: Marketing Coordinator
Salary: $50,000
Savings: I put $400 per month into an account
Age: 26

Monthly expenses:

Rent: $1,100
Number of roommates: Just me, myself and I + my cat
Neighborhood: Wesley Heights
Utilities: 

Hulu – $8. I pay for Hulu and my boyfriend pays for Netflix
Duke Energy – Around $60
Internet – $20
Water/Sewer – Around $22
Apartment fees – $48

Student loans: Paid off
Car payments: Paid off
Car insurance: $45.44
AAA: $2.50. It’s in case I have car trouble
Transportation: Usually $40 per week for gas
Apartment insurance: $12.81
Insurance: $233 right now, but will go down to $122 when I switch over to my company’s plan next phone. Whew!
SiriusXM: $12.70
Gym membership: $165, but my work pays for $50 per month

Three financial goals

Build my savings back up. I was laid off at the end of 2017, so my savings were hit pretty hard.

Start saving for a new car. It’s about to hit 90,000 miles… it’s past time to start saving.

Save money for traveling. I absolutely LOVE to travel and with my work situation last year, I didn’t get to travel much. Hopefully I can save enough for a nice vacation.

Money Diary: How I spent my money this week

Day one: Sunday

My Mom came to town for the day. She only visits once every 6 months so I took her out for breakfast at Pike’s and paid for our meal ($32.36).

My Mom filled up my gas tank and bought my groceries (insert crying emoji) – I really, really appreciate this even if it is only twice a year!

While showing Mom around UNCC, she got a craving for ice cream, so I took her to Ninety’s of course. I wasn’t feeling that great, so I only got a small cup of Cookies n’ Creme – Mom covered this one (thanks Ma!).

For dinner, we went to the best place in Wesley Heights, Pinky’s! I got the Kickin’ Chicken Tacos. Mom paid the bill before I could get my card out – she’s sneaky as all get out.

Made myself food from my groceries.

Total spent: $32.36

Day two: Monday

Woke up at 5 a.m. and made my Detox Organics shake with a banana (oh na-na) from my groceries. Also ate a whole grain cinnamon waffle with peanut butter to give me some fuel for my workout at Orangetheory.

Brought yogurt and berries from home for a mid-morning snack.

For lunch, I decided to eat a can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup (Disney’s Frozen edition, oh yeah) from the pantry and drink a La Croix. My office supplies La Croix for free, which I am super grateful for.

Paid a random bill from LabCorp – a whopping $5.27 – and my dental insurance for the month ($22.35).

I forgot to thaw my ground turkey last night, so I ate a sweet potato and eggs for dinner – weird, I know.

Total spent: $27.62

Day three: Tuesday

Hello, 5 a.m. Grabbed a whole grain cinnamon waffle with peanut butter and headed to Orangetheory.

I was super hungry after my class (I’m normally not) so I had my Detox Organics with water, and cucumbers and carrots with hummus for a snack.

For lunch, I ate Birds Eye Zucchini Lentil pasta and whole wheat crackers that I brought from home. If you haven’t tried zucchini lentil pasta, you definitely should – it is cheap, healthy and delicious.

My boyfriend brought home sandwiches from Fresh Market for dinner – how sweet! Went to bed hoping for a snow day.

Total spent: $0

Day four: Wednesday

Woke up to 0 inches of snow, so I threw some snacks into my lunch bag and had a Detox Organics shake with a banana for breakfast.

I was feeling a little salty that we didn’t get any snow (no pun intended), so I grabbed a bag of free pretzels from the break room to go with my hummus from home.

My boyfriend got to leave work early due to the surprise snow, so he surprised me with a cookie sandwich from Fresh Market (my absolute favorite) and homemade chicken soup since I had to stay at work.

He said that he took a bite of my cookie to “test and make sure it was good.”

Total spent: $0

Day five: Thursday

Woke up and made eggs and turkey bacon for my boyfriend and then threw a couple of snacks in my lunch bag and headed to work.

For lunch, I wasn’t too hungry, so I just ate hummus and crackers that I brought from home. I was really close to ordering Panera Bread, but the wait was 60+ minutes, so I passed on the idea.

My boyfriend and I went to Valhalla Pub for dinner before meeting our friend for her birthday. I got my favorite, Laghertha’s Turkey Sandwich, and it was amazing as usual. I covered the bill on this one. $41.82

Afterward, we went to the Cotton Room at Belfast Mill for our friend’s birthday. My boyfriend and I both got the Campfire Old Fashioned. I’m normally not a bourbon girl, but man, this thing was good! My boyfriend covered the bill since I covered dinner.

Total spent: $41.82

Day six: Friday

TGIF.

Threw some snacks into my lunch bag, made myself some eggs and headed off to Orangetheory. I had a banana from home after my workout and headed to work where they had Rise biscuits and Donuts, and it took everything in me to remind myself that I had just worked out and didn’t need one. Luckily I was able to hold off!

We had a long meeting, so I grabbed 2 cans of La Croix and a bag of pretzels from the break room. My team ordered lunch from Panera Bread, which the company paid for.

My boyfriend and I made reservations at WP Kitchen + Bar for restaurant week. We had the homemade meatballs, mussels, steak and chocolate chip cookies. Luckily, I had a ton of leftovers! My boyfriend picked up the tab for this dinner since I am paying for our other visit next week.

Total spent: $0

Day seven: Saturday

We woke up early to watch some Parenthood (thanks Netflix) and made a quick Starbucks run before heading to volunteer. I had reward stars, so our total for two coffees was only $2.11.

After Starbucks, we picked up a friend and headed off to volunteer at a great organization in Charlotte. We served breakfast and helped make lunches and dinners for the day – it was really fun! Afterward, we all headed to Jack Beagles in NoDa for brunch. I got a double mimosa and pulled pork omelet, yum! It was $16.73 with tip.

Next, we walked over to The Blind Pig to play some games and grab drinks. My boyfriend bought us beers, and I spent $2 playing Skee-Ball. I was so excited that I hit 30,000 points… until my friend hit 32,000. Oh well, still only spent $2.

We hung out around South End for most of the day, and eventually headed to one of my favorite places: Seoul Food Meat Company. My friend gave me her Potato Swirl – I was sooooo so thankful because I was absolutely starving! I had two fruit punch beers, which ended up being $14 with tip.

Instead of taking Uber, I decided to bike home later that night using LimeBike. My ride was free and really fun!!

Total spent: $34.84

Total spent: $136.64
The breakdown:

Food and drink – $107.02
Bills – $27.62
Miscellaneous – $2

What I learned: I spent so much less this week than I normally do thanks to my Mom, nice surprises from my boyfriend and simply just packing my lunch! I definitely think that if I can pack my lunch and make dinner at home moving forward at least 5 times a week, I can definitely save more money.

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