A Week In Boston On A $70,000 Salary

Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar.

Today: An engineer working in tech who makes $70,000 per year and spends some of her money this week on veggie dumplings from Trader Joe’s.

Occupation: Engineer
Industry: Tech
Age: 28
Location: Boston, MA
Salary: $70,000
Net Worth: $164,552 (Roth IRA: $65,086; other investment accounts: $70,080; I bonds: $7,500; HYSA: $4,669; checking: $2,217; savings: $15,000. I moved $15,000 from my HYSA last month because there was a sign-up bonus of $900. I will move it back once I get the bonus. Technically, my name is on the title and deed of the condo I live in, but my parents provided the down payment, and we have a deal that they will get the money from its sale, which will probably happen within the next two years. That’s why I’m not including the value of the condo in my net worth, but here is the breakdown: unpaid principal: $310,214, estimated fair market value: $859,432.)
Debt: $0
Paycheck Amount (2x/month): $2,207.28
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses
Rent: $1,317.30 (My boyfriend, H., and I live in a three-bedroom unit of a duplex that’s split upstairs and downstairs. The total mortgage is $2,417.30, and H. gives me $1,100 per month. The owner of the other unit lives abroad and rents out the condo, and we each pay $3,500 annually into a trust account for the home, which includes water, home insurance, and other expenses. Since he’s away, I manage the trust and do light maintenance on the home. H. and I make about the same amount and split household costs, like groceries, evenly.)
Health Insurance: $48.64 (All insurance plans are deducted from my net paycheck amount.)
Dental Plan: $12.88
Vision Plan: $2.16
Internet: $12.50 (for my half)
Electricity: ~$33.63 (for my half)
Gas: ~$21.15 (for my half)
Phone: $0 (My parents pay it and told me not to worry about it.)
Roth IRA: $540 (I will max it out at the end of the year.)
General Investments: $300
HYSA: $1,200 (H. and I are saving to buy a house within the next two years.)
Spotify & Hulu: $10.99
Apple iCloud: $0.99
ClassPass: $49
Amazon Prime: $0 (I share with my parents.)
Netflix: $0 (I only watch with my boyfriend, and he uses his parents’ log in.)
Peloton App: $0 (paid for by my health insurance)
Apple Fitness: $0 (paid for by my health insurance)

Annual Expenses
Blue Bike Membership: $62.50 (with a corporate discount)
Shared Home Trust Account: $3,500

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, both my parents have master’s degrees and expected that I would go to university. I also attended high school with a lot of overachievers (myself included) where AP/advanced classes were the norm, so there was a lot of expectation to go to university. I went to a state school where tuition was a reasonable amount (~$5,000 per semester), and I stayed in relatively cheap housing where I shared a room, so my parents were able to pay in full. I also had scholarships that covered half of the tuition for three years. I worked minimum wage jobs in university to have spending money but I honestly felt like I had barely any money at all and relied heavily on my parents. After graduating, I also did a PhD program where I was paid a stipend of $32,000 a year.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
I have a lot of guilt around money and spending because my parents would guilt my siblings and I about spending it. For example, if they took us clothes shopping, we would come home, and they would call out the “big spender.” Or if they bought us something, and we didn’t like it, there would be drama about wasting money. There was a lot of moralizing about spending, so being the people pleaser I am, I saved money to try to get on their good side. Even now, if they ask me the price of something I bought, I tend to round down to avoid any grief for spending so much.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
My first job was at a fast food place, and I got it to save money.

Did you worry about money growing up?
Yes, but only because of all the guilt and shame surrounding it. Because we always got in trouble for wasting money, I thought we didn’t have enough. Now, I can see that we actually did have a lot, and my parents were just weird about money.

Do you worry about money now?
I don’t worry about money in the same way that I think people with significant debt worry about money. That said, my boyfriend and I are planning to move and buy a house within the next two years, and I do worry about saving enough for a down payment or having enough when we have to pay the mortgage in a high-cost-of-living area.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I’m not sure if I am 100% financially responsible yet. I live in an affordable place because my parents helped me, but I still have to figure out a way to cover the mortgage payments (I had roommates for a while) and buy necessities. If I didn’t have my current housing situation, I would still be able to figure it out, although I’d be living in a less nice place. I know my parents would give me money if I needed it, and H. would also support me, just like I would support him.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
When I started my PhD program, we knew it would be at least five years long, and my parents decided to invest in a condo here, so I would effectively pay them rent instead of some random landlord or corporation. Then they would be able to sell the condo for a profit when I leave. They put my name on the title and the deed so that it would be easier for me to pay the bills, but I don’t really own any of it. Because of this, I’m able to pay less for housing than I would for an equivalent place on my own.

Day One

6 a.m. — I wake from a late-for-school-and-forgot-I-had-a-math-test dream. I have an initial physiotherapist appointment today at 8 a.m. and was worried I would be late, so that’s probably where the dream came from. I have to leave before 7:30 a.m. to make it to the appointment on time, so I can’t do all my normal morning routines. I wash my face and eat oat milk yogurt mixed with one scoop Naked PB, a heaping spoonful of flax, a quick pour of maple syrup, and Grape-Nuts. While my cereal is soaking (I don’t like super crunchy Grape-Nuts), I put away the dishes from last night.

7 a.m. — I’m out the door and grab a Bluebike to my PT appointment. I chose a doctor that was close to my office. Although it takes between 30 and 40 minutes to bike there, I want to arrive early to fill out paperwork.

8 a.m. — I’m going to PT because I’ve been having pain in my leg from marathon training. The doctor wants me to come in twice a week, so we set up another appointment for later this week. I’m only charged the co-pay for today’s appointment. $40

8:45 a.m. — I’m the first one in my office today. I work with a small team, and most of my colleagues are on business trips, so it’s just a few of us today. We aren’t that close to each other, so even though we sit together in one room all day, there isn’t that much conversation.

11 a.m. — I’m super hungry from eating earlier than usual, so I eat my prepped lunch: brown rice, quinoa and white bean balls, and cauliflower. When I made it last weekend, I didn’t notice that it was so beige. It’s bland, but it fills me up anyway.

12 p.m. — We have our weekly meeting to discuss our goals, but half the team and our boss (who is known for talking a lot) aren’t there, so what is normally an hour-long meeting is cut down to 10 minutes. We have a new colleague starting next week, so we all clean up the office and clear off a desk.

3 p.m. — I’m feeling hungry, so I go out to look for a snack at the nearby grocery store. On the way there, I pass a lock store and remember that the deadbolt for the front door is no longer working. I stop in and tell the worker my problem and the model of the lock, but he says I’ll have to go to a big box hardware store to find it. At the grocery store, I pick up a pack of tea biscuits ($2.29) and see a cheap pair of gloves for $1 that I want. $3.29

3:30 p.m. — After eating some of the tea biscuits and researching what’s wrong with the deadbolt (turns out it’s a common failure with that brand of locks), I’m back to work.

5:20 p.m. — I leave my office to walk to a recovery yoga class near my office (booked through ClassPass). I had plans to get dinner with my friend afterward, but I’m anxious about not being able to lock the door, so I tell her that I can go to the yoga class, but I won’t be able to hang out afterwards.

6 p.m. — The yoga class is great. It’s not a traditional flow-style class but more for active recovery. We use yoga therapy balls and massage different areas of our bodies. Today, I feel tired so I’m mostly lying down and resting instead of focusing on massaging out the knots in my shoulders. My friend enjoys the class, too, and we make a plan to go again and have dinner next week.

7 p.m. — I Bluebike home. I’m glad I can bike mostly on the bike path all the way home because there are a lot of distracted drivers these days, especially at night when it may be hard to see me, even though I have lights.

8 p.m. — When I get home, H. is in the middle of toasting up burritos filled with leftover rice, tofu, mushrooms, and potatoes (we received our winter CSA share today). We quickly eat our burritos with Forager Project vegan sour cream, so we can make it to the hardware store before it closes at 9 p.m.

8:30 p.m. — We usually love wandering around the hardware store and looking at all the seasonal decorations, but today we’re all business: We walk straight to the lock section. There aren’t that many choices, so I pick a silver one that matches the previous lock. On the shelf, I see it’s about $30, but it rings in at only $8.84. I feel worried about the quality of such a cheap lock, but there aren’t that many choices at the store, and this is a problem I feel needs to be taken care of ASAP, so I make a note to check reviews of deadbolts online later. $8.84

9 p.m. — Tomorrow is trash day, so I move the bins out to the street. Although my upstairs neighbors fill up both of our 55-gallon trash bins regularly, they rarely help move the bins out or bring them in. H. helps me replace the deadbolt, which only takes a few minutes. We get two keys in the pack, so I give one to my neighbors, and I will go get new keys cut tomorrow.

11 p.m. — After showering and cleaning up the kitchen from dinner, I prepare my running clothes for tomorrow morning, and then we can finally get in bed. H. reads his book and I read The Stand-In by Lily Chu for half an hour before going to sleep.

Daily Total: $52.13

Day Two

6 a.m. — I wake up with my sunrise alarm and get ready for a run. Somehow, brushing my teeth, changing, drinking water, and doing my pre-run exercises takes 45 minutes. I don’t like rushing around, especially in the morning, so I tend to wake up early to give myself time. I run to a park about half a mile away as a warm-up, then do intervals around the park, and a cool-down run on the way back home. Even though I have a fitness watch and can look at my pace, I try not to worry too much about hitting pace targets. Instead, I run more on perceived effort (easy, medium, hard, super hard) and am more concerned with hitting the distance goals for the week. Since I’m a morning runner and usually have to bike to work later, I never go all out.

7:45 a.m. — I get back and see that H. has gone out for his run, too. I make microwave oatmeal with ground flax seeds, apples, and peanut butter for both of us. H. comes back while I’m showering, and we chat about our runs while I simultaneously eat, get dressed, blowdry my hair, and put on sunscreen. Even though it’s winter, I still wear sunscreen every day.

8:30 a.m. — I take a Bluebike to work, and it’s finally a sunny day. I don’t get stuck at any traffic lights, and it takes 32 minutes to bike to work. Luckily, I chose a bike with good mechanics because I’m tired from the run. Normally, I would try to save my runs for when I work from home, but due to appointments and trying to space out my runs, I won’t be able to do that this week. I could take the bus and the T (public transit) to work, but it’s inconvenient and takes at least double the time.

10 a.m. — I’m hungry so I snack on dried mangos while responding to emails.

11 a.m. — I have a quick meeting with one of our advisors where I share results from a machine learning project. The new colleague who is starting next week has much more experience in this area than me, so I wrap up the project to hand it off to him. The advisor and I discuss how the results have improved from when I first started the project, and we set up a meeting for next week to loop in the new colleague.

12 p.m. — I have the same beige lunch as yesterday. Sadly, everyone in my office eats lunch while working at our desks, and I’m no exception.

1 p.m. — I have a meeting with a counselor from an online mental health program (I get eight sessions free through my health insurance). Today is the last session, and we discuss my progress on my social anxiety throughout the program and my emotional awareness goals for the future. Overall, I feel like the counselor is mostly reading from a script, but I like the CBT activities in the app. In grad school, I attended therapy sessions for the deep anxiety I had about school, my research, and COVID-19, but the previous therapist only accepted the university’s insurance, so I don’t see her any more. Now that I’m not in school anymore, I’m less anxious, so I don’t feel the need to go back to therapy. Instead, I just do the mindfulness exercises I’ve picked up when I get occasionally spiral-y.

2:30 p.m. — I eat tea biscuits and take a quick walk and get three new keys cut. They cost almost as much as the lock ($7.94). Yesterday, I saw a deal on grapes, so I stop by the grocery store to pick some up on the way back to the office ($3.93). When I grew up, $0.99 a pound was a regular sale price for grapes, but now anything less than $1.99 a pound gets me excited. $11.87

2:45 p.m. — While working, I listen to a stream that Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service) made during the beginning of the pandemic. I watched it live in 2020, and I get weirdly nostalgic for that time, even though it was objectively pretty terrible.

4:30 p.m. — It’s basically already dark, which is very sad! At least it was sunny this morning because the rest of the day was dreary, and I’m feeling tired. I finished the work that I wanted to finish today, but there’s always something else to do so I power through for the last 30 minutes before I have to leave to go to my group training class.

5:10 p.m. — By the time I leave, all my colleagues have already left for the day. On the bike ride to my group training class, I have a close call with a car. I’m almost there, so I ditch the Bluebike at the nearest station and walk the rest of the way. Generally, I feel safe biking and I’m vigilant, but I was on a separated and raised bike lane, so my guard might have been lower than normal, and I was not expecting that car.

5:30 p.m. — Usually it’s just me, one other guy, and the coach at the training sessions, but today there’s one other person! Having more people is more fun because there are more people encouraging you. I started going to these sessions during the pandemic when I wasn’t talking to or seeing many people besides H., and I feel like they helped with loneliness. It’s a small community, but I enjoy everyone I have met through it.

7 p.m. — We stay and chat before we all go home. My legs are feeling jelly-like after training, and it’s cold outside, so I bike to the T station. The T is undergoing repairs and there are shuttle buses instead, so it’s free!

7:45 p.m. — I arrive home before H. and start making us burritos with tomatoes, squash, white beans, and roasted broccoli. I prepped the beans and broccoli over the weekend, so it’s super easy and quick to make dinner. H. arrives right as I finish cooking, and we discuss the day while eating the burritos with hummus and vegan sour cream. We also eat grapes for dessert.

8:30 — I take a shower, and H. cleans up. Then, while he showers, I watch part of an episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty while doing my PT exercises.

10 p.m. — Someone suggested the show I Think You Should Leave, so we watch an episode while I work on a diamond painting project. The sketches are mildly funny, but we aren’t mentally prepared to watch something so strange, so we switch to Seinfeld instead. An old classic! We go to bed after two episodes.

Daily Total: $11.87

Day Three

6 a.m. — Even though I’m working from home today, I still get up to exercise before starting work. I do a 30-minute yoga practice with Patrick Beach on YouTube. I subscribed to his online studio until recently. I enjoyed it, but I haven’t been able to use it regularly enough since I’m running a lot more. After yoga, I put on a 15-minute strength video on the Peloton app, and H. joins me.

7:30 a.m. — While getting ready for the day, I realize that I need to order more contacts. I order a six-month supply online of daily contacts from a UK company called Daysoft. They’re affordable but good quality, made without animal products or animal testing, and the customer service is excellent. Just 10 minutes after ordering, I get an email that the shipment is already on its way. $115.20

7:45 a.m. — I look out the window and notice it’s snowing! It’s just a light snow and won’t stick around, but it’s still exciting for the first snow of the year. I feel chilly and brew lemon-ginger tea (I like Rishi brand) and make microwave oatmeal with flax and apples. I notice that we don’t have enough peanut butter today (Teddie is the best) so I add some chopped walnuts and dried cranberries as a consolation prize.

8 a.m. — I log in and start working. I’m having someone give an estimate on replacing the floors at 10 a.m. so I start early to make up for it.

10:30 a.m. — I’m waiting for the floor person to come, but he’s 30 minutes late, so I send him a message asking if he’s still planning on coming.

10:45 a.m. — The floor guy messages me back saying he didn’t put me on the schedule and wants to come at 3 p.m. now. A bit annoying, but it’s fine.

12 p.m. — Since I’m at home today, no beige lunch food for me! I throw together carrots, onions, celery, and mushrooms and eat that with pasta and leftover squash and beans from last night.

12:30 p.m. — After lunch, I take a break to walk over and pick up a holiday gift bag one of my neighbors is giving me. I’m giving a gift to encourage a teen at a local high school and, instead of buying a new bag, I asked for a holiday bag on my neighborhood’s Buy Nothing Facebook page. I’ve given a lot of stuff away there and have also received a lot of stuff. I love the sharing community spirit! On the walk, I start listening to The Guest by Emma Cline through Libby. I find the story captivating so far.

1:30 p.m. — One of my colleagues asks me for help on a design she’s doing on our app that implements my models, so I have a call with her to talk her through my vision of how the app should function.

2:30 p.m. — As soon as I finish the call, the doorbell rings and the floor guy is here early! The wood floor in the kitchen is warped from water damage. It happened years ago, but I placed a rug over the damage and have ignored it since then. However, because my parents want to sell the condo, we discussed replacing the floor with tile. Since he’s early, and the meeting with my colleague ran long, I didn’t have time to clean up the kitchen. I nervously look at the dirty cutting board and dishes and hope he doesn’t notice it.

4 p.m. — I take a quick break from working to eat lentil chips and hummus and pre-soak some lentils for dinner later. One of my colleagues asks for help with a project that needs to be finished ASAP, so we get on a call and work through it.

6 p.m. — I finally close my laptop. It’s dark so early, and I’m feeling kind of sad and tired, even though I didn’t do that much today. I take a shower. I know I’m not dirty, but it’s a nice way to “reset” and, since it’s cold outside, it feels good to be in warm water. Even though I would rather work from home (hate the commute), I feel better when I have a destination to go to.

6:30 p.m. — I start making what I call “lazy girl dinner,” which is when I put vegetables from the fridge into the Instant Pot along with soaked lentils and let the pressure cooker do its thing. I love my Instant Pot. Obviously, this isn’t something I would serve at a dinner party but it’s good enough for me and H. While waiting for the food to cook, I watch a few more episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty. I’ve read the books, but I’m kind of shocked that the teens are so blatantly drinking in front of their parents and that their parents don’t seem mad.

7:30 p.m. — H. comes home and puts the laundry in while we eat dinner and discuss the day. We’re lucky that we have in-unit laundry! I’m grateful that we don’t have to either go to a scary, dark basement or drag our clothes to the laundromat.

8 p.m. — I load the dishwasher, and H. washes the rest of the non-dishwasher-safe dishes. While he showers, I continue watching The Summer I Turned Pretty and do my PT exercises.

11 p.m. — Tomorrow, I have to do a tempo run, so I check the weather. It’s supposed to be 23°F, yikes! I have seven miles scheduled, and I’m a baby about the cold, so I sign up for open gym time on ClassPass. I get all my stuff ready and get in bed.

Daily Total: $115.20

Day Four

6 a.m. — I wake up. Getting ready to leave today only takes me 30 minutes! Good thing I packed my bag last night! The T is working again, so I take it to the gym. I continue listening to The Guest on the way there. $2.40

7:15 a.m. — When I get to the gym, there aren’t too many people, so I get to use one of the slatted treadmills. I run one easy mile, five mid-tempo miles, and one more easy mile. After my run, I use the massage gun they have at the gym and take a quick shower. Even though I do have access to a different gym, this one has nicer equipment and amenities such as massage guns, a steam room, sauna, hot tub, towels, and hair tools, so it’s worth it to use some of my ClassPass credits.

9:30 a.m. — I prepare for a meeting and eat part of my lunch for breakfast. In the morning rush, I forgot to pack breakfast, so I’m hungry now.

10 a.m. — I have a meeting with one of the company’s advisors and give him an update about what I’ve been doing for the last six weeks — there’s a lot to catch up on.

12 p.m. — I walk to a grocery store and get a TTLA (tempeh, tomato, lettuce, and avocado) sandwich, two bananas, and a roll (in case I get hungry later). $12.28

1 p.m. — Back-to-back meetings with our clients. The second one is a weekly two-hour long meeting that I just sit in on. Even though I don’t actively participate, I still find it exhausting.

3:30 p.m. — I talk with my colleague in the office about some of the design aspects for the app. We discuss what our boss wants to see and how we can make that happen — but also how it doesn’t make sense. During our conversation, some of my other colleagues join in and mention how our boss’ ideas typically aren’t practical. I get the feeling that most people aren’t super happy working here, but since it’s a small company, we don’t say how we actually feel out loud.

5 p.m. — I leave for my group training class. The same people are here again! We work on some pistol-y squat exercises and have fun during our breaks discussing what we are up to for the holidays.

7 p.m. — I take a Bluebike back home. I packed my helmet earlier so I could ride home. I get back home sweaty on the inside but with frozen fingers and toes. H. has arrived before me and is making his version of lazy girl dinner (or should it be lazy boy dinner?): braised potatoes, carrots, and celery. The only difference is that he makes it on the stove whereas mine doesn’t need babysitting (yay, Instant Pot). We eat that with the leftover lentils, brown rice, and spaghetti squash. We’re still hungry after dinner, so we have pears with oat yogurt mixed with powdered peanut butter and maple syrup for dessert.

9 p.m. — H. takes a shower, and I turn on The Summer I Turned Pretty and do my PT exercises. Then I take a shower, and H. works on the computer for a bit. I clean up the kitchen and I’m tired by 10 p.m., so I start winding down and getting ready for bed.

Daily Total: $14.68

Day Five

6 a.m. — Finally Friday! I don’t feel like getting up, but I have my PT appointment at 8 a.m. I liked last night’s dessert, so I make that again for breakfast but add Grape-Nuts.

7:20 p.m. — I ride a Bluebike to PT. It’s sunny today, and even though the air temperature is chilly, the sun warms me up, and I’m sweating and hot from riding, but my fingers and toes are frozen. For my marathon training, I’m supposed to run three times per week and cross-train two times per week, but because I bike everywhere (on a heavy bike as well) I consider the commutes cross-training.

8 a.m. — Unlike other PT appointments I’ve had in the past, the physical therapist does joint manipulation on me and digs into my leg and back muscles to release some of the tension before giving me exercises and stretches to do. I pay $40 for the co-pay. $40

10 — We have our end-of-week work meeting to discuss the progress on our goals. I finished all of mine for the week and should probably start on next week’s goals, but I don’t feel like working today.

12 p.m. — For lunch, I eat the last of the beige meal prep. For next week’s lunches, I will not make the same bland mistake.

1 p.m. — I still feel hungry, so I walk to the grocery store near my office for chips and popcorn. At the cash register, I spot fruit candy marketed as vegan, so I add that to my cart. $4.07

1:30 p.m. — I finish listening to The Guest and I’m so confused. It’s captivating in the same way you can’t look away from a train wreck. I enjoyed (maybe?) the way that the story created this sense of dread due to the main character’s actions, but the ending threw me. I sit at my desk and contemplate what I wish had happened in the end and the overall meaning of the book. I would rate it a 3/5.

2 p.m. — After eating my snacks, I have the energy to work harder than I have been all day.

3 p.m. — I get an email with the estimate for redoing the floors: $3,500. That seems like a lot for a tiny kitchen, so I’ll need to ask a different company for an estimate as well.

3:30 p.m. — There’s a lot of commotion in the office across the hall. It seems like they’re having some sort of holiday celebration. My colleagues and I discuss whether or not we’ll get a holiday celebration. Our boss didn’t even give out basic computer equipment beyond a laptop (I had to bring my own keyboard and mouse), so we decide that a holiday party isn’t likely.

4 p.m. — Last meeting of the day. Sadly, it’s at 4 p.m. on a Friday, but I think the person I’m meeting with feels the same way because we wrap it up by 4:30 p.m.

5 p.m. — I leave the office, hopeful I will make it to the museum on time to meet my friend at 5:30 p.m. Unfortunately, I make the mistake of taking the T, and it takes 45 minutes instead of the scheduled 27. $2.40

5:45 p.m. — I booked a museum pass from the library, so tickets are just $10 each instead of $27 each. I pay for both of us. When I was a student, I visited this museum a lot because it was free for students! This is the first time I’ve used the library pass, and it’s a good deal, especially because the museum is open until 10 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. We look at the Monet room and spend some time looking at the mummies in the ancient Egypt collection while catching up. $20

7:45 p.m. — My friend invites me to go to a holiday card-making party, but I’m feeling tired so I go home. I start walking back home and call my sister to catch up. On the way, I stop by Trader Joe’s and buy seeded bread and a bag of frozen veggie dumplings. $8.78

9 p.m. — I don’t realize how late it is by the time I get home. Even though H. worked from home today, he hasn’t eaten dinner yet either, so we air fry the frozen dumplings and cook carrots, celery, and edamame with noodles on the side.

11:30 p.m. — I shower and finally go to bed!

Daily Total: $75.25

Day Six

6:45 a.m. — I don’t want to get out of bed yet. Today, H. and I want to visit a holiday market, so I look online to see what time it opens. Unfortunately, all the information is on Instagram, so after I find out the time, I end up scrolling for a while. I try not to look at Instagram too much, and I have many unread messages from my friends from months ago. Oops! But they’re just memes, so it’s fine that I haven’t responded.

7:30 a.m. — My hunger propels me out of bed. I make toast with vegan butter and a rooibos latte. H. is still sleeping, so I read some of The Stand-In while I wait for him to get up.

9 a.m. — I clean up the fridge before we go out. There are a lot of root vegetables leftover from our summer share that ended weeks ago. Most are still good, but some have to be thrown out. I cut up the beets and watermelon radish to roast in the oven later and use the purple daikon radish to make a savory turnip cake.

10:30 a.m. — The weather is amazing, and we walk to the winter market. By the time we get there, it’s just about to open, and I’m surprised by the number of people who are already waiting in line.

12 p.m. — I don’t end up buying anything, but I’m feeling hungry, so we go across the street for bagels. I get a wheat everything bagel with hummus, and H. gets an onion bagel with vegan cream cheese. He pays.

1 p.m. — There’s a museum exhibit that H. wants to see, so we walk over to the museum while marveling at how unseasonably warm the weather is today. It feels great but thinking too much about the warmth is a little scary. The museum has free admission as of last summer.

4 p.m. — We stop by Trader Joe’s before going home. We get several bricks of tempeh, a pomelo, a holiday card, everything bagels, a bag of bamba peanut snacks, and salty umami crunchies. The total rings in at $29.13. H. pays and I send him half. $14.56

4:45 p.m. — There are no buses, so we walk home. I’m tired from walking everywhere, so I lay down on the floor and finish reading The Stand-In. I like the rom-com premise, but I find the main character annoying. I would rate it 3/5.

6 p.m. — The offerings in the fridge look dismal, and we need to go to the grocery store for our main shop of the week, but I’m feeling hungry. I air fry the rest of the frozen veggie dumplings, heat up frozen edamame, and eat some of the turnip cake before we go out again.

7 p.m. — I love this grocery store because it’s next to Marshalls and HomeGoods. I normally don’t buy anything and just browse, but today we need pink Himalayan salt, which is cheap at Marshalls ($2.16 for my half). At the grocery store, we stock up on almond milk, Wheat Squares and Grape-Nuts, peanut butter, dried navy beans, flour, toilet paper, broccoli, greens, apples, garlic, and potatoes ($42.77 for my half). $44.93

9 p.m. — We put everything away, and I do my PT exercises before taking a shower. Tomorrow I have my long run (14 miles!) so I want to take it easy tonight.

Daily Total: $59.49

Day Seven

7 a.m. — I’m up! But I’m not ready to go out yet. I normally eat half a bagel with peanut butter for runs longer than eight miles, but today I’m feeling extra hungry so I eat a whole bagel. I still feel hungry so I eat one slice of seedy bread. I’m not sure if it’s to procrastinate going for a run, but I decide that I’m now too full to go out and instead choose to watch YouTube videos. I also remember that I want to eat chickpeas this week, so I put them in the Instant Pot to cook while I’m out. H. also has to go out for a run, but he’s still in bed.

9:30 a.m. — I’m finally out. For my long runs, I take a few dates and a bottle of water. I like running away from the city center because it’s usually nicer and there’s less traffic. I like listening to live albums because I pretend the clapping and cheering in between songs is for me. Today, I listen to Bleachers Live at Radio City Music Hall, which gets me through 10.5 miles! I switch to my running playlist for the last few miles, which consists of songs I liked in 2016 when I made the playlist. I take date and walking breaks at miles eight, 10, and 13.

11:45 a.m. — I plan my run to end at the grocery store near my apartment, where I buy a vegan doughnut, coconut water, and a bunch of bananas. $7.53

12 p.m. — I drink a glass of coconut water and eat half of the doughnut (saved the other half for H.) while I stretch and relax and do my PT exercises before showering. Even though the run was long, I wasn’t running that fast, so hopefully I’ll have enough energy throughout the afternoon and evening.

12:30 p.m. — H. comes back from his run. I make us instant noodles with frozen spinach and edamame for lunch.

1:30 p.m. — I had planned to do a little work in the yard outside, but it’s raining hard, so I stay inside and work on a holiday gift for my friends. I’m making a cross stitch of my friends’ pets, so I spend time looking on Instagram for pictures and preparing the pattern while watching The Summer I Turned Pretty.

4 p.m. — I finish season 1 of The Summer I Turned Pretty and I’m pretty annoyed at most of the characters. I get a snack of toast with vegan butter and nutritional yeast and green goddess seasoning sprinkled on top and I start season 2 anyway. I finish the cross-stitch pattern and send it to be printed at FedEx. I pay now and will pick it up tomorrow. $6.56

6 p.m. — We start cooking our lunches for the week, plus dinner for tonight. We make air-fried potatoes with broccoli and the chickpeas I prepared in the morning. I make rice in the Instant Pot, chop mushrooms, potatoes, onions, and tofu, and clean up the kitchen. We also roast the vegetables that I had prepared yesterday.

10 p.m. — Cooking all the meals, distributing the food into containers, and cleaning everything up takes a long time, so it’s pretty late by the time we finish. We relax and watch some clips of SNL.

11 p.m. — I remember that I should look into buying a new lock for the front door. After some research, I get a smart lock with a manual key entry. Since it will be shared between both units, I will reimburse myself ($180.61) for it from the shared account I have with my neighbor.

11:45 p.m. — Good night!

Daily Total: $14.09

Money Diaries are meant to reflect an individual’s experience and do not necessarily reflect Refinery29’s point of view. Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity or harmful behavior.

The first step to getting your financial life in order is tracking what you spend — to try on your own, check out our guide to managing your money every day. For more money diaries, click here.

Do you have a Money Diary you’d like to share? Submit it with us here.

Have questions about how to submit or our publishing process? Read our Money Diaries FAQ doc here or email us here.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

A Week In Chicago On A $210,000 Joint Income

A Week In Los Angeles On A $53,131 Salary

A Week In Seattle On A $109,200 Salary

Original Article Source