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: a PhD candidate who makes $30,000 per year and spends some of her money this week on emergency vending-machine pretzels.
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Occupation: PhD candidate
Industry: Academia
Age: 26
Location: Orange County, CA
Salary: $30,000 (this fluctuates a bit depending on what my role is during the quarter and if I have external research consultancies, but it averages out to about $30,000 annually).
Assets: HYSA: $45,095; vacation savings: $810; checking: $1,024; investments: $10,453; Roth IRA: $45,728; 403(b): $6,325.
Debt: Student loans: $4,233; car: $6,393.
Paycheck amount: $2,822 for nine months of the year, plus a summer stipend of $3,000.
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: $800. When I started my PhD, I lived in subsidized graduate housing. My partner and I moved in together off-campus two years ago on the agreement that I’d continue to pay what I was paying in grad housing. He covers the rest.
Loan payments: $265 for car — but I pay $365 to pay it off more quickly, because my interest rate is awful.
Abortion fund donation: $10.17
Investment account: $100
Roth IRA: $682
Car insurance: $134.96
Renter’s insurance: $7.60
Phone: $38.40
Union dues: ~$48.78 (it’s a percentage of my paycheck so the exact amount fluctuates a bit depending on my role during the quarter).
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?
Definitely. My parents both have master’s degrees and my brother has a PhD. I was always a really good student (perhaps got too much of my self-worth from that, oops) and loved learning. Beyond getting a bachelor’s, I do think there was also expectation to get a graduate degree. I went to a small liberal arts college for my undergrad and got essentially a full ride on financial aid, a small amount of loans, and work-study. My parents had to pay ~$6,000 for my education and they used a 529 they started when I was younger. I did work all throughout college to pay for my rent, food, groceries etc. My PhD is paid for through my work as a teaching assistant or graduate student researcher.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
Not many that I can remember but by the time I was in late high school and applying to college, I knew we did not have a lot of money. I was vaguely aware of it growing up because my hometown didn’t have a good public school and so we went to a private school that was ~$15,000 a year. Our parents never made it seem like we were …read more
Source:: Refinery29
