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 compensation analyst with a $166,800 joint salary who spends some of her money this week on a 10th anniversary present for the barn where she takes horse-riding lessons.
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Warning: This diary includes references to alcoholism that some readers may find upsetting.
Occupation: Compensation analyst
Industry: Transportation and logistics
Age: 32
Location: Richmond, VA
Salary: $166,800 joint income ($95,000 me, $66,800 my husband, and about $5,000 minimum in side hustles).
Assets: Checking: $4,802.94; savings: $66,000.87; retirement accounts with investments: $292,710.16. We don’t carry debt but we do use credit cards, which we pay in full and I track the total (currently at $14,149.19). We don’t have any other debt. We paid off our student loans and our cars are paid in full.
Debt: $0
Paycheck amount: $1,400 (me) and $2,000 (husband). These amounts are weekly for me and semi-monthly for my husband, W.
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing costs: $2,100
Loan payments: $0
Horse lease: $795 — this is my half for the horse I ride. The barn where I ride is about a 25-minute drive from our apartment. It offers lessons, leasing and boarding. Since I half lease, I get to ride the same horse (B.) three days a week, and for me that’s two lessons and one “free ride” when I ride on my own without an instructor. I generically refer to the place where I lease and take lessons as “the barn.”
Farrier: $150 (my half).
Retirement: $3,690
W.’s therapy sessions: $268.90
Electric: This varies but averages at $237.68.
Cats: $608.41 average (prescription pet food, meds, vet, pheromone spray).
Subscriptions: $17.98 (Peacock and Spotify).
Phones: $83.88 for two lines (not accounting for a $15 cell phone reimbursement I get from my work).
Healthcare premiums: $501.98 (deducted from W.’s paycheck. This will change slightly when I am eligible for benefits through my new job).
Retirement: $607.04 (pre-tax, from W.’s paycheck. This will increase when I am eligible for the 401(k) at my work and I will max that out annually).
Renter’s insurance: $110 (paid in full annually).
Car insurance: $850 total (paid in full twice annually).
Annual Expenses
Roth IRAs: $14,000 ($7,000 each) — I contribute the max to my and W.’s IRAs every year on 1 January.
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. I got into the Center Based Gifted program in fourth grade and then went to a magnet school for high school. I went straight to a well-renowned, so-called “public Ivy League school” straight out of high school. But I was entirely unprepared socially, financially and academically for living on my own and attending a competitive college. I did not graduate from …read more
Source:: Refinery29
