A Week In New Jersey On A $40,000 Salary

Occupation: Program Coordinator
Industry: Nonprofit
Age: 24
Location: New Jersey
Salary: $40,000
Paycheck Amount (Every Other Week): $1,220.30
Gender Identity: Woman

Monthly Expenses
Rent: $645 (My half of the rent for the one-bedroom apartment that I share with my partner, N.)
Car Payment: $120
Internet & Utilities: $50 (My half after splitting.)

Student Loans: $0 (I finished paying off what I had left last year. I managed to get a lot of financial aid, and was lucky in that my parents were able to contribute money toward my undergrad degree.)
Cell Phone: $0 (I'm on my parents' cell-phone plan.)
Gym Membership: $30
Netflix: $0 (We use N.'s parents' account.)
Spotify Premium: $9.99
Car insurance: $0 (Generously paid by my parents.)
Health insurance: $0 (Still on my parents' plan since my job comes with absolutely no benefits. I pay all my co-pays and test fees, since the plan's deductible is high.)
Savings: ~$1,000 (Right now, I have a high-yield savings account that I have about $12,500 in. My goal is to add about $1,000 to it each month, and usually I exceed that goal. Additionally, I try to keep my checking-account balance at about $5,000 at all times just in case. I really need to get on learning more about retirement account options. I don't have any through work.)

8:45 a.m. — I wake up to the sound of my partner's alarm and grumpily pull the sheets around myself, cocoon style. N. is not pleased with this. He's told me many times how much of a blanket hog I am, but hey, I am not prepared to atone for the sins of Sleepy Me. Thankfully, it's Memorial Day, and I'm off from work. Since N. is in grad school, the semester is over for him, so he's also free. PSA: I prefer “partner” over “boyfriend," because we both identify as queer and don't feel like the heteronormative terms of “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” describe our long-term relationship as well as “partner” does.

9 a.m. — We agreed that we would get our butts out of bed this morning and go for a run in the nearby park. I splash my face with cold water, pull on random workout clothes that don't match very well, and head into the kitchen to get some coffee that I made the night before and chilled in the fridge. I drink it iced, with a splash of soy creamer and agave syrup: a truly winning combo. It's officially iced-coffee season, and I couldn't be happier! I wait for N. to eat some toast, and then we head out the door and walk to the park. The weather is beautiful, but it's already starting to warm up as we arrive.

10 a.m. — I'm not a big runner by any means, but N. is, so I've roped him into helping me become better at running. I'm also hoping that a little more exercise will make me feel more comfortable in my body, which I sometimes struggle with. N. has been checking in to make sure I'm keeping a healthy mindset and not exercising for the sole purpose of losing weight, which is something I definitely want to avoid for the sake of my mental health. I want moving my body to feel fun and good and not like a chore. N. puts up with my slogging pace as we do a 1.5-mile loop around the park. We people-watch as we go. I'm amazed that people are already setting up picnics and grilling hotdogs this early in the day?!

11 a.m. — We head home very sweaty but feeling good. N. hops in the shower while I eat my breakfast of chia seed/almond milk pudding, frozen berries, and an egg on toast with Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoning. I can't live without that stuff. I decide to finish off the last half of a mango kombucha that was in the fridge.

11:30 a.m. — I shower and get dressed while listening to an episode of the podcast Unorthodox. It's so hot today, so I wear a crop top under a lightweight overalls dress. N. and I hang around for a while, chatting on the couch while he plays some video games.

1 p.m. — I want to make a quiche today, and I got a pie crust at Trader Joe's yesterday that I need to take out to defrost. While doing so, I realize that I don't even own a pie plate or any other type of implement that would be acceptable to bake a pie-shaped object in, so we drive to Target. I pick up a Pyrex pie dish, and N. grabs unscented Dr. Bronner's, which he Venmos me for. $6.38

2 p.m. — When we get home, I heat up some leftovers to have for lunch that I cooked yesterday: eggplant and basil in garlic sauce over basmati rice. I absolutely devour it and then start making my quiche. It's a simple recipe I found online and then tweaked to include eggs, almond milk, shredded cheese, red bell pepper, and spinach. While it bakes, I do the dishes and listen to an episode of the RISK! podcast. I get sweaty again and remember why I never use the oven in the summer.

4 p.m. — The quiche came out awesome. I have a small piece along with a handful of barbecue chips and a few chocolate-covered almonds — I am NOT a cohesive snacker. I listen to N. practicing the piano and scroll through Instagram while I eat.

7:30 p.m. — After getting back from a nice evening walk, I see online that Modcloth is having a Memorial Day sale, and although I've never ordered clothes from them before and tend to be a little thrifty when it comes to buying new clothes, the sale is too good to resist. I get a tank top, a blouse for work, a summer cardigan, four dresses, and a bathing suit. The total comes to $175.33 — ouch. To make it sting less, I apply some cash-back rewards that I have on my credit card, which makes the purchase come out to $10.34. I don't ever carry a balance and get pretty good cash-back rewards from this credit card. I also click the Ebates extension on my Chrome window, which will send me 1.5% cash back from this purchase in a few days. $10.34

8:30 p.m. — I make and eat dinner while listening to an episode of the Radiolab podcast — a mesclun salad with spiced chickpeas, roasted red onions, and homemade mustard vinaigrette. N. does some work at his computer, and we start getting sleepy. We go to bed around 10:30, and I finally fall asleep around 11:30.

6:52 a.m. — Ugh, I'm awake. Anyone else only set their alarm clock for weird times? Like, if I wanted to get up at 7:30, I'll set my alarm for 7:28. I get out of bed and put on workout clothes that I laid out the night before, chug half an iced coffee, and walk to the park. I want to get a short run in without N., just to see how I do alone. It feels strangely good to be out and about early — I think I'm secretly a morning person. I greet some adorably chubby squirrels on my journey and tell them how cute they are, and also see two deer.

7:45 a.m. — After about a mile-long run, I walk back home and immediately get in the shower. Nothing motivates me to run faster than the thought of being too late for work to eat breakfast. Thankfully, I'm on time today. I use Body Merry Glycolic Acid Cleanser on my face — I use this about once a week and use Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser the other days. Then I tone with rosewater spray, moisturize with generic face cream from Trader Joe's, and put on a top layer of Supergoop Unseen 40 SPF Sunscreen. I'm not a huge makeup person, especially in warm weather, so I just use Glossier Boy Brow most days.

8:30 a.m. — I get dressed, finish my breakfast of quiche, grab clothes for a yoga class that I'm taking after work, and head out the door. Today I'm meeting a coworker at a site before going to the office.

10:50 a.m. — I'm back at the office and feeling that earlier-than-usual wake-up. I make a green tea, eat some chocolate-covered almonds, and prepare some notes for an upcoming meeting. It's raining and feels grossly humid in here.

11:20 a.m. — I sit in a meeting for longer than I expected to — it's not a fun one, but it needed to happen. We do some planning for how we're going to prepare things over the summer for our program next year. I sit with my boss afterward and vent/problem-solve a little bit about issues that I've been having at work, and he's sympathetic and mildly helpful. I leave the meeting feeling a little crappy but optimistic.

1:25 p.m. — Time for lunch. Usually I eat while I work and then use my lunch hour to go for a walk or run errands, but today it's too rainy for that, so I eat at my desk while reading articles online. I brought some of the salad I made last night, and leftovers from the eggplant I made over the weekend.

3:30 p.m. — I send out some emails, work on writing a few documents, and decide it's time for yet another snack. I eat an orange and will this day to go by faster. To procrastinate, I check if I've gotten my federal tax return yet — I haven't. I e-filed a while ago, too. I'm expecting to get about $1,000 when it finally comes. I continue prepping for a program that I have tomorrow.

5 p.m. — Done for the day. I change into my yoga clothes in the office bathroom and wait around for about half an hour before heading to the gym for my yoga class. My gym membership includes access to all group fitness classes, which is why I joined this particular gym — I think classes are more fun than working out alone.

6 p.m. — Yoga time. I try to be “Zen” and not think about work, but I'm not too successful with that. This is a slow and gentle class that I really like, even through the instructor is a bit boring. At least I know exactly what to expect every time.

7:30 p.m. — I get home from the gym, and I'm happy to see N., who says he had a productive day, in part because I accidentally woke him up earlier than usual today. Cool. I'm so hungry and aggressively stuff olives into my mouth while getting ready to cook dinner. Tonight I'm making a new recipe: spaghetti with white beans, tomatoes, olives, spinach, and a sauce made with garlic and nutritional yeast. It comes out really well, and I consider adding it to my heavy rotation of favorite meals that don't use the oven (important in the summer!). I eat while watching a documentary about the founding of Greenpeace. N. is half watching while he folds his laundry, but we quickly become super invested. It's extremely interesting.

9:30 p.m. — N. and I finish off the cookies-and-cream ice cream we had in the freezer and decide we should go to bed around 11. I quickly make my iced coffee for tomorrow and stick it in the fridge, brush my teeth, and wash my face. We fall asleep around 11:30 after looking at pictures of fluffy white baby seals and squealing together.

7:36 a.m. — Wake up to my alarm and drag myself into the shower. I do my usual skin-care routine: cleanse, tone, moisturize, sunscreen, Boy Brow. I usually end up going to work with my hair still wet or damp, because it takes too long to dry and I only use a blowdryer in the winter. Today is no exception. I get dressed in black jeans, a black cotton T-shirt, black flats, and a long necklace. I'm lucky in that my office has a really casual dress code, but some people dress more formally than others. This means that I frequently switch it up between wearing comfy stuff, like today, and wearing more professional outfits like dresses and tights on days that I have meetings outside the office. I like the flexibility.

8 a.m. — I dry-swallow a Claritin (one of those days) and try to feel more alive as I eat a piece of my veggie quiche and drink my iced coffee. It does the trick! I stuff gym clothes into a bag for tonight and drive to work. N. is still sleeping when I leave, and I'm very jealous.

9 a.m. — I get into the office, fill up my water bottle, and get to work. I need to finish prepping for a site visit, because I'll be in a training for two hours this morning and will have to leave for the site right after. I hate being in a time crunch. This is my last thought before the post-coffee anxiety hits and my brain goes into overdrive.

10 a.m. — I surface from my work-induced reverie around 10, when it's time for a staff training presented by one of our community partner organizations. I really like the person presenting — we've had some great conversations in the past, and he's really fun to work with. There are doughnuts, but I talk myself out of it because there's nothing that I hate more than having a sugar crash in the middle of the day and not being able to take a nap.

11:50 a.m. — I leave the office to drive to a site. In the car I blast music, and eat chocolate-covered almonds and a banana in the parking lot when I arrive. Thankfully, everything here goes smoothly today…that isn't always the case.

1:30 p.m. — Back in the office, I see that I've gotten a check for mileage reimbursement. Some days I spend a lot of time driving around, but the mileage reimbursement ends up covering my work travel costs, and sometimes even a little more. This month, the check is for $110. I've only spent $106 total on gas this month, so it covers it all, somehow. I take my first half of lunch outside and sit down to study for the GRE. I'm hoping to take it over the summer and apply for graduate school this fall, but I'm also so damn anxious about the whole idea that who even knows what will end up happening!! I head inside when it gets too windy. I haven't eaten my actual lunch yet, but the box of leftover doughnuts is calling my name, so I eat one.

3 p.m. — It's time to finally get around to eating lunch: leftover salad and the last of the eggplant. I take a quick break from my work to print out a return label, since I have to return a few items of clothing that I ordered from Pact last week that didn't end up fitting. It's a great brand that focuses on sustainability, but their sizing chart missed the mark for me, I guess. I recently got rid of a lot of my wardrobe (combination of donating, recycling, and selling on Poshmark), so I've been trying to add some new, versatile pieces that will last a long time and not go out of style.

4:15 p.m. — I brew a cup of rooibos tea and head into a meeting with a supervisor that ends up lasting until 6 p.m. I was planning on going to the gym after work, but the class I was going to attend started at 6 and I don't want to arrive late to it, so I just head home. My supervisor tells me to put in for an hour of overtime.

6:30 p.m. — It's absolutely pouring. My drive home was so slow because the road was a bit flooded! Thankfully, it's cool and dark in my cozy apartment. I heat up leftovers from the spaghetti dish I made yesterday for dinner.

7:30 p.m. — I do the sad mountain of dishes that is piling up in the sink while listening to an episode of the Mortified podcast. N. and I take turns doing the dishes. I daydream about what it might be like to actually own a dishwasher someday...

8:30 p.m. — N. and I hang out, fool around, and then finish off the cookies-and-cream ice cream together. I prep my iced coffee for the next morning, do the usual skin-care routine (same as what I do in the morning, minus the sunscreen, obviously), and head to bed around 11.

7:45 a.m. — I wake up absolutely exhausted and already running late! Awesome. I check the app that's connected to my smartwatch, which tells me that I got 8.5 hours of sleep but that I spent 60% of the night in light sleep. I also had a terrifying nightmare about being pregnant and unable to get an abortion — yikes. Current government, can u not??? I jump in the shower and get ready. I wear a button-down shirt, jeans, and flats.

8:30 a.m. — Quickly eat quiche, pack lunch, take my iced coffee to go in my reusable straw mug, and run out the door. Maybe it's because of the nightmare, but I'm still in a funk on my way to work today, and I can't stop thinking about a person from my past who was abusive and cruel to me. I'm relieved to get to work, because it means I can distract myself from these bad vibes.

10 a.m. — My hair dried weirdly today, and I just want to get it out of my face. It's way too long right now, and I can't wait to chop it off this weekend. I root around for a scrunchie in my bag and then in my desk to no avail. Why are hair elastics literally EVERYWHERE ALWAYS except when I actually need them? I get mildly frustrated and decide to duck out for a few minutes to pick up a pack of hair elastics at the dollar store down the street. I also grab some gum. $2.13

12 p.m. — I head out of the office for the day. Thursday is the day that I spend most of my time bouncing from site to site for some of the programs that I oversee. I manage to eat my lunch of a salad, stuffed grape leaves, and chocolate-covered almonds in my car in a parking lot. In all the time I spend in the car today, I listen to podcast episodes of She's All Fat and RISK!

4:30 p.m. — I finally get home, and N. and I take advantage of the wonderful weather and go for a walk. We get a little rained on toward the end, but it's worth it. He vents about the world of academia for a little while, and I try to sympathize.

7 p.m. — Zumba time. The class is fun but not as high-impact as it sometimes is. I guzzle water afterward, drive home, shower, and cook dinner: Trader Joe's cauliflower gnocchi. I add spinach, capers, and olives and sprinkle it with nutritional yeast. I eat while N. and I watch the latest episode of Jane the Virgin — we've been hooked for years, and it's one of the few things that we consistently watch together, because we have slightly different tastes in shows. We split a big lemon cookie and alternately cry/yell at the TV. We get ready for bed, and I fall asleep around 10:30 — I'm so exhausted from the day.

7:15 a.m. — I'm pleasantly surprised that when my alarm rings at 7:15 today, I feel like a human! I check my smartwatch app and see that I spent 50% of the night in deep sleep, so that explains it! I shower, do my usual skin-care routine, and contemplate wearing makeup but ultimately decide I'm too lazy. My skin is super dry today because I shaved my legs last night, so I moisturize with my favorite lavender body lotion from Lush. Then I get dressed and decide to keep going with the theme by wearing a lavender-colored dress. I eat a banana, pack leftover spaghetti for lunch, and head out the door.

8:10 a.m. — I make a stop for coffee at Dunkin' because I didn't end up having time to make it myself today. I get a small coffee in my reusable mug. I wish Dunkin' would give a discount for bringing your own cup like Starbucks does — they use so much disposable plastic. I always think, “Do you really want this cup of coffee that you'll enjoy for maybe 30 minutes to be on the earth for the rest of your life and beyond?” All right, maybe a little too existential for Friday morning, but that's my usual. $2.12

8:30 a.m. — Arrive at work right on time. I'm working 8:30-4:30 today instead of my usual 9-5. I enjoy the half hour of peace and quiet drinking my coffee and writing reports before the office starts filling up.

11:30 a.m. — Pre-lunch munchies strike, and I buy a bag of chips from the vending machine. I listen to an episode of the podcast By the Book while I work. $1

12:30 p.m. — Sit outside for the first half of my lunch, enjoying my leftover spaghetti and a huge orange while I read my GRE prep workbook. I chat with my mom on the phone for a few minutes, too. I spend the second half of my lunch going for a walk and listening to an episode of the podcast Invisibilia.

4:30 p.m. — I breeze through the rest of my work (somehow) and practically run out of the office when the clock hits 4:30. When I get home, N. and I get ready to head to the local farmer's market. We walk there and it's hoppin'. I was hoping that a really delicious local Mexican food truck would be there, but they're nowhere in sight. I buy some assorted veggies ($4), and we greet some adorable dogs and their humans. With all the force I can muster, I manage to tear myself away from the stand selling extremely expensive artisanal pickles, and we walk home. On the way back, N. decides he's going to pick up some Italian ice for us at the supermarket, since it's very warm out. $4

6 p.m. — For dinner, I use the farmer's market veggies to make a dinosaur kale salad with homemade Caesar dressing (made from mayo, EVOO, capers, vinegar, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, and pepper — so good) and roasted asparagus. N. makes us a pizza to split with marinara sauce, basil, and roasted garlic. This is the first time I've had a cheeseless pizza that I've actually enjoyed! We eat at the table together and then decide it would feel good to go for another short walk, which we do.

7:30 p.m. — On our walk, I decide I need ice cream immediately. The closest place is a Carvel chain, where I get a kiddie-sized soft-serve. It hits the spot in the best way possible. I offer to treat, but N. is more interested in the Italian ice we have at home. $2.65

8:30 p.m. — N. and I play some mellow video games together for a bit before I decide to go to bed. I have to be up really early for a haircut tomorrow that I foolishly scheduled for 8:30 a.m. I'm asleep by 11 p.m.

6:45 a.m. — I'm up and in the shower before 7. I need to make sure I get to my haircut with clean, dry hair, and this mop takes forever to dry, so I had to give myself lots of extra time. I follow the curly-girl method for curly hair, which, in my interpretation, means I don't use hair products with sulfates or silicones, shampoo only a few times a week, and usually condition and style my hair upside-down. It has been a lifesaver for me, and I'd recommend it to anyone with curly or even wavy hair! Check out the reddit thread r/curlyhair if you're curious and willing to spend some time down an internet rabbit hole.

8:30 a.m. — I check in at the salon with my hairdresser. She's excited that I want to get a really short cut today, and I am, too. My long, mid-boob-length hair has been a lot to deal with in this summer weather. She finishes the cut and sends me off to get my hair washed, product-ed, and dried. I leave a $3 tip for the shampoo lady. The hairdresser finishes by making a few snips when my hair is dried, and then I'm all done! I love it — I went with a bob that comes a few inches past my ears and has a lot of volume on top. I tip my hairdresser $20 and then pay the $110 for the cut. It's expensive, but I don't mind shelling out the money for someone experienced in cutting curly hair. I have had haircut anxiety from the time when I was in third grade and some lady in a Supercuts brushed my hair out straight and cut it so short and asymmetrically that I cried. RIP. $133

11:30 a.m. — I listen to the New Yorker Radio Hour on the way home and show off my haircut to N., who tells me that it looks really cute. I grab the box with my Pact return and walk to the post office before it closes. The return is prepaid. Some guy outside the post office yells, “Giirrrrl, those are some nice pants!” For the sake of having a good morning, I choose to believe that he actually likes my pants and isn't catcalling me, and cheerfully thank him. Who knows.

12:30 p.m. — After a lunch of leftover kale salad, asparagus, and an orange, N. and I spend the rest of the afternoon lazing around and going for a long walk in the park. We try to listen to Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!, but there isn't a new episode this weekend. It's a special brand of disappointment when this happens.

6 p.m. — It's too hot to cook, and I am all out of groceries. I order a spicy tuna roll and some crab rangoon from a place down the street and run out to pick it up. It's delicious as usual. After eating, I chat with a friend that I haven't seen in a while, and it makes me really happy! I don't have many close friends in the area, and I miss them a lot. $13.35

8 p.m. — N. and I watch the first two episodes of the miniseries When They See Us, about the Central Park Five. It's beautifully done and absolutely soul-crushing. Afterward, I pay the rent online, charge N. for his half on Venmo, and move some of my money around. I keep a Google spreadsheet of my purchase categories and amounts for every month, so I can see my spending/saving breakdown to the penny. It sounds neurotic, but it's kind of fun for me. I managed to save just over $2,000 during the month of May, partly because there were three paydays this month instead of the usual two. However, it was also a spendy month because I paid for an Airbnb that I'll be traveling to in the future. Afterward, I'm sleepy from my early wake-up and go to bed at 10:30. N. decides to stay up a bit longer and wakes me up briefly when he comes in and snuggles up next to me.

8:15 a.m. — Wake up to my alarm and immediately put on gym clothes in preparation for Sunday morning Zumba class. I drink some disappointing coffee left over from yesterday, wash my face, and try to decide how I'm going to exercise with hair too short to put into a ponytail. I settle on doing half down/half up in a tiny bun. On the way to the gym, I stop for gas and fill up the tank. $43.72

10 a.m. — Class is awesome, and I'm dripping sweat by the end. My hair stays put the whole time! I drive home blasting Lizzo and eat the last of my quiche and a banana before getting into the shower.

11 a.m. — I sit down with my cookbooks and laptop to plan out my meals for the next week. I like to do this right before I go grocery shopping, or else I tend to get a lot of produce that ends up going bad before I eat it. I decide that this coming week, I'll be making summer vegetable pasta with mozzarella and basil, burrito-bowl-style salad with a Romaine base, and potatoes/spinach in tikka masala sauce over basmati rice. I'm also planning on making some bean-and-cheese nachos with jalapeños and pickled radishes.

12:30 p.m. — N. and I drive to the local Trader Joe's. Not sure what it is about TJ's that makes grocery shopping fun, but we honestly look forward to going there every Sunday! N. and I usually grocery shop separately, since we have pretty different tastes in food and I'm a vegetarian, although sometimes we buy surprise snacks for each other. Today, I buy oranges, limes, bananas, jalapeños, a bell pepper, a red onion, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, radishes, mushrooms, avocados, cucumbers, cilantro, baby spinach, shredded cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, black beans, pinto beans, pasta, tortilla chips, plantain chips, shredded coconut, dark chocolate almonds, a frozen pizza, and a bar of lemon-scented soap. $59.83

1:35 p.m. — When we get home, I make corn salsa and quick-pickled radishes to use in my salads this week. It takes me a while because I get distracted listening to an amazing episode of Invisibilia and then a hilarious episode of Mortified. For lunch, I eat leftover kale salad, plus a pile of plantain chips dipped in the corn salsa I just made — delicious combination.

3:45 p.m. — I scroll through social media and see a lot of posts about Pride Month. I'm glad to see people pointing out how corporations and brands in general are co-opting Pride into a money-making endeavor and really just taking the meaning out of the idea — it makes me really uncomfortable. But although Pride has its issues (transphobia and bi-phobia, inaccessibility, sometimes even racism), it's still a fun time to feel like you're among friends in a huge crowd of strangers. I think I might go to some events this month.

4:30 p.m. — N. and I decide to go for a walk because it's hot in the apartment, but not quite hot enough to turn on the AC. I bring a thick stack of GRE vocab cards with us, and N. graciously quizzes me while we walk around the neighborhood and the park. I hit my 10,000 steps somewhere along the walk and feel accomplished when I get back home. It looks like someone's moving into the adjacent apartment — I give a halfhearted wave and figure I'll say hi to them a little later, hopefully when I'm less tired and sweaty.

6:20 p.m. — I chat with my mom on the phone and then with a close friend. N. makes another cheeseless pizza for dinner, but I decide I'm not feeling it and make pasta with cherry tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella, which turns out to be exactly what I needed. I half-watch stuff on Netflix while reading articles on my laptop. I'm tempted to buy a pair of bike shorts from Girlfriend Collective, but I convince myself to wait until they have a sale. Their workout gear is so comfy, though...

8:30 p.m. — I make some chia-seed pudding and stick it in the fridge to soak overnight for tomorrow's breakfast. N. and I eat Italian ice and watch the third episode of When They See Us.

9 p.m. — YESSSS A GLORIOUS THUNDERSTORM. THE COOL WEATHER IS COMING! I look at the upcoming week's weather forecast, and I'm pleased to see that it's going to cool down a bit.

10:30 p.m. — N. and I head to bed. I'm feeling anxious about everything I have to get done at work next week, and N. helps me calm down about it by talking through some stuff we're looking forward to, like visiting various friends and family this summer. I fall asleep around 11.