A Week In America On A $65,000 Salary

We launched Money Diaries back in January, and since then we've tracked the weekly finances of everyone from an intern earning $14 an hour to a Singapore-based banker raking in six figures. And suddenly, we realized we've reached our 30th money diary.

To mark the occasion, we decided to pull five diarists to track their spending for a week. The catch: They all earn salaries within the range of $65,000 to $70,000, and they all live in different major U.S. cities. A New York woman splits all her bills with her husband via an Excel sheet; a Chicagoan goes bar-hopping with friends, while a Boston accountant considers a career change and buys a new work wardrobe.

Of course, not all diarists had an average week. And as we've noted before, money diaries aren't meant to be examples to emulate. Instead, they're strikingly intimate snippets into women's lives, showcasing how we decide to spend our hard-earned money. Some have loan payments, some have credit card debt, some have shockingly cheap rent. Ahead, five women from New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Chicago, all tracking every last dollar.