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Welcome to Money Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar. (Thanks, New York mag, for the inspiration.)
Today, a marketer for a tech company getting all the free food and putting aside $2,600 a month in savings.
Occupation: Marketing for a Silicon Valley tech company
Location: Bay Area
Salary: $100,000 (excluding bonuses and stocks. My company is publically traded.)
Paycheck Amount (2x a month): $2579
# of roommates: 1
Monthly Expenses
Health Insurance: $55 a month plus another $20 a month to my FSA for prescriptions and things. All $75 is taken out pre-tax.
401(k): 8% of my salary goes to my 401(k) account pre-tax ($667 per month). My company matches up to 4%, in full.
Housing Costs (rent, or other?): $600...my rent is insanely low because I got lucky and my friend is temporarily renting a room to me for cheap. (Internet and electric included.) Please don’t move out here thinking this is the norm.
Loan Payments: $0. My parents paid for my college tuition and I’ve never carried any debt.
Utilities: About $20 a month for water, sewage, garbage.
Transportation: About $180 a month for gas.
Car insurance: $90/month, paid semi-annually.
Phone Bill: $50; I pay my parents my portion in our family plan. We use my dad’s company discount. I have a second work cell that my company pays for.
Long-term Savings: I can afford to save right now so I am taking advantage of that. With that said, I've always been a saver. I put at least $2100/month into my longer-term savings account. This goes towards a future down payment, car, etc. I won’t be able to save this much once I move so I’m doing what I can now. At the end of the month, whatever’s left goes in this bucket as well.
Today, a marketer for a tech company getting all the free food and putting aside $2,600 a month in savings.
Occupation: Marketing for a Silicon Valley tech company
Location: Bay Area
Salary: $100,000 (excluding bonuses and stocks. My company is publically traded.)
Paycheck Amount (2x a month): $2579
# of roommates: 1
Monthly Expenses
Health Insurance: $55 a month plus another $20 a month to my FSA for prescriptions and things. All $75 is taken out pre-tax.
401(k): 8% of my salary goes to my 401(k) account pre-tax ($667 per month). My company matches up to 4%, in full.
Housing Costs (rent, or other?): $600...my rent is insanely low because I got lucky and my friend is temporarily renting a room to me for cheap. (Internet and electric included.) Please don’t move out here thinking this is the norm.
Loan Payments: $0. My parents paid for my college tuition and I’ve never carried any debt.
Utilities: About $20 a month for water, sewage, garbage.
Transportation: About $180 a month for gas.
Car insurance: $90/month, paid semi-annually.
Phone Bill: $50; I pay my parents my portion in our family plan. We use my dad’s company discount. I have a second work cell that my company pays for.
Long-term Savings: I can afford to save right now so I am taking advantage of that. With that said, I've always been a saver. I put at least $2100/month into my longer-term savings account. This goes towards a future down payment, car, etc. I won’t be able to save this much once I move so I’m doing what I can now. At the end of the month, whatever’s left goes in this bucket as well.
Short-term Savings: I put $500 a month into my short-term savings account (these are separate bank accounts). This is mostly for travel and pricier things. (Currently, I’m saving up for a designer handbag.) I like to save every month for this so that when the time comes for me to pay for trips, I’m actually on vacation, etc. it doesn’t feel like I’m broke for all of that month. This is definitely a budget that I’ll be slashing when I move.
Netflix: $8.99 a month (In an effort to save money, I’ve cut Hulu Plus for the summer until fall tv resumes.)
Amazon Prime: $10.50 a month. Not ready to commit to a full year yet.
Gym membership: Paid for by work. Didn’t use it all week. Whoops.
Netflix: $8.99 a month (In an effort to save money, I’ve cut Hulu Plus for the summer until fall tv resumes.)
Amazon Prime: $10.50 a month. Not ready to commit to a full year yet.
Gym membership: Paid for by work. Didn’t use it all week. Whoops.
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