Inspired by Refinery 29’s money diaries that originally got the idea from New York Magazine. The place where we learn how other students are spending their money. It’s no mystery that college students are often broke, but they still like to have fun. Here is a glimpse of how college students are handling their money:
Our author is a third year business student, who is willing to share her weekly expenses with us today. This is an average week in her life. She has a part time job freelancing for a company and is a full time student. Her hobbies includes going to concerts, volunteering, and is currently saving up to move to NYC for her future Co-op.
Background Info:
Age: 21
Location: Boston, MA
College: Northeastern University
Year: Third-Year
Monthly Expenses:
Housing costs: Commuter (Still lives with parents to save on rent)
Loan payments: A lot (don’t want to think about it)
Transportation: Weekly Charlie Card/ Monthly Linked-Pass
Health Insurance: Under Parent’s plan
Phone Bill: Under Parent’s plan
Money Diaries:
Wednesday, February 1st, 2017:
6:30 AM: I had an 8:00 AM, so I woke up very early today. Also, I prefer showering in the morning. Breakfast is anything that I could find at home, because I usually have no time to grab food on campus. Today was toast and scrambled eggs.
7:15 AM: Headed out the door to the T (Boston’s public transportation). I live 30 minutes away from school. My Charlie Card has been drained, so I loaded $4.20 on it. That should be enough for two rides on the train. Usually, I either buy a weekly card or monthly card depending on how often I would take it. Sometimes it’s not worth it because I only take the train for two stops. And public transportation can be so unreliable, especially the bus in Boston. I would prefer walking, but it’s too cold to be outside.
8:00 AM: First Class Begins
9:05 AM: A short break between my classes. Does some homework.
11:45 AM: Next Class Begins
1:30 PM: Goes to work. I have two part time jobs, or freelancing work. It’s going to be a long day, so I grabbed free coffee at work. It’s not Starbuck’s Iced Coffee, but it’s free! Forgot to bring a snack and didn’t get lunch today, so I was straving at work.
5:00 PM: Left work to head back home. Stirred up something really quickly to eat for dinner.
6:30 PM: There was a free hypnotist show at school today and one of my friends wanted to go. I met up with them at school to watch the show. It was a nice break from doing homework, but I was feeling a little tired.
9:00 PM: I didn’t want to go home yet and I wanted dessert. Ice cream is always the answer, but my friends didn’t want ice cream. Instead we compromised and decided to go to Eatily. The food there is super good, but I still have yet to try the pasta restaurant because the line is insanely long. We all decided to go get Gelato and I had to get Raspberry Gelato because it’s my favorite flavor. I also got a scoop of Hazelnut ice cream. The total was $5.24.
11:00 PM: Got home and worked on homework before going to sleep.
Total Spent: $9.44
Thursday, February 2nd, 2017:
I had two classes today and I finished before 1:25 PM. The day was pretty successful because I didn’t spend any money at all today.
Total Spent: $0.00
Friday, February 3rd, 2017:
8:00 AM: My first class was at 9:50 AM, and I had three back-to-back classes today until 3:15 PM. I showered and ate whatever was available. I found some excess pasta that my parents made for lunch later.
9:10 AM: Headed over to the T again. Really dreaded paying for the T because the service is so unreliable. Decided to get a weekly Charlie Card because it is cheaper than individual rides. $21.50.
9:40 AM: I needed a ClassPac/textbook from the bookstore for my next class. The professor never mentioned it until the last class, so I didn’t get it until now. How many times have professors told us a book was mandatory but never assigned anything from it? $48.30.
9:50 AM-3:15 PM: Class. TGIF
6:00 PM: Met up with my friend who is on Co-op to go shopping. Newbury Street is the go-to place for everything. The first place we went to was Muji. The store opened last week, but a lot of merchandise was already sold out. I ended up getting another clear vinyl case. Those things are incredible because you can throw everything in them, and your desk will look so neat. There was a promotion on them so score! $10.63.
Decided to stop by Forever 21 and got some socks. I have really small feet and their socks fit really well. And again they were on sale so why not. $2.47.
Brandy Melville was across the street, so we went inside for a quick look. I ended up purchasing a simple white t-shirt because surprisingly I actually don’t own one. I have two white t-shirts with tiny little holes in them, white tank tops, and shirts that are almost white, but not a white t-shirt until now. $20.00. It’s very soft and kind of sheer, but honestly I don’t know if I will actually wear it.
7:30 PM: I am hungry! Just realized I haven’t eaten since breakfast. Shake Shack is offering free shack burgers for downloading their app and creating an account. It’s also one of my most favorite fast food places so I had to go. We ordered on the app and I got a shack burger and some curly fries. The total came out to be $8.59, but since the burger was free I only had to pay $3.20 for the fries.
8:10 PM. Our order wasn’t ready until 8 PM so we headed over to Trader Joe’s on Boylston Street. My friend was getting groceries for the week. There was still food at home, so I didn’t have to pick up anything. Then, we headed over to Shake Shack to pick up our food
Total spent: $106.10
Saturday, February 4th, 2017:
12:00 PM: Usually I would have to wake up at 7:30 AM if I was going to volunteer, but today I was doing something different. I was going to visit a concert venue for a tour with a club at my school today. They were meeting at 12:15 PM on campus, but it was closer for me to go straight to the music venue.
1:00 PM: I arrived and waited outside for the rest of the members to come. We got a very quick tour of the venue and it was pretty cool. I had gone to shows there before so it was cool to see what it was like backstage and with nobody around. They offered catering from the restaurant next door, showers, and laundry (which is important for those on tour) for those who play shows there. The coolest thing was seeing the mural of signatures from everyone who has played there. I also got future tickets for The Griswolds and Dreamers for Feb 26th because they are some of my favorite bands. I can’t wait to see them again and the box office was right there. Tip: Most box offices also don’t charge processing fees so you save so much money. $18.00.
2:15 PM: I was waiting for my friend to arrive so I decided to stop by J.P. Licks to get some ice cream. Recurring trend, yes I do really like ice cream. However, I don’t eat it all the time, just sometimes. I tried their specialty flavor, but I forgot the name. The flavor was very strong and there might have been too much cinnamon so I wasn’t a fan. Don’t quite remember how much it was so a close estimate of $4.00. My friend still hadn’t shown up, so I went into Urban Outfitters. I looked around, specifically for a winter hat but I didn’t see one I liked. I went down to their sale basement and ate my ice cream there to avoid the frigid cold. And at the same time, I hoped that the sales associate would not notice me and kick me out. Finally, my friend arrived! There was a chili festival happening in Cambridge and they were giving out free samples so people could vote on the best ones. We got in line and I discovered that it was also the first time my friend tried chili. Cost: Free.
7:00 PM: My friend and I decided to go back to Copley and we made a pit stop at Urban Outfitters on Newbury Street. I was determined to find a nice winter hat, but I walked out with gloves. At that time, I thought they were the coolest thing ever because they were lined with the same material as soft fuzzy sweaters except they don’t keep your fingers warm. They were on sale for $5.00 instead of $20. So you can call that saving money, or just wasting money on something I didn’t need in the first place. But is there really a difference?
Total Spent: $25
Sunday, February 5th, 2017:
11:00 AM: If the weather is nice (meaning that it isn’t snowing or raining outside) I would usually go to brunch with my parents and my aunt. It also meant waking up early to get ready, but there is free food involved. I mean I can’t really say no when my parents are going to pay for food. Today we went to Chinatown for Dim Sum. I usually get the same things each time I go, but I haven’t gotten sick of it yet.
1:00 PM: I decided to tag along with my family as they went shopping, but I didn’t buy anything because I didn’t need anything. I also tend to buy stuff that I don’t need which can be a problem
6:00 PM: My mom is a huge Patriots fan, so of course I watched the Super Bowl. The first three quarters were so rough to watch but the Patriots pulled through!
Total Spent: $0.00
Monday, February 6th, 2017:
6:00 AM: The patriots won, so technically there should be no school. However, that was not the case for me because I had to go to the review session for our next exam. Midterms coming up…
11:45 AM: Second class of the day
2:00 PM: Went to work
6:00 PM: Her Campus meeting. 002 EAST VILLAGE AT 6:00 PM. Come see us every other Monday and join us for very cool activities. It’s free! Today members signed up for articles and made origami. Thanks to the new members who showed up, we really appreciated it!
Total Spent: $0.00
Tuesday, February 7th, 2017:
10:50 AM: Two classes today and lots of group projects to work on.
7:00 PM: What’s the best way to study for midterms? My way of combatting such a difficult task is procrastinating. The women’s hockey team is playing against BC for the Beanpot championship. I went with my friend to support them, but unfortunately they lost to BC.
Total Spent: $0.00
Wednesday, February 8th, 2017:
It was a very long day of classes, work, and the constant stress that wouldn’t seem to go away. It didn’t allow me to go shopping, or to really get food beside breakfast from home and eating leftovers for dinner. The only positive thing was I spent $0 today.
Total Spent: $0.00
Overall I spent a total of $140.54 in one week.
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