In Her Campus’ series Where’d My Money Go?, we’re taking a look at what one college student spends in a week on campus. In this piece, Sarah, a senior at Southern New Hampshire University, shares her weekly spending habits.
I am currently a returning senior attending Southern New Hampshire University online studying Communications and Public Relations. I took a break off of school and decided to pursue my work, and recently make the choice to go back to school to finish my degree! I opted to take the summer semester off of classes, so I’m spending the next few months focusing more closely on work and volunteer opportunities.
I have a few jobs and income sources, which allow me to have a pretty steady cashflow and make larger purchases, or have more expensive spending weeks (like this week), which balance out later in the month. I just finished up a part-time editorial intern position at Morning Brew, where I made $20 per hour. I am also currently a full-time intern at NBCUniversal and NBC Sports where I make $20 per hour, and a part-time regional sports news editor at The GIST where I made $21 per hour. I am also a U.S. Navy Veteran and receive VA Disability on a monthly basis (which is not disclosed here).
Each month, my expenses stay pretty consistent. They are split between myself and my wife based on our income. The non-flux payments that I make each month include rent, credit card payments, and all of our subscriptions: Amazon, Dashlane, Spotify, iRobot, etc. Most of the extra money that is leftover goes to eating out, entertainment like going to the movies, or random Target and Books-A-Million trips. (Who can turn those down?)
I budget my money in a few different ways. I have what I call a “Life Deck,” and it’s a master spreadsheet that tracks everything that I possibly need to remember in my life. It includes the doctors I see, credit cards I have, frequent flyer numbers, health insurance information, reward accounts, and more. This also includes my non-flux bills (rent, car payment, insurance, utilities) and more. This spreadsheet helps me calculate an overall budget to see how much I make each month, how much I spend on bills, and how much I can put toward miscellaneous spending.
My wife and I also use an app called HoneyDue, which is a joint bill tracking app. We can see all of our bills in one place, check them off when one of us pays it, keep tabs on due dates and amounts, and we can track our budget into respective categories. We use this to review our finances at the end of the month and evaluate what we spent too much on, could’ve spent more on, and what is and isn’t working in our budget.
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Sunday
9 a.m.: Visited my favorite baristas at my local Starbucks for a writing session, reloaded my Starbucks Gold card, and got myself and my wife two iced coffees and two breakfast sandwiches. $25
12:40 p.m.: Grabbed lunch at Firehouse Subs after leaving the coffee shop and bought two combo meals. $25
2:30 p.m.: Swung by Target and Fresh Market to pick up this week’s groceries, dog food, and cat treats. $128.79
6:30 p.m.: I normally spend grocery days cleaning out the fridge and pantry, and I absolutely despise cooking afterward, so I picked up tacos, street corn, and chips and salsa for me and my wife at Taco 352 next door. $33.03Daily Total: $211.82
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Monday
2 p.m.: I needed an afternoon coffee pick-me-up, so I went to a new coffee shop I discovered downtown, where I spent some time writing and sipping on a honey lavender latte. $20.42
6:15 p.m.: I can never get enough of Target, so I went back and got some sugar-free candy, Hearth & Hand candles, and diet soda on sale! $44.32
7:45 p.m.: On the way home, my wife was so sweet and got me takeout from one of my favorite restaurants, CAVA. $0Daily Total: $64.74
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Tuesday
8:30 a.m.: I had a physical therapy appointment, which had a copay of $35. But with my HRA, I get reimbursed within a few days. $0
Daily Total: $0
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Wednesday
8:15 a.m.: Chiropractic appointment with a copay of $35, but with my HRA, I’ll get reimbursed for this as well. $0
9 a.m.: I finally scheduled a much-needed massage therapy appointment, and spent 45 minutes in pure bliss! $45
9:48 a.m.: Stopped by Publix to pick up some meat and pantry items that I forgot to order with the weekly groceries. $56.16
9:00 p.m.: Late-night shopping for my outfits for my weekend in New York doing press coverage for Her Conference and coverage of a few restaurants. I definitely splurged with my Aritzia, Target, Abercrombie, and Calpak orders! $376.80
9:54 p.m.: Booked my hotel for Her Conference, and am so grateful that my wife decided to treat me on my first work trip at one of my favorite hotels! $0Daily Total: $477.96
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Thursday
4:15 p.m.: Quick afternoon pick-me-up to get me through my late night editing. Reloaded my Starbucks card for my wife and I. $15
4:53 p.m.: I paid the invoice for my Google Workspace professional email. $7.20
8:37 p.m.: Target run for treats and toys for our dog’s 6th birthday, and a gift card for my parent’s anniversary! $48.81
8:42 p.m.: Ran next door to Chick-Fil-A for some late-night ice cream cones, and had enough reward points to redeem both cones for free. $0
9:26 p.m.: Signed up for a special-priced monthly membership at yoga pod for $30, but my health insurance reimburses my fitness memberships. $0Daily Total: $71.01
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Friday
10:30 a.m.: Monthly rent was due! $1,895
Daily Total: $1,895
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Saturday
6:45 p.m.: My wife took me to Books-A-Million to get When In Rome by Sarah Adams. We have a membership and had a $5 off coupon, so the total ended up being less than normal. $12.86
7:40 p.m.: I grabbed a few new things to try at Trader Joe’s on the way home. $52.57
10:23 p.m.: Signed up for an annual membership for The Pilates Class for $138, but my health insurance will reimburse $120 of it. $18Daily Total: $83.43
Weekly Total: $2,803.96
This week was a pretty unconventional week of spending, because I don’t normally spend this much on a weekly basis. With this being the first week of June, rent was due, which is the biggest charge of the month. While preparing for Her Conference, I needed to start ordering a few things in order to return and/or exchange them in time for the end of June, which meant paying more up front and potentially getting refunded later. I was pretty overwhelmed by the end of the week when I realized how much I had spent, but I have a pretty tight spending plan, budget, and organized financial system, so seeing it all and entering it into my budget has me set up for a pretty low-spending rest of the month.
