After 15 minutes spent studying my website analytics and weeks of talking to my friends at home, I’ve determined 88% of my readers don’t live in New York and everybody from Nebraska (+ anywhere that isn’t New York) wants to know how I budget to live here.
After a week of using Mint, it notified me I had exceeded my monthly restaurant budget by $172, and I decided I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life. To be fair, the app automatically set my restaurant budget at $10/month, and I also charged a bunch of meals to my card that people Venmo’d me for, but I know. It’s problematic.
I’ve read a lot of Refinery29’s Money Diaries recently, and while I considered writing something similar, I decided I don’t need to be THAT open about how much I spend per week on fancy salads, musicals I’ve already seen and makeup I won’t wear. Yes, those were my biggest spending categories over the past two weeks. I suck at budgeting.
Still, to give you all some perspective on how irresponsible I am with my money and how prices differ from Nebraska to New York, here’s a graph with completely made up numbers to estimate how I spend my money each month, followed by a breakdown of the costs and some stories you probably don't care about but will read anyway. (P.S. the numbers on the pie chart are supposed to be percentages).
ACTUAL NECESSITIES:
Rent is expensive. WiFi is only $15. My unlimited monthly MetroCard costs $121. I honestly don't know how much utilities cost, but ultimately I spend about 2/3 of what my monthly salary should be on nonnegotiable expenses.
This category also includes Hulu (without commercials) because entertainment is crucial to a happy life. My dad pays for Netflix and my brother funds our family Spotify plan. Not sure how that happened, but I'll roll with it.
GROCERIES:
The closest real grocery store to me is a Whole Foods, and even I can’t commit to that level of bougie. Instead, I tried the fancy bodega across the street from my building, which turned out to be even worse than Whole Foods because NOTHING HAS A PRICETAG. They don’t even print itemized receipts. I spent $18 on pretzels, Laughing Cow cheese and a pint of Halo Top (huge regret, fake ice cream is trash), and I have no idea how.
Thankfully, there’s a Trader Joe’s just across Central Park from me. I didn’t know that at first, so I dragged my roommate across town on the bus and down 24 blocks on the subway to a different one. Whoops. We Ubered back after.
BUT (yes, I’m getting to the point now) I only spent $37 on my groceries for the week. I cooked every weeknight and didn’t even use everything I bought. A true domestic goddess.
FOOD THAT ISN'T GROCERIES:
Like any true millennial, I go to brunch at least once a week. Some may see this as frivolous, but if you really think about it, I'm saving money by combining two meals into one.
I get free lunch at work once or twice a week, although I haven't really been there long enough to make that generalization. On the other days I try to go somewhere cheap like Trader Joe's, where I can get an unsatisfying salad that'll leave me feeling hungry again within the hour.
Ultimately, I spend about $100/week at restaurants because I'll never bring a lunchbox to work and I typically don't cook on the weekends. Whoops.
ALCOHOL:
Drinks are expensive in New York. No more $3.25 Long Islands on Fridays or $12 pitchers of Elk Creek. I'm not actually including this in my budget because I've only gone out twice since moving here. One night I only spent $12, but I spent $55 on the other. I guess this falls under the "spontaneous purchases I shouldn't make" category.
THEATRE:
Okay, I'm dramatic, this really doesn't account for that much of my spending, although I did spend a bit too much to see "Come From Away" for a second time last week. Definitely worth it.
Although I saw 10 shows in 10 weeks while interning last summer, I decided to chill a bit this year, especially as there are approximately two (2) shows I currently want to see. As it turns out, I could actually save money and live a more comfortable life if I don't go out of my way to spend $100 a week on musicals.
MAKEUP:
This is in the pie chart, so I had to include it. Last week, I went to Sephora and bought a $20 eyeliner I already own so I could put it on before the Taylor Swift concert. You can't just use the tester eyeliner on yourself. That's disgusting. I may have also recently purchased two lipsticks so similar to a color I already own that I know I'll never actually use them. Maybe. Can't confirm.
EVERYTHING ELSE:
Books, groomswoman dresses (hi Grant), monthly razor subscription boxes, etc. all fall into this category of things I probably don't need to buy at this very moment, but I'm going to buy anyway. Like I said, I suck at budgeting.
SAVINGS:
This may come as a shock to those of you who've made it this far, but I am making an effort to save some money. I even set up my 401k last week, and it told me I'm severely behind on retirement planning! How exciting!
So there you have it. A not-very-specific outline of where all my money goes and why I am absolutely thriving in New York.
If you made it this far, please Venmo me @MaddieStu to subscribe to all future blog posts and to support my fund to buy some cute work pants that actually have pockets. Or a new purse that looks just like another purse I have. Or an extra tube of my favorite lipstick just in case I lose the first one.
Yeah, you probably shouldn't send me money. I get it. I'll go work on making a real budget now, goodbye.