To be fair, I need to tell you, I’m doing this during a no-spend month. After spending more than I thought I would in Montana, I needed to do a little budgeting rehab. Casually, that meant doing a no-spend month to prove to myself that I can control my spending habits. Doing so, I wanted to track what I spend in a month and share it with y’all! So, here’s what I spend in a week as a 23-year-old in Austin, TX.
My main monthly expenses:
Here’s a list of my monthly expenses. To truly show you how much I spend in a week, it’s only right to share my monthly expenditures and how that breaks down by day/week. I must say, I’m a really budget-friendly gal (so I thought). These are my average monthly expenses:
- Rent: ~ $700
- Phone bill: $98
- Car insurance: $146
- Utilities: ~ $20-120
- Monthly grocery shop: ~ $300
Monday
I will lay it all out there now, I’m a basic eater. Being a basic eater means that I only have to grocery shop once a month (at Costco) and get bulk foods to repeat throughout the week. Not to mention, I’m a creature of habit, so I secretly love it. Here’s what I spent on Monday:
- $190 Renters insurance (I got a new apartment)
- $33.34 Rent
- $3.27 Phone
- $4.87 Insurance
- $1.34 Utilities at this time
Breakfast:
- Uncle Sam cereal: $0.76
- Kefir: $0.15
- Almond milk: $0.19
- Instant coffee: $0.10
- Heavy cream: $0.13
- Cream: $0.10
- Cinnamon: $0.04
Total breakfast: $1.47
Lunch + dinner:
- ½ baked potato: $0.35
- ⅛ steak: $1.10
- Cauliflower rice: Gifted
- Salad mix: $0.34
- Topochico w/ apple cider vinegar: $1.05
- Cooked kale: $0.21
Total lunch + dinner: $3.05
Tuesday
As per usual, I ate the same meals come Tuesday. I ate my Uncle Sam cereal (amazing for your digestive system), and the same lunch and dinner.
- $33.34 Rent
- $3.27 Phone
- $4.87 Insurance
- $1.34 Utilities at this time
Breakfast: (Same as Monday)
Total breakfast: $1.47
Lunch + dinner: (Same as Monday)
Total lunch + dinner: $3.05
Wednesday
I hate to say it again, but I ate the same meals again. Since working from home, I normally eat the same meals and do the same things day after day. This day was one of those days I stuck to my computer to complete work and side hustle projects all day long ~ no expenses necessary.
- $33.34 Rent
- $3.27 Phone
- $4.87 Insurance
- $1.34 Utilities at this time
Breakfast: (Same as Monday)
Total breakfast: $1.47
Lunch + dinner: (Same as Monday)
Total lunch + dinner: $3.05
Thursday
For, what I like to call Friday Eve, I had an all-paid work lunch. Every month, our workplace likes to have a virtual team lunch. To do that, they send over an UberEats gift card to order your choice of food to enjoy while hanging out with coworkers via Zoom. Since that was today, I got a free lunch that was big enough to eat for dinner, too. (Win, win)
- $33.34 Rent
- $3.27 Phone
- $4.87 Insurance
- $1.34 Utilities at this time
Breakfast: (Same as Monday)
Total breakfast: $1.47
Lunch + dinner:
Total lunch + dinner: $0
Friday
Friday was a weird day. I always like to start work early and check everything off early to get started on my weekend tasks. I had the same breakfast, but ran to Summer Moon for a coffee and ate a handful of pecans on the way. For dinner, I didn’t have much of an appetite ~ I ate some cooked chicken and raw broccoli. To be extra, I had a topo chico with apple cider vinegar in a wine glass.
- $33.34 Rent
- $3.27 Phone
- $4.87 Insurance
- $1.34 Utilities at this time
Breakfast: (Same as Monday)
Total breakfast: $1.47
Lunch + dinner:
- Pecans: $0.56
- Summer Moon coffee: $5.33 (with $1 tip)
- Chicken + broccoli: $1.31
- Topochico w/ apple cider vinegar: $1.05
Total lunch + dinner: $8.25
Saturday
Today was a busy side hustle workday in my life. I woke up at 5 am to film a few different videos and head over to a coffee shop to meet up with a friend. I ended up going to the coffee shop an hour early to edit a video, talked with a friend for two hours, and stay late to get my Youtube video uploaded. During that time, I bought two coffees and headed over to Costco to get some new apartment materials.
- $33.34 Rent
- $3.27 Phone
- $4.87 Insurance
- $1.34 Utilities at this time
Breakfast: (Same as Monday)
Total breakfast: $1.47
Lunch + dinner:
- Chicken + broccoli: $1.31
- Pecans: $0.56
- Summer Moon coffees (2): $10.66 (with $2 tip)
Total lunch + dinner: $12.53
Other:
- Trash can: $73.91 (w/ tax)
- Britta filters: $28.91 (w/ tax)
Total “other”: $102.82
Sunday
On Sunday, I had another coffee date with a friend. I showed up to the coffee shop a little earlier to get started on some projects, as per always. Since getting there early, I ordered one large coffee. After that, I ran a few errands. I had to pick up SD cards for filming, a whiteboard, and whiteboard pens to plan out my goals a little more (check out my vlog here). Once I got back to my apartment, I cleaned and got rid of three trash bags worth of clothes, shoes, and accessories.
- $33.34 Rent
- $3.27 Phone
- $4.87 Insurance
- $1.34 Utilities at this time
Breakfast: (Same as Monday)
Total breakfast: $1.47
Lunch + dinner:
- Chicken + broccoli: $1.31
- Pecans: $0.56
- Summer Moon coffee: $5.33 (with $1 tip)
Total lunch + dinner: $7.20
Other:
- SD Cards: $16.99 (w/ tax)
- Whiteboard: $12.99 (w/ tax)
- Whiteboard pens: $6.69 (w/ tax)
- Whiteboard pen holder: $4.29 (w/ tax)
- Whiteboard eraser: $2.29 (w/ tax)
Total “other”: $43.25
Summary/Wrap up
In wraps, I’m surprised. I’m really not handling this “no-spend” month well. While I’ve spent a bit of money this week, it was on items that I need for my new apartment. For instance, over $100 of my “other” weekly expenses were for my new place (like a trash can). Here’s my weekly total:
Weekly total: $714.87
One thing that I know I’m good at is cutting my food expenses. Overall, I only spent $47.42 on food and coffee (shocking). If I keep that up, I will only spend roughly $200 each month on food. Thankfully, I’m not one to order takeout often, other than my coffee on the weekends of course. In wraps, 46% of my weekly expenses were spent on utilities, and 47% on “other” expenses. I will definitely have to be more mindful of this moving forward.
I hope that this may have inspired you to track your own spending ~ I know it has motivated me. I will have to try this again when I get my new apartment. I will be able to see what may have changed and where I may be able to get better with my budget.
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