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I thought it would be a bit unfair to have a blog all about budgeting, saving more and spending less without sharing my personal spending habits!
I’m going to lay out EVERYTHING I spend in a normal week. I didn’t choose this week to show you these particular expenses. It just worked out, I wanted to make a post about it, before anyone starts saying “she chose this week on purpose”.
Additionally, if you want a weekly spending tracker printable, I have a couple expense trackers for FREE in my resource library! You can get access by joining my email list here.
A bit of background for these expenses. This is what I spend in a week as a 26 years old and live in the Bay Area.
Let’s just jump into it!
Table of Contents
My Weekly Spending
Sunday
Sunday is my “chores” day. So obviously the first thing I was going to do was buy some groceries.
I spent $29.66 at Costco and $40.67 at Sprouts which brings my grocery bill total to $70.33. I always try to purchase my groceries for the week on Sunday with the intention of using this grocery haul to cook all week.
So I purchased ingredients to make a delicious lasagna, some fruit to make oatmeal for breakfast and some stuff to make a sandwich for lunch.
Second, I purchased a tripod from Amazon for $26.33. I purchased this for the blog to help me take photos for my posts and photos for Pinterest!
Sunday total: $96.66
Monday
I did not spend any money on Monday!! Yay!
Monday total: $0
Tuesday
On Tuesday I purchased yet another thing for this blog. I purchased some prop money so I could take photos like this one. Did I need to purchase this? Probably not, but it saved me a trip to the bank if anything!
I was able to use some rewards from my Amazon credit card so the total came out to be $7.17.
Typically on Tuesday’s my boyfriend (Daniel) and I go eat Taco Tuesday for dinner at one of the local taquerias, however he happened to not be with me on this Tuesday, so I didn’t go feast on 50% off tacos like I normally do.
Tuesday total: $7.17
Wednesday
I did go get a slushy from McDonald’s. However, the only reason I went was because they were offering a free slushy on the app with no purchase necessary.
This is pretty random but I actually downloaded the McDonald’s app because a friend told me they were going to have free Mcflurries soon and I got lucky that they happen to be offering free slushies today.
The key was “no purchase necessary”! A lot of times with promotions they offer something free “with a 10 dollar order” or something along those lines. That’s how they get you!!
It makes you spend money because you think you’re getting a deal when in reality you wouldn’t have spent that money otherwise!
So this was another no spend day! Second of the week!
Wednesday total: $0
Thursday
Third no spend day! This week is turning out pretty well so far.
Thursday total: $0
Friday
I did anticipate spending some money today. I drove over to Daniel’s apartment where he greeted me with some delicious boba! However it was his treat so my bill was $0.
We were going to order dinner with his roommates however one of them happened to have a free dinner from work up to $75 so he was nice enough to treat the four of us out to dinner.
Friday total: $0
Saturday
Saturday was a fairly calm and easy day. I treated Daniel to dinner, we got Vietnamese food which came out to be $45.20 including taxes and tip.
Saturday total: $45.20
Total Weekly Spending: $149.03
My Additional Expenses
Now that we’ve talked about everything I spent throughout the week, let’s get into the juicy stuff! Just because I only spent $149.03 this week, doesn’t actually mean I ONLY spent that amount.
There are several things I pay for monthly, every six months or yearly that need to be factored into this equation. Just because I didn’t swipe my credit card doesn’t mean I’m not paying!
Living Expenses
- Renting Expenses:
My apartment has a monthly rent of $1,950 of which I’m responsible for $1,125. I pay slightly more than half because I have the master bedroom and I will gladly pay more rent if it means I have a bathroom in my room.
This means rent for only one week is $262.50.
If you live in the Bay Area like me, I know what you’re thinking. WHAT A STEAL!
In addition, I pay $5.41 a month for renters insurance. My apartment requires us to have renters insurance to live here. I don’t know if that’s the case everywhere.
My total renters insurance payment for the week is $1.24
Renting Expenses: $263.74
- Utilities
My portion of the PG&E bill is normally between 60 and 80 dollars. So I’m going to average it and assume it will be about $70 this month bringing the weekly amount to $16.33.
My landlord is nice enough to not charge us for water, trash or sewage so that amount is $0.
In addition, because of Covid my job covers my internet. The monthly internet bill is $34.99 but like I said, the firm covers it so this comes to $0 as well.
Let me know how much you pay for Utilities in the comments! I always thought my PG&E bill was fairly expensive and I’m trying to figure out ways to decrease it! But let me know what you think!
Utilities: $16.33
- Car
For car insurance I pay about $650 every six months. Which comes out to $25 dollars for the week.
Car Expenses: $25
Total Living Expenses: $305.07
Sinking Funds
What is a sinking fund? A Sinking Fund is to save and pay for those big expenses you know are coming. I use this to save money monthly for everything I’m not paying for on a week to week basis.
I have one major sinking fund that I call Expense Savings. I throw everything I know I’m going to have to pay for eventually into this category and auto transfer into this account every month.
If you want to read more about Sinking Funds, click here.
So what’s included in this sinking fund?
- Car Maintenance:
There always seems to be some sort of big expense involving my car, so I like feeling prepared for it.
I include $50 a month into my Expense Savings Sinking Fund which is $11.67 a week.
Car Maintenance: $11.67
- Moving Expenses:
Last time I moved it was a major pain in the ass. I don’t know how many friends I can convince to help me carry a couch for a round of beers anymore, so I decided to start including some money in my sinking fund for this.
I include $50 a month to be able to pay for movers next time I need it.
Moving Expenses: $11.67
- Credit Card Annual Fees:
I currently have two credit cards that have an annual fee. The Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Capital One Venture.
Chase Sapphire Reserve has a fee of $550 a year or $10.58 a week. Capital One Venture has a fee of $59 a year or $1.13 a week.
I should note the Capital One Venture card has since increased their annual fee, if you are looking into that credit card at the time of writing this it is $95 dollars.
Credit Cards Annual Fees: $11.71
- Amazon Prime
The annual Amazon prime payment is $129.41 which equals $2.49 for one week. Additionally, I do have the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa card but the credit card is FREE if you have prime!
Learn how to make money with Amazon click here.
Amazon Prime: $2.49
- Scott’s Cheap Flights
Scott’s Cheap Flights is a subscription that will send you amazing flight deals everyday. I pay annually because the money I save from purchasing cheaper flights is 100% worth the price of the subscription.
If you love traveling I would highly encourage you to check out Scott’s Cheap Flights, they have a free email subscription as well so no need to pay if you don’t want to!
I pay $39 a year which is only $0.75 a week.
Scott’s Cheap Flights: $0.75
- Instacart
I felt the need to mention I have Instacart as well. However, I have a benefit at work that allowed me to pay the yearly membership for free so I didn’t pay anything. I believe the yearly membership is $99 dollars though.
I have really loved using Instacart and if that benefit goes away I think I will opt to pay for it myself in the future.
Instacart: $0
Total Sinking Fund: $38.28
Monthly Subscriptions
Lastly we have subscriptions. These I pay for monthly so they are not included in my sinking fund.
- Spotify
Spotify changed their prices this year to $15.99 for a family plan. I have 6 people in my plan which makes my monthly total $2.67 and $0.62 for one week.
Spotify: $0.62
- Apple
I pay for additional iCloud storage across all my devices which is $2.99 a month or $0.70 per week.
Apple: $0.70
- Whitney Simmons “Alive” App
Whitney Simmons is a fitness Youtuber who created her own app called Alive. Alive includes daily workouts and different fitness programs.
I decided to pay for this app because I’m not currently paying for a gym membership and I’ve been watching Whitney on youtube for years now and wouldn’t mind supporting her.
I pay $14.99 monthly or $3.50 a week.
Alive App: $3.50
Total Monthly Subscriptions: $4.82
The additional expenses make up the bulk of my spending every week.
I made sure to include these because they make up the bulk of my expenses and leaving them out wouldn’t be an accurate representation of my spending.
Total Additional Expenses: $348.17
It’s pretty crazy that although I only spent $149.03 during the week there was still almost 350 dollars worth of expenses I was spending on that were occurring in the background.
WHAT I SPEND IN A WEEK: $497.20
Spending Observations & Budget Tips
My current budget goal is to try and save 50% of my take home (after tax) pay.
This means I have to try and keep all of my expenses below around $2,000 a month. Which doesn’t always happen, but that’s the goal!
Additionally, I make an effort to keep the bulk of my expenses on Saturday and Sunday. If I go to the grocery store and get everything I need on the weekends, I should theoretically not be spending anything throughout the week.
Obviously this week I did spend money on Tuesday but I’ve found, changing my mentality to “only spend on the weekends” has saved me a lot of money throughout the years!
Final Thoughts
I think this week was a fairly typical week for me. Obviously things will vary depending on what I’m cooking that week, if I go out to eat more or if I need to stock up on something.
However I’m pretty happy with the total outcome! I find it funny all of my expenses throughout the week consisted of 2 things: food and purchases for the blog.
Note: If you’re wondering how I did my math.
Per month $50: (50 dollars / 30 days) * 7 day = $11.67 for the week!
How much do you spend in a week? Let me know in the comments!
If you want all my budget tips to cut your spending and how to save more money, keep reading the blog. Additionally, if you want a budget template for google sheets, subscribe to my email list!
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