Skip to content, or skip to search.

Skip to content, or skip to search.

The Spending Diaries


The Junior Professional: $54,000
Matt, a 25-year-old publicist, lives with a roommate in an East Village two-bedroom, where his share of the rent is . . . $1,100 a month. His biggest monthly expenses include the bill for his BlackBerry ($63), his cable bill ($50), and electricity ($50).

MONDAY
Canadian maple syrup and Three Musketeers candy bar . . . $10.48
Coke Zero and two large bottles of water . . . $4.23
Subway sandwich . . . $7.67
Gas for rental car . . . $26
1/3 rental-car payment . . . $43
Car service home . . . $30
TOTAL . . . $121.38

TUESDAY
Taxi to work . . . $10
Tuna-salad wrap from Pax . . . $5.96 Baked Lay’s potato chips from Pax . . . $1
Subway home . . . $2
Cetaphil moisturizer, Kmart . . . $13.54
Bottle of red wine from a liquor store on East 5th Street . . . $19.54
Trident white gum . . . $1.50
Taxi to friend’s house . . . $7
Taxi home from friend’s house . . . $7
Total . . . $67.54

WEDNESDAY
Taxi to work . . . $10
Salad from Teresa’s . . . $8
Tasti D-Lite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5
Subway home . . . $2
Carrot cake from Atlas Cafe on Second Avenue . . . $4.62
Marlboro Ultra Lights . . . $7.50
Takeout, grilled lemon chicken with a salad and mashed potatoes from 7A . . . $14
TOTAL . . . $51.12

THURSDAY
Six kitchen glasses from Kmart . . . $6.27
Doctor-bill co-pay . . . $10
Turkey sandwich . . . $5.95
Diet ginger ale and Baked Lay’s potato chips . . . $4.13
Skinny Cow mint-chocolate ice-cream sandwiches from a bodega on Second Avenue . . . $4.99
Marlboro Ultra Lights . . . $7
Vodka sodas at Boiler Room . . . $46
TOTAL . . . $84.34

FRIDAY
Soup and steamed vegetables for lunch from Angelica Kitchen . . . $19
Two throw pillows from Urban Outfitters for couch . . . $43.35
Bagel, chips, and soda for lunch from St. Mark’s Market . . . $8.68
Subway to Brooklyn . . . $2
Drinks at Patois . . . $37
Taxi back to Manhattan . . . $14
TOTAL . . . $124.03

SATURDAY
Milk Duds and bottled water at movie (Marie Antoinette) . . . $6.50
Soup and grilled chicken for dinner with salad at Cafe Orlin . . . $42
Beer and Marlboro Ultra Lights from a bodega on Second Avenue . . . $12
Beer at the Phoenix . . . $15
Grilled cheese, omelette, potatoes from Moonstruck Diner on Second Avenue and 5th Street . . . $27.40
TOTAL . . . $102.90

SUNDAY
Grilled-chicken wrap at Cafe Gigi . . . $15
Afternoon drinks at China 1 . . . $13
Drinks at Supreme Trading in Brooklyn . . . $40
Green tea from a bodega . . . $4.75
Car service to Manhattan . . . $15
Total . . . $87.75


TOTAL WEEKLY SPENDING: $639.06