I wanted to share my spending habits in case anyone is curious about the costs of living in the big apple in 2020. I'll share my occupation and what I spend over a seven day period in New York City.
What I do:
Occupation: Executive Assistant (and very proud)
Industry: Healthcare Investment (aka finance)
Let’s get the monthly basics out of the way, shall we?
Monthly Expenses
Wifi: $79.00
Phone: family plan but I pay it, $149.50
Rent: $ A very scary number!
Student Loan: $267.00 (yikes)
Electric: in the winter is usually around $30
Monthly unlimited metro card: $127
Tidal: $9.99
Guest of a Guest subscription - $14.99 (I just canceled this because I never used it)
Hulu: $5.99
Netflix: 9.99
401k Roth: about $400 from my pre-taxed paycheck (I don't count this as money spent since I don't see the cash and it goes into the retirement account)
Total for Monthly: $693.46 (not including rent and 401k)
Monday
Going to work: The bus ride to my job. I'm in the office from 7:45am-5ish, Monday-Friday. It's a little rough sitting in an office all day, but I'm happy to have a job that lets me live and enjoy life in Manhattan) - $2.75
Breakfast once I arrive at work: I ordered 2 eggs and some strawberries $12.87 but really $0
Lunch was tofu, broccoli, and mushroom Pho (I just discovered the joys and deliciousness of Pho! but I picked out the mushrooms because I don't like them) – $17.43 actually $0
(My job pays for breakfast and lunch for us, so I usually don’t have any food charges for the day unless I go out for happy hour, have dinner after work or take a cab to my boyfriend's apartment)
Subway home - a glamorous $2.75
Stopped in CVS (my favorite place!) for 2 packs of Mike’s mighty good ramen, nail glue because my nail broke, and extra polar ice gum - $13.21
When I got home, I decided to get some box lighting from Amazon so I can shoot content at any time without relying on natural light from my apartment windows - $65.31
Tuesday
Le bus ride yet again - $2.75
Breakfast, I had two Nutragrain waffles and a clementine from my job’s kitchen - $0
Lunch, I had tofu curry with white rice that made my stomach gurgle later. Probably won’t get that again - $15.30 but actually $0
Today was a normal workday with some perfunctory good mornings and how are yous. I try to do my job efficiently and get people what they need quickly to make sure I'm on top of stuff. Sometimes I check my gmail for any blogging collaborations or events that may be making my inbox good looking.
6 train (subway) home - just takes a few stops – $2.75
Wednesday
A luxury ride in the Aston down 2nd avenue to get to the office (jk bus again) - $2.75
Breaky was an apple, banana, and some sort of yellow plum from my job’s kitchen. I know, don't cringe, it's healthy - $0
For lunch I ordered a California roll and some edamame that I didn't really like - $15.87 but free.99.
6 train home was $2.75
Thursday
No bus ride today because I worked from home due to the corona virus. My job tested work from home capabilities firm-wide and Thursday was my test day. I have to be honest, it was really nice not waking up at 6:40am to hustle out the door and to work. I actually had time to enjoy the morning and felt very refreshed when the day ended.
Laundry because I was running out of clean undies. $23 since I drop it off to have it washed and folded then I pick it up. (I know, I know) A luxury I've partaken in since I was broke and living in Astoria, Queens.
Friday
Back to work and reluctantly back on the bus - $2.75
Breakfast - No breakfast because at this point COVID-19 in NYC was really starting to worsen and I didn't want to touch anything that would be delivered, to be honest.
Lunch - same as above!
Getting home: I left work around 2:45pm. I was hesitant to go in at all since WHO announced we are officially in a pandemic and I was among only a few in the office. I went in because I had to file some tax stuff that was being sent to us on Friday and due to be postmarked by the weekend. I took a cab to CVS after I left work to avoid being in a crowded subway car in light of social distancing - $13.80 Back on the upper east side, I decided to get food from CVS and Whole Foods. SUPER RARE for me to stock up on a bunch of groceries since my job pays for breakfast and lunch, but my job announced we will all be working from home for a week due to the corona virus and to help stop the spread. So, I needed to make sure to have enough food in my apartment to avoid having to go out to get more food throughout the week - $108.95
Saturday
Social distancing in full effect. No money spent on this day and for the first time, in a long time, my wallet smiled at me. I just recorded a few YouTube videos and a TikTok in my apartment. All in all, it was a productive day for my blogging business and just felt like a low-key day on the weekend.
Sunday
A problem: I ran out of toilet paper in the morning. After searching high and low for toilet paper (it's sold out everywhere because people bought it all in a panic), I finally found a few rolls in an obscure pharmacy. Crisis averted for $6.80. Money well spent.
This week wasn't a normal week for me since it included the cost of groceries and no social activity. I usually have at least one happy hour after work, go to my boyfriend's apartment at least once during the week, and have brunch with a friend on the weekend.
This week wasn't a normal week for most people due to COVID-19. Since we are engaging in social distancing to combat the spread of the virus, many of us have completely changed our normal day-to-day routine to adjust to this lifestyle.
Even with all that is going on, I like sharing the experience of a "normal" start to the work week, then end on a completely different daily regimen due to our current social climate. I think a big takeaway is that we can adapt and adjust to anything.
Total Spent for the week: $250.32
No comments
Post a Comment