Archive for November 22nd, 2009

Money Diary

Posted in Travelogue on 11/22/2009 11:03 pm by Daniel Hagan

Cindy wanted to do a Money Diary (inspired by Ramit Sethi) and I agreed to do one the same week. So, here’s a snapshot of my financial life. (A few income factors are obscured for legal reasons.)

Monday

  • Breakfast consisted of OJ I previously purchased, so no cost this week.
    • For lunch, the guys from work went to my favorite deli and I had a soup & sandwich combo for $9.77.
  • Dinner was free courtesy of the hotel, so no cost for that either.
  • I bought some powerline ethernet adapters from NewEgg, total cost $146.95.

Tuesday

  • No breakfast on Tuesday, so that was free.
  • Our work group went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. I had the nugget combo meal for $9.01.
  • For dinner I had free fried chicken at the hotel.
  • I also spent $29.80 on a gift for Cindy.
  • United Airlines got $425.20 for a flight related to work.

Wednesday

  • Work group went to the local Thai place. I had pad thai for $13.00.
  • Dinner was at the new mexican place in town. Enchilada combo for $15.38.
  • I also picked up some mints from the register counter (8 for $1) and shared them with the other guys.
  • The powerline adapters arrived, but one was DOA, so I had to spend $11.29 on an RMA shipping label.
  • I picked up three single-use boxes of laundry detergent for $6.00 total.
  • I also spent $9.99 on iTunes buying some Jon Hopkins songs.
  • My AT&T bill for my iPhone autopaid onto my AMEX card – this month’s total $93.38.
  • My scheduled transfer moved $1620.26 from my savings to my checking in preparation for my Chase Marriott VISA bill autopay.

Thursday

  • Work group headed to Olive Garden for the soup, salad, breadsticks combo – $9.65.
  • For dinner, I ate at the deli and had a soup and salad combo for $12.18.
  • After I got back from dinner, I did laundry for $5.00 in the coin op machines at the hotel.
  • My corporate AMEX card posted the monthly cashback. This month it was $27.55. I really only use that card for rental car fuel and the occasional business expense related to running my S-Corporation.
  • Geico autodebited $129.61 from my checking account for my auto insurance.

Friday

  • I took the plunge and purchased a new laptop from Dell. The $2,582.80 total went on the corp AMEX card since it’s a business expense. (Next month’s cash back should be more than $27. ;-) )
  • Lunch was at the deli again for $13.72.
  • Dinner was pho at the local vietnamese place – only costs $10.25.
  • Chase autodebited $1,620.26 to cover my VISA bill.

Saturday

  • Had lunch at Chick-fil-A again, for $9.01.
  • Dinner was as a local pizza joint, but since it took an hour for our food to arrive, our meal was comped. Free pizza! :-)
  • After dinner, wanted to see The Men Who Stare At Goats. Unfortunately, due to Twilight New Moon opening, they had removed TMWSAG at the last minute. So Sean and I decided to watch 2012. $9.25

Sunday

  • Lunch at the deli (yes, I can eat there every day) – $12.50 for a soup & salad bar.
  • After lunch, I browsed books in Books-A-Million for a while but didn’t buy anything. Then I went to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art. I left $20 in their donation stand since admission is free. They have an exhibit of Karsh photos that I really want to see more of!
  • After the museum I ate dinner back at the deli (stop looking at me like that) for $9.77.
  • I also ran over to Target to pickup a 12 pack of razors for $27.49.

Other Notes

  • Each day at the hotel costs a total of $88.75. The hotel accrues the charges and periodically charges my credit card.
  • The hotel charges, airline tickets, laundry and detergent, and $51 per diem are reimbursed by work.

In Sum

(Figures below ignore the Chase VISA payment which was paid for with prior expense reimbursements…)

Money spent on food: $125.24
Money spent on entertainment: $39.24
Money spent on travel: $1046.45
Money spent on household activities: $168.10
Money spent on gifts: $29.80
Money spent on computer stuff: $2741.04
Money spent on cell phone: $93.38

Income from expense reimbursement: $1057.45
Income from per diem: $375
Income from cash-back: $27.55
Approximate weekly salary post-tax: $760

Net for the week: (-$1911)
Net excluding laptop purchase: $671