Millennial Money Diary on Maternity Leave Making $26,000/yr for September 2024

I don’t know about you but I love CNBC’s Millennial Money and Refinery29’s Money Diaries. 

Maybe it’s because I love to snoop, but there’s something interesting about learning how someone spends their money. Since I enjoy it so much, I’d share my monthly money diaries! 

Without ado, here’s my September 2024 money diary.

Introduction to my Money Diary

My income is $26,000 per year as I’m on maternity leave. This income is from my employment insurance from the government. For my money diaries, I only calculate my disposable income. I do not include any investments as part of my income because I do not consider my dividends or compound interest disposable; it automatically gets re-invested. My money diary focuses on daily expenses; if there’s an interest in how much I invest, I can include that in future editions!

Fixed Expenses & Bills

• Mortgage – $175.38
• Strata (basically HOA for condos) – $342.73
• Phone Bill – $33.60
• American Express fee – $12.99
• Home insurance – $23.54
• Car insurance – $225.41
• Car payment – $533.58
• Daycare – $601.50

Total: $1,948.73

Week of September 1 – 7

• Once Upon a Child – $88.71
• Starbucks – $13.55
• Maplewood Farm – $23.39. A great family-friendly petting zoo! Check out my vlog.
• Maplewood Farm – $5.51. I am a sucker and got Theo a toy horse from the gift shop.
• Phnom Penh Restaurant – $92.
• Snacks – $6.69.
• McDonald’s – $13.06
• E-transfer fee – $1.50
• Adelita’s Restaurant – $29.82. Lunch when I was waiting on my oil change. Theo loved the cheese and tortilla.
• Oil change – $179.20. Ok, I thought oil changes were $50-80 so I did not budget for such an expensive oil change. Dan said it cost him $50 and my Dad said it cost him almost $200 as well. I discovered it’s because of the car I drive.
• Shein – $8.14
• Sushi for lunch – $16.70
• Refurb.io – $79.52
• Value Village – $27.63
• Starbucks – $7.88
• Gas – $58.44
• Cold meds for Theo – $13.64. Poor baby picked up a cold on his first week of daycare.

Total: $665.38

Week of September 8 – 14

• Sushi for lunch – $17.66
• Old Navy for Theo – $93.31
• Old Navy for myself – $74.60
• Sushi for dinner – $60.33
• Theo’s cake smash photoshoot deposit – $50
• Starbucks – $5.51
• Eyebrow threading – $14.50
• SPCA Thrift Store – $70
• Menstrual products… fun – $15.81
• Acupuncture and cupping – $43.60

Total: $445.32

Week of September 15 – 21

• Snacks – $2.09
• TransLink – $10
• Sushi for lunch – $19.56
• TransLink – $10
• Waves Coffee – $12.66
• Liquor store – $9.29
• Shein – $8.15
• Waves Coffee – $12.81
• TransLink – $10
• Utensils for Theo – $15.03
• Pho for dinner – $57.08. We did not anticipate how expensive this dinner was, lol. Pho is generally pretty cheap for us!
• E-transfer fee – $1.50
• Refurb.io – $79.52
• Uniqlo – $253.60. I splurged and purchased all the bra tops… an extensive review coming soon!
• Taobao – $257.58. The Chinese Amazon. Now and then, I make a big purchase of clothes since they have a lot of styles not found in Canada and for cheap too.
• Value Village – $56.75
• Value Village for Dan – $33.58
• Value Village for Theo – $3.66
• Pizza for lunch – $5.09
• Taobao shipping – $110.67
• Dentist – $60.94
• Christmas household items – $49.15
• BaLe Deli – $14.67
• Sushi for lunch – $20

Total: $1,113.38

Week of September 22 – 28

• Etsy – $1.49
• Etsy – $24.80. Got a new budget template! This time for Google Sheets since my Notion finance planner was starting to get incredibly laggy with the data. Don’t make the same mistake I did and waste $1.50 on a finance planner – it’d probably be horrible.
• Amazon – $44.79. Upgraded my black plastic meal prep containers with glass containers. Finally!
• Amazon – $88.17
• TransLink – $10
• Snacks – $4.77
• Gas – $80
• Waves Coffee – $6.56
• Old Navy – $34.70
• Uniqlo – $57.55. Paid extra for exchanging some items.
• Uniqlo for Theo – $22.40. They got the softest baby clothes.
• Groceries – $9.79
• TransLink – $10
• Lunch containers – $10.06
• Lululemon — $27.44.
• Something for Theo – $15.74
• T&T Supermarket – $88.08. It was hotpot night!
• Han Kook Meat – $43.79. It was hotpot night!
• 88 Supermarket – $63.86. It was hotpot night!
• Snacks – $3.83
• RMT session – $119.50. I reached the maximum of my RMT allowance on my extended health plan with my previous employer and my new health plan doesn’t kick in for another 2 months.

Total: $767.32

Week of September 29 – 30

• Humidifier for Theo – $54.82
• Snacks – $2.36
• Value Village – $1.58
• Family photoshoot deposit – $52.50
• Muddy buddy for Theo – $41.99.
• Cat treats – $12.26
• Sandwich bags – $8.91

Total: $174.42

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Reflections:

As I was creating this month’s entry, all I could think about was holy shit, I spent a lot this month! So many entries!

I did start a new job in mid-September. I look forward to it since a lot of my discretionary spending is due to boredom with a baby. We did splurge a bit in September due to two long weekends and my return to work/end of maternity leave. Either way, I believe October will be a good month!

Enjoyed my money diary series? Check out more entries here!