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
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!
11 Comments
I really enjoyed this money diary and I’m looking forward to reading more posts like this! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Thank you for your support, Lucy!
I found this so interesting as I have similar outgoings to you in the UK. I should really track my spends as I’m so bad with just tapping my card and buying whatever I see. It’s just so easy to spend a lot with a card!
Olivia | http://www.theoliviaedit.co.uk
Tracking my spending was the best decision I’ve made! I’m like you as well, without a tracker, I just tap my card away and hope it’s “not much” at the end of the month. I hope you get around to starting your tracker soon!
I found this so interesting as I have similar outgoings to you in the UK. I should really track my spends as I’m so bad with just tapping my card and buying whatever I see. It’s just so easy to spend a lot with a card!
Olivia | http://www.theoliviaedit.co.uk
This is a great practice, it can really help you reflect on your spending habits. I’ve tracked my spending habits on and off and recently have been thinking of making it a routine habit. This is motivating to me. With online shopping available, it is very easy to overspend. Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you for reading! Tracking expenses has definitely opened my eyes to my spending habit and trying to see where I can cut or slow down on. During my maternity leave, I was guilty of a lot of online spending out of boredom or stress. Since I’ve adapted tracking into my routine, it makes it easier and less overwhelming when I update my tracker at the end of the night or week.
I really love this post! It’s so interesting to see what other people spent on daily basis. I might just start a series like this on my blog x
ereen | https://www.everydayereen.com
Thank you! I started my money diary because I found it super interesting to see how people spend the money (similar to what’s in my bag posts too) and it was only fair that I contribute my diary, haha. I hope you get around to sharing your own money diary because I’d be keen to read it 🙂
Hi! I started the series, and I linked you back on my post x https://www.everydayereen.com/2024/10/money-diaries-september-2024/
ereen | https://www.everydayereen.com
Eeek, so excited for you to start the series! I’ll give it a read now!