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Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar.
Today: an assistant professor who makes $70,000 per year and spends some of her money this week on kayaks.
” data-reactid=”12″>Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar.
Today: an assistant professor who makes $70,000 per year and spends some of her money this week on kayaks.
8 a.m. — The alarm goes off as I wake up from a dream about being late for a race (?). Kiss my partner, T., and the dog, then roll out of bed and get coffee started. It’s a writing day (summers on the tenure track in the humanities mean working on turning the dissertation into a book), so I feed my two cats and eat a quick bowl of cereal then plop myself down in front of my computer for a few hours. The boss cat sits on my lap and claws at me while I work.
10 a.m. — Reading blogs has me idly browsing the internet for a cheap pearl pendant necklace (after a blog recommends one that costs $375 lolololololol). I remember I’ve put on “real” clothes and jewelry maybe five times since COVID hit and close the browser tab.
11:30 a.m. — I make a big kale salad for T. and myself as we both get ready for lunchtime Zoom calls/webinars (he’s mostly back at regular work but is able to work at home from time to time). The bossy cat screams at me for making her get up. Today is a mercifully light Zoom day.
Day Two
11:45 a.m. — I reheat some Trader Joe’s orange chicken before the Zoom onslaught starts. First up is a reading/working group, then a webinar, then a class, then a faculty meeting. Some of these things are better than others.
8 p.m. — Scrabble and scotch. My partner thoroughly kicks my ass. We listen to “Fetch the Bolt Cutters” on the record player while we play. Usual nighttime routine around 10.
Day Three
8 a.m. — Payday! Since I get paid once a month, most of my expenses hit on payday (aside from groceries, house stuff, and books, I’m not buying a lot right now). Coffee, cereal, feed the cats, and I’m at the computer to pay bills before writing. I send my partner money for the mortgage and utilities, pay my student loan payment, and pay off all of my credit cards but one (down to one $2,000 balance on one card!!!! this is momentous!!!). I got a small bonus ($500) for some extra work I took on over the summer, so I’m feeling extra flush this month. I know I should be contributing to retirement savings. Once that last card is paid off (should be in two months), the money that was going to cards will go to retirement and regular savings accounts.
Day Four
8:30 a.m. — Wake up to the little cat screaming for food. Try not to give in but the group text is also blowing up so I just get up and start coffee. T. wants to sleep in longer so I feed the cats and take out the dog.
10 a.m. — T. gets up and makes us pancakes. While we eat, we continue a conversation about buying kayaks (he’s wanted one for a while and since we can’t travel for his upcoming milestone birthday as intended, he’s decided he wants to spend the day kayaking here). Turns out this is another thing people have been pandemic buying so stock is super low. T. makes some calls and finds exactly two of the model he’s been looking at in stock at a sports store about an hour away. We decide to just go get them before someone else does.
Day Five
8:30 a.m. — It’s our first kayaking day! T. makes coffee while I get ready. We strap the kayaks to the roof rack and get a cold bag ready for our farmers market pick up (the farmers market and the bayou are very close to each other so it doesn’t make sense to do two trips). We finally get out the door around 10. I’m feeling anxious — did I mention that I’m mildly terrified of murky water and that we’ll be kayaking on a bayou where alligators live? — but I know I’ll enjoy it once we’re out there.
12:30 p.m. — This is amaaaaazing! It feels so good to be out on the water and the kayaks we bought are great (super stable, easy to maneuver, room for cargo). We alternate between cruising with our beers and paddling hard enough to feel the burn.
2 p.m. — ALLIGATOR. ENORMOUS F*CKING ALLIGATOR. HELP. T. is very calm but I’m ready to jump out of my skin and turn around to head back to the car. This turns out to be the right move, as a huge thunderstorm is brewing behind us. We make it back to the car and get the kayaks strapped in just before the deluge.
Day Six
8 a.m. — T. has a dentist appointment this morning and has to be up and out early so I take care of the pets. Coffee, cereal, computer. I have to work on my syllabi today (I’ve been putting this off because my school’s response to the pandemic has been…chaotic, to put it mildly. It hasn’t made sense to try to make concrete plans for the semester until now). I’m teaching classes I’ve taught before, but I want to make the readings shorter and create some alternative assignments because it’s going to be a terribly stressful semester for everyone, one way or another.
12:10 p.m. — I make a chicken sandwich and a kale salad, forgetting that I have leftover doner kebab in the fridge. I talk to T. about pandemic syllabus redesign and some of the demands for real, concrete changes coming from the Black Student Union at my institution.
5:15 p.m. — I’ve got a draft revised version of one of two syllabi and feel pretty good. Treadmill time, then foam rolling and stretching.
Day Seven
8 a.m. — Kisses, coffee, cereal, computer. It’s another syllabus day and I need to build out my course websites. I hate this part of preparing for the semester. Uploading files takes forever, especially now that there are more video files involved than usual.
12 p.m. — Ugh. I’m already sick of the interface we have to use to build course websites. I eat the leftover cucumber and tomato salad from last night, plus a veggie burger and 10,000 peanut M&Ms.
3:30 p.m. — Not even close to done and officially very cranky. I open a Limoncello La Croix and try not to go back to the M&M trough.
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” data-reactid=”84″>Money Diaries are meant to reflect an individual’s experience and do not necessarily reflect Refinery29’s point of view. Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity or harmful behavior.
The first step to getting your financial life in order is tracking what you spend — to try on your own, check out our guide to managing your money every day. For more money diaries, click here.
Do you have a Money Diary you’d like to share? Submit it with us here.
Have questions about how to submit or our publishing process? Read our Money Diaries FAQ doc here or email us here.
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