You ever wonder how other people spend their money? You ever look at someone and think, "how can he afford that?" or hear a friend or co-worker complain, "man, is it payday yet? I don't know where it all went!" and you think, "yea, what the heck do you spend your money on?"
Well, New York Magazine asked five New Yorkers to keep a spending diary for one week. They profiled a grad student being subsidized by his folks, a junior professional who makes 54k, a mid-career fund raiser with a $150k income, an investment banker who lives on a hefty expense account and pulls in about $700k, and a Wall Street trader who brings in over a million bucks a year.
This is financial voyeurism at its finest. Like other personal finance bloggers, I share my net worth every month. For some that's already too much information. But a lot of factors go into that balance sheet. Unexpected income, wasteful expenses, cost cutting brown bag lunches, investment gains or losses, all mesh together to form a month end picture. But, as we all know, the devil is in the details. I would never display the transaction record from my credit card statement. I certainly don't need, "I can't believe you would spend $xxx.xx on __________. What a waste."
These New Yorkers were anonymous, but they bared it all.
We know that the 26 year old, $20k Grad Student spent $34.10 for dinner on a Monday night at a place called Bombay Talkie. He spent $15.08 on Olive Oil and Mayonnaise from a grocery store called Gristedes. $15.08? And his parents pay for his $140/month gym membership.
We know that the $54k per year Junior Professional had soup and steamed vegetables for lunch at Angelica Kitchen for $19. Saturday involved seeing the movie Marie Antoinette where he bought Milk Duds and bottled water for $6.50 (that's pretty reasonable, actually). No mention of tickets, so someone else must have bought the tickets. Dinner was soup and grilled chicken at Cafe Orlin for $42. This was followed by beer and smokes from a bodega on 2nd. A bodega is a type of store. I had no idea. Beer at the Phoenix cost $15, and another dinner (is it only called "fourth meal" when it's at McDonalds?) of grilled cheese, omlette and potatoes from Moonstruck Diner topped off the night at $27.40.
The $150k mid-career fundraiser seemed to have a better handle on expenses than the other two guys. His total for the week was $529.27. Still a lot by most standards, but less than the $639.06 spent by the junior professional who makes a third of his income. And only $75 more than the grad student who makes about a seventh as much. The i-banker spent over three grand in a week, only $1200 reimbursed. Her downfall is shopping. Nearly daily trips to Ann Taylor or Nieman Marcus.
It's kind of nutty to see a week in the life of the budget of a 41 year old trader, stay at home wife and two kids with a seven figure household income. In one week, they managed to spend over four thousand dollars. Granted $1700 was to their contractor for some work they are having done to their four bedroom upper westside apartment. Another $650 was for charity ball tickets. The mind boggling one, $650 was their share of the check for dinner at Da Umberto. That is some dinner.
How about you? Do you keep a food diary? What would we be surprised about if you displayed it for all the world to see?
I posted our grocery spending for a month awhile back. I hadn't considered posting a transaction history, but that might be interesting too. I already know I spend way too much at the Olive Garden :P
Posted by: bluntmoney | December 21, 2006 at 08:43 AM