Welcome to Spending Notes, where we do a weekly deep dive into how our readers spend their cash.
Today, we’ll jump into a typical week of an administrative assistant who makes $55,000 in the wonderful city of Miami, FL.
Occupation: Administrative Assistant Age: 29 Location: Miami, FL Salary: $55,000 (approx. $2,115 per pay period)
Day One
It’s Monday, and surprisingly, it’s a great one. I had a couple of mean clients at the office today, but it all worked out fine. I just got home and see a package from Amazon out on the porch. It must be my son T.’s new gaming mousepad. He’s lately gotten into Overwatch and he’s killing it, even with school getting complicated during finals. He said the Corsair MM600 was a good gaming mousepad and promised he would keep his good grades up, so I decided to surprise him.
I was impressed to see that it’s made of durable aluminum, unlike my old cloth mouse pads, and has a rubber base to keep it in place. T. said the smooth surface is better for aiming and making swift movements. He can even flip it to use either side depending on the game. One side will provide more friction which is better for precision, while the other side is better for speed. I guess T.’s going to have a blast tonight after he’s done his homework.
Total: $43.87
Day Two
Today after work, I’m overseeing that my shingle roof is fixed as I have a cup of tea in my garden. On Saturday, I noticed a leak in my guest bathroom’s ceiling, and a team of Miami roofers from the roofing company FHIA is doing a great job fixing it. They are being super quick about it, too. I think they’re about to finish, and one of them showed me a picture of my fixed roof—it looks like new! I was able to land an appointment on short notice as they just had a cancellation, and they even helped me finance the job, so I’m really glad I called them.
Total: $67.00
Day Three
Today after work, I picked T. up from school and headed to Miami Beach to join a group for a segway tour. We had a blast driving around basking in the sun and taking in the sea breeze. T. was having the best time too; he really enjoys the beach life and running around. I always wanted to do a segway tour, and T. randomly suggested we should do it this week, so here we are.
Total: $114.87
Day Four
It’s Thursday afternoon, and I’m feeling really hot from yesterday, so I really want a cold drink. I decide to order a large Matcha Libre Smoothie from Planet Smoothie. It’s so tasty because apart from the matcha green tea, it also contains passion fruit and frozen yogurt. I’m getting a brain freeze right now, but it’s definitely worth it.
Total: $9.54
Day Five
It’s Friday at last! I took T. out to Coconut Grove Park today with Z., our dog. We played some catch and bought ourselves a couple of ice cream cups at Azucar Ice Cream Company. T. ordered a Mint Chocolate Chip one and I chose a Chusmeria, which is a banana ice cream with crushed peanuts and chocolate chunks. I also ordered a cup of whipped cream for Z., and he happily wagged his tail all the way home.
Total: 16.61
Day Six
Saturday is here, and I’m doing laundry before heading out to the Milam’s Market to buy our groceries for the week. T. doesn’t want to be stuck in the house folding clothes alone, so I took him with me.
Total: $139.27
Day Seven
Sunday’s here yet again, and by the looks of it, we’re going to the Seaquarium. T. was doing his biology homework, and he actually got excited about it. So I thought it’d be fun to go to the aquarium before he heads back to school tomorrow.
Total: $92.13
Total for the week: $483.29