I’m obsessed with reading money diaries — there’s something so revealing and oddly comforting about seeing exactly where someone spends their cash. I’ve thought about doing one for a while: tempting, a little terrifying (do I really spend that much on lunches?), but intriguing. When Northwestern Mutual invited me to share a look at my finances, I took it as the nudge I needed to finally track a week of spending.
I took their Financial Fitness Quiz and scored a humble 3 out of 8 — a wake-up call that I could be clearer about income, expenses and where my money goes. So before implementing their tips, I decided to write down a full week of spending. I included both personal and business expenses, because running a DIY blog is surprisingly costly. Here’s a week in the life of a 27-year-old in LA who runs her own business.
Monday
Monday is a busy prep-and-shoot day, and today is extra hectic because Samantha returns from her honeymoon. Breakfast is my usual: two scrambled eggs with cheese, half an avocado and a couple strawberries. I stop at a craft store for fabric paint for a t-shirt DIY. A lunch meeting with a colleague ends up being covered by them, but back at the office I remember our bookkeeper’s fee is due. Hiring a bookkeeper was one of the best financial decisions I’ve made — definitely worth the cost.
On the way home I buy more avocados (we go through them fast), and after dinner we pay the monthly fee for the adoption outreach site we’re using.
Personal:
$150 – Adoption site fee
$20.99 – Grocery store
TOTAL: $170.99
Business:
$10.32 – Craft store
$300 – Bookkeeper’s fee
TOTAL: $310.32
Tuesday
We spent most of the day out of the office for adoption meetings. I grabbed gas in the morning and somehow managed to place one of my many weekly Amazon orders (paper mâché eggs and a baking pan). I boosted a Facebook post for extra exposure and paid our monthly payroll provider fee. Lunch was In-N-Out. Later we picked up makeup-remover wipes and toothpaste at the drugstore and snacked on a mezze plate, skipping a proper dinner.
Personal:
$11.29 – Makeup remover wipes + toothpaste
$7.36 – Lunch
$36.81 – Gas
TOTAL: $55.46
Business:
$34.86 – Project supplies (Easter eggs + cake pan)
$25 – Facebook post boost
$69 – Payroll provider fee
TOTAL: $128.86
Wednesday
Today was a big shoot day to catch up. Jeff brought me lunch since we couldn’t leave the set. I placed another Amazon order (edible glitter) and paid the monthly fee for our timesheet tracker, which our part-time team uses to log hours. After work we stopped at the mall for a jacket needed for a shoot and picked up frozen fried rice and chicken for dinner.
Personal:
$11.97 – Lunch at Whole Foods
TOTAL: $11.97
Business:
$12 – Timesheet tracker fee
$17.98 – Project supplies (edible glitter)
$38.07 – Jacket for a project
$1 – Mall parking
TOTAL: $69.05
Thursday
Another busy day with team calls and shoots. Jeff picked up lunch while we were on a long product-team call. I had a dentist appointment — ouch — and will need a follow-up in a few months. After the dentist I bought a purple wig for an upcoming shoot and grabbed cookies next door for Employee Appreciation Day. Grocery shopping yielded more avocados, snack bars and staples. That evening we cooked one of the mail-order meals a company had sent us — a tasty and easy dinner.
Personal:
$104.50 – Dentist
$1.50 – Parking
$30.65 – Grocery store
$22.75 – Lunch
TOTAL: $159.40
Business:
$17.31 – Cookies for the team
$43.67 – Wig for a shoot
$1.50 – Parking
TOTAL: $62.48
Friday
It’s Employee Appreciation Day. Jeff stayed at the studio to edit photos while I handed out cookies and funny art prints and ordered pizza for the team. Our monthly studio parking bill was due today, which is a major recurring cost we’ve been trying to manage. We had a meal we were sent for dinner, so personally I spent nothing — a small win.
Personal:
TOTAL: $0 (VICTORY!)
Business:
$19.99 – Adobe Creative Cloud
$36 – Online accounting system fee
$370 – Monthly studio parking
$27.45 – Team pizza lunch
TOTAL: $453.44
Saturday
Ran out for laundry detergent, then met friends for brunch. We ordered pizza again for dinner and watched Homeland — the season is so good. A relaxed day with straightforward personal spending.
Personal:
$12.05 – Laundry detergent
$48.38 – Brunch with friends
$26.24 – Pizza night
TOTAL: $86.67
Business:
TOTAL: $0
Sunday
We drove to Pasadena for breakfast with friends. I broke my own rules and bought a handmade toy lion for the nursery (we’re still early in the adoption process) — it was too sweet to leave behind. I visited my favorite paper store for party items needed for upcoming balloon shoots, grabbed lunch on Abbot Kinney, and picked up cupcakes and licorice for a shoot. Dinner was delivery while I finished blog posts and watched Homeland.
Personal:
$30.41 – Breakfast with friends
$1.25 – Parking
$69.60 – Handmade lion toy
$24.48 – Lunch on Abbot Kinney
TOTAL: $125.74
Business:
$16.25 – Party goods for a shoot
$12.90 – Cupcakes for a shoot
$14 – Licorice for a shoot
TOTAL: $43.15
That’s my week in a nutshell. Key takeaways: I should bring lunch more often — I used to before the holiday break, and it helped control spending — and business parking is a major expense for us, one of the main reasons we’re exploring a new studio. The Financial Fitness worksheet suggests allocating 20% to saving and investing, 60% to essentials, and 20% to discretionary spending. Looking at this week, my discretionary category likely needs trimming.
Photos by Jeff Mindell
Writing everything down made me more aware of how small purchases add up. If you want to take a closer look at your finances, tools like financial fitness worksheets can help you track spending, build an emergency fund and plan saving for retirement. For now, I’m off to lunch — Taco Tuesday calls. 😉
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Northwestern Mutual. The opinions and text are all mine.