I live comfortably in a resort town on $35,000 a year - here's how I do it
My boyfriend and I split our $1,150 rent evenly, and every month I pay gas, car insurance, and a gym membership.
I take home $479 a week from my $35,000 salary, and I keep my spending within what I can afford.
Some days I don't spend any money at all. Other days, my purchases just seem to add up. Grocery shopping on Saturday, for example, took a toll on my budget, and my electric bill set me back $46 on Thursday.
On Friday, I woke up to a notification that $29.95 was charged to my Discover card by Blue Apron.
I've recently jumped on the meal subscription bandwagon and am loving it. Tip for all you frugal people out there: Try a company once to get their intro deal, which is usually $30 off your first box. So far I've tried Blue Apron, Home Chef, and HelloFresh.
After a quiet night with my boyfriend listening to records, I make a mental note: Tomorrow morning will have to start with a trip to the grocery store. I can only have so many pieces of toast and bowls of Cheerios in a single day.
Saturday, I go on a five-mile run along the beach, and head to the grocery store.
I try to spend $50 on groceries per week, but we're out of beer, so I also pick up a 12-pack of Modelo, bringing my grand total to $61.37.
We buy plane tickets to visit my siblings in California for $295, and my boyfriend picks up the tab for drinks at a new bar with live blues music to celebrate a professional award I won early in the week.
I wake up on Sunday, planning to head to the beach for another run, but the couch potato in me decides to make a cup of Earl Gray tea and watch a couple episodes of "This is Us."
It’s a little foggy out again today, but my boyfriend and I decide to take our bikes out and go for a ride along the beach. When the tide is low, Hilton Head’s beach is hard enough to ride your bike on and it’s by far my favorite thing to do here.
After a free personal training session through my gym Monday morning, I shower at the gym and eat a peanut butter, jelly and banana sandwich on the 15-minute drive to work.
During my lunch break, I run out to Kroger to grab a $4.23 birthday card for my grandma, who turns 91 this week.
I signed up for a library card at the start of the year and made a new year's resolution to read more. Each week I try to set aside a few hours for reading. I'm currently halfway through "The Color of Law" and couldn't recommend it enough. In fact, I'm already planning on buying a copy on Amazon once I'm finished with it.
Instead of driving to the gym on Tuesday, I go to the gym in our apartment complex and jump on a stationary bike for about 45 minutes.
Just like pretty much all weekdays, I packed my lunch for work, but at 2 p.m. I meet a source at a local coffee shop in town and spend the rest of the afternoon working remotely. I love Chai Tea Lattes, so I buy one for $4.86 to sip on while I'm working.
It's Valentine's Day Wednesday, and even though we decided not to give gifts this year, I feel like I should do a little something.
I run into the grocery store on the way home and spend $11.73 on my boyfriend's favorite ice cream, Ben & Jerry's Half Baked, and his favorite oven pizza. When I get home, a big bouquet of flowers is sitting on the kitchen table, awaiting my arrival.
On Thursday I force myself out of bed at 5 a.m. and go to my second personal training session of the week.
When I get into work at 7:30 a.m., I check my email and see that the electric bill is due and pay it online. It was abnormally cold here last month (snowed for the first time in nearly ten years!!), so the electric bill is higher than usual — $46.
It's 75 degrees out, and I'm disappointed that I've been cooped up in an office all day, so I go on a short run as soon as I get home from work. It's great to see people on the beach again, couples holding hands, people walking dogs and other just sitting on beach chairs waiting for the sun to go down.
It's starting to feel like spring.
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