What I Spend in a Week in Kansas
At the beginning of the new year, I decided that I needed to keep track of how much I was spending. With the idea of videos around this subject floating around on YouTube, I decided to try it for myself. Since I am eighteen, live at home, and have all of my bills paid for, this spending log only accounts for my sole purchases. Therefore, I have virtually no “fixed bills” that factor into what I spend. Additionally, I also live in a smaller city in Kansas, so my living expenses are lower than it would be in a city.
A disclaimer: This article was made during the quarantine. In this week, I left my house four times: each time, I wore the appropriate masks and followed all guidelines to limit contact with others. I also definitely didn’t go out this often on average during the stay at home order.
April 19, 2020:
On this day, the only purchase that I made was an online purchase on Urban Outfitters for $21.67. Typically, I like to limit my online purchases as it can be easy to get carried away and buy things you don’t need. However, this week, I found myself falling into the trap of buying things that definitely just add clutter to my life.
April 20, 2020:
A trend that I found in my spending this week was on random trips to Walmart. The 20th marked the beginning of this trend as I spent $6.21 on random clearance items in the Easter aisle. Any time that I go to Walmart, spending can definitely get out of hand. It is so easy to just put things in your cart and not think it through.
April 21, 2020:
The second day of my Walmart spree started with a price of $33.00. I bought a lot of random items, again. I bought a lot of snack foods to stock up on.
April 22, 2020:
This day was a rare day where I spent nothing. These days do not happen often as when I “go out,” it is usually to a place where I tend to lose my money on random items. So, this day’s total was a startling $0.00.
April 23, 2020:
My final day in Walmart shopping consisted of the purchase of two candles and two envelopes. This trip only cost me $9.85.
April 24, 2020:
This day, I paid for a meal for myself and my family at a fast food restaurant, Freddy’s. The bill only ended up costing $20.00.
April 25, 2020:
On this day, I spent no money for a total of $0.00.
Week Totals:
This week portrays the average I would spend per week before and during quarantine. During this time, some weeks I will spend more, usually on online shopping and sometimes, I would spend close to nothing. However, this week gives about the average price that I would spend. This week doesn’t take into account my monthly Spotify Premium fee of $9.99, which would be approximately $2.50 a week. Therefore, taking these totals into account, my weekly expenses come to $93.22. While the spending total could be much worse, I see that my spending habits consist of buying items that I really don’t need. These needless purchases start to add up very quickly, with little left to show of it. I have continued to track my spending as a way to keep myself accountable, so that I hopefully spend less. I would suggest this to many people to keep yourself in check, no matter how much money your paycheck rakes in.
