Welcome to Spending Notes, where we do a weekly deep dive into how our readers spend their cash.
Today, a marketing manager who makes $100,000 a year in Fresno, California, spends some of his money on HVAC repairs.
Occupation: Marketing Manager
Age: 36
Location: Fresno, California, United States
Salary: $100,000 (approx. $3,300 per pay period)
Day One
I started my Monday by seeing my daughter off to school with my wife before heading to the office. I had a new marketing strategy I needed to finish developing at work. While I finished my day at work, my wife texted me that my daughter had gotten into the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS), a top-quality national honor society. I was so proud of her, so I stopped to pick up a bouquet on the way home. Once I got home, she loved the flowers, and we celebrated her academic success.
Total: $32.19
Day Two
On Tuesday, I held a meeting to share my new marketing strategy with the team. They received it well, and we began implementing it. We should see results by the end of the week. Unfortunately, once I got home, our HVAC system stopped working. It’s supposed to start getting colder over the next two weeks, so I decided to search for heating repair in Fresno online to stay ahead of the situation. I scheduled the free consultation for the next day.
Total: $0.00
Day Three
All I did at work today was monitor my marketing staff’s implementation of our new strategy. It seemed to be going well. My wife let me know the heating repair consultation went well, and they could fit us in later in the same day. When I got home, the HVAC technician was already working on our heating system. He had it finished up quickly, and the price wasn’t too bad at all. I was just glad we could get it fixed before the colder weather set in.
Total: $200.00
Day Four
My work on Thursday consisted of monitoring the new strategy and budget. Our budget was still looking good, and everything was on track. After work, I headed home and picked up some burgers and fries for an easy dinner. My family and I spent the evening watching a couple of movies before calling it a night.
Total: $22.50
Day Five
I checked our marketing strategy’s analytics on Friday morning and found it’s doing even better than we projected. So, I gave the staff an extended lunch to celebrate our success. I ordered pizza for everyone, and we finished out the week on a high note. After work, my wife and I attended our daughter’s academic competition for the week. She’s a part of her high school’s academic team competing in “Jeopardy-style” competitions. Her team won by a landslide, and we took her to her favorite restaurant to celebrate.
Total: $136.87
Day Six
My wife and I wanted to have a date night with the workweek finished. So, we let our daughter stay with her grandparents and spend the evening together. Then, we checked into a local hotel just to get out of the house for the night. Once we were settled, we went out for dinner and drinks before heading back to the room.
Total: $177.65
Day Seven
After picking up our daughter from her grandparents’ place Sunday morning, we went home to spend the day together as a family. Sunday is typically our family game night. So, after a lazy day at home, we broke out Monopoly and The Game of Life and played a few rounds before resting up for another busy workweek.
Total: $0.00
Weekly Total: $569.21