Money diaries

Four different writers anonymously document a week in their financial lives.

This is part of a new series on The Middle Class Writer from Dirt and Literary Hub—talking frankly about the role of money in the life of a writer in 2024. We'll be publishing on both websites throughout the week.

I’ve long wished that there was an equivalent to Refinery29’s Money Diary series just for writers. The media and publishing industries are uniquely opaque when it comes to who gets money, who already has it, and mostly importantly: how much. Ironically, that makes the parties who are transparent about money more of a target to be picked apart. When presented with the rare piece of concrete data it’s hard not to think that’s not how I would have spent my advance or should this person really be going out to dinner so much? I’ve learned to temper that impulse. Information is a form of generosity and the writers included in the following roundup have offered up a week in their financial lives for public consumption. I’m grateful for them! — Daisy Alioto

FREELANCE JOURNALIST

Age: 39

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Three biggest expenses:

This seems like a straightforward prompt, but I’ve struggled with how to answer it. Student loans are by far my biggest burden—all $77,631.98 of them. I pay them back based on my income, though, so the monthly bill right now is $278.21. That’s less than my credit card bill, which covers a range of purchases and usually clocks in around $1,200 a month. Then there’s the maintenance fee on our apartment, $1,210/month, which I split with my partner; we prorate how much we pay, based on our incomes.

But I’m also a freelancer who tracks my expenses throughout the year in order to write them off. So, looking at my spreadsheet for 2023, I see that my biggest annual expense was travel ($4,467—and that’s just travel that was work related, so the real total is higher), followed by research, a catch-all category for what I do to stay up to date on my field ($2,675.65). 

Do you own your home or apartment?

My partner owns it.

Are you dual income? What is your partner’s salary?

Yes; my partner’s salary is $79,000. This seems like a good place to add that we’ve been together for a decade but only filed taxes jointly for the first time last year. It saved us a significant amount of money on our return, but the tradeoff was that it increased my student loan payments. Predictably, the system is designed in contradictory ways.

Does your family help you with expenses?

Sort of? I have savings that come partly from family inheritance that I dip into to pay bills sometimes.

What does one week look like in your financial life? 

New York City is an absurdly expensive place, but I’m a freelancer who works from home a lot. I was also raised to be very frugal, and I don’t make a lot of money, so I’m always generally conscious of how much I’m spending—or maybe what I really mean is that I’m good at not spending too much. But when I do go out, I don’t worry about it too much, and since this is NYC, I go out a decent amount: dinners with friends, drinks with colleagues; often I’m just out for one reason or another (teaching, a doctor’s appointment, a work assignment) and after a few hours, I need to eat. But if it’s just me, I’ll get a pastry or a slice of pizza and call it a meal. When I’m with others, I don’t usually go to super expensive or high-end restaurants, but even at—I want to call them Yelp two-dollar-sign places, dinner and drinks with friends might cost $50–75. I have a meal like that once or twice a week.

Beyond that, I’m always spending money on groceries and cat food, the two staples of our lives. Also the pharmacy—I go to the pharmacy way more than a normal person should. I feel like I’m there all the time? Like, I was just there, but then there’s something I forgot or another medication that needs to be refilled. I have a bunch of health issues, which are exhausting, but thankfully all my medications and remedies are relatively affordable and accessible.

What else? I don’t shop a lot, but there’s often some practical thing for me or the apartment (a new mouse, a shower curtain liner) that I’m ordering online. Or I’ll buy a book, even though we do not actually have room for any more books. Or I’ll stop in at a thrift store and come home with yet another sweater. None of these are big purchases. I’m a firm believer in small treats. I don’t need a lot to be happy—mostly just a turmeric latte and a croissant at least twice a week. 

My weekly financial life is pretty chill and boring, honestly, and I like it that way. The interruptions come in two forms: 1) bad, which is usually a medical thing, like I had some procedure that insurance won’t cover (surprise!) and now I owe thousands of dollars; 2) good, which is usually travel, like planning a big vacation or work trip. I prefer to spend less money at home and then splurge when I’m away.

Everything I’ve talked about so far relates to spending, because as a freelancer, I don’t have much in the way of steady, stable income. I’m an adjunct teacher, so I do get a small biweekly salary that helps me avoid total financial panic. Otherwise the paychecks come when they come. Sometimes they’re decently sized, and other times, they’re depressingly small.

THE MIDDLE CLASS WRITER