In Her Campus’ series Where’d My Money Go?, we’re taking a look at what one college student spends in a week on campus. In this piece, Monyka, a senior at the University of Central Florida, shares her weekly spending habits.
I have a love-hate relationship with money. On one hand, nothing compares to the rush of adrenaline I get when my bank account balance jumps up by even the smallest amount. But then I spend all the money on material items, like clothes I don’t need or cute trinkets that catch my eye on Amazon, and I’m back in my weekly routine of regretting every single purchase I’ve made.
When I first started my academic career at the University of Central Florida, budgeting actually came quite easy for me. With housing covered by scholarships and most of my life being limited to the on-campus freshman experience, all I had to worry about was food and the occasional splurge. But now, I’ve finished my fourth and final year and my world has changed completely. In order to expand my resume and gain further experience in the editorial world, I’m currently interning part-time at HarperCollins Publishers for their William Morrow imprint. Aside from the 14 hours I spend browsing manuscripts and writing rejection letters, my other form of income comes from my part-time work as a barista at the nearest Barnes & Noble.
Now that I’ve gained experience with managing my money, I’ve tried to stick to a very specific monthly budgeting system. I set aside $200 for groceries ($50 per week), $120 for the moments when I decide to eat out, and $100 for my credit card payment. Added onto that is the $30 I spend on gas every week, and the handful of subscriptions that I have. That means I’ve got to budget about $620, which leaves me with a few hundred left. But now that I’m spending most of my time working or studying, I’ve gone haywire. I’m eating out more, and graduating is — to put it simply, expensive — and this week put my new spending habits on blast.
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Sunday
10 a.m.: I’m a serial lunch-forgetter at work, so I stopped at the Sprouts next door before my shift and bought a sandwich and a side salad. $13.44
11 a.m.: One thing that’s great about working at Barnes & Noble Café is my (sorta) unlimited access to the Starbucks menu. I was barely an hour into my shift, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it through the next seven hours without my go-to order: a grande iced matcha with oat milk and brown sugar syrup! $3.83
11 p.m.: After work, I met up with a friend at one of the Korean restaurants near our school. She covered the bill for one of our recent sushi splurges, so I offered to cover this one. $79.10
Daily Total: $96.37
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Monday
4 p.m.: After clocking out of my internship, I saw a TikTok promoting the cozy game Unpacking and decided to give it a try on my Nintendo Switch. Who doesn’t love a good zen puzzle game to calm the mind? $19.99
5:30 p.m.: It’s time for the Her Campus at UCF chapter meeting, and I’m not me without my pre-meeting snacks. The vending machines at UCF’s Nicholson building were calling my name — I decided to get a pack of Sour Patch Kids and a honey bun. Can you blame me? $3.00
Daily Total $22.99
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Tuesday
6 p.m.: I am not the strongest soldier when it comes to resisting my iced matcha. Thank the Barnes & Noble gods for my discount. $3.83
Daily Total: $3.83
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Wednesday
9 p.m.: Wednesdays are one of the few days where I don’t do much. I get off of my internship at 4 p.m. and typically cook dinner afterwards. But what’s a home-cooked meal when you’re craving a burrito bowl from Chipotle? Not much, I’ll tell you that. $13.78
Daily Total: $13.78
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Thursday
4 p.m.: How surprised are you that I got another iced matcha? $3.83
10 p.m.: On my way home, I remembered that I had nothing to eat, since I chose not to cook the day before. A quick stop at McDonald’s fixed that. $10.43
Daily Total: $14.26
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Friday
Universal Pictures 4 p.m.: A friend and I went to the movies to see The Super Mario Bros. Movie. We initially were going to watch it in standard format, but realized there was a showing in 4DX only 15 minutes later and chose to go with that. I also snagged some nachos and a Pepsi at the concession stand. $37.46
6:30 p.m.: After the film, we went to a new all-you-can-eat restaurant that served Korean BBQ, hot pot, and sushi. It was a bit expensive, but worth every penny. $45.78
Daily Total: $83.24
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Saturday
1 p.m.: Another benefit about working at a Barnes & Noble? Cheap books. I bought a few that have been sitting on my want-to-read list while on break, including the eccentric but intriguing Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder. $40.23
9 p.m.: Later that night, I went to get sushi with a friend. The restaurant we went to is on the expensive side, but each delicious, overpriced bite made me forget about the dent it was leaving in my pocket. $50.06
10 p.m.: Afterward, we stopped at a café for some sweets, so we had a more humble place to converse at. $10.37
Daily Total: $100.66
Weekly Total: $335.13
While I tend to eat out a lot, I don’t normally frequent as many expensive restaurants as I did this week. But even though this wasn’t a normal week for me, it was still nice to tally a number to the past seven days of spending. I was initially nervous about seeing the total amount of money I spent this week, just because I knew I spent so much on food. But seeing the number now puts a part of me at ease because, while it was a lot of money, getting the chance to hang out with friends while suffering with my pre-graduation and finals week jitters made it all worth it.
Will I be dropping this much cash on Korean BBQ and sushi in the next few weeks? Definitely not. Can’t say the same about my iced matchas, though.
