I live in San Francisco, a place where studies have found that individuals need an average of $120,000 to survive, so being a student is not an easy task. I work two jobs, I have a remote internship, and I take care of pets on Rover. I am fortunate that my mother helps me with large expenses like rent, while I am responsible for utilities, groceries, and living expenses. I usually work around 10 hours a week but the week I focused on was when I was staying overnight on a Rover booking. During this week I made around $600 between my two jobs.
My goal going into the future is to learn more about finance and how to invest, and to make my savings grow. When I graduate in Fall 2024, I am hoping to come out of college with a healthy savings account and the ability to relocate for a job. I focused on the week of September 14 to September 21 to give an idea of what I spend in a week.
Thursday
I had class during the afternoon but since I had been up since 7am I decided to get my weekly coffee from Peet’s. After class I took a Lime Scooter home since I needed to pack for my five day stay at my Rover booking and felt like I was running out of time. When I got home I realized I needed to purchase a book for one of my classes and purchased that off of Amazon. I finished off the night by buying a Trader Joe’s meal for one because I couldn’t be bothered to cook.
Total: $26.87
Friday
I did not have class but I did have work for my internship. After our weekly meeting I went to Chipotle to get some lunch. Afterwards I met up with friends and went rock climbing at the student wellness center. After climbing I went grocery shopping for the upcoming week ahead.
Total: $51.80
Saturday
I went to look for a new apartment with my family during the day. It was a long and emotionally heavy day but for dinner we all went out so I did not have to pay for dinner.
Total: $0
Sunday
I went apartment hunting on my own and I found a place and fell in love. I had to put down a deposit and because I saved since I was planning on moving I could do that with ease.
Total: $253
Monday
I had class and since I was still doing my Rover booking I had to take two buses. I reloaded my clipper card so that I could take the bus. I went to classes, and rock climbing on Monday keeping my total low.
Total: $10
Tuesday
After class, my boyfriend and I decided to meet up for dinner. We went to In-n-Out but I needed gas so after I filled up and went to the wrong one. He had already paid by the time I got there.
Total: $12
Wednesday and Thursday
I was done with my Rover booking and needed to catch up on homework, and my work that I have for my internship so I was spending most of my days in the library. Since I packed lunch and coffee for myself I was able to continue to live off of the groceries I had bought the week before.
Total: $0
Friday
I was done with dog sitting and no longer needed my car or the bus to commute to school so I was able to save money by walking. I did however run out of groceries and so did another Trader Joe’s grocery haul.
Total $42.33
Monthly expenses adjusted for a weekly rate
I spend $18.75 on Utilities like water, electricity, and heat; $2.25 on the internet since I split it with my other nine roommates; I have an AMC Movies subscription which per week is $6.24.
In total I spent $170.24 a week while living in San Francisco. Some weekends I end up spending more, but for the most part I would say that spending around $200 a week is average for me. I do this by picking activities that cost little to nothing to do. In a city where everything feels expensive sometimes for peace of mind the cheapest option is the way to go.