I'm a 28 year-old engineer living in Singapore who makes $48,630 — here's what I spend in a week
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- A woman working as a structural engineer in Singapore makes $48,530 a year.
- She usually does not get off work until after 8 and goes to 7-Eleven for dinner.
- She saves approximately $730 a month and invests $600.
- This week, it was her boyfriends birthday and they celebrated with a chocolate cake.
Welcome to Money Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar.
Today: a structural engineer working in consulting who makes $48,630 per year and spends some of her paycheck this week on pizza. Editor's note: All prices have been converted to U.S. dollars.
Occupation: Structural Engineer
Industry: Consulting
Age: 28
Location: Singapore
Salary: $48,630
Paycheck Amount (1x/month): $4,050
Monthly Expenses
Rent: $720 for my share. (I live with three housemates.)
Student Loan Payments: None. (I paid off my $33,300 in student loans three years ago.)
Utilities, Internet & Cleaning ~$91
Health Insurance: $o. (Doctor's visits and specialists' treatments are covered by my company.)
Private Health & Life Insurance: $122
Pension: $202. (My company matches 80% of it.)
Phone Bill: $24
Public Transportation Card: $30
Income Tax: $182. (Interest-free monthly payment of last year's income tax.)
Investment: $600, automatically taken out of my savings account to invest in Singapore's Straits Times Index.
Savings: ~$730, most of which will go into my Vanguard Index Fund eventually.
Day one
Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty
6:50 a.m. — Time to get up. I've been planning to start exercising at home in the mornings, but my boyfriend stayed over last night, so I don't this morning. I rush to get ready for work, as I like to get in early on Mondays. Breakfast is just a glass of almond milk.
8:20 a.m. — I need coffee! My coffee connoisseur colleagues loathe the office coffee, but I don't mind it. I like good coffee, but I don't like to shell out $2-$4 a pop for it, so I recently invested in a single serve French press and signed up for a coffee subscription service that sends me a new blend every few weeks at $14.40 per bag. I make myself a cup.
12:30 p.m. — Lunchtime! It has been quite a stressful morning. I usually eat the same meal for lunch every day and I really don't mind it: a vegetarian wrap from a place near my office, which I eat at my desk. I rarely eat out with my colleagues, except for birthdays or project celebrations. Lunchtime is my "me" time. $5.70
1 p.m. — My BF's birthday is in a week and he already told me what he wants: the latest volume of a manga he's been reading. It was only just released today and no local bookstore is carrying it yet, so I place an order online. Cross my fingers it will arrive before his birthday! $20
9:30 p.m. — Wow, it's been a long and stressful day at work. I have a big deadline at the end of this month, so I will probably work late most nights and won't have much of a social life until then! Most food places are already closed by now, so I go to a supermarket nearby to grab discounted sushi packs from the deli counter for dinner. There's a discount on my favorite Kettle Chips, so I grab those too. My BF is staying over again tonight, so we eat together at my place. Then we hang out with my housemates until it's time to get ready for bed. $11
Daily Total: $36.70
Day two
Ilya Oreshkov / Shutterstock
7:20 a.m. — No morning exercise either today. I think I need to postpone my morning exercise plan until after the work deadline. Breakfast today is chocolate pistachio milk, which is super yum, and a caramel bun that I share with my BF.
8:30 a.m. — At work, I treat myself to my usual coffee from my French press.
12:30 p.m. — Same vegetarian wrap as yesterday for lunch. I like not having to think about what to eat since it's the same almost every day. (At this point you might have realized that I'm kind of boring.) $5.70
8 p.m. — Still at work, but am getting hungry for dinner. I'm too lazy to walk to any food places out of the office, so I opt for a salad from the salad vending machine (yes, there is such a thing!) at work. I quite like the salads – they are very customizable and replaced daily. I'm getting one with quinoa, spinach, corn, tomatoes, raisins, cheddar cheese, pine nuts, and chicken breast, plus lemon-pepper dressing to go with it. $4.90
10:50 p.m. — I am so fatigued that I don't think I can carry on working. I might be the last person in the office. I finally call a cab and head home. I have some Kettle chips, shower, and get ready for bed. ($6 expensed)
Daily Total: $10.60
Day three
Dotshock/Shuttershock
7:30 a.m. — I sleep in longer than usual because I'm exhausted from working overtime yesterday. I check my Fitbit and apparently only got around five hours of sleep last night, so I anticipate that today will be rough.
8 a.m. — For breakfast I have a glass of chocolate pistachio milk again.
8:45 a.m. — There was a train disruption, so I arrive at work later that expected. Can't be bothered to make my own brew today, so I have a cup of office coffee. I check my emails and remember that I have to get a senior colleague to sign my application form for the Young Engineer of the Year award that our Marketing department persuaded me to apply to. I feel like I don't fit the bill, but hey, I'll try my luck! I'll find out next month if I get shortlisted.
12:45 p.m. — I am meeting a university friend for lunch who I haven't seen in a while. I suggest a poke place near my work, and we each have spicy salmon poke with broccoli. She insists on paying when the bill comes, so I treat her to coffee at a nearby joint afterwards. I get myself a decaf latte (I need sleep tonight), and she orders a skinny flat white. It's always fun to catch up with old friends and find out what they are up to now! $8.50
1:45 p.m. — A colleague offers me a Swiss roll slice. I can never resist cake, so I gladly take it even though I'm still full from lunch.
4 p.m. — Grab a cab to an offsite meeting with a client. I think it'll be a long one. ($8.70 expensed)
9:30 p.m. — See, what did I tell you? The project director from the client side wanted us to run through all the draft tender queries with him, hence why we finished late. It is raining outside and my laptop has run out of battery, so I go home instead of back to the office. A project manager from the client side offers some of us a ride. I thank him and ask to be dropped at a mall near my place so that I can get dinner.
9:45 p.m. — Only fast food chains are open at this hour. I was considering getting KFC for dinner, but I see that they don't sell the Spicy Sichuan Special anymore! I go to 7-Eleven instead and get a microwave-ready kimchi fried rice. I guess this will do. $3.40
10 p.m. — Walk home to my place and my pants and shoes get soaked in the rain. I eat my food while reading mindless articles on Buzzfeed and then continue to work for a bit.
11:20 p.m. — I shower and aim to get to bed by midnight for some much-needed sleep.
Daily Total: $11.90
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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